Homeschooling: Form 1B, Term 1 (2020-2021)

As we are now nearing the end of our SECOND term of homeschooling this year, it makes sense I am just now finalizing the blogpost for our FIRST term, which ended months ago.  It helps me to write it all out in one place so I can organize my many notes and pictures, and I hope it will help anyone else who is considering homeschooling their child!

Before I begin, I must say:  the unsung heroes of this whole experience are the women who work at our local library.  When I talked with them on the phone each week to place curbside orders, it ended up being more of a consultation in homeschooling.  Many of them had previously homeschooled children and they picked out helpful books, always knew what we were learning and how to supplement it, sent home crafts, picked out helpful tools for ME, donated their own products they make and sell for early readers, and found books in other libraries when they didn't have what we needed.  They had me in tears more than once.  They became friends of our family and sources of encouragement for me. 

Our oldest daughter, Naya, started her first term of her first year of school in late August and finished the week before Thanksgiving.  We will do three terms each school year.  Each term lasts 12 weeks:  11 weeks of lessons, and one final week of exams, celebrating all we've learned.  

For your reference, we decided to homeschool based on the philosophy and writings of Charlotte Mason, or at least what I've learned up until this point. Alisha from Little Women Farmhouse is a friend from college and has been doing this longer than we have.  Her detailed blog posts,  Instagram posts and personal communication have been really helpful to me as I've tried to understand the best way to implement Miss Mason's ideas. I also started listening to A Delectable Education and Simply Charlotte Mason podcasts regularly and these women have taught me SO MUCH. I wish I would have spent more time reading Home Education in its entirety, but I did use it sporadically along the way.  I refer back to each of these resources often.

Charlotte Mason believed it was important to provide even the youngest of students with a "wide feast" of topics to learn from, so we covered a lot of different subjects. I love the variety in our days and weeks and how it offers both of us a break just by switching subjects.  However, I was not consistent in all of them this first term. With different subjects taking up different amounts of time and all of them happening at different frequencies throughout the week, I needed some help visualizing what our week would look like.  So, I purchased the Scheduling Cards from a Delectable Education. They were only $5 and they were a great fit for what I needed. I also purchased their Curriculum Template for Form I which helped me track all the books I hoped to use for each subject and provided me with links to podcast episodes that would explain each section.  I downloaded it on my laptop and use it at the beginning and end of each term for my overall planning and then I use this simple planner to scribble down my daily/weekly notes and plans as we go.

Below, I will record how we approached each topic and what specific books, materials and activities we included. Since it's primarily for me, I wanted to remember these key details for future years.  It's a long read for anyone else :)  

Bible- We started most of our days with Bible time.  We read through the book of Genesis (CH 1-15) and the book of Matthew (CH 1-9), alternating days.  We chose about 15-20 verses at a time, trying to complete a whole "episode" rather than stick to chapter divisions.  I would begin by making a statement such as "Last time we read about Jesus healing a man's hand.  What do you remember?"  to help her review and connect her last reading to what we would be starting that day.  Then, I simply read my ESV Bible aloud to her and asked her to tell me what she understood of our reading periodically. To reinforce her comprehension we listened to the episodes of the God's Big Story podcast in the car or during down time in the afternoon and also used Bible Study Fellowship's Genesis Questions for Level 1 in our reading time occasionally.  I prepared myself by doing my BSF Genesis lessons and doing a Bible Study on the Sermon on the Mount by The Daily Grace Co. as well as listening to the Help Me Teach the Bible episodes on Genesis and Matthew and Knowing Faith Podcast as they discussed Genesis. I like podcasts :)

Math-  We purchased the Simply Charlotte Mason Level 1 Math Book and a Grid Notebook for her to use. I bought them in the the bundle and learned a lot from the teacher's guide as well.  I debated this purchase, but I am THRILLED with the product and the overall method.  I highly recommend this curriculum.  I bought a bunch of beads, pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks off Amazon and collected our own coins and other items from around our house to use as manipulatives.  When we first started with the smallest numbers, we used Rummikub tiles, UNO, Dominoes and playing cards to help her recognize each number. Other than that, we regularly use a small whiteboard and marker for her to practice writing. This curriculum really values the children slowly getting acquainted with the numbers, one at a time, in many different ways.  I especially loved the way it sets up good habits and patterns for her to already understand multiplication naturally in the future (when we studied the number 10, she observed that there were groups of 2 and groups of 5 in that number and practiced counting that way).  This term she worked on numbers 1-19. 

We made sure one day of math involved purchasing apples and pumpkins at the local orchard. The nice cashier threw off our math when she gave us an unexpected discount :)

Often after math we would have a free play time, physical education or singing because of what I read in the teacher's guide of Simply Charlotte Mason's Math bundle.

Physical Education-This term I was very relaxed as far as planning this subject.  I tried to get us outside during this time and I tried to have her using her body and improving a skill that was challenging developmentally for her.  We did hopscotch, jump rope, jumping jacks, skipping, frisbee and jogging. Sometimes she just played on her balance bike on the sidewalk.  We also worked on balancing on one leg.  As it got colder sometimes we used Cosmic Kids Yoga videos, which she really liked.

