Well here we are; doing it- homeschool. With a month under our belts, things have settled into a pretty nice rhythm, while at the same time I’ve gotten more comfortable with not having a strict schedule. Somehow those things can go hand in hand. In my research, I stumbled across a blog by Sallie Borrink. She writes a homeschool journal every month and I really enjoy the categorized breakdown of topics. Since I’m (clearly) into reflection lately, I think this will be a great way to keep track of our kindergarten homeschool journey. I hope to sift out the lessons I learn each month and structure our upcoming month with these facts and feelings in mind.
In My Life This Month
This month has been about adjusting. I like to lay all my priorities out and play around with how to best piece them together. It’s taken some trial and error, some asking for help, and an earlier morning alarm, but I feel like I’m reaching a good place where I can fit in the things most important to me while still maintaining some margin my life. I can’t book every minute of every day, so instead I schedule in the margin I need. I block out an entire afternoon each week to use as a catchall. I’m as protective over that 3-4 hour block as I am for scheduled appointments and it’s been helpful in staying on top of things.
In Our Homeschool This Month
The first week I felt all kinds of pressure (read about our first day here). To combat this I overcompensated with excessive enthusiasm for every subject. And now it’s time for (literal drumroll…) MATH! HOORAY! I realized that forced excitement was not only overkill, but impossible to maintain. The second week we transitioned into a more relaxed approach- candle, warm tea, music when we feel like it, starting with circle time center and books. It created a cozy and fun feel which is much more natural and enjoyable.
As for the actual content, we’ve focused mