Set the mood

So in keeping with our homeschooling theme I am going to talk about how we set the mood each day, create a relaxing and laid back area, and the difference in our school vs mainstream school. One thing I have noticed with some of my kids being in mainstream schooling that has changed so much from when I was in school is the atmosphere. Some classrooms are just what I remember from growing up, cold, hard, and strictly business. Some teachers added warmth with how wonerful they were and the love they showed us, some seemed to just be there for business. I have seen a change in many classrooms though since I was in school. There are alot of teachers who add cute little reading corners with rugs and comfortable seating. In most classrooms the desks all in rows and facing the front of the room are long gone and have been replaced by tables where 4 or more kids sit together to learn and sometimes work together. I have seen many of the teachers my kids have use diffusers and wax warmers to encourage comforting scents into their classroom instead of the stuffy, staleness that seems to automatically enter schools no matter how new or old the building is. Classrooms are just so much cuter today than they were a few decades ago. Many teachers try to bring a coziness in and give off an element of home to their rooms. I know when we used to walk into the class for meet the teacher days the first place my kids would gravitate towards was the comfy corner if there was one and the first thing I would notice was the scent of the classroom if there was one going. Even though that scent tried to cut that musty classroom smell the smell was still there but it definitely added comfort and I was more content leaving my kids in a classroom that the teacher went above and beyond to bring the comforts of home into. The thing about homeschooling is that those at home comforts are already here. When you choose homeschooling you have to decide where in your home school will happen. This truly depends on your house, do you have an extra room, extra space, where are you most comfortable teaching, how large is your curriculum, what classroom extras do you want to display, do you want to put things in a certain place each day or keep it out until your next school day. Also, you may need to look at your kids learning styles, how easily distracted they are, do you want one established area only for school in your home or are you ok with a multiuse space. So much to consider! But, no matter your home size you can make it work! We have a smallish home. Our first year homeschooling was at our old house but we worked each day in the kitchen or our little den off the kitchen. When we decided to homeschool my oldest son we had moved into our home we are in now. I set him up at the kitchen table. More and more as the school year went on we would end up on our living room sofa. That was perfect for just the two of us. When the girls joined us the following year we decided on more structure and the little kids worked at our kitchen table always and our big girls worked in their room and in my mom's room when they needed her help. She was amazing at helping me each day with the teenagers so I could focus on the little kids. The next year we would go back and forth from the kitchen to the living room and continued that up until I got pregnant with Joel. Wow, that was an interesting year! We started off in typical fashion, kitchen and living room but I ended up put on bedrest most of the pregnancy starting a few weeks after we started our second semester. Of course, we had fears on how I was going to do this. So, about a week after bedrest started both little kids curled up in my bed one afternoon to watch a movie and I realized I can do this! I certainly did, we did school right in my bed together and once the weather turned nice we would head to the front porch where I curled up on a wicker loveseat and would do our work outside in between chasing Carp who was a very busy toddler. Very interesting but probably one of our best school years! After that year all the kids started doing most of their work in their rooms to get away from the distraction of a newborn and a toddler. Three years ago after Hanni graduated out of 8th grade at the charter school she and Carp went to and since they didn't offer high school grades at the time we had to make big decisions. We decided to go back to homeschooling. Eli was still here at home doing school but Hanni decided to go to public school when I gave the kids a choice a few years prior. Since she was homeschooling we decided to go ahead and homeschool Carp that year too. Their school was 30 min away so it took alot out of our days to do the school runs and it just made the most sense to not make that drive for only 1 kid when the rest were homeschooling. We learned pretty quickly, after going overboard on supplies, school decorations, curriculum for each kid that where we were teaching wasn't going to work. Two high schoolers, one elementary schooler, and one preschooler all around our table. So many distractions! So the high schoolers went to their room, Joel and Carp would share the table while still having freedom to sit on the sofa and work. We also found ourselves in my room on some occasions. Loved that year but so unorganized. The next year we decided to clean my closet out over summer and while the rest of our home is fairly small my closet is huge but long and not very wide. We put my clothes at one end, pulled our antique sewing machine in for a desk for myself, had a desk and chair for Joel, and one of those tv dinner tables and the perfect size ottoman for Carp to sit at. I had built in shelves that worked perfectly for keeping our books and some supplies, and a hanging organizer I put between the boys desks to keep their daily supplies at easy reach. I put our white board in there and was able to decorate