Our Record Keeping Methods

    
                                                         HomeSchool Record Keeping

    Record keeping is completely different for every homeschooler. This is how I keep our records. Ive been told I keep extremely in depth and (for most states) unnecessary records. In my opinion better safe than sorry. With every move comes a new set of standards and you never known where youre heading next. If at some point in time we move to a state that has me keep a very detailed account of what we've done I wont find myself at a complete loss. For most of my files I purchased 'The Master Planner'. It is the best 6$ I have ever spent. Its a pdf file so you can print it out year after year. It has every thing from household chores, checklists, attendance sheets, weekly planners, report cards, high school transcripts to babysitting instructions. They have free samples available here. You can also view examples of the entire planner. I will be more than happy to post or link any pdf files Ive created but legally I can not share the forms I use from my Master Planner.

                                                              Attendance
    Attendance will differ depending on your state standards. We've homeschooled in three different states under three different sets of standards. Which includes number of days youre required to attend school. So to make sure that we can tweak our attendance if need be we 'go to' school year around. It makes things easier on me, gives the littles more time with dad when hes home and gives us the freedom to take additional last minute days off. The first thing I do is pull out my trusty Master Planner Attendance sheet. I pencil in the months at the top and mark all weekends. I also mark off any major holidays and birthdays. To keep things straight I make sure to flip the sheet over and pencil in the state and the number of days we must complete. The first state we homeschooled in I had to check in every quarter so I would take that time to fill out the littles 'report cards' and go over their annual check list with them. (the report cards we use come in the master planner. Theyre strictly for helping me keep up with the kids progress. I do not give letter grades. For the annual check list I compose a pdf out of the Worldbook Standards. I print them, then check off everything we completed on the list that quarter. I will be post the Worldbook pdf at a later date) Once I have all holidays and weekends marked off I make sure to mark off any four days my husband has. I also mark off any extended 'vacations' we may need to take off. For instance this year we had to PCS (move). This was a two week process in which we wouldnt be able to do a 'formal' school session. I made sure to mark off those days on our attendance sheet. At the bottom of the sheet you can mark how many days yall had in 'school'. Typically once we reach our mandatory attendance we have a few wks 'left over' for a break. If not, no big deal. Homeschooling isnt nearly as time consuming as public/private school. Youre working one on one (or three in my case) and as the littles get older the more independent work they have. Nothing motivates someone more than knowing they can go play once their daily work is complete. So by the end of the week or year we're no where near exhausted.

    Once Ive filled out my attendance sheet, I get the curriculum list (located in my master planner) and I fill one out for each little.

    Next comes my yearly FIAR (Five In A Row) planner. -here- We use one week a month for Fairy tales and Fables. Then once we reach the end of our volume we reread any favorites.

    After that comes our Daily Schedule. -here- This isnt something we follow to a t. To be honest most days the only person up by 8am is my husband. Having it does give us a bit of guidance if we find ourselves needing it. Since our move our Fridays are now catch-up/ co-op day.

    Lesson Plan. Once you have the rough draft of your daily schedule and youve figured out how many days youre required to teach/how long you want your school year to be you'll be able break down your curriculum for your lesson plans. Just divide the number of pages in your book by the number of days in your 'school year' and plan on using that specific book. A blank copy of my lesson plan looks like this and this.

    Keeping it Organized. I keep all my files in file folders. Then stacked in a box. One folder per kid, per year. At this time I keep all their work. Since we're just starting out its not much. Eventually I will keep a few examples of work from each quarter so we can see their progress. Then any personal or special assignments or art projects.

   

How I picked our 2014-15 Curriculum

                                      Our Curriculum choices for the 2014-15 school year.
                                                                            

Before I get to listing random books I put together for the littles Id like to talk a bit more about our style of teaching/learning.
      In the last post I talked about how we have stuck with an attachment style parenting. That is something we took into consideration when choosing our teaching method. We fancy our selves unschoolers with a bit more structure. We want to encourage the littles interest and make sure they have all the tools at the ready. We're definitely eclectic by definition. We needed something that we could use for multiple ages. M would be the only one to do a math and reading curriculum this year. But J is also very inquisitive and A loves to jump right in. They all love story time. M loves math, science and art. J loves history, science and music. A is interested in anything M and J are doing. Armed with this knowledge I begin piecing my curriculum together. If it helps make a quick list of what youre looking for in a curriculum and keep it close by as youre sifting through options. It helps to do a quick amazon search, read the reviews and then look at their suggestions. You never know what you'll come across. I found some great resources this way. I would also like to add that this is what has worked for our family so far. We are still growing as homeschoolers and what works fo us may not work for your family.

        First I knew I would need a math and reading curriculum for M. She would be doing Kinder this year. Although unofficially because she doesnt meet the age of attendance for our state. When looking for a math curriculum I wanted something moderately priced that I could use year after year. I also didnt want to get a series that randomly quit publishing books at a beginner level. The worst is finding a series that resonates well with every one in the family and when you go to purchase the fifth year you find they no longer make the curriculum. I settled on two different approaches. (keep in mind at this point Im still working on the trial and error aspect) The first was a spiral method workbook, Mathematical Reasoning. I was a bit concerned with this series as its a work book and the price was a bit much for a consumable book. The second series I chose was the Miquon math. Its a hands on approach which uses math link cubes. When the books arrived I found the Math Reasoning fit M perfectly. She absolutely adores this book. The Miquon math is still a wonderful program and we kept it just in case its a better fit for J or A.

