Planning Post 2014 ~ with lots of links!

I am supposedly a structured home-edder at heart, but over the years I have become less and less concerned with orgo-planning. This year, however, I have had a lot to get my head around and have done more planning than in recent years.

The last few years we have used my own adaptation of the Workbox System and it has worked really well for us, but this year the children are all that bit older and in all honesty they hadn't been really 'rearranging' or moving the tickets on their charts for some time, not even to check off what they'd done. This was making it rather hard for me to see at a glance just what was being missed! It's also got harder to be SO flexible as the children grow older and they all need computers more and more for their independent work.

This year I will be educating 3 Secondary aged children;

Taz (Joel) ~ 16 ~ Yr 11.
Minnie (Abigail) ~  13.5 ~ Yr 9
TP ~ 12.5 ~ Yr 8

3 'Junior' aged children;

Lilo ~ almost 11 ~ Yr 6
DD ~ 9 ~ Yr 5
Stitch ~ 7 ~ Yr 3

And Chip ~ almost 4 ~ Pre-school.

In all honesty I do not really worry too much about formally educating my pre-schooler, but I do make sure there are plenty of educational resources around for him and additionally this year, have also decided to invest in a set of Spielgaben. My lovely Nan has offered to pay half the cost of it, and I just know he is going to LOVE it. I'm not sure how much structured time we'll realistically have with it this year, although I might try to do some, however, I know with this we have something to work with into the future :D

For the rest of us we have laminated (so they can be written on) 'timetables' that look like this;

Taz



Literature Studies (and others from Currclick)
Conquer Maths
iTooch Music
Geography & this one too (finishing off)
Science (Biology)
Alison.com Music Theory
Zoology
Another Alison.com course which he is yet to choose!! Maybe some kind of IT course.
Alison English Language/Lit course
Igniting Your Writing II
History (WW1 research)
Art Journalling 

Minnie

As with Joel and 
Bible Study
DuoLingo German
KS3 Science
Literature Studies (from Currclick) ~ Currently has Jane Ayre and Anne of green Gables on the go.
Galore Park finishing & then progressing 
Language/writing Skills
Alison.com Diploma courses in Health Studies and Childcare.

TP

Just write (3)
Editor in Chief
Grammar (not sure yet), maybe
Comprehension
iScience

Lilo

All About Spelling (hopefully level 5)
English Skills 
Explode the Code (online)
Miquon Maths (Purple)
GP Junior English (Bk 1)
'Speech to Text' story writing on the PC 
Education City Science (+ worksheets)

DD

Heinemann Maths
Reading Eggspress
Springboard
Science & THIS
Five in a Row

Stitch

Typing Dance Mat
Reading Eggspress
Conquer Maths (Yr3) and then 
Science

Me

My schedule is pretty full-on too! I would like to hope amidst all that Chip would get more than 1/2hr of my week, but this is life with 7 home-ed kids I guess!

Now, this may all look incredibly 'scheduled' but in reality most of the white blocks are quite moveable and interchangeable, so there is more flexibility in this than there may at first appear! 
The yellowy blocks are computer time and although there is some flexibility in these, in reality, for things to work smoothly with the four computers we have, these are best left as they are. I have even made 'timetables' for the computers, so as to hopefully avoid too much unnecessary waiting around for a certain one, or one at all!
The green blocks are things we do as a whole family group, blue blocks are work with either some or most of us together & the red blocks on Stitch's schedule are things he alone does with me.

The little white circles are for them to tick off each thing when it's done, and much to the teenagers' disgust, I have said I am going to look at the charts at the end of each week to see that the work is being done! It's on them to be honest though.

I anticipate some of the subjects/resources changing as the year moves on, and these will need to be updated each term I think, but it's a good starting point I think :D

Mini-Skool!

I've been having a think and a revamp this weekend. I LOVE the workbox system, but I HATE the amount of time and energy it steals from me each night and at the weekend. I was at burnout point with it I think and simply avoiding. The kids were doing good and filling up their boxes in the mornings from my excel spreadsheet (whilst I filled just the two youngest ones' boxes), but this felt to me just like a glorified timetable with 3 times the amount of work! BUT the kids love the workboxes too, so what to do?

