The Homeschooling Wife

Eleven months ago, my husband and I settled that the current school year (22-23) would for now be our kids last year at their school. Going forward we would homeschool. It was a huge change for us. I stepped out of the workforce, we are relying on God to provide for our gym as my husband is the only breadwinner, and then of course for the kids. Many times I have had the question, "What about socialization?"

But other questions have been more on point:

• curriculum
• co-op or not
• fieldtrips
• schedule (calendar and daily)

So, I'm sharing this, and going to update the tab on my blog with more details.

But first, a general "disclaimer." I live in Texas, which is an amazing state to homeschool in. Texas requires only that students be taught 5 things.

1. Reading
2. Spelling
3. Grammar
4. Mathematics
5. Good Citizenship, which entails:
1. Federal Holidays
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. History
4. Government

Anyone who lives in Texas and wants more details, I recommend visiting The Texas Homeschool Coalition website. An amazing resource. Every state is different, I highly recommend checking your state's requirement. Now some government schools will argue that you have to notify them officially that you are pulling your kids if they have been attending them. I would suggest if your state doesn't, get your child's academic records, and copies of test scores before they ever hear about you thinking of homeschooling. The schools can be very hostile. 

Now we had our kids in private school, so all I did was opt out of automatic re-enrollment. 

So here is how we homeschool, what we use, and what we do.

Curriculum

      This took work. I researched for months before making decisions. I reached out to families that have homeschooled for years. Scoured websites and blog posts for reviews. I wasn't just going to be schooling one child, but 3, in different grades (5th, 3rd, and PK4). Here is what I ultimately decided on:

5th Grader & 3rd Grader

• Math, Christian Light Education
• Language Arts (Grammar, Reading, Spelling, Writing), Common Sense Press
• Bible, no curriculum. As a family reading the Bible chronologically, and doing scripture memory.
• History/Social Studies - NotGrass History - using their 50 states curriculum this year, additionally say the following pledges: Texas Pledge, Pledge to the American Flag, Pledge to the Christina Flag, Pledge to the Bible
• Science - The Good and The Beautiful - various unit studies
• Handwriting - 3rd grader only, Zaner-Bloser

PK4

• I found an amazing PK4 packet at kindergartenreadyskills.com. I formerly was a preschool director (licensed) and thought to make everything, but her workbook was chef's kiss!
• It includes: alphabet, letters, tracing, mini-month units on weather, hygiene, etc. But I did switch the order of the letter teaching to a phonetics system

Additionally, since I have a 5 year old, we do a general calendar time which is a great review for all three of my kids. And come January we will be adding a typing program for my 5th and 3rd grader, currently reviewing some recommendations.

Language Arts was the only curriculum that really gave me pause. I was also looking at IEW's curriculum but decided it wasn't for us. 

Co-op or Not

      When we made the decision to homeschool, it came after months of prayer and mediation. I felt that God was telling me that I need to spend the next year focused on my husband and my kids. Keep close to home. My husband supported this. Around the time we made this life altering decision, our church announced for the 2023-2024 school year, they were sponsoring a Co-op! And they did ask if we would be apart of it. We said no. Not forever, but for this year for sure based on our understanding of what God was wanting from us. We will revisit it in the future. But I do say, I enjoy the freedom of being with my kids, our own schedule, and if we need to shuffle life around, it only impacts us. I know some people who absolutely love their Co-op. And maybe one day we will experience one. But not today.

Fieldtrips

We haven't yet taken any dedicated ones. I plan to plan better for the Spring. I will use Christmas Break to do more research. But honestly we have had many family commitments this semester. We have gone to a few parks mid-week, and connected some with other homeschool families. I even joined a Facebook Group for our area that plans 2 to 3 events a week. I need to review and sign up to participate in one or two.

But don't think we are homebodies. We run errands together. Meet my husband for lunch, or just visit him at the gym. We have visited friends of mine mid-week and enjoyed fresh air. Also the library is usually a bi-weekly visit for us.

Schedule

      Our calendar isn't as set as one would expect from me. I have a general idea of what I want us to do, and when to have off. We "follow" the districts around here for the major holidays, and we haven't settled on what summer will be like. My husband is on board with a "year round" mindset, and I don't disagree with his logic. I am thinking for summer we won't do a full course load, a modified day, but our kids will still be engaged in focused learning.

Daily/Weekly though we have our routine down by now. From 8-8:30 we usually start our learning time. And here is our order:

• Bible - daily scripture reading, daily devotion, prayer time (kids also have prayer journals), scripture memory review. Also, for where we are in our daily chronological reading I will find coloring sheets or projects to reinforce the lesson/reading.
  
• Mathematics - Speed Drills first, then lesson or quiz/test
• Language Arts, 3rd grader does his Handwriting after. Will probably have 5th grader do keyboarding after her LA lesson.
• History & Science
• History:
• Each of the 50 states is 2 days worth of lessons, so we do 2 states a week
• The History curriculum had the option to purchase books that go with each region, I purchased these. While my kids do their journals, I read a chapter a day.
• Science
• As we do unit studies I pick the focus. We started off going over Biblical Sexuality (different vendor) so that my kids could understand male & female as God intended. Now we are using TGATB for our studies. Currently we are going over "Health and the Physical Body." 1 lesson a week, and generally there is a hands on project or task. I will add supplemental reinforcement worksheets to test that the kids focused on the lesson.
• Calendar - review the days of the weeks, months of the year, the order the occur, weather.

Now all this takes roughly 3 to 3.5 hours. That's right. We DO NOT school ALL day. Once we get through our morning, than we live life. Run errands, tend to the house, visit family, go to the park, have lunch with my husband, I workout. Kids help do chores, watch movies, play outside, play with the chicken (check if she laid an egg), goof around on their tablets. Then come Saturday when my husband works a shorter day, there usually isn't housework to do unless its a big project. We are free to attend birthday parties, or go to the movies, or anything because we aren't forced to get everything done on one day off (Sunday still is set aside for church).

Now regarding my youngest who is in prekindergarten. His schooling does not take as long as the 3rd and 5th grader. He is required to sit through Bible and prayer (planting seeds and setting the example). Then once his siblings are on their math lesson, we review his lessons. Usually 2 letters a week, and 2 numbers a week. We have worksheets the saturate his mind with the current letter/number, and I work with him on understanding, recognizing and identifying. We additionally read together, and he has calendar time with us. His total school day is usually 1 hour. That's it. Then he plays with Legos, playdough, kinetic sand, or does puzzles. He watches Bluey, The Kratz Brothers, and even movies. He loves being outside and will chalk up our back deck with his drawings.

In the future, it could be more difficult. They could go back to private school if finances allow. But right now I am basking in this life we have created. If we continue to homeschool til all 3 graduate I easily see us joing a co-op when they hit high school, just because chemistry for sure was not my thing and I did struggle with Spanish. But I must admit I love the freedom we have to learn at our pace, and with what interests us.