          I took my time in choosing a reading curriculum. M showed little interest in learning her alphabet and letter sounds. Now I feel her lack of interest was due to pressure that was being placed on her from an early age to learn these things. I wanted to go with something that would be an all inclusive 'Teach your child to read' type lesson. Since she was hesitant I also wanted to make sure it was something we could go at her pace. Again I found myself with two options. Similar all-in-one type books but different approaches. 'Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons' and 'The Reading Lesson'. M really took to The Reading Lesson and as with the math books we kept both reading lessons in case the other was a better fit for J or A.
        Since both the reading and math books can be consider consumable we purchased a new printer, scanner, copier all-in-one system so I could use the books year after year and eventually pass them along to another family. My husband, the tech savvy person in the family went with a Brother wireless system. We were able to purchase it on sale and it has saved us what we paid plus some in one years time.  
        Now for Kinder you may find this to be enough for your family.  If you look back to the Worldbook Course Study guidelines you'll notice most every thing else can be covered simply by discussing every day life with your child as its happening. For the things that may not be as simple as talking about every day life I found the 'What your x Grader needs to know' series. This is the k-8 series online free of charge. I dont always have the luxury of sitting in front of the computer so we opted to purchase a hard copy.

      For our family we knew we wanted to add a science, history, geography lesson. Per the littles request. As well as a critical thinking and a literature based program. Keeping with our go with the flow, family studies approach I didnt want to purchase a hardcore all laid out for me curriculum. It also needed to be budget friendly.

        About the time I was stuck figuring out what would meet our needs for science two young men knocked on my door. They were selling SouthWestern Advantage products for school. I ended up purchasing both sets of the 'Ask Me' books. (as well as the 'My fun with words') Now since I had never heard of the company and it was a spur of the moment buy I ended up paying a good penny for these books. The 'Ask Me' series however encompassed everything we were looking for. They are interactive, fun and meant for a range of ages. The kids really get into learning about everything they have to offer. At the time I also wanted to purchase the 'Explore and Learn' set but we didnt have the funds. After shopping around I was able to find them individually in great shape for next to nothing.
        

    When it came to fulfilling our need for a critical thinking program (or series) I found Developing the Early Learner. M found it fun, simple enough not to get her discouraged or agitated but was enough of a challenge to get her thinking.

        For a literature based program I found 'Five In A Row'. It can be used as a complete curriculum or picked apart and used as you see fit. You also have the option to purchase the literature packages or purchase the books individually as you go. I found that I could save more if I purchased as we went along. Ive found several facebook groups dedicated to this curriculum as well as pinterest boards to help you expand on the program if you choose to use it as your core curriculum. FAIR also has several 'go alongs'. The first being a bible study, second a cookbook and third a nature studies. The only one we purchased was the cookbook. We've loosely used FIAR Vol 1 and its gone over very well with all of the littles.

         To pull together our year we added a few more things just to pick apart as we needed. M wanted to work on her drawing skills so we purchased one of Ed Emberly's how to books. To give the littles a better understanding of scientific baiscs we purchased Usbornes Illustrated Science Dictionary. For health the Usborne Look Inside Your Body. We're big Usborne fans. Even though the Waldorf curriculum wasnt a good fit for us as a whole we did end up getting their health book Growing, Growing Stronger. (the link is for the newest addition theyre offering) We listen to a variety of music but these are two of the littles favorite CDs. Wee Singing and Toddlers Sing. J is a fan of classical music and next year we'll be adding a classical studies. As the year went on I also picked up books that could build upon the littles interests. Like math books to build on specific concepts, 'I Wonder', and 'You Wouldnt Want to be' books.


            
I hope our experience with these products help give yall some insight into piecing together a curriculum for the early years. In the next post I'll talk about how I put all these books together to achieve our yearly goals and keep on a daily schedule.
      
      
    

Our Homeschool Journey

 

    For my first official post I figured I would start out by talking about our homeschool journey so far. When most people find out we homeschool they typically have lots of questions and opinions. Now for this post I wont be addressing ALL those questions. If youre a veteran homeschooler Im sure you have tons of examples coming to mind right about now and if youre a newb Im sure it wont be long before youre asked some of the most dreaded ones. In this post Im just gonna go over several of the questions I had when I first started on our journey. Some of which were also concerns of family members.

                                             Where do I even begin?!
  I had a lot of time to figure this one out. My husband and I had discussed homeschooling off and on since my oldest was about one and a half. Since we've been homeschooling and meeting others who homeschool I realize just how lucky we were to have started out from the very get go. Now dont fret if youre journey has started mid year or after years of public or private school. Some of my go to homeschool mommas started homeschooling their little ones when they were much older than mine. My first step was to research the homeschool laws in my state. For us this means a new state and new rules every few years. Its not as bad as it sounds but it definitely adds to your work load that already seems pretty full. I had been misinformed about homeschooling under your home of record for active duty military but that is not the case. You must follow the laws for the state you and your family currently reside in. You can read more about that here.  

