Finding Our Late Elementary & Transition Years Homeschool Groove

That would be Celine. Learning With Littles is what life looked like with toddlers in my home. I didn't blog then so I took a look back to that time and wrote what we did do during those years. As the kids grew out of that stage and into early elementary homeschool looked like this.  That's my writing that covers the early years. But there's a lot of posts on Homeschool Help also.

I didn't know you were a homeschooling mom Beth. Maybe you mentioned it somewhere but I missed it. I do like the planning also. I'm not so great with always following through but that's why we evaluate at the end of the season and adjust our expectations accordingly for the next!

Suyai, I'm not sure how old your children are but when I had littles I did not rise early. I talked about that a bit in this recent post. This is something actually quite near to my heart - encouraging mothers with young children, who are struggling with the realities of that season of motherhood. I am writing a post right now with ideas for filling your well during that very intense time of mothering.  I'm not sure if that's the case with you but if it is, I have a post coming where I talk about mornings with little ones. Personally, it was unrealistic for me to rise early when I was getting up through the night for years and years. Currently I go to bed around 9:30 and without littles in the house I sleep a solid 8 hours. I could never have gotten up early when my children were little. They were not good sleepers. We don't watch TV and haven't now for years. I talk about what we did with our young children and TV in this post - Learning with Littles. In those days it was 1/2 hour of morning PBS. Movies, if you mean entertainment type we do those once/week as a family. The kids watch documentaries once every couple weeks. Unfortunately, I don't have much to recommend. I haven't kept a list through the years.  I do have a list of current media in our home on my sidebar under read~listen~watch. These are not necessarily appropriate or interesting for young ones though.

No specific source to recommend. Now that we live in Canada we dropped our netflix subscription.  I google free online documentaries and go from there.

All Through The Ages is an amazingly comprehesive literature guide. I wish I had known about it years ago. It would have made finding historical and geographical books easier. Oh well...  I have it now.   

All Through the Ages is out of print. There are two sellers listed on amazon.com but they won't ship to me. I tried a smaller bookstore, in Edmonton, which has done special orders for us in the past but they say they can't get it. And, it is not available through the library system. Any other ideas? Maybe a reader has a copy they don't want?

My comment showed up twice for some reason. I forgot to ask if you have ever watched Drive Thru History DVD's? We've quite enjoyed them. Also, your idea of getting out of the house for planning sounds nice. I have always wondered how moms manage to stay focused, though, in a coffee shop. I wonder if I'd keep getting distracted by people I know coming in.

She just started last fall, when she was twelve. Celine seems uniquely suited for programming. Her mind works that way - sequential and logical. I don't know if our other two will like it. It was her choice to do it. Damien offered to teach and facilitate but it had to be something she wanted to do. And she does. So it works. I love listening to the two of them talk computer geek stuff.

Firstly, structure time, not content. For example, our days are structured with certain wake up times and bedtimes, chore and meal times, a morning school time, afternoon play, projects & exercise, evening reading, etc... Start with structuring the day.  Then if it's school they complain about make sure it's not because the material is uninteresting or uninspiring to them or presented in a way that is too difficult for them. There are parts of our school routine my kids don't like as much as others and they "superficially" groan about it (because I'm infringing on their time I suppose) but at the end of the day they look back and feel good about their day.  Also, the kids love certain things I do with them, Mad Libs for example and story of the world and they know I only do that in the morning school block. Math used to cause Laurent problems and he would complain about our school structure in general because of this. So I changed his curriculum to be more accommodating to his learning style and it's much better now. This took some sluething because kids need help identifying the source of their frustration and in learning how to express that.  I hestitate to say "do this thing" to get your kids motivated because there might be a root cause that is not being addressed.  At some point also, there is the "I'm an adult, have lived longer and know that what you need is a bit of structure" even if your kids don't know it. But I hesitate here also because some people use this mentality to make their kids do all kinds of things that I think are counterproductive to the learning process.  After a long break though I suggest starting slow and with the pieces your children love the most. Another tip for future, keep up with your math practice during long breaks. This has really helped us and works good because they do their math independent of me.

No post queued up. We plan to learn French by living in a French speaking province. I'd like to start a conversation partner type learning experience for the kids but that's about all for this winter. I'm wanting to take some language classes to get me started and we'll go from there. 