This is what I came up with ~ I've termed it mini-skool! The cards are diddy - there are 40 of the on one sheet of A4 (bull-dog clipped to the top of the easel at the mo'). I even have one (the yellow one in the pictures)!! The idea is basically that the children have 40 activities to complete in a week (32 in the case of TP) ~ that's 10 a day just like before. BUT instead of me filling the boxes and dictating to them what they are to do each day and the order they should do it, they will now have the autonomy to pick and choose what they fancy doing AND how much they do in any given day. All the diddy-cards on the chart are the 'must do's' and yes, there are a lot of them, but they are not all difficult and boring! Then, for the boys especially, there are few blank spaces which THEY must fill with activities of choice on Monday morning ~ choosing from the pocket chart (last picture - there's more cards in it now though). My only demand is that there are 40 completed activities by the end of the week, even if they choose to do some on Friday or Saturday. Obviously there are some taught subjects that we do as a group and these they will do when I call them to, out of necessity of not wanting to teach the same lesson over and over! This is the reason I have my own chart. You see, I am very good at disappearing into the study and doing 'my stuff' ~ OK, it is the adjoining room and I am 'available', but lately I have been very aware that this is not really good enough. SO, I have made myself an accountability chart. It's on full display to the children too, so they have ammunition against me! If I don't fulfil my duties in the week I cannot expect them to! There are four 'marking' sessions built into my week, as I tend to find that the marking just gets left until there is a mountain and then eats up my weekend :( . I have allowed myself only 2 photography/study sessions during school hours, one of which I anticipate sharing with Bugs. The rest of the time I must be where my kids are, working with them until the day is done ~ it'll be a challenge for me, but one I need to take up.

In case you were wondering; under all those diddy-cards are smiley faces. As each activity is completed the child moves the card down to the space below to reveal the smiley. At the end of the week I will expect to see 40 smilies :D

I really like this plan ~ I hope it works for everyone! I like the fact the children are going to have to take some extra responsibility for seeing that their work gets done, and at that they are in control of what they do and when. They will be able to see when they are leaving themselves too much to do another day and they will be able to feel the effects of 'ploughing through' one day to get more time to themselves another. I like the fact that they can clearly see their week laid out before them and what the expectations are, much more clearly than words on an excel sheet, or even boxes filled daily. I'm HOPING that the fact there looks to be a lot to do won't be problem to them when they get to grips with it and see the smilies appearing :D The last thing I like about it is that they can arrange their chart however they choose. SO they could choose to use the four rows as days and arrange their activities the way they plan to do them that day (or even just what they plan to do that day, but not the order), OR they can arrange the chart as I have, with blocks of subjects that they can pick from each day ~ it's entirely up to them! For the first time I really do feel that I am handing more of the control over to the children, whilst still striking the balance of ensuring that they learn what they need to. I'll let you know how it goes!!

I'm not sure yet if I am still going to need those expensive boxes I bought ... I'm thinking I may re-label them into subject sections, so that when, say TP, takes down her 'Early Comprehension' card she can then go to the 'English' section of her box and pick it out easily - already marked by me and with a sticky note in to tell her what work she needs to do next. All her English books would be in this section and all I would have to make sure to do at the weekend is rotate on her smiley-chart which ones she is to use that week. Then when I mark the work I drop it straight back into the workbox ready for when she gets to it next.

The Annual Visit...

