A House of Order, Part 2: Sticking to your plan

By Melanie Skelton
Part 1 of this series focused on mapping out your curriculum. I hope you all have a great plan mapped out and are jumping into a new school year with the same enthusiasm we are. Now it is time to face the reality. Somebody is going to try to foil your plan.
Who? The list of possibilities is endless – your children, your mother, your neighbor, other home educators, or even yourself. It will most likely be a combination of all of these.

How? Your children will want to watch television or play rather than get to work Your mother may call in the middle of the great project you are doing or book you are reading with the children. Your neighbor may knock on the door and need some great favor or want to visit. Other home educators may lure you into too many activities outside of your home, leaving little time for what really matters. And you…well, I can’t say what your weaknesses are, but I foil my own plan by checking e-mail, answering the phone, planning appointments or starting projects all during the hours I planned to do school with my children. I usually only plan to spend a few minutes doing these things and then we will get right to school. But the reality is that at the end of an unfocused day I don’t feel the same sense of peace and accomplishment as when I have truly spent quality time with my children exploring the subjects of the day.

So how do we avoid these interruptions that can devastate a great school day? We must choose. Most interruptions can wait. I understand that there may be situations where there is a true emergency or urgent situation that needs attention, but these are the exception. I repeat… most interruptions can wait.
Establish firm habits with your children concerning television or other distractions from school work. Charlotte Mason says that “habit, in the hands of the mother, is as his wheel to the potter, his knife to the carver-the instrument by means of which she turns out the design she has already conceived in her brain.” Habit is a powerful tool in helping children to remain focused on learning. As the parent you can instill this habit lovingly. The key is consistency. This is where it becomes critical to eliminate the other interruptions from your life so that you are not being pulled away from your children at a moment when your attention will make the difference.

Help the people who are close to you understand that you will not answer the telephone, door or e-mail during the hours you choose to do school. One friend puts a stop sign up on her door as a friendly reminder that school is in session. Owning an answering machine or subscribing to voicemail will allow you to monitor your messages in case there is a situation that is a true emergency. I check my messages when I have given my children a ten minute break. Otherwise, we let the phone ring.

Choose activities in your home school community carefully. In our community there are always classes in art, drama, language, geography and more. Some offer co-op groups for boys, girls, teens, preschooler or a combination. We see chess clubs, nature clubs and clubs for anything else a person can dream up as well as sports opportunities. Convincing yourself that activities like these are providing most of what your child needs in their education is concerning. Over the years and through many co-ops and activities I have come to the conclusion that my children learn best at home. Believe me, I’ve tried to justify every kind of co-op I could create join or create. In the end, it has never been as effective as what I can do with my children at home on a focused day. There may be a place for carefully selected activities in your plan. But these types of activities have sometime been my largest interruptions from accomplishing my goals with my children. If you choose to participate in these types of activities, try to choose ones that are at the beginning or ending of the week, in the afternoon, or at times when it will conflict the least with your plan.

How do we keep from foiling our own plans? This is probably the biggest question. In the end, I am the person who decides whether to answer the phone, check the e-mail or to justify working on that project “just for a minute”. Habit, again, is a powerful master. You just have to decide to change the habit that is keeping you from achieving the plan you have set out to accomplish, and then stick to it. If this change is too overwhelming, change one little habit or part of a habit at a time. It is better to make a slow change and have it be permanent than to get discouraged with an overwhelming plan. Remember that your children are worth it. Habits you establish now will pay off later.

As a final note, enjoy the ride. All of this habit changing and choosing to stay home with your children doesn’t mean you can’t have fun; quite the opposite. You will find that as you create a “House of Order” by having a plan and having control of that plan you will find other ways to be flexible, enjoy your children and treasure each moment.

A House of Order, Part 1: Mapping out your curriculum

By Melanie Skelton
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I start feeling like chaos rules in my home. Between the laundry, dinner and home schooling, we carry a heavy load as home educators. The process of learning to put it all in order, so that both home and school run more efficiently, is ongoing. This article is part one, of a four part series, where I will focus on different aspects of how we can help home and school become less chaotic and frustrating.

Consider the plans you make when preparing for a vacation. Do you map out the places you intend to visit or just jump in the car and hope it all turns out?