the walls with a nice weather and days of the week poster. I had the alphabet displayed along the top of our wall. I had my mom's old dresser in there with a tv and dvd player set up for videos and cd's to go along with some of our lessons. Book baskets on the floor for each kids were easily available. I loved this room for our schooling! We used this for almost a whole year but when Randy would work nights it got a bit sticky trying to keep the boys quiet going through my room back and forth to our "school room". It was a good organized place though for that year. We ended up back in the living room right at the end of the school year because of waking Randy too much and maybe we will go back to that room at some point but last year we just ended up in the living room doing work and that was okish. Not my favorite. This year we are still in the living area but I have a nice area set up behind our sofas by the fireplace and love this spot! I cleaned out our china cabinet and while we still have most of it used for dishes, table clothes, various other things that belong there, I have two top drawers for folders, supplies and such. I have another drawer in the table behind our sofa for some things and part of our entertainment unit the kids can store their books in when we are not in school. They curl up in front of the fireplace to do their work, how cozy that will be in winter, and I sit in my reading chair to teach them and give instruction. So we go from room to room each year. Each year we find the spot perfect for us and so far it is good. Some years we want a more formal room, like my closet that we transformed into a schoolroom and sometimes we just need comfy. Setting the mood each day has been a challenge in the past for me. Ok, I hate cleaning and straightening up. In the closet I would just shut the door and make a dash to get it ready each morning. We have had years we just leave everything out and years the kids have to put it up. I like a mix of that. Leaving it out makes for an easy, quick start each day. Putting it up is extremely nice because my house doesn't look like a tornado went through, I don't feel like we are living in a school, it helps teach the kids to put stuff away. I think the fact that we are on one side of the living area this year and I am tucked back in a corner could make it easy to just leave it all out but I am determined to put everything up each day after school. To make for an easy morning, each evening after Joel falls asleep I do a five min or so run through our whole living room and put anything left out away, pick up all his drawings and put them in a folder, if there are any clothes needing folding still I will do that and put them away, make the cushions and pillows look nice on the sofa. The big kids do dishes and either they will or Carp will wipe down counters. Eli is a gem and started setting up the coffee pot to get it ready for each morning. The kettles are filled with water for anyone who decides on oatmeal for breakfast. I love our family evening routine and it really does make our mornings so easy! We love having a cozy and comfy school day! Joel's morning chore is to put water in our diffuser and help pick the oil for the day, we will sometimes light a candle (soy or beeswax and hemp wick) or put wax in a warmer. If the kids want to lean on the hearth we will put throw pillows along the hearth. I try to keep decorated for the seasons, especially in our school area. Joel always eats first thing in the day so he will eat before touching any work, Carp is a linger a bit, eat in between things after he's woken up a bit person so he will sometimes bring his food and work and eat or just take a bit of a break. I also allow them to bring drinks to the school area and leave them on the table while they work. On cold days I will make hot cocoa, warm cider, or tea if they choose. My number one thing I have learned is if they feel comfortable they are better behaved and much more willing to listen and learn. I can't keep it too comfy though because then they get lazy. HA! I also let them wear pjs to school if they choose because many days during the cold weather I take mine off from the day before, shower, and just put fresh pjs on. They have even worn costumes and robes. The main thing I insist on is that they do wear clothes, no coming to school in just boxers and they must have a shirt on. Seriously you have to set the ground rules with boys!! Ha Ha! We do keep legos in the school area, partially because that is the best place in our living room for Joel's lego box. The other reason is because sometimes I can keep their attention longer if they have something small like legos, figit toys, playdough, stuff like that in their hands. We also have pulled them into lessons! Math with legos, fractions are best taught with them! So essentially, to set our mood right for learning time: A well organized, clean start for each day defintely helps us Joel being well fed, Carp being allowed to graze through the morning or eat while working Drinks, and in cold a nice warm drink Get our diffuser set up Sometimes other smelly comfort Pillows Being able to spral out on the floor or curl up against a pillow I love my reading chair and am very comfy in it to get ready each day Small toys for figiting as long as they don't distract A stuffed animal is allowed if it doesn't distract Remembering God is in control of our day Seasonal decorations Just being in our home with all the comforts of home Coffee for me! So there is how we set and keep our positive moods for school each day. Each family is different with different ways they school from the room they school in to what their school area looks like. We have tried just about all rooms in our home and decorated it super school like and super home like. We like home like the best but try different ways to see what works best for you and your kids!