Today was the day that I had my annual visit from the HE Support/advisory person (CP). She has been visiting us for 7 years now and we get on really well. We chat over philosophies over a cup of tea and I twitter on about the kids as I would to a friend while she hurriedly tosses from sheet to sheet jotting down stuff about each of the kids :D I never stress about it. I seldom show any work and this year, as it is holiday time the kids weren't even working. They were all busy milling about and asking to go the computer and/or Wii. The house was a relative mess as befits holiday times and no-one getting up very early, sleepovers of friends the night before and me only remembering about an hour before she was due and rapidly running around trying to make sure everyone was dressed and chores were done, as well as putting away all the underwear that was drying on pipes (I do have some pride)! In the midst of our conversation R&R arrived to take Babsi off for the day - and the phone rang at least twice, but I left it to the kids to say I'd ring back soon. We sat in the kitchen to chat (often the quietest place to be) and then I just showed her the school room before she left - and the new workbox system, which I very briefly explained. As ever she proclaimed me highly organised (which I suppose I am really, even if it doesn't always feel that way) and left with a smile on her face . I did broach the subject of 'current reviews' with her (didn't want to mention 'Badman' as I think that is a bit undiplomatic, as she is so nice...) and she said she was not really sure what would happen. She anticipates the main change being compulsory registration and perfectly well understood that everyone in her 'trade' was as open minded as she and that this is a major cause of concern to many HEers - their concerns come out of past bad experiences and are not unfounded. I expressed a distinct distaste for the idea of my children being interviewed without me present and she said that actually that left a bad taste in her mouth too and she could not see that as being right. She thought there would have to be TWO interviewers (for safety reasons) and I said that that would make it more like an interrogation than a friendly chat! I expressed that I could not see how any child faced with two complete strangers would be flowing in conversation about how wonderful their schooling was (home or otherwise). For instance, take your average, well developed chatty 2yo and put him/her in a room with a Health Visitor for their developmental check-up and how do they behave? Most hide behind their parent and won't do or say a thing!! It is not possible to make a fair assessment of that child's development without having a conversation with the parent - the child is giving NOTHING away! I suspect this would be how any child would behave under the duress of what I can only see as an interrogation. When CP visits us just now the children are always about and because we are having a friendly chat over coffee they often voluntarily come and show her something they have done/are doing and they do not feel under any stress if she looks over their shoulder to watch them for a minute or two (as she has done in previous years, but only ever at my invitation). Surely this is a far better way to assess the happiness and progress of children than any 'interview' would be. That said - I am not actually very pro the assessing of progress at all because unless you have someone very open minded (as CP is) then they might not be prepared to consider ALL the areas in which children progress as being relevant to 'school', but again that would depend on what their idea of the purpose of school is. For me it is to see my children functioning as confident, independent, intelligent individuals who can hold interesting conversations and be strong enough to cope with what life throws at them, but even more importantly than that, I want that their lives are deeply rooted in Christ and their faith in Him be the underpinning of all that they are and do. Tall order...maybe, but actually, it just means listening to the hearts of your kiddos and I do feel we are making progress to that end :D The academic stuff is all in there too, but that is just PART of the progress I want my kids to make.

I know we all have different purpose for our HE, hopes and dreams for our children - as different as the children themselves are! And THAT's why I resent the idea of being squeezed into a one-size-fits-all mold where someone else, who doesn't know ANYTHING about us or or family, or our genetic make-up, etc..., gets to say whether or not my child is making the progress they 'should' be. Here's hoping on this one that they throw out the baby AND the dirty, stinking bathwater!!

Project work

Jake spent most of today putting THIS together. It's only short and sharp, but he had to do all the research completely by himself. He will present it to 'our class' on Monday, but I am pretty impressed with his use of PP. He has composed this completely independently and although you cannot hear all the nice little boingy sounds etc... and all the fancy animations in googledocs, you can get the gist of it. It really is very good for an 11yo I think :) I am so impressed with Singapore IScience - this was a task set from it - why have they taken it our of circulation?! :(

SURPRISES

Aren't kids funny creatures! Just when you think you have them sussed...