When you are on vacation you'll get more out of it, if you have a basic plan. It is most helpful to know where you are, where you are going, where you intend to eat and sleep along the way, and any sites you want to be sure to see. It is possible that you will find out about something along the way that will sidetrack you...and this is alright. Flexibility will allow you to enjoy your trip and get the most you can out of it. But if you travel with no plan at all there is no guarantee you will end up anywhere that matters. Although the cornfields in Iowa are something to experience, you may want to see more on you journey.

The same applies to your home school journey. Although you may want to keep your curriculum flexible so you have time for side trips when the desire strikes, having a basic plan will help your children benefit more from the journey.
The following steps will help you to plan out this journey more effectively.

Understand where you are. How does your child learn best? Are they an auditory learner, a visual learner or a learner who needs to touch it and do it to learn it best? Understanding this can make all the difference in how you approach learning with your child. Learn to understand the factors that influence learning in your home. Understanding your own personality and those of your children can also be helpful in defining how you will approach learning. It is also critical that you understand the level at which your child is learning. If you assign work to an eight year old that requires them to analyze they may struggle. However, at this age they are very capable of absorbing information. Don’t be frustrated if you cannot figure this out all in one shot. Find books that teach these things, and study how your children learn. This will be an ongoing process that will help you adjust your curriculum as you see the need.
Understand where you want to be going. Consider why you have chosen to teach your children at home and what you want to accomplish overall. Write this down and go back to it when you feel like throwing in the towel.
Define the subjects you plan to study in the upcoming year. Do you want to focus on life sciences or learn about the earth? Will you study ancient history or the Renaissance? Once you have made some general decisions in each subject it will be easier to narrow it down into specifics. For instance, we will be studying life sciences this year. I’ve divided that into three segments: the study of animals, human body and plants. It makes the most sense that we study plants in the spring when we naturally start working out in the garden and go on nature walks. We will do much of this learning outside. We will study animals the first part of the year and have purchased a zoo pass so that we can incorporate several trips to the zoo into this study. I will outline what I think we should learn about animals and then allow for some exploration in our study. We will use the library extensively in finding material for this study. We will learn about taxonomy and pull out field guides that will help us learn how to categorize the animals we see and learn about.

Understand the interests of your children. Sit down and have a brainstorming session with them. This doesn’t mean you will cover every idea they throw out. If your children are like mine, they will throw some ideas out that are very general and others that are so off-the-wall that there is no way I’m really going to spend energy on doing much with it. But you may tune into some things they would like to learn about. If you incorporate topics that interest your children into your plan they will be excited with you.
Schedule a Planning Session. Once you have an idea of where you are and what your destination is, set aside a time to put it all down on paper somehow. This can be as detailed or general as is comfortable for you. Map out the year with a plan of what you will be covering each month. Remember that December will get busy and in the spring you will probably want to go outside. You can choose to make notes of the resources you will use or know that when you get to that subject you will pile the kids in the car and head to the library. I’ve done it both ways.

Some subjects will require less planning than others. In the past I’ve mapped out what math assignments each child will do each week, and I don’t recommend it. We use Math-U-See and I expect them to do an assignment every day. However, if a particular child is struggling with a concept I want them to have the time to slow down long enough to understand what they are learning. On the other hand if they are ready to move on to another lesson, we will skip ahead.

Remember that life is part of school. If you are canning, get your children involved. If you are building new shelves, your children can learn great things from helping. If you are going somewhere, there are always museums and other learning opportunities along the way. Let a child be in charge of meal planning and preparation once a week. If they are younger, they will need more help. There is much to learn in the kitchen. Remember to incorporate the things that are part of life into your school plan.
Plan for side trips. Keeping your plan a bit flexible will make it possible for you to pause and learn about a current event or the strange bird that chooses to make your carport home for the winter.

Enjoy the journey. Planning a curriculum that meets your needs will make your year more enjoyable. When you need to simplify, do it. When you or your children are excited about something, pursue it. If you want to experiment with lapbooks or unit studies, you can. Remember to enjoy this time with your children and make the journey all you want it to be.

The Road Not Taken

If you have been to my website you will have seen this post before. I'm changing my homeschool page a bit and needed to take it off. So I'm posting it here so it will still be available.

