Homeschool is Lifeschool

I've been wanting to do a post on what homeschooling looks like for us right now. We've evolved a bit over the years, and I've had a lot of failures throughout that time....but I am currently in a place where I feel completely comfortable with what we are doing, and see no need to change it for the forseeable future.

Just for those who might not know, a bit of background info.....

We've been homeschooling for almost 6 years now. I'm currently homeschooling 4 children, with one little one due in May. My students are my son who is 12 in 7th grade, my two daughters, one who is almost 11 and in 5th grade, and another who is almost 8 and in 2nd grade, and my 4 year old son who technically doesn't do any formal school, but the way we homeschool he is included in a lot of what we do.

I've tried a few different methods, including traditional workbooks to almost unschooling. If you know me, or have read my blog before, you probably already know I'm a huge fan of Ruth Beechick. If I had to describe homeschooling the "Ruth Beechick way", I'd say it's a relaxed version of Charlotte Mason style homeschooling. Real books, real life, down to earth teaching. It's also a lot easier, because it's more conducive to teaching multiple ages than the way Charlotte Mason suggests.

What we do....

Like I said, real books, real life, and down to earth teaching.... Because of that we really don't use a lot, if any curriculum. That's not to say that Beechick is anti-curriculum, but she advocates that it's not always necessary and if and when you do use it, you bend it to fit your needs at the time, and not let it run you. But for the moment, we don't really use a curriculum, except for math, and even it is not the traditional type of math curriculum.

So, what do we do? Well, here's the rundown.....

The Bible-It is the foundation that everything else we do is layed upon. We do several different things at different times. Sometimes we just pick a book of the Bible and read through it, stopping every few verses to discuss. Sometimes we use devotionals or study guides. Currently though, we are using a book called "Character Building for Families: Volume 1" by Lee Ann Rubsam. We haven't finished the book or even gotten half way through, but so far, we have really enjoyed it. I'll review it more thoroughly when we've finished it. In addition, we also read a chapter from Proverbs with breakfast, and a chapter or two of Psalms at bedtime.  I'm hoping to add an additional time of study during our dinner time, but haven't managed to successfully do that. We also memorize lots of scripture using the Simply Charlotte Mason Scripture Memory Box System, and regularly learn new hymns.

Unit Studies-I love unit studies! I don't see how moms of many can handle teaching multiple history or science topics to different ages at a time. I'm sure it's doable, but it was just never something I could do. We have used curriculums in the past that use a unit study approach, but I struggled with them, mostly because I felt too tied to them to make them enjoyable for any of us. They usually included too many projects, or too many writing assignments for us, so we just sort of wing it on our own now. I don't try to make big plans, all we do is I let my kids give input on what they would like to learn about, or I suggest something. We go to the library and try to find books on what we want to study next, or if I have to, I order what we need. And we read aloud every day, and when one of us think of a project or something we do it. Sometimes we may just look stuff up on a map or research further online, or if there is one available, we watch a documentary. If there's a craft or related science project that we want to do, and it sounds interesting we do it, but that doesn't happen too often. Sometimes, I will have another book for one of the older kids to read on their own on the same topic to give them a different perspective. I'm also working on giving my oldest two chances to do unit studies on their own. We read, we research, and when we have learned all we care to learn about the topic...we move on.

Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic-

The rest of what we do boils down to the 3 R's, as well as what you might call a few extra-curriculuars.

Reading-This encompasses all manner of reading.....we are a reading family....we love to read...we almost always have the max number of books checked out on our library cards every two weeks (and we shall not discuss the amount of fines I often have to pay :P). The unit studies we do fall under this category. On a day to day basis, we have as many as 8-10 books being read between all of us, in addition to small read alouds with the little guy. Each of the older 3 kids have a book or two they are reading on their own free time. The older two will regularly also have a book that they are reading on our unit study topic. Then as a family, we have our unit study read aloud, a family read aloud, a poetry book we read at bedtime, as well as other books we reference throughout the week for things such as composer study, artist study, or nature study. We regularly use discussion or narration for comprehension of the books we are reading.

My almost 8 year old is still getting reading lessons every day, and for that we use Ruth Beechick's, The Three R's. It is such a great book for teaching reading (as well as writing, and math)! Very straightforward and easy to use! Where she struggled with some of the other things we used to teach reading, she has greatly excelled with this book!

wRiting-Just like reading, writing is covered in all writing that we do. In teaching "formal writing", we use copywork and dictation. I pull copywork and dictation exercises from whatever books we are currently reading. I also regularly look for writing oppurtunities as they come up. My older two are encouraged to write something every single day. I don't care what...just write. I'm happy to give them ideas if they want them, and sometimes they do. They are currently both writing their first books...my son a fiction story on survivalism, and my daughter, a fun story about a family and a new dog. Other writing they may do is writing on our unit study topic, thank you notes, letters to family and friends, shopping lists, poems, and anything else we think of. My almost 8 year old is at the stage of learning where she is working more on form, so she mostly does copywork and dictation, but every once in a while I'll have her dictate something to me that she wants to write. Once a week or as needed, I have a grammar lesson pulled from their writing for the week, and occasionally, in addition to the dictation, we will work on some spelling issues from their writing. When they get to about 4th grade they learn typing on the computer, and if they prefer, I let them do their writing on the computer, (not copywork or dictation though).

