We’re Homeschooling!
I can’t tell you how excited I am for our first year of homeschool! It is evidence of God’s faithfulness to me. I never planned for or dreamed of homeschooling, but I can look back and see how God was preparing me for this.
Once I decided to homeschool, I visited the HSLDA website to read about my state’s homeschool laws. Next, I sought the counsel of homeschool moms in my area to find a church school. After I registered with a church school, they sent over the documents I needed to send to our local school system. The legal side of homeschool was foreign to me, so I was grateful to complete this step.
All summer long I have been considering what our homeschool will look like. How will we structure our days? What curriculum should we use? How much time do we actually need for school each day? What supplies should I buy for our homeschool? I think a lot of this will be trial by fire. So while I’m preparing and researching the best I can, I’m certain things will shift as we figure it all out together. In this post, I’m going to look at our how, when, why, what, and where of homeschool.
Let’s answer the first question: How will we structure our days?
This year, Mills will be completing first grade at home. Saylor will be in 3K at a local church, and James will attend a MDO program. Saylor and James will both be away from the home on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9:00-1:00. That information has been so important as I’ve planned out our homeschool. In this season of life, I need to consider how homeschool will look with babies and preschoolers in the home!
I have done “mama school” with my littles since Mills was 18 months old, so teaching them at home is very familiar to me. However, teaching a first-grader means we need a little more structure. Of course homeschool can happen at any time, but it was important for me to consider when we would have distraction free time for lessons. I’m certain it will happen all throughout the week and even on the weekends, but giving our homeschool a time and place helps me feel more confident in my role as a homeschool mama. I want homeschool to be a blessing to our family, not a stressor. I’ll continue to teach Saylor and James on Tuesdays and Thursdays when they’re home with me. We’ll also fill Tuesday and Thursday mornings with play and adventure since I’ll have all 3 boys at home.
So when will I homeschool Mills?
Since the littles will be at school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, my main homeschool mornings with Mills will be Mondays and Fridays. On Wednesdays, he’ll get to go play golf with Matt. This will give me a morning “off” which was important for us to plan. We will also be using afternoons for homeschool. Our home is quiet from about 1:30-3:30 each day since my children either nap or participate in quiet rest time. We have practiced all summer using quiet rest time for homeschool, and it is a great fit for our family! Mills will also be able to complete any independent work on Tuesday and Thursday mornings when I’m working with Saylor and James.
Why homeschool? After figuring out some of those logistics, I started thinking about my priorities. What do I want to teach my kids? What is my homeschool style? What is most important in our homeschool? Ultimately, I was developing a list of values. Here are a few:
I will teach all subjects with a Christian worldview.
I want to spend more time snuggled on the couch reading books to, with, and alongside my children and less time learning at the table.
Even so, I don’t mind a good workbook. I like measurable learning. (I’m a medley of Charlotte Mason and Traditional homeschool styles)
Our academics will be fun and engaging, but they will be rigorous.
I want to honor childhood. We will play, travel, and go on adventures.
My hope and prayer is that as we begin our first year of homeschool, these values will guide our days.
Now, let’s get to the good stuff — what are we going to be learning? While I was tempted to dive straight into researching curriculums, I’m so glad that I first took the time to consider the when and why of our homeschool before choosing the what. With my background in education, I found that choosing curriculum was both exciting and daunting. There are a lot of options, which meant I spent a lot of time planning and researching. However, the best news I have for you: there is not a perfect curriculum or a right way to homeschool. I’ll share my exact curriculum picks on a separate post, but one helpful decision I made was to divide our homeschool into two categories: Morning Time and Main Subjects.
What is Morning Time?
Morning Time will be a time for Bible reading and family studies. Our plan is to gather around the dining table each morning from 8:00-8:30. Family Studies will include topics like learning hymns, studying the Bible, memorizing scripture, learning about and praying for other countries, developing character, studying artists and composers, reading poetry, etc. Morning Time will be just 30 minutes each day. It’s nothing formal, just a time for our family to gather together to learn and grow (similar to how children gather on a carpet at school - promise, it’s not weird).
Managing the Main Subjects
Our main subjects include Math, Language Arts, Reading, Science, and Social Studies. I’ve also considered how I want to incorporate technology and electives into our homeschool. I’ve spent a lot of time watching curriculum reviews on YouTube, and while I think exploring all of your options is beneficial, at some point, you just have to make a decision! As I’m wrapping up choosing curriculum for our main subjects, I’m considering both the when and why of our homeschool so that my curriculum choices will make sense in our home. For example, I know the bulk of Science and Social Studies will happen on Monday and Friday mornings in our home, and I know I want to incorporate a lot children’s literature into those subjects throughout the week. So, I’m not going to choose a 5 day a week curriculum that leaves no room for adding in things like books and documentaries. However, I plan on teaching Language Arts and Math daily, so 170 days of lessons is perfect for our family. See how your schedule and values impact your curriculum choice? Choosing curriculum for main subjects is a big task, but what a blessing it is that we get to choose! I can’t wait to share my choices with you!
One final thought! Don’t be too concerned with where your homeschool will happen. You don’t need a fancy homeschool room. Our plan for next year is to learn at our dining table, couch, and the library. For next year, I’m setting up a homeschool corner in our dining room to store all the things. Maybe in the future we’ll develop a homeschool room, but we’re going to let our experience next year guide that decision. So far, I’ve only bought a handful of things for homeschool, but you can shop them here.
That’s all for now! I hope reading how we’re preparing for our first year of homeschool is valuable to you. If you’re a veteran homeschooler, I’d love to learn from you. You can always reach out to me on Instagram (@francieoutlaw).