I often think of Robert Frosts poem "The Road Not Taken" when I consider our decision to homeschool over fifteen years ago.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

I remember looking down that road and wondering where it would take me. Was it safe? Would I ruin my children if I homeschooled them? Or was it possible that if we were brave enough to take that less traveled road that I could do something better for my children.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

I consider now the nature walks, the wonderful books we've read together, the amazing discussions we've had and all the mornings we sat at our kitchen table sipping hot chocolate and waving to the other children as they trudged through freshly fallen snow to get to school. And my heart longs for the simplicity of those early days of homeschooling.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

The opportunities that first step into the lifestyle of homeschooling could not be seen from that place where I stood when I made the decision. Our world opened up to new possibilities for learning and doing things we never would have had the space in our lives to accomplish.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Oh! It has made all the difference. My beautiful children know who they are. They are confident in many things that I hadn't learned until I learned it with them. They know how to take on a challenge and succeed. They are happy and our family is strong.

It has made all the difference.

Terrible twos, teens or twelve

Growing up can be challenging for both a child and their parents. The challenges sometimes come in phases giving us titles like the terrible twos. Surviving the terrible twos isn't so bad once you recognize what it's all about. Like many of the frustrating phases a child lives through, they are trying to learn independence. That's really what it's all about anyway. Recognize it as a step in that process of gradually transferring the responsibility from your shoulders to theirs. It's a good thing. Otherwise you'd still be doing everything for them when they were thirty-five.

Teens are also known for their indepentant spirit. These years are often referred to as challenging. But they are the years when teens are trying to become adults. What isn't hard about that?

The age I wasn't prepared for was twelve. My oldest daughter has always been easy going like her dad. About the time she turned twelve she went through a phase of stubborness, which is extreme for her. Because she is so mellow I didn't recognize what it was until my second and third child reached that age. One of them was a moody twelve and one was an angry twelve. As I've watched these three and those children who followed I've realized that each 'twelve' looks a little different, but there is something perplexing about that age. After years of raising children I am convinced it is the most challenging age of all.

It makes sense though. At twelve they are leaving childhood, experiencing hormones, and having more expected of them. It's a time of trying to figure out who they are and start becoming that. That's huge. 'What do you want to be when you grow up' starts taking on a different meaning when they are twelve. Honestly though, it needs to. This is the age when it is natural for them to go from just asking questions to asking why. They question why they have to do something you ask them to. But it may not be that they are trying to be beligerent. Perhaps they really want to understand why your family has always done things a certain way or why a particular thing is expected of them. Taking time to help them understand will be like an investment in the rest of their teen years. If they learn to understand the value in helping around the house or coming home when its time the teenage years will be easier. (Not perfect, but easier) Twelve is like a bridge and the experience they have on that bridge can help determine how they deal with life when they get to the other side.

When your twelve-year-old (or almost twelve-year-old) starts questioning your authority or making life hard for the rest of the family take time to help them understand. The best way I know to do this (if you are a religious family) is to pull out the scriptures and and find something in the word of God that teaches the lesson you are challenged with. My children respond differently when I can lovingly back it up and show them its not only important to Mom.

Have you found any other secrets for helping a child through any of these tough phases? Please share.

Art Appreciation Notebook

         
Norman Rockwell made life look interesting. He took the most ordinary and added characters that make us smile. The work of Rockwell and other artists can be appreciated by creating an art appreciation notebook. Years ago at a Charlotte Mason conference, Erlyn Barlocher gave a presentation where she taught how to do this. I’ve may have made adjustments to what she taught there, but here is what we’ve done.

Choose an artist and find prints of several paintings. You will study one painting every week. Using paintings from the same artist for six weeks in a row brings familiarity with that artist’s work. One place to find collections of paintings is in calendars. It's most exciting when I find them discounted because it's several months into the year and they are surplus.

Use the following schedule outline of activities to develop your notebook. There are activities for four days, giving you some flexibility in your school week.