Today Joel was doing a maths activity on graphs. It involved the other children too and was basically 'the memory game'. They had to see who could remember the most objects out of 10. I had no doubt that A would do best (and she did) and that P would really struggle. Initially with the removal of single objects from the tray P couldn't see what was missing hardly at all - probably once out of 20 times she got the answer. Then I removed the tray entirely and asked them to recall the whole lot. JI did the worst (typical 9yo bouncy-brain!) and P remembered all but one! I was amazed. This girl is so like her eldest brother it is unbelievable. She has definate memory problems (JA has auditory memory problems) and will forget an entire lesson 5 minutes after it is taught, even if she has done some practical work on it. I always thought she was a tactile learner - now I'm beginning to wonder... HOW did she remember the 9 things? She wouldn't be able to tell me so I guess I'm just going to have to figure it out! Reading has been a real struggle. JP only helped her a little, with its songs and stories, but Headsprout did the bulk of the work this time - and it's visual! Am I going to have to go and buy a mass of multi-media materials for this little one? A visual learner - now that could be a lot more expensive, as most of the materials I have are either auditory (cheap and chearful, but I don't have that many coz it's not our style), or tactile - rods, bricks, shapes, cubes, lapbooks, magnetic words & letters... I could go on and on! She is learning with what we use, because there is of course there is a visual element to it, but I'm wondering if there is something out there that could help her more? I've toyed with Maths-U-See in the past and decided against (more financial outlay), but now I'm thinking again... If she is visual it might be what she needs, but how different is it to Miquon? I need to investigate.

6 years in and still I don't have this home-ed lark down cold! LOL I don't think I ever will. Some days you do one thing and its brilliant the next it falls flat - and vice versa! One day I might find a 'rut' that works for us all - but I doubt it! It feels like this is an ever evolving form. No one year looks quite the same as the one before or the one after, but the kids are learning, growing and developing enquiring minds & a love for Jesus - what more could I ask? :-)

Our morning has consisted of Maths activities (memory games), trampolining (PE), reading quietly, Bible study - CD and book called "When Dragon Hearts were Good", which came out of a short discussion the boys had with Paul at breakfast table about age of the earth! And now they are all doing Dance Mat (PE again and Music - coz it involves a lot of 'listening to the beat') and C is in here with me doing a peg-board picture (ancient things with plastic 'pegs' and a white square board with loads of holes in. It was actually mine when was a kid!).

So is the shape of our Thursdays and the kids really look forward to it. The rest of the week is pretty intense, so so do I!!

Now I need to go make lunch (left over lasagne for those that want and tortillas for those that don't) and tea (cook the chicken, coz tonight's tea only needs to be heated under the grill for a few mins) and then find something fun for the kids to do this afternoon (I really should be more organized) while I sort out the mountain of washing there always seems to be in this house! I have an idea to do 'squirt painting' in the garden if the rain holds off long enough for me to get it sorted. Basically collect old Heinz Tomato Ketchup bottles - the really big ones with the valve-lid - fill with watery paint of various colours and then squirt at huge sheets of paper (back of wallpaper is great if you have some- which I don't, but the Ikea big roll of paper is good to). This is definately an OUTSIDE messy activity that is best done when the grass needs cutting - so all the painted bits get cut off, or when it's about to rain - to wash away the mess! We've not actually done it before, but I'm sure they will all love it!!

While I'm here - this a picture C coloured on poissonrouge yesterday - I thought it was very lovely. As he paints one side the symetry is done for him, but all the same - the colours and placing of them is great for a not yet 3yo I thought :-) I love that website and I can't keep him off of it. It has done wonders for his mouse skills and now he uses it independently. Before he started using it he had no mouse skills at all, but this was such a high motivation for him he learnt really fast!

Learn to Read at Starfall - teaching comprehension and phonics

This is a free reading scheme - American but very good. I have E playing with the ABC's just now and I'm going to start P on the 'learn to read' bit as I feel she is about ready for it now :-)

Another Great Resource Site...

I was looking for some 'venn diagram' work for Jake tonight (as he failed to bring home the set task) and it had to be on 'nature and animals' and in the process fell upon this website! It has some fantastic books, but the teaching activities for 'parents and homeschoolers' is fabulous and could easily be used aside from the books themselves as part of a unit study and/or lapbook type project. The 'for creative minds' section is lovely too - so don't miss that bit! And best of all - all the extras are for free :-)