A day in the life

My last post was supposed to cover this but I ended up really thinking about curriculum because that is truly a huge part of homeschool and I personally love curriculum and all the teaching materials each year. Our curriculm sets us up each year for success or a tough year. How our year, months, weeks, and days look also is a huge part of how successful we will be though. So, I am going to start with our year. Each year in May I think about what's worked, what hasn't. I start mentally planning for how our next year will look. Will we go through summer or will we stick to a traditional full summer break and start in August or September? We almost always go through summer and start what is officially the new school year in August. In the past we have started as late as the week after Labor Day and I really loved that old school way but the reality is we are required 180 days and some years that has been super hard to get to. Life can get hectic and when you have an extra like the fact that you are also homeschooling busy days can float by and not a single school related thing is done. Then at the end of what is planned for the school year you end up having to add days and go well into summer to make up for all the missed days. That truly stinks and now we plan ahead for a sucessful school year. I do miss the fully lazy days of summer for weeks on end and not starting school til September but (1) many of those summers were cut drastically short due to catching up from days missed and (2) several weeks of pleasure in the summer is not worth stressing out all year trying to stick to a very strict schedule and then when a day or so is taken out for appointments or illness or just even a random busy day, and those days in life with kids add up quick and create a very stressful school year. So, a couple years ago I sat back and looked at every year we had homeschooled so far and what works best for us, looked at the years that we just a mess, looked at curriculum that has worked, looked at the strictness of our schedules each year, looked at holidays, looked at learning styles, looked at what the days looked like and how to take from each thing to make a better school year all around for the kids, Randy, and myself. I looked really deeply at myself as well and the things I have done as a mom to make good years and really bad years. I had to be honest with myself and know my weaknesses. I looked at my personal struggles such as anxiety and lack of focus and added things to support myself each day. I opened up to my family and trusted people in my life and stopped being afraid to ask for support and help. I looked at each of my kids and took their struggles into account and how their days go better and made a plan to support them in a precise way in each struggle they have. Each day isn't easy peasy but our days certainly look much more peaceful and we are much happier and get so much more done in a much shorter amount of time now! I can say that each day things can change and I do have to be super flexible. What is working for one of us one day might need to be changed the next day. I have to also be really in tune to what each kid is feeling, thinking, and saying to catch anything that might need to change. Our year schedule: So, here is what our year looks like typically. I try to shoot for at least 200 days or even a little more when planning our schedule each year. The reason, life happens, appointments happen and I can't always control if we will have a morning or afternoon appointment, I can't control if I will have to take a certain kid to their appointment or if Randy can step in, he works full time so while I try to make every appointment on a day he's off and at a time convenient for him to take them but I can't sometimes. Of course, if it's an appointment for myself I have to be out of the house as well. I do try to make appointments on telehealth as much as possible so I can still do work with the kids but quickly step away when the doctor or nurse comes on and then go right back into working as soon as we are finished with that appointment. We can also do our appointments at any day or time if I can get a telehealth appointment without much disruption to our day! But, most of our appointments are in person. I also like morning appointments because by early afternoon I am drained. I have always been that way, I wake up, get as much done as I can, do school until we are done for the day, get dinner done, and then I am typically done for the day. So any appointments are best in the mornings, plus it gives the rest of the day to do whatever we want. Life also happens in kids getting sick and mommy getting sick. It happens! I know some people do school whether there is sickness or not because with homeschooling we aren't around other people so it is easy to do school and not miss days. Ok, so I know if I am sick I am miserable. I just want to rest! I don't want to do work. If I have a fever or headache I don't want to look at any words on paper or be up moving around, it will only make it worse, if I am throwing up there is no way I am doing anything. So, if I feel that way, it is only fair to know my kids feel that way, right? I have heard the argument that kids don't feel it as much as adults do. Some kids might not but it still isn't fair. At least in my family it is not. I am not going to judge any other families because we are all different and do things differently and I love that about homeschooling! So, simple things we will push through. Little snotty noses, sore throats, colds, little tummy upset, yes, we will do school. Bigger things, fever, throwing up, migraines (sadly some of my kids get migraines like I do and I REALLY hate that for my babies), even severe PMS (only me now since my youngest girl graduated in the spring), we take off for those things. I am thankful for smaller things that might take a kid out of mainstream schooling for a few days we can push through but when any kid is big sick we all take the day off. Life happens with household stuff and weather. Last fall when our roof was being done there is no way we could concentrate. We took that day off. I try to plan in advance if work is being done but it's not always possible so I keep our schedule with as many days as I can to give extra