I hope you don't mind if I share my experience here. My son, now 15, used to detest writing...when he was in early elementary he'd cry if he had to write anything. His hand cramped, he was and still is a poor speller, he just hated the entire process. The first thing that helped was totally separating developing writing skills (as in penmanship or spelling) from creative writing. The second is that he learned to type in grade two-three which caused an enormous leap in terms of how much he could enjoy creative writing. But finally, in early junior high I made a big shift in my approach to his writing. I gave him content control for his creative writing - basically said, "write about whatever you actually care about" and away he went. He wrote, at that time, about Sonic the Hedgehog or favorite video games but slowly evolved until he began writing a novel! He is, today, a strong and talented writer.

We had a Canadian author come run two writing workshops for our homeschool group- several years ago now- and he told the kids that he almost failed highschool English and that he is still a horrible speller.... but that is why he has an editor. That greatly encouraged my son and others. The point is, you can be a talented writer and not be great at spelling or penmanship. I strongly encourage separating these objectives in homeschooling.

Your son may not be having the same issues mine did so I hope this comment wasn't entirely irrelevant.

See my comment below under Kika's input. Wanted to add... I do not critique my children's creative writing, unless they ask. For me that means, their journal entries, their personal writing, stuff they write to each other, etc... Honestly that covers a lot of our writing with the younger two. We don't do writing assignments. If they are sending e-mails and communicating with other people they often ask for my help in getting the spelling and grammar correct because they want it be right. They also know what good writing sounds like and their internal word compass points them in this direction. They'll say "this doesn't sound right" and then we edit. I guess it depends on what we call creative writing. I like to think all our writing is creative (smile). With the younger two, handwriting practice and copywork is where I explicitly teach penmanship and limited amounts of grammar, we do this twice a week. Handwriting in their books once, copywork once. Not much.  My kids like penmanship practice because we keep it limited in terms of time and they are aesthetically inclined. They like artsy, beautiful things! And I encourage this.  I would say if your son is giving you resistance and disliking something it's good to dig for the root causes and address those. Is it cramped hands? Is it your critiquing? Writing is very vulnerable - for all of us. No one wants to have their work torn apart. Is it just too much in one week?  I have some writing posts in the works that help address what you ask (from my experience, I'm not a writing instructor). Also, I really do love the Bravewriter stuff. I recommend it. But mostly I recommend a chill approach to writing with young kids. It should be fun and enjoyable. Writing should involve feel good emotions. Feeling good about themselves, feeling good about their writing voice. Feeling good about sitting with you and writing. I must stop now. I have lunch to make for my family.    

Donna, For elementary education I believe in child-directed learning supplemented with building foundational skills & knowledge. This is the time for the love of learning to grow deep roots. When my kids were five we didn't do sit down formal stuff, there was no teacher-directed "school" at this age. It was reading aloud, nature, play and crafts. It looked like this. As they got older it transitioned to this. And now we transition again.  I don't do much from the kitchen sink (though I get what you're saying and there is more independence for me now that the kids are older), except maybe have discussions. Those we have all the time about all manner of things. Even though they can do it mostly on their own, I still step in to help with math, as needed.  Formal early years education, if you choose that route, is necessarily parent/teacher-intense - which is one reason we didn't do it. I preferred to be in nature, reading aloud, teaching homemaking skills and slowing introducing academic skills as the need and desire grew in my children.  My husband taught Celine to read and started the other two on that path also. Please see Homeschool Help for my reading posts. Reading - aloud and instruction - has always been very hands-on and remains so to this day.  I am available for homeschool coaching to help you with both your goal planning and to discuss child directed learning, what that looks like and how that might work in your own home. If you're interested (smile).  

Charity, You know what's funny - Celine doesn't particularly like checklists, Brienne loves them and Laurent is kind of ambivalent. He likes routines but he usually just wants to know the next thing, not a long list of next things, "first we'll do math, then you do lego, then we'll do spelling, then we'll do reading etc..." I love checklists and they help me. But I'm trying to figure out the best system for helping Celine manage her time when she's such a different kind of time management person than myself. I appreciate spontaneity also - when it fits in my schedule. Ha, Ha!!

Thank you Rana. Wow, I feel a little nervous when I read comments like these because wow, people read and value my opinion and make potential decisions for their own families based on my recommendations. And that is humbling and scary (it's fine to mess up my kids! -ha, ha but I sure don't want to mess up anyone else!!) Comments like yours keep me on the straight and narrow in terms of being honest, real and only recommending things I really do believe in.  Anyway, do contact me if you're interested in coaching. I would LOVE to talk to you. I'd actually just love to meet you!