Trying a yoga video together.

When baby sister had an appointment, Naya got an afternoon at a fun new park.

Singing- We used Happy Hymnody's Hymn of the Month resources to learn a new hymn (which we did before we started school, but it was nice to have a dedicated time to it now). We often got out instruments and I tried to learn it on the piano as we sang.  We also got through the first Unit of Solfa Sofa on Youtube which was really stretching for her and fun.  She learned There is a Fountain Filled with Blood, A Mighty Fortress is our God and For the Beauty of the Earth as well as I've Been Working on the Railroad and the notes Sol, Mi and La. She definitely has an ear for music and an interest in it.  She worked on learning a few simple songs on the piano with her dad and I noticed the solfa practice really helped her match pitch and start to read music.

Reading- I really worried that I didn't know what I was doing in this subject, but what we did worked well. We did reading practice all five days, but we tried it differently each day.  First, I chose 10 sight words from lists I found online and we made flashcards to help her practice throughout the week. Then, I wrote a few sentences with those words and we worked on trying to read those. We used Discovery Toy's Busy Letters activities one day a week. And then we spent time working on word families.  She was already familiar with all her letter sounds, but some blends were new to her.  I would introduce a sound like "ug" and then number 1-5 below it and ask her to look at her alphabet on the wall and try to figure out words that have "ug" in them (rug, tug, mug, plug, etc).  We kept a notebook of words she could routinely read and we kept all our old sight word flashcards and played games with them when we had extra time. By the end of the term, she was really reading on her own. I will never forget the first time she just sat down with a book from the library, so excited that she could read on her own, and didn't put it down until she had read the whole thing!

The first night of a new habit:  curling up with a library book and reading to herself. 

The happy chaos of library day <3

History- We bought "The Discovery of the Americas" by Betsy Maestro and really loved the pictures and the information about the native people and their civilizations.  When we finished that we also checked out "America Begins" from our library and read the chapters up until Leif Erickson.  We bought the Leif Erickson biography by D'Aguilar and read that next. On Columbus Day we checked out "We Were There, Too" and read about Diego Bermuda who was a young boy along with Columbus on his voyages. Again, each time we would read from these books, we would then conclude our time with my daughter re-explaining, or narrating back to me, what we had read.  This helps to ensure they sift out important information from the texts and use their own words to make sense of it.

Spanish- Even as a former Spanish teacher, this has been an area of weakness for me.  I wanted to take a relaxed, organic approach instead of purchasing a formal curriculum, although in the future I will look into Cherrydale Press.  This term, we purchased the book "Mango, Abuela, y Yo".  This book is such a meaningful, beautiful story;  it is available in English, too, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone with kids.  We read it slowly, one day a week, and let it inform the vocabulary we practiced.  This term she learned some family and clothing words.  We also took one day a week to practice songs in Spanish.  This term we learned some of our favorites:  Estrellita and Cristo Me Ama.  Finally, we purchased the book "Pio Peep" and read some poems and nursery rhymes from time to time and supplemented with Spanish books from our home library or from our public library.  It was a little scattered overall, and I will do it a little differently in the future, but my goal was each day to do a short immersion experience and I can tell that she grew in her comprehension this term.

Natural History- This term we studied science based on the books "Wildlife in Woods and Fields" by Arabella Buckley.  We got through chapters 1-5 this term, reading once a week.  Another day of our week was spent reading out of "Squirrels and Other Fur-bearers" by John Burroughs.  This book was challenging for us, and although it provided me with a LOT of good information, it was hard to get her excited about it.  We read very small chunks at a time out of chapters 1-2.  Our remaining science time was spent walking outside, looking through our "Rabbits, Squirrels and Chipmunks" take-along guide, and reading other library books about these same animals as well as trying to identify a few trees on our normal walking routes by their leaves. We made a chart comparing different squirrels and we did a few leaf rubbings as well.

She planted her own sunflower late in the year and had fun observing it whenever we were outside.

Tales- We bought the "Blue Fairy" book to read some fairy tales in their original form, and it was a huge joy for both of us!  This term we read Beauty and the Beast (soooo much more beautiful than I remembered!), Why the Sea is Salt, and Rumpelstiltskin and loved each one of them. We also read from a book of Aesop's Fables we purchased. This term we read four fables:  The Fox & the Grapes, Two Goats, The Fox and the Goat, and The Grasshopper and the Ants.  Sometimes we spent this time reading library books, too. She listened, looked at the pictures and narrated what she understood periodically. 

Geography- We started using the book Charlotte Mason herself wrote for this topic "Elementary Geography."  This term we covered lessons 1-4.  We both really loved the first lesson so we recited that poem with motions many times and used it during our handwriting time, too. Overall, this was a hard topic for me to fully understand how to implement.  We spent a lot of this time outside noting the placement of the sun, tracing our shadows at various hours during the day, noting the weather, discussing positions (left, right, front, behind) and how they change with our movement, and then contrasting those with directions (N, S, E, W) and how those are fixed. We talked a lot about concepts like how we can know the earth is round, and some vocabulary words like horizon, continent, country, state, city, and county. We also read the book "This is How We Do it" and discussed how these children live in other parts of the world in comparison with our daughter's life here. It was a great book to purchase, we loved looking at it all term and we used it to help us color in a map of the different countries represented.  

