It may surprise you but I think a bit BIG. God made me that way. It makes it tough to focus on the minutia and details though. Thankfully the Lord knew all this and gave me Chris. I can think BIG while he covers the details and together we make a beautiful whole.
Today’s goal was to create the STRUCTURE of our homeschooling life. I think in 4 year cycles. This way with the average 12 years of learning the kids will go through the same general subjects 3 times. You get 3 bites at the apple.
I find this even more important for my kiddos with slow processing and learning disabilities that require lots or repetition. A preteen with dyslexia may be the smartest kid you have ever met but they just can’t memorize multiplication facts. Repetition in a manner that is not boring is what matters the most. I have to be sure we go over all the material and in some cases several times.
I use multi-sensory learning. Learn with every sense possible. Learn with every mode possible. Try out of the box thinking. Try in the box the thinking. The best part of planning for the year now is I can get an overview of how we are going to try learning. How long we are going to try, and who needs more help in which subjects.
I block out sections and make notes now while I still have this great overview. During the year I find that I get really into the moment and can lose the big picture if I don’t have a guide, lesson planner, to bring me back to our original goals.
Here you can see that I have a serious white board love… I have LOTS of them. This ‘cat scratch’ as my dad would call it is my loose notes on subjects and each child. The red notes are for material that I need to buy. As you can see I am a very visual learner and organizer.
Back to this year’s schedule. I have children that are aged from 2nd grade up to senior year. Their abilities are all over the place so I do not go with boxed curriculums. I chose per subject, per child.
I also try hard to have at least 2 subjects where the WHOLE family is working together. Yes, they will be at different levels of understanding but working altogether helps build our family communication. It saves me a ton of time! It also helps me with that 4 year cycle and being sure that we cover everything rather than get sucked into a subject that a child is obsessed with like birds.
Birds are great don’t get me wrong. I have to encourage other aspects of biology and science. When the whole family is learning together there is a gentle push that we all go in the same direction. That can be helpful when you have a resistant learner.
The structure of the 4 year cycle helps mark this year’s subject load. Now that we have the subjects generally marked out tomorrow will be time to detail the subject load and start the list of what I need. Frankly I am ALWAYS behind on the buy list.
We speak at conventions so spring is the busiest time of our family life next to the holidays. This year I will have the list done before the end of convention season! I plan on getting what I can in Dallas at the Teach Them Diligently convention where Chris and I will be speaking. Two birds with one stone! … oh so that means come buy your special needs items from us so we can get our curric. LOL
[…] DAY 2 Creating the Structure of Our Homeschooling Life […]