aRithmetic-This is the only area where we use curriculum, in fact we use two, but as I said, the curriculum we use is not the traditional type....We use Math on the Level and Life of Fred. Math on the Level is a very unique way of teaching math, that encourages hands-on, real life application, but they also throw in a review system where in your child has to do 5 math problems a day to review things they have learned. You as the parent get to decide what to teach and when. There are no grade levels, just concepts to teach, and you can move as quick or as slow as your child needs. They have tons of ideas of how to use real life application in your teaching. Right now, just my older two do the 5 a days every day, they also cover math facts using speed drills a couple times a week. My younger daughter does more hands on type stuff, but will probably begin 5 a days soon. Life of Fred is just a fun read aloud that we enjoy that has a fun way of explaining math to the kids. Some other things we do to help with math concepts in every day life is we play LOTS of games, I include the kids in budgeting, paying bills, and shopping using a budget, and doing price comparisons, and I let them help me in the kitchen every single day.

Everything Else-

These are the few things that I consider extra-curriculars...but really, I can't imagine doing school without them.

Nature study-My kids love doing nature study! We keep a handful of guides and books to help us, and we spend at least an hour once or twice a week either at home in our own back yard or out and about at parks or other places where we have found. One of our favorite resources is the Handbook of Nature Study, and the website by the same name that helps you get a handle on actually getting out there and doing nature study every week.

Artist/Composer Study-This is just a little thing we do to expose ourselves to other things that we may not regularly come across. For about 10 minutes every day, usually during lunch, we either listen to a certain composer or study a specific piece of art, and then take a few minutes to read a little about whoever it is that did it.

Handicrafts/Projects-I'm a crafty person...or I try to be....I sew, I knit, I paint (though not well), I embroider. I also enjoy lots of other things-gardening, urban homesteading, self sufficiency, baking, etc....I love learning new skills. And as part of that, I try to teach my children these new skills. They may not always enjoy everything I do, and may have some of their own they want to try, but the point is to teach them that learning new skills or handicrafts is important. I also try to just let them do crafts, the messy kind even, that every mom dreads. I let them paint, cut up paper, whatever. They love it...but they also have to help clean it up :o)

Music-All of my children are pretty active musically. My oldest plays guitar and a bit of piano, my second oldest plays the recorder and piano, and my third also plays piano. They also all are in church choirs and singing groups. At this time they are all either self led, or I instruct them as best as I can. I know enough usually to help them, or we learn together.

Sports/P.E.-We don't do any specific P.E. type curriculum. I just make sure to encourage my kids to be outside. They help in the garden, doing yard work, hanging laundry out to dry, we go for walks, we go to the park, etc. The only organized sport we are involved in, aside from church softball games during the summer, is my oldest son, who plays for little league baseball. We make it a family activity though! We practice together, we watch all his games, and we encourage him! We are also currently learning more about nutrition, and making changes to eat healthier, and I'm making sure the kids are understanding and taking part in that change. I want them to know why we eat the way we eat!

And really, (long as this post has gotten), that is all we do, and my kids seem to be truly flourishing under this way of schooling....and actually, so am I! I love doing school with them.! I'm not overwhelmed, I'm not stressed! I honestly look forward to it! It's simple, and effective. I regularly refer to all of Ruth Beechick's books to give me ideas, helps, and sometimes just to help me remember why I'm doing what I'm doing. I won't deny, we have bad days (can you say first trimester blahs? Or even 2nd trimester blahs?) But at the very least, when we do have a bad day or even two, I don't feel like we are so behind, and we have to go in to overkill to catch up.

I realize that homeschooling this way is not for everybody, but it has certainly blessed our family! I look forward to it, and I'm even looking forward to making this way of homeschooling work through the highschool years, and I gotta say, they are creeping up on me fast! Thanks for letting me share what's working for us! I'm hoping to be doing something once a week, in a way of record-keeping, is to have what we will call our learning journal to share with you what exactly we do each week!

See some of the resources in my sidebar for great articles by Ruth Beechick, and also if you get a chance to read any of her books, here are the links to ones I have and love!

The Three R's
You Can Teach Your Child Successfully
A Biblical Home Education
Dr. Beechick's Homeschool Answer Book
The Language Wars
Language and Thinking for Young Children
How to Write Clearly
Heart and Mind
World History Made Simple
Genesis: Finding our Roots


Blessings,
sara