days as needed. Weather you can't plan for but if we have snow or really bad storms we can take off! Last year while the public schools had to make up snow days we did not due to having those extra days added to our year! Life happens when Randy is off work. I absolutely love Randy's schedule because he is off for a few days each week. That also means he has to work every other weekend but I am perfectly content with that. While we do try to communicate in advance that he wants to do something with the kids there are on occasion days he will wake up and if we don't have much going on he will ask if he can take the kids off on an adventure. He always is so sweet to ask in case we already have plans or an important lesson planned. I always am able to say go ahead because (1) life is precious and our babies are only with us for a short time so we need to make the most of each day (2) remember I add extra days into our year so we don't have to make that day up!! So this is all why I add extra days, we start in summer, we know that life happens and make extra days now to work around life! Our year usually starts in summer now while all the other kids are well into their break and bored because it's too hot to go outside. A few weeks into summer it seems that swimming and playing outside all day becomes less and less so we plan to start school before those dog days set in. It has many benefits for our family, (1) it gives the kids something to do for a part of their day instead of being bored for weeks on end (2) gets those days in to give more freedom throughout the year for extra vacation days and those pop up days off we can't help (3) I don't deal well with the heat and it gets way to hot to do much at all so we would rather enjoy a few weeks in summer but also enjoy time off when the weather gets cooler and more comfortable to be outdoors and enjoying nice breaks throughout the year. So it varies when we start in the summer as far as if we start in June or July (this year it was the last week of June) but we do vary and look at the year ahead and everything we have already done during the summer so far, are we still doing something daily, do we have any big plans, and are we starting to get bored. Until Labor Day we have a super relaxing schedule. I tend to let learning be child led during summer learning. We will still work with our curriculum but it's more at their pace and if they want to work on something different I am open and flexible, though I still have the ultimate yes or no on what we do each day. We usually take a break the week before Labor Day or the week of Labor Day (this year it has been this week because after 2 weeks full of appointments, most that Randy was in charge of or in the afternoons, we have been recouping. The plan was to take this break next week but instead we will be in school next week. Love the flexibility!!! We will take a fall break in October though I am not sure what week in October we will do this but I think I am shooting for end of October into beginning of November. I always shoot for this week because the kids are wound up with Halloween coming up and lots of sugar means very wild days. Also, it's nice to be able to take the day off after for the kids because they are typically up late the night before with all the excitement. It is tough to come down from all that for kids. Trying to teach on the day of Halloween and the day after is very hard! So, we have also come into the tradition of decorating for Christmas on November 1! We also use this time to plan our Thanksgiving menu and Thanksgiving unit in school. This is such a weird year though. We take a week the week of Thanksgiving and usually the end of October works wonderfully to give us 2 weeks to work on regualar curriculum and 1 week for our Thanksgving unit. This year we only have the 2 full weeks so we will work on our regular curriculum until fall break and then that 1 week between fall and Thanksgiving will be dedicated to our curriculum but also anything either of the kids needs extra help or time to work on and we will work through the weekend after the first week since so far Randy's schedule looks like he will be working. Then Monday and Tuesday of the next week we will continue on with regular curriculum and Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we will have our Thanksgiving unit and projects! This is the plan but very open for change as needed and if I feel the kids need a break earlier than end of October we will take an earlier break and just work through the end of October. Then we will have 3 weeks until Christmas break! Woohoo! We will have a Christmas unit as well during this time. We will take 2 weeks and 1 day this year for Christmas. We plan to start back on the 3rd. I am going to try to take down decorations and get our house back together on the 2nd but we will see if that happens or if we keep them til the weekend. Ha! At the end of February we will take a week off and then another week around Easter. We will then work til we complete at least 180 days but if we still have any of our curriculum left we will work until that is complete. Usually end of May we finish everything. If we finish earlier we will continue to work on things to reinforce what we have learned through the year until our 180 days. I do plan for 200+ days though so if we have those extra days off we can make sure to get to 180 easily! In our Holiday units we also work on curriculum or if it's a nice break in our curriculum I will reinforce and have them work on what we have learned. Our Months: We try to take at least a week off every other month. We try to have a new science unit each month. Some months may run over or we may even get two units in one month. It really just depends on the unit and what our month looks like. I try to do a nature unit each month centered around that month or season. I also will include other units along with nature when we have more in school weeks in a month. Our weeks: Our weeks are a little different in our family. Especially this year. I am very thankful that Randy has the schedule he does because it feels like he is home alot more but in reality he really isn't. It also gives us a chance to take breaks in the week more often, go on more field trips, allows him to handle outside appointments