• Day 1 - Memory Drawing. Students study the painting for a couple minutes, trying to memorize as many details as possible. The painting is hidden and the students draw the painting from memory
• Day 2 – Narration. Again the painting is pulled out and they study it for a couple minutes and then put it away. The purpose in this is to train students to pay attention to details. The student then narrates the details of what they saw in the painting. If they are young it may be more effective to have them narrate verbally while you type. As they get older, let them record their voice and then write it down. They will help them become more comfortable with the process the more they do it and soon be writing their own narrations with no trouble.
• Day 3 – Write a Story. This was always the favorite activity of the week. Show the painting again. Let them study it for a couple minutes and put it away. Each student writes their own creative story about what they saw in the picture. They tend to get very creative and sometimes silly. With the younger ones it may be appropriate again to let them narrate their story verbally while you type. Give them as much time as they need. If you are concerned about staying on schedule, plan this activity at the end of your school day or some other time when you have more flexibility.
• Day 4 – Final Drawing. This time you keep the painting out for the entire activity. They study the painting, imitating the details in their own final drawing. They should be given as much time as they need to make this drawing as nice as possible.

Note: Finding the paintings can be the most challenging part of this activity. Do you know other places to find inexpensive prints?

Flexibility in Using Story of the World

Story of the World can be a great resource, especially for homeschoolers who feel unsure about teaching history. In these books, Susan Wise Bauer has written about for events and people in chronological order, which can help you know what to study.

            However, after using it for a while, many are finding that students get bored with just reading a little about each person or event. They realize the need to dig further into a subject to help students connect with people that lived long ago. The Activity Book helps with some of this, but there is more you can do to keep history alive while using Story of the World.

            Don’t be afraid to use this or any other text as a guide and only a guide. Most of us chose to homeschool because of the freedom it offers in meeting individual needs of our students. You may not cover every event and person in Story of the World in the slotted time, but your students will connect with history on a different level if you are willing to let go of the rigid schedule and explore a bit more.

            As you make your plan for the year, go through Story of the World, or whatever other text you might be using, and choose key people or events you would like to explore in more depth. When you get to these, go to the library and find everything you can on this topic. Look for books on each child’s reading level. Consider putting Story of the World aside completely for a week or two and read together allowing your children the pleasure of discovering the interesting tidbits that will bring a person or event to life for them. Lapbooks are great way to delve into this information. Making a few lapbooks every year was always about the right mix for my children.

            Another thing to do with your history study is to create a timeline. There are many ways to do this. Here are a couple ideas for creating yours:

1.      Create a large timeline to hang on the wall or around the entire room. We once made a timeline that went down our stairwell, across and back up the other side.

2.      Use a notebook to create your timeline. See My Book of the Centuries, available at The Learning Cottage if you want a simple and inexpensive way to create yours.

            As always, remember to enjoy the journey. If you are dragging through each day and hating it, then it’s time to change things up a bit. The beauty of homeschooling is that there’s more than one way to learn history.

           Do you have any other ideas for bringing history to life?

A New Beginning

I love a new beginning. Whether it’s a new year or new plants coming up in the spring, there is something about starting again that makes me want to do better. I think the New Year is always well timed as far as homeschooling goes. We’ve paused to spend time celebrating, relaxing and reflecting and then it’s a little easier to get geared up for January and the promise of what it may hold.

So what do you have planned for January? It can be a great time to try something new with your children, whether it is putting your first lapbook together or reading a classic that has been on your list.

As I stare down the New Year I am excited about the projects that have been simmering through the holidays, just waiting for my focus. I’ll be adding several lapbooks to the website, including one about Crazy Horse and another about Norway. We did the one on Norway as a family a few years ago and loved it. I’ve just never put it in printable format, until now.

Only semi-related to The Learning Cottage, I am trying to finish up my novel. I will be presenting it to my critique group for their review the first part of January. I’m pretty excited to be putting the final touches on it so it will be ready for them. Of course, once they review it there will be revisions to make. But they will seem small compared to the work I’ve done on it in the last year. It was last January that I had the idea for this novel.

The novel is a middle grade adventure. The main character, Asher, and his twin sister find a hidden entrance into a community hidden away into the mountain. However, the mysterious door closes behind them, trapping them inside with people who are afraid they are dangerous. There are many secrets to be discovered as they search for a way to return to their family outside the mountain. I’ve had so much fun writing this novel.  Once this is done…what? I’ve got some new ideas churning around in my mind for my next novel.

I’ve waited years to have time to write. But when all my children were small, my goals for a new year looked different. Usually they were focused on what would help a particular child progress in a certain area.

I’d love to hear your goals, and challenges you are facing with the New Year. Please share what you are looking forward to as the New Year arrives.