One of the greatest benefits of educating your children with a homeschool curriculum is the ability to determine your own schedule…or lack thereof. Although it may be tempting to avoid establishing a specific schedule, there are many benefits for both parents and children.
Young children in particular respond well to the routine of a regular schedule. If you establish a pattern of preparing to begin studies at a particular time every morning, you will find your children will appreciate knowing what to expect and will comply. An early morning routine will help a child to habitually prepare for the day according to his or her skills and age level. For example, a typical routine may require that your child make his bed, dress himself, eat his breakfast, and clear his dishes before beginning home school at, say, nine in the morning. Remember, your children are learning lifelong skills and thoughtful behaviors as they practice tidying up and organizing every day. Next, it is helpful to establish a routine for the home school portion of the day. Beginning with devotionals, prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance can help everyone to focus and signal the start of work.. This can easily be tailored to the particular needs and personalities of your own children. We generally start the lesson portion of our day by completing our math assignments. Math provides a rhythmic, concrete start to our home school day, allowing us to get our brains thinking and solving problems.
Once math (or whatever you and your family select as your first subject) is completed, you and your students can feel a sense of accomplishment in your home school day and continue on with language arts, literature, history, or a unit study covering multiple subjects. Depending on the age of your students, you can tailor your studies to their interests and abilities. After completing one or two subjects, be sure to allow time for a break. Your child may be ready for a snack, some quiet reading time, or a few moments to play outdoors. After a short break, you should be able to complete another subject or two before lunch. Particularly with younger children, you can easily use lunch planning, preparation, and clean up as part of your homeschool curriculum. If you are introducing the concept of fractions, you can help your child cut up an apple to illustrate the math. If you are teaching multiple children in your home school, you can ask one child to divide up the snack among your students. Kitchen skills can be included as an important part of your child’s learning experience. Usually we have a time of quiet study after lunch, which is often followed by physical education. If your child is involved in team sports or classes, these generally occur in the afternoon when most school children are available. Any work left to be completed can be done independently in the late afternoon or evening.
For very young children, integrated unit studies can be themed monthly to follow the calendar. For example, a fun way to define a Kindergarten curriculum is by completing unit studies following monthly themes. September can provide an introduction to the school year with a focus on Autumn; October can be a celebration of harvest; November can be a time of Thanksgiving; December focuses on Christmas, maybe exploring holiday traditions from around the world; January brings a study of winter; February can focus on themes of love; March brings Spring; April celebrates Easter; May can encompass a unit study of flowers or weather, and so on. There are several excellent curriculum programs that offer integrated themes throughout the elementary school years. Some are even designed specifically for teaching multiple aged children at once.
If you opt for a more traditional approach, many children are ready for separate subject studies after the early elementary years. Most of my children began this type of curriculum around fourth grade. We were very happy with Alpha Omega Publishers products, specifically the Lifepacs and, later, the Switched On Schoolhouse series. I have used both products successfully, integrating individual subjects into other curricula and using the full grade level courses alone. These products can help your children to develop the organizational and planning skills necessary to succeed in education and in life. Since the programs are individualized, they encourage each student to plan and organize his or her work and time. As my children achieved the appropriate maturity, they were able to have more autonomy over their own schedules. I simply assigned a certain amount of work each week and it was up to each individual to complete it. Of course, certain privileges were only available to be enjoyed when the work was completed, but it was up to each child to decide when to work and which subjects to complete first.
For example, some children prefer to work on each subject at a specific time of day, completing math in the morning, followed by language arts, Bible, history, geography, science, etc. Other children work best by spending anentire day studying history and completing all the reading assignments, research, and writing associated with a particular unit over a two or three day period of time. These students will work best completing an entire unit and then moving on to another subject. I have found, however, that it is best for most students to complete a brief math assignment daily in order to maintain their basic skills. That is why I prefer the Saxon Publishers math curriculum–the incremental approach allows the student to learn a small new piece of information every day, while reviewing basic skills. Most other subjects will be suited just fine to the more intensive learning approach.
Another benefit of an education at home is the available time to pursue other non-academic interests. Your home school student should find plenty of time to spend observing nature, creating art projects, and practicing musical instruments. You can plan your day any way that works best for you and your child. Just remember to enjoy one of the greatest blessings of your home school day: time with your children!