and errands that would either break into our days, stress me out, and might be put off to the weekend or not get done or squeezed in during a small amount of time because some places are only open during the week. The downside is that he ends up working every other weekend but honestly it is not a downside for us because we get that time during the week. Since that means he is home every other weekend we are perfectly fine with him working on the weekends he does. Our week is usually traditional for the most part. I do plan our school days for Monday-Friday typically. The good thing is that if Randy wants to take the kids somewhere during the week or there is an appointment we can make up that day on his Saturday off. I love that we can just take off a day or two during the week when he's off and have that weekend to make up the day. Randy typically sleeps later than us on his days off so we can get school done and still have so much of our day left to spend with him. He will watch tv or something in a different room if needed for us to finish up the day. We can plan our field trips during the week when places are not as busy and sometimes even cheaper to do! We also can be available for lots of homeschool days if Randy is off on days set aside by businesses or museums for homeschool days. Our weeks are much more relaxed now with his schedule! If for some reason his schedule changes to a more Monday-Friday schedule that will be fine too but we are definityly enjoying this right now! Our Days: My day starts slowly but early. I wake before everyone else and have my coffee. Sometimes Joel or Carp will straggle in and we all just chill til we are all awake good. I start chores that need to be done while I have a quiet house in the mornings. Some days I go above and beyond and make breakfast. This is not a daily or even a weekly thing for me but a couple times a month I have time and just feel like making a nice breakfast. Most days our day starts with something like eggs, a breakfast sandwich, oatmeal, or something from the freezer. We like our mornings to be easy and slow going. I let my kids sleep!! I used to be the homeschool mom who woke her kids at 6:30 or 7 and get started by 8 at the latest. Nope, nope, nope. Not anymore! If my kids need the rest, they get the rest. Now on school days I don't let them get crazy with sleeping in but on days off they have been known to sleep til 11 or 12. On school days I will stop being quiet around 9 and by 9:30 if they are still asleep I get them up but it is rare on school days to have to get them up. Between 7 and 8 in the mornings they usually start straggling into the living room. I try to get started by 8:30 if I can. Some days it is a little later and some days it is earlier. Sometimes if only one kid is up earlier I will go ahead and get started on schoolwork with that child. English, reading, and math is on different levels for the boys so I can start with those and when the other kiddo comes in they can start on their work and we can do history and science. I keep the same history and science the same for the boys but they might have different assignments more toward each grade level. We take breaks as needed. I love that if a kid is feeling overwhelmed or just needs a break they can run in our backyard or play basketball for a bit to get that energy out and refocus. Sometimes it is just one kid taking a break and sometimes it is all of us. I have full view of both front and back and our home so I love I can see the boys if they need to take 5 or 10 or even 15. On nice days we will set up our picnic blanket in the yard and work or sit on the back porch and work. We try to be done by lunchtime but sometimes there is still some independent work to be done after lunch so the boys can work on that and get it done so we have the afternoon for play, rest, a movie, whatever we choose. We live close to a nice park we can walk to so we will take advantage of walking there on cooler days and playing for a bit in the afternoons sometimes. After lunch I am done for the day usually. I have been up all morning working non stop so while my chores might be done I will help the boys with their chores in the afternoons. I try to start dinner while they work and work on chores while they work. In the evening we read. We try to read with the kids every evening. While we do most of our school in the morning I try to provide toys and other things to the boys that encourage learning all day long. I try to include them in what I am doing many days and teach through what I am doing. Learning is math, science, reading, history but so many kids have zero life skills by the time they get out of school so that is an important part of our learning here in our family as well. So this is how our typical year, months, weeks, days look. It works well for us and I am extremely excited this year with our weekly and daily schedules. I am super flexible each year and look ahead each year to see how it will look. One of the best things about homeschooling is the flexability. If you have a kid who works better in the evenings they can! If you have a job you can work around your job! If you have super early risers and want to just get the schoolday over with first thing you can! Eli and Hanni did most of the same classes when they were in school so Hanni took the books in the mornings and Eli took them in the evenings. One year they both worked mornings but just on opposite subjects and traded when they were done. My first year with Carp homeschooling he would be up at 5am ready to start his day. We wouldn't start quite that early by many days we started by 5:30 or 6! I personally love what we have going now but I am totally ok if they want to start earlier or do things a little differently. I won't be doing evening schooling with my boys right now due to I am not a night person and they need much more of me working with them than Eli did in high school. But in high school if that is what they choose then we can visit that option. I know this is long but I wanted to cover all the things for my rememberance and for anyone reading who is curious about homeschooling and trying to find their own schedule. This is ours but each family truly has to make their own and consider every family member involved to create what works for them.