It's (Home)School Time!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The long lazy days of summer are finally at an end. We just started noticing a nip in the air at night and in the morning, no more triple digits days! So around here that means it's time to move on to the next phase, the Fall School Semester. I absolutely love Fall so I can't wait for it to really feel like Fall, but until then, we pretend and get going on our schooling.

We just completed our 1st day of school this morning. I now have a 3rd grader (yikes!), a 1st grader, a pre-schooler, and a "do whatever I wanter" (20 months). Everything went great! Cody even said he was so glad to be back doing school again because the mornings go by so fast and he doesn't have to think about what to do each day (he loves the schedules like me!).

We are using My Father's World again this year (http://www.mfwbooks.com/). We are doing Exploring Countries and Cultures which uses a Charlotte Mason Unit Study approach. It is the first year of their 5 year cycle where all children in your family (grades 2nd-8th) are taught the same stuff but at their own level. Younger siblings can jump in too wherever their interest falls. I will also be doing MFW's 1st grade with Owen. I was very pleased with how well Cody learned to read so I plan to use it again. Claire is just doing basic pre-school activities in a workbook and participating wherever she likes with MFW's ECC.

I love the way My Father's World curriculum is set up. Everything you need to teach is laid out for you in the teacher's manual, but it's not so much information that you get overwhelmed. You just pick and choose what works for your family at their ages and abilities. It includes all subjects except math and language arts (we use Math-U-See and Queen Homeschool's Language Lessons for the Very Young).

Since this curriculum runs in a 5 year cycle, i will use it again in 5 years as we cycle through the program. This way all of my children will get the same information at some point throughout the cycle. Then they will go on to MFW's high school program.

MFW also has pre-school, Kinder, 1st, and 2nd grade (an overview of U.S. History if your oldest child is 2nd grade, but not ready to start the cycle yet). We have used the Kinder, 1st, and 2nd grade curriculums so far and absolutely love them, some more than others. All of their curriculum is Bible based and I am always amazed at how well they explain and incorporate bible topics that I would have never thought to explain.

In addition to getting all of our school stuff ready I have finished our daily schedule, school schedule, and chore chart which are below, for those who like that stuff!

(All of the margins are messed up in the schedules. I don't know why I tried to line it all up because Blogger just throws it all over to the left side-sorry. The times are all to the left and the other stuff should be tabbed in a bit.)

Davis Daily Schedule (Fall 2009)7:30am-Wake-Up/Breakfast Prep
Outside Chores
8:00am-Breakfast
Take Vitamins-Claire pass out
Clear Spot at Table
Breakfast Chores
Get Dressed
Make Bed
Brush Hair
Brush Teeth
Start 1st Laundry Load
Play Outside (if time)
9:00am Morning School (see chart)
11:30am-Lunch Prep/Put Clothes in Dryer
12:00pm Lunch
Clear Spot at Table
Lunch Chores
Start 2nd Laundry Load
1:00pm-Rest Time/Kate Nap
2:00pm-Phonics-Owen w/Mama
Monday- Claire Dance
Tuesday- Cody Computer
Wednesday- Claire Computer
Thursday- Owen Computer
Friday- Wii (pizza/movie night)
3:30pm-Free Time
5:00pm-Dinner Prep
5:30 pm-Room Clean Up
6:00pm-Dinner
Clear Spot at Table
Dinner Chores
6:30pm-Animal Chores/Outside Time
7:30pm-Bedtime Routine
Showers/Baths
Put on Pajama’s
Brush Teeth
Brush Hair
Read Books-if time
8:30pm-Bed-Claire,Kate,Cody,Owen
************************************
School Schedule Fall 2009
Morning:
9:00am-Pledge
Songs
Catechism
Prayer
9:15am-Bible Stories to Read/Coloring Page
9:30am-My Father’s World
10:30am-Snack/Break
10:45am-Finish MFW

Monday: Math
Tuesday: Art/Theme Crafts
Wednesday: Nature Walk/Notebook
Thursday: Read Aloud from scheduled reading/Spanish
Friday: Children’s Sake Co-op/PE Co-op
2:00pm-Owen MFW Phonics w/Mama
***********************************************
The boxes that were at the end of the chore lines below did not show up. I laminated this and put it up on the fridge for the kids to color in the box as they complete the chore each day.

Davis Daily Chores (Fall 2009)
Outside Chores:
am- Feed Puppies____________________
Let Out Chickens_________________
Feed Cat________________________
Water: Chickens (2)_______________
Puppies (2)______________
Lambs Tub_______________
Extra Tub (garden)__________
Trees__________________
pm- Feed Puppies____________________
Take Scraps to Chickens ___________
Put Up Chickens _________________
Kitchen Chores: B L D
Meal Helper_____________________
Clear/Wipe Table_________________
Sweep Under Table_______________
Empty Dishwasher (when needed):
Bottom Rack/Silver ware_______
Top Rack____________________
Laundry:
Monday - Cody Owen
Tuesday- Claire Kate
Wednesday- Mama Daddy
Thursday- Daddy Misc
Friday- Misc Misc
Room Clean Up:
Living Room_____________________
Kid’s Bedroom___________________
Mama’s Bedroom________________

Well there you have it. Now you know how we do things around here.

Happy Homeschooling!