Search Results for: blog the elusive homeschooling schedule

Ask a Homeschooling Blogger: How Much Time Do You Spend on Each Subject?

Question: How much time do you spend on each required subject every day? I’m having trouble scheduling my year and am wondering what other moms who have kids my children’s age, do. I’m happy to answer this question with the following disclaimer: what works for me, probably doesn’t work for someone else and vice versa. I think that one needs to consider the child in question, his age, how he learns etc. However, I will attempt to offer some thoughts and practical suggestions on scheduling that will allow you to glean something to put into your own routine. Math I … Continue reading →

Don’t let homeschooling jitters discourage you

Beginning to homeschool is a little like starting college: you know that you want to do it, and you (possibly) have an end goal in mind. You’ve chosen your school, you’re registered for classes, and you’ve moved into the dorm. So far, so good. The basic requirements are all in place. What you don’t know is what the daily routine will be like, if you’ll get along with your roommate, how hard your classes will be, how well your high school study habits will serve you, and if you’ll do well enough to cross that eventual finish line and get … Continue reading →

2006 in Review: Homeschooling Blog at a Glance

As a new homeschooling blogger at Families.com, I wanted to know everything that has been discussed to date. In response to my own curiosity, and in an effort to make perusing our articles easier for you, our readers, I have compiled all of the blogs for the year 2006. Deciding to Homeschool Why homeschool Am I qualified for this? Reasons that Homeschooling Works! My Most Important Advice for Homeschoolers. The Cost of Homeschooling Instead of standing up for their own kids, why not stand up for all kids? Disclaimer: I am hardly an expert in education. Did You Know? ‘Empirical … Continue reading →

How Do You Get Your “Me” Time

This is a question I frequently get asked. After all, I am the very busy homeschooling mother of five kids. In all honesty, it’s much easier now that my five kids are under the age of nine. When they were under the age of five though, I had quite the different perspective. I always struggle with this question because the truth of the matter is we live in a society that places far too much weight on personal ‘me’ time. One working mother even asserted to me that I was only “half-brained” because I stay home all day with my … Continue reading →

After School Brownies You Can Be Proud Of

So my kids don’t go to school, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get the 3 o’clock munchies. For the last two years, which we are now affectionately referring to as the “twin years”, I just went to the grocery store and bought the pre-packaged stuff just like everyone else. There is an equation in life, particularly when life gets very hectic, that says sometimes it’s easier to just spend the money in order to save the time. But no longer is it easier to spend the money. My old ‘cooking self’ is back again, and I am now on … Continue reading →

Self-Contained Classrooms

The past two types of teaching that I have discussed dealt with students seeing multiple teachers throughout the day. In today’s teaching style, I will discuss the self-contained classroom. When a classroom is considered to be self-contained, the students remain with the same teacher for all subject areas. The only time that the students leave the teacher is for lunch and for a scheduled activity such as music, physical education, or library. Most primary grades are self-contained. The students stay with the same teacher throughout the day and the teacher teaches all of the subject areas. In a self-contained classroom, … Continue reading →

Departmentalized Teaching

In my previous article, I discussed the teaching method that I encountered during my eighth grade years. I refer to this method as semi-departmentalized. In this article, I will discuss the method that I consider to be complete departmentalized. Most high school and middle school teachers teach using a departmentalized method. In a departmentalized grade, all subjects are taught by a different teacher during a different block of time. For example, one teacher will teach math while different teachers teach English, history, science, and reading. In some cases, reading, spelling, writing, and language arts are all combined into the same … Continue reading →

Semi-Departmentalized Teaching

Through my eight years of teaching, I have encountered several different teaching situations. Classroom set-ups and teaching styles vary greatly from room to room and teacher to teacher. However, the class schedule and subjects taught also come with variety. My first four years of teaching, I taught in a semi-departmentalized setting. This is the name that I labeled it. I have never heard anyone use the term before but it seems to fit nicely. I say semi-departmentalized because there were only two teachers and we shared the subjects that were to be taught. To some extent we were departmentalized because … Continue reading →

Teaching various ages: the challenge

My oldest daughter is newly teen-aged. My middle daughter is ten, and my youngest is four. This can make for an interesting day. Yesterday, while Teen Daughter was struggling to make sense of something about percentages (and struggling loudly, so as to include all of us in her woes), and as Middle Daughter was explaining (to herself, out loud) that there should be four factors for this particular product, rather than three, Youngest Daughter had a question: “Mommy, can I get into the craft cupboard and get the glitter and the glue and make something fabulous?” And here you have … Continue reading →

Why We’re Not Going Back to School

We never stopped schooling in June. My kids’ school year runs from July 1st to June 30th. This may seem like a curious practice to someone who is schooled out of the home. But actually, skipping the summer break and opting for a year long academic calendar makes a lot of sense for us. . .and for other people too. Review, Review, Review Do you remember public school? When you spent the first 6 weeks reviewing what you should’ve learned last year and the last month reviewing for tests and dreaming of summer vacation? In December we didn’t do a … Continue reading →