Frequent walks connected to what we learned in Geography, Nature History and Physical Education. 

Handwriting- At the very beginning, we practiced writing out the day and date.  Since then, she spends a little bit of time copying something I've written or tracing something I've printed off. I eventually purchased this paper, and often I copied down a line from a poem we've read. Happy Hymnody also provides some traceable lyrics for their hymn studies, so sometimes she does that instead.  And, we have a Melissa and Doug book that combines tracing and writing with stickers, so she does that once a week to break up the monotony.  I pointed out two small adjustments for her to make this term and we kept an eye on them each week to make sure she improved. 

This was from her first week of school; a line from the psalm she learned to recite.

Poetry -We bought an anthology that I really love and read 1-2 poems from it daily.  Some days I selected ones, some days I let her choose. Towards the end of the term I found short poems that had simple, encouraging messages and we would read them at the start and end of our school day.

Handicraft- This time was spent practicing in the kitchen/garden, learning to do chores around the house or learning a specific craft or skill. This term we focused on helping with breakfast, measuring and mixing for baking, learning to fold and put away her own laundry, and sewing by hand. I will admit that this term I did not spend as much time on the hand sewing or the "craft" part of this subject and I know I need to research and prepare a little more in the future to be more consistent.

Garden chores included pruning basil and helping to measure ingredients for pesto.

Brush Drawing- I did not implement this subject as Miss Mason intended it during our first term.  Our daughter simply played with water color or used this time as extra craft/drawing time.

Naya made her Grandpa a birthday card, making sure to write the date correctly :)

Recitation- This is time we spend learning to recite, annunciate carefully and pronounce words beautifully. She practiced with the poem "My Doggy", Genesis 7:11-16, Matthew 2:7-12, Psalm 19:1-6 and the hymn "Holy Spirit, Truth Divine" this term, alternating days.  I liked that the Bible passages were from stories we had read this term, so it really helped us remember them while we recited.  The Psalm and hymn I chose, and the poem she selected on her own.  Since she wasn't reading quite yet, I would say one phrase at a time and she would repeat me, trying to add her own emphasis.  As she eventually memorized more and more, I helped less and less, but the overall goal was to recite, not necessarily memorize. This was sometimes an area of resistance for her, so we tried to schedule this time outdoors, while hitting a balloon, or immediately after free play time. 

Composer Study-  We studied the German composer Richard Wagoner this term.  I followed Ambleside Online's rotation and their suggestions for pieces, but we added a few because I wanted to focus on just one composer.  We listened to his music laying down, or dancing, and then we sprinkled it into our school day the rest of the week while we worked. I made a spotify playlist of his pieces and the other songs we learned this term so that we could play them throughout the day. 

Drawing- I did not put many parameters on this subject.  Once a week, we dedicate time to sit down and draw something we have been reading about, or something we have seen outside. I let her pick ANYTHING that fits that description.  I sit and draw next to her during that time and when we are done we explain our pictures and hang them up with magnets on the back door near our school table for the week.

Picture Study- We studied works from the artist Titian, as recommended by Ambleside Online's rotation.  I found a packet for free from A Humble Place that I printed at our local UPS store on high quality paper that included each of the 6 pieces we studied. I liked that she also included some background information for me about each piece, but we didn't go very in depth.  Instead we observed, tried to describe them in detail without looking, speculated on the people and animals involved, etc. She really enjoyed this time. 

Overall, I am truly thankful for what we BOTH learned over our first term of homeschooling.  As far as planning was concerned, I spent time before the term started researching and mapping out my overall goals, but then each weekend I would map out our week loosely in an hour or two.  I largely let the books guide us and if it took us longer to read something, we adjusted.  If an idea we read about interested us, we took a "rabbit trail" following that interest in other books or videos. 

I love the imaginative play that happens when cousins play together outside all afternoon.

Our cousins came to homeschool with us one day. The kids all loved the science experiment.

We enjoyed the freedom and flexibility that homeschooling provided us especially as we navigated lots of additional medical appointments with our youngest daughter. We had lots of wonderful time outside and visits with cousins, and she especially enjoyed the day we spent at the Daniel Tiger exhibit and learning at the Indiana State Museum.  We also joined in at the beginning of the term with a group of local homeschooling moms and their children once a week.  We were quarantined twice and had lots of coughs around the holidays and we were so thankful that her education never took a break.  For us, for now, it was a great decision.

The Daniel Tiger exhibit was a huge highlight this term!

At the museum, very interested in learning about the neuroscience of addiction with her uncle.

We thank the Holy Spirit for being our true Educator and for guiding us as we try to teach our daughter. We know all truth and knowledge and wisdom come from Him alone.  We learned a lot this term and we know we have a long way to go! 

Naya Renee:  6 years old, Term 1 of Form 1B.