What I learned our first year of Homeschooling
What I learned our first year of homeschooling
We did it!
We survived our first year of homeschooling!
Although being home with my kids more was always a dream of mine, homeschooling never was. And, I certainly did not think I would ever quit my job to be a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom. But, if you know anything about our story, you know that things change fast.
If you’re curious what my 5 Must Haves for Homeschooling are, skip to the bottom or check out our Homeschool Resources page.
Over the past 9 months I’ve felt all the emotions: regret, overwhelm, sadness, frustration, just to name a few! I also felt relieved and grateful that I get to do this. The kids
Here’s what I learned:
Make a plan…then throw it away. Your plans won’t work here. At least the first five or so plans won’t work.
There will be times you hate it and will wish you had never decided to homeschool. That is okay. The kids will feel the same way even more so than you do. The transition will be tough.
Be flexible! You’re in charge, you can adapt as your circumstances change.
Do not, I repeat, DO NOT compare yourself to other homeschooling parents. The point of homeschooling is that you can tailor school to your child’s needs. Every child is different and every family is different so every homeschooling style is different.
It’s okay for your children to be bored. When they’re bored, their brains are forced to work! Legos, pretend play, board games, and baking have been our kids’ go-tos when they’re bored. Your kids will find something too!
My 5 Must Haves for Homeschooling:
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Homeschool tracking for grades, hours, and includes a transcript builder
I literally started the year with a spiral notebook and attempted to keep track of our required hours, what subjects they were in, and the kids’ grades in it. Dumb! About a month in I knew I had to do something but our homeschool budget was…tiny.
My plan was to create something myself using Google Sheets or some sort of something. Somehow, in a Google search for ideas I ran across Homeschool Hall.
You guys…it’s $79.99 PER YEAR! I spend that much on one book for AJ.
And, if you use coupon code ZERO2FIVE you will get 10% off any package!! Thank you Homeschool Hall!
I gave it a try and I am so glad I did! If you have specific questions about Homeschool Hall, give us a shout on our Contact Page but here are my favorite features:
Completely customizable subjects, goals, and requirements (and not in a hard way)
Easy to use on my computer or my phone. I use my computer 90% of the time but when we’re on the go, it’s nice to be able to enter hours in my phone so I don’t forget.
The Dashboard shows my hours broken out by Core vs. Non-Core, Home vs. Away, and even by subject. I love the by subject feature so I can make sure we are being well rounded and not spending all our time on one subject.
YOU CAN ENTER GRADES!! Or don’t! Whichever you prefer!
They have a transcript builder for my soon-to-be high-schooler.
Includes a FREE directory of co-ops, clubs, and sports teams near you.
They are constantly adding features.
I could go on and on but I won’t. Trust me on this homeschool mamas…check out Homeschool Hall! And don’t forget, you can reach out directly to them or just give me a shout if you have any questions!
Audiobooks = Easy Homeschool Hours
*and they’re perfect for reluctant readers!
In the State of Missouri we are required to show 1,000 hours, 600 of which are supposed to be in “core” subjects (reading, math, etc.). I was so worried about hitting that mark I literally lost sleep.
Add to that stress…I have several kiddos who do not like to read. At the time, they HATED reading. Reading is so important to all the subjects and it’s a great way to beef up your hours. Besides…reading is great! I love to read. And, my little guy started out the year not being able to read at all. What is a girl to do??
Audible, y’all.
We listen to Audible books pretty much anytime we are in the car going anywhere and the kids LOVE it! They ask every time we get in the car, “Can we listen to the book?” I’ve even noticed my reluctant readers actually reading in their spare time! Coincidence?? I don’t know! ;)
A couple of times a year, when Audible is running a special I will sign up for a month or two of the Premium Plus plan and use my credits to purchase a few books. Then, I just cancel until we need more books! With the Premium Plus plan, you get to keep forever the books you use your credits on so we can actually re-listen on a trip or long car ride to whatever book they want.
We’ve listened to the entire Harry Potter series and we’re almost done with the Dreamhouse King series! What should we listen to next??
Notion.so
Assignment Planner and Lists
I was forced to “reinvent the wheel” several times the first half of the year. The first year of homeschool is truly the definition of “building the airplane in the air”! LOL!
My first plan was to let the kids go at their own pace in all of their subjects. My hope was that they would work ahead. Go ahead…laugh. They didn’t so I started making them a list of what I wanted them to have done by the end of the week. These were lists I hand-wrote each Sunday night.
I have FIVE children! This took way too long.
I discovered Notion one afternoon when I was researching content planning and thought, “that might work for homeschooling.” It was perfect!
Notion is a productivity platform. I use Notion every day to keep track of the kids’ lessons. Here is a small portion of how I use it. If you have questions, please holler!
Assignment Calendar
Master Database filtered by Student
When I started using Notion, I started by going in each week to enter each kids’ assignments into a calendar. All kids are on one calendar because I can FILTER by child, subject, and even curriculum publisher (some of the kids have a couple of different math books). This database I named my “Master Database” because it is from this database that all my other reports and tables come from.
Eventually, I started planning further ahead than one week so that each Sunday I only had to go to the next week and print everyone’s lists. So easy!
This is what a typical lesson looks like after I’ve entered it.
I title the lesson and select the subject. I put in the date the lesson is due and who the lesson is assigned to. The check boxes I mark when the kids have completed the lesson and the status helps me to know who has completed the lesson, who has not started, and who is still working on corrections.
I was having a hard time keeping track of who was finished with what lessons and who was still working on corrections (I have them correct their mistakes after I check their work) and Notion has helped tremendously! I created a “Returned for Corrections” status so that I can easily see who still has a bit of work to do.
What a typical week looks like.
Notion is created to be an all-digital productivity app so their Print options are a bit limited but I easily get around that with a screen print extension on Safari.
This table is pulled from my Master Database and is filtered by dates. You can even group by day of the week (I do this for my littles).
This is just a small taste of how we use Notion. Again, if you want to know more, do not hesitate to contact us.
Math-Drills.com
FREE MATH WORKSHEETS
Math was the most intimidating subject for me to teach. I have a couple who are ahead, and a couple who are behind. I have one who did some math this year I couldn’t even help with!
Perhaps my favorite thing about homeschooling is that I can meet each kid where they are. Anytime someone got stuck on a particular concept, we were able to stop and find extra help and practice on Math-Drills.com.
We used addition, subtraction, elapsed time, inequalities, integers, and number sense sheets to name just a few.
And, did I mention it’s all FREE??? Score!
Humble Math Workbooks
Comprehensive AND Low Cost!
I wanted my older girls to work on their critical thinking skills so I found the Humble Math Word Problem book. I liked it so much I got the Telling the Time book AND a few more for this summer! These workbooks cost between $5 and $8 and have 100 worksheets. Enough for an entire year if you’d like!
A few of our favorites:
Want to know more?
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