Of course they whine and complain (though not lots), just like I grumble sometimes when I have to set aside my writing, or come in from skiing to cook or whatever. Like when my son has to put aside his legos to do his math. I don't think I've ever said otherwise, and if I've given a false impression I don't mean to, but my kids are not always naturally motivated to do chores, or morning school routine, get outdoors for weekend hikes, etc. Neither am I! There is a difference between "I don't want to do this because I don't want to do what you say mom" and "I don't want to do this because it's uninspiring, unmotivating, above my comprehension, boring, simply too difficult, I don't understand" etc. The first attitude we don't tolerate in our home and haven't since the children were little. And I'm not going into parenting littles because that's just not the scope of this blog. The second is where I dig deep and work to resolve their learning issues and difficulties. You don't want to do math? Why? And I dig and question and search for answers. You don't feel like finishing the work we laid out the beginning of the week? Why is that? Was it too much? Is the required reading not well written?  There is a difference between disobedience (refusing to do chores, which frankly my children don't do - refuse that is) and being uninspired by the work. And often being uninspired leads to disobedience.  I am not a task master but there are certain things that need to be done to run a household and for us to all get along together - both maintenance issues and relational (like being kind). Those are the non-negotiables in our home and have been firm boundaries since the beginning. Equally as non-negotiable is freedom for learning and growing within those boundaries. Our children have a lot of learning freedom and they also know that I will not make them sit through boring "learning". I truly value inspired learning and I am seeking that always in their education and if they grumble for a while about something we are doing I take that to heart and consider how I might change course. But usually those grumbles don't last long because I am seeking solutions fairly quickly if they are out of sorts with our school routine. I had one more thought. Often children struggle with transition and the kids will grumble about "oh, do I have to stop this activity right now" but once they get through the first 5 minutes of the new thing they're fine. That's when I know it's not a deeper issue to deal with. But if there is struggle day after day through the whole activity then I have to dig to the root causes.  I hope that makes sense. 

That's a great question. I would say 3.5 hrs/day during the weekday is average yes. My writing time is "sacred" in terms of a fixed time - everyday. The rest of it is variable but usually falls into early afternoon 1:45-2:30 most typically. I like a big block of afternoon time for exercising, home management activities, stuff with the kids etc.. before I have to cook supper (usually at 5pm). Then I often do a bit of blog related work after supper (that's usually when I do photos) before shutting down my computer stuff. It usually works out to about 3.5 hours a day. These times happen to correspond to when the kids do their chores and morning routine, Damien cleans up lunch with the kids and then cleans up supper with the kids. That's how I've managed to work this time into my day - having Damien and the kids help more in the kitchen (smile).  I respond to e-mails and comments often during my early morning e-mail time (right after I get up). I also write on Saturday mornings and work for an extra 2 hours later in the day. Saturdays are usually kitchen chores and writing/coaching/blogging related work for me. That's what works for now and it will change no doubt with the season, as all things do.  Now the trick is to start earning some more money from all this work (smile). 

I don't have time to respond to that right now and we're new to it so I don't have a complete opinion formed yet but I love her philosophy and premise. You're right, it does seem expensive. I plan to go through the book, implement some stuff this winter season and then assess a future online class, but only when Ceine is ready to commit to something like that. I don't know how old your kids are Laura but I don't think a material like  The Writer's Jungle is necessary for littles or elementary kids. But I'll be writing all about that soon (smile).

Hi Laura, since I've used Bravewriter classes I thought I'd offer my opinion. Have you checked out the blog portion of the site? Just by going through the archives (Julie rarely posts these days) I gleaned tons of helpful information related to my attitude in teaching writing and also practical ideas (like having a tea/poetry time each week and many other ideas that worked out very fun for my kids and I). I also had other ideas of my my own that I continued to implement but, again, greatly benefited by reading through her blog posts. Last year, my oldest (he was 14) took the online expository essay class - highschool level- and it was fabulous. Well worth the money even in terms of building his confidence in his own abilities. We had also purchased, the year before that, the "Help for Highschool" curriculum but since I have issues with following someone else's curriculum ( I get bored very quickly) it didn't get used much. The online class was different in that he had fixed class times and was accountable to his instructor - and, by the way, he even liked that experience... having the opportunity to have teachers besides mom :)

I definitely plan on having my middle child take that writing course when she is around grade nine but would also plan on paying for an online course next year for her(grade 8/13ys). It was a huge chunk of our funds but honestly worth it.

Sure! 12, 11 and 9. This is the most structured our homeschool has ever been and honestly, it  didn't play out all that structured in the end. I used these "subjects" as guidelines, the direction to move in, not as  "must check these off the list every day". Our lives are just too fluid (almost in constant flux) to keep to a rigid learning routine so my big lesson this winter and spring was learning to just go with it.  You can read about that here.