Homeschooling: How do I do it? Part 2

I have got to get a new camera battery and/or go download the pics on my mom's PC. I'm running out of downloaded pictures of my kids. LOL

As I mentioned yesterday I started out all gung ho with WTM. For Karly I had Saxon Math 2, Spelling Workout B, First Language Lessons (we did first and second grade in one year!), Zaner-Bloser HW, and Saxon Phonics 2.
For Kelsie, I had Saxon Math 2, Spelling Workout A, Saxon Phonics K, Zaner-Bloser HW.
I figured I would add in Latin, History, Science,Art, and Music in January. That would give us plenty of time to get settled into homeschooling.
For Tamara and Adrian we were using Letter of the Week and Slow and Steady Get Me Ready.

As I mentioned before that first year was H-A-R-D!
The next year I dropped Zaner-Bloser it was expensive and I really was not impressed. I picked up A Reason For Handwriting. The transition book for Karly and book A for Kelsie. They really enjoyed that! I liked the verses and they like the coloring. Karly just finished the last book and Kelsie is in the T book now. Adrian and Tamara really wanted a HW book this year so I started them in the K book.
I started Karly in R&S Grammar 3 and Kelsie in First Language Lessons. It did not take me long to reevaluate that. Karly did great in FLL, Kelsie not so much. There was a lot of work with Rod and Staff Grammar. We are now using Learning Language Arts Through Literature. The Red book for Kelsie and the Yellow book for Karly. Dh and I discussed it though and while R&S was a lot of work it was a lot more comprehensive. We will be switching back to that next year. I will go ahead and put Kelsie in the 3 book and move Karly to the 4th.
We still use Saxon Math. I heart Saxon math. Tamara and Adrian are working through the 1st grade book. Kelsie is in the 3rd grade book. Karly is in 5/4 which means she does not need hardly any math time with me this year WOOHOO!
I dropped Phonics for both girls. We do a lot of reading. I also added copywork. Kelsie is doing great. I am thinking of picking up Spelling Power for Karly as I have heard some great things about it for kids who struggle with spelling. I am working through Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading with Tamara and Adrian. I will probably do a year of Saxon Phonics 1 with both of them and Explode the Code just for reinforcement. Then they will move into spelling and copywork.
I am going through Literature Pockets Fiction with Karly right now. It's been a lot of fun and it introduces her to reading comprehension and reports at an easy pace.
Karly is working on cooking through Marmee's Kitchen Primer. I had her copy a lot of stuff out of the front, then she started cooking through the breakfast. When she is done with the breakfasts I am going to put her in charge of breakfasts with a budget and everything. She will also be practicing the lunches.
I will then start Kelsie on the book.

This year I knocked our bookwork down to three days a week. Tuesday we have Bible study and play date and Wednesday is co-op and library day. Sometimes on Wed we will come home and read and then color these really great coloring pages I get off of Dover's website. Sometimes on Wed if we are behind we will do some schoolwork or the girls will have to work on corrections. It all depends on how the week has gone so far.

I plan my year out, but only in the planner, and only in pencil. It never goes as planned and I'm ok with that. I try to plan a week off each month. If all schoolwork is done we do fun things. If not.. well we have to catch up. It's a great motivator.

Someone once told me they take off Nov and Dec instead of the summer. That made a lot of sense to me. I scale back our Nov/Dec schedule or eliminate it completely. I try to make sure we do a lot of reading and maybe some practical math so we don't forget. ;)

Next year I am scaling our book work back to two days a week. Thursday and Friday. Monday will be spent cleaning, cooking, gardening, and crafting. Teaching the kids more practical type things. I'm also hoping this will give us an opportunity to tie some more heart strings. School is still a burden at times for my two older girls and I am hoping this will smooth it out a bit.

All that to say that our homeschool is ever evolving. If I don't like something or the kids are struggling too much with something I change it. I buy a lot of my stuff used or deeply discounted.

I do have five children to teach. Many times people don't know how I do it with so many. The secret is flexibility. I can't do it all. So I do what I can. We do a lot of stuff together. I will talk about that some more tomorrow!

Be Blessed!