                                               Can I really Teach my Child?!
    My next question was "Can I really teach my child?". Now this question was not mine originally, I had help. A 'concerned' family member asked me this on a regular basis until I was just about ready to give up on myself. Thankfully my husband had the good sense to keep the self doubt at bay. At the time M was almost three and starting to come into her own. By the age of four most of our family and friends have their children in some sort of school program. Now that M is almost six I know that I am more than capable of teaching her and my other two children. Most of us start out teaching our children from birth. So basically all parents are homeschoolers.We teach them how to say their abc's, count, walk, talk, use utensils, the potty and so on. If circumstances allow there is no reason why we cant continue. Even after most people send their children to school they still work with them at home. Ive found that like any thing else in parenthood you learn and grow with your child. So homeschooling full time isnt as daunting as most would lead you to believe. If this is something youve struggled with know that you are not alone and you can do it. Showing you have an interest in your childs education is the first step.

                                                           
                                                    Whats Our Style?!
   Now that I have all that self doubt out of the way what in the heck do I teach. If youve done a quick google search you probably noticed youre quickly sifting through secular and non secular curriculum, Complete Boxed or Singular Subjects. Literature based or Common Core Aligned. We are not a religious family so I knew I wanted to go secular. Which wasnt as easy of a find as I thought it would be. I found myself searching secular forums for help. Im a very artsy person as are my children and as a family we lean towards a more natural life style. (Nature studies came to mind, a lot) I loved the idea of child-led learning or unschooling but I also wanted to keep to a some what structured math and reading program. We're very much into attachment parenting so I wanted to make sure I was respecting my child's wants, needs, likes and dislikes. I also wanted to be able to get all of my children involved. I loved the idea of family subjects. As in doing history and science as a family instead of individually. After I sat down and figured out what I wanted out of our homeschool experience I was able to better select a curriculum. At least now I had an idea of what I was looking for. Here are a few outside sources you may find helpful in finding what style best suits your families needs.
Homeschooling Approaches,
Methods and Styles,
Teaching Methods

                                                    
                                                                What Do I Teach?!
   After finding our style I was still left with the what to teach questions. Now its trial and error time. Sounds scary? I found it fun. Sounds expensive? It can be. My best advice is to shop sales. They usually appear around tax season. Shop used. Facebook has some great buy, sale, trade groups. Just remember to pay with a paypal account. You dont need to have an account but it will protect you in case of fraud. Or shop on a site that has a trial period where after a certain amount of time you can return the curriculum if it doesnt work for you. For PreK we decided to go with a Waldorf All In One Curriculum. It met our wants. However after about 4 mos I realized it wasnt meeting our needs. So I spent the rest of the year supplementing with free online printables and workbooks I picked up from our local bookstore. By the end of our PreK year I knew that even though I wanted to love the Waldorf curriculum we were going to go a different route. Thats when I came across these standards. The world book typical course of study for PreK-12. This was my big break. With these standards I had an annual 'check list'. From there I could piece together a curriculum. In my opinion this is when the fun really begins. It was a chance for the littles and I to really explore ourselves.

                                                      


In my next post I'll go over what I eventually pieced together for our 2014-15 school year and what sort of records I keep. Hopefully this will help you with your homeschool journey.

Welcome

                                                     Hi there and Welcome.
                                                               Im Rebecca.

                                            Mom of three. Mia, Jae and Ari.

     Im starting this blog so I can chronicle all the things in our every day life. We're a military, homeschooling, natural living family who tends to get lots of questions from family and friends about our life style choices. Whether its because theyre curious or theyre looking to make changes themselves its always interesting.

                                              A Little More About the Family:
    My husband and I met in high school. We were both raised in a very mainstream way. We were married shortly after I graduated and started a family not long after marriage. Im a stay at home mom and my husband is in the armed forces. My beautiful children are Mia (5), Jae (3) and Ari (2). We also have two cats Tick (10), Portal (4) and I cant forget the newest addition Mike (the hamster).
     Being military we move every few years. Typically landing in one location no more than three years. With five moves under our belts PCS'ing (or moving) isnt new for us. Sadly neither are deployments, with over ten years in service my husband has had his fair share. By the time Mia, my oldest was four we had already moved twice and spent several extended stays in hotels and with family. All these constant changes take there toll on a family, especially children. Homeschooling was already a point of discussion but until then I wasnt completely sold. As parents most of us start teaching our children from birth. As a stay at home mom I had the option to continue teaching my children at home. Ive spent the last three years researching different home school methods and different curricula. Im no where near done but we seem to be finding ourselves. We're very secular eclectic. You'll also see our natural living creep in through my posts. We're not as strict as some but we do like to limit the toxins in our lives. Im hoping to post about healthy eating, exercise and cloth diapering among other alternative living options that we've chosen. As well as hobbies of ours; gardening (indoor and outdoor), crochet, and gaming. I hope this blog will help you in your own journey. I cant wait to get sharing.