We are year round homeschoolers but this summer we are taking a different attitude. Chris and I are helping each child focus on their weakest subject. Every child gets at least 1 hour of quiet mommy or daddy time to work on their homeschooling. The rest of the day is filled with more unschooling learning opportunities.
Lots of hands on… LOTS of hands on learning!
Gardening
Coding (for a gaming server! Who knew the ability to break a server would blossom into a coding opportunity!)
We are on a health kick (more about that tomorrow)
Canning
Camping and reenactment for 2 weeks (which meant weeks of sewing and research on a middle ages time period)
cicadas (when they were here)
Now the kids have started to help me tidy up and fix up our homeschooling/dining room. This is outstanding. Years previous I would get shouted suggestions from the kids while they watched tv or gamed. (shame on me for allowing that) This year I have buddies right next to me helping and asking questions. “what would help my brain think better? Near the window or next to the fish?”
I LOVE these questions because they will resonant throughout their entire life. When working if you know you are highly visually distractible than facing a busy front door will pull you away from work causing problems. If we start today in small steps my children will grow to adults that have a much better handle on what they can and cannot handle sensory wise or attention wise.
I am working hard on my planning up through Christmas. That is super ambitious for a relaxed go with the flow homeschooler like me. But realistically Chris is home and fully my partner in homeschooling. He likes structure. I have been sick this summer and in case that happens again this fall I want to be ready.
*this post contains affiliate links, please see my disclosure page for a full statement. This is my honest and sincere opinion.*
I am going to use The Ultimate Homeschool Planner by Debra Bell published by Apologia
This will be the 3rd year I have used this planner and I love it! I get so many planner to look through and I see cute free planners online that I get easily distracted. Last year I wanted to try a different one and started to. It bombed within the first 6 weeks. Not enough room to write out info for 5 kids. Not enough slots for all my kids so 2 had to share a spot. The worst was I was losing papers. The paper was a light weight and the binding was weak. A planner is no good to me if IT can’t keep it’s self together I am holding on by my fingertips and duct tapes most days so I need the solid support of a high quality planner.
However this year I after a special person gifted me a Candy Crush planner and I have watched a caboodle of #mommyscopes #plannerscopes I want to prettify my planner. I have washi tape, colored pens, stickies for spelling lists and these super cute cate sticky book marks. I am going to show you either on Facebook live or YouTube exactly how I am going to use the planner for 4 kids with differing needs and how to upcycle your planner to awesomeness+
Do you use a planner?
Given that we are special needs homeschoolers and have some unique needs when it comes to planners like therapies, specialist appointments, even daily medication timing WHAT would help you as a family and chief organizational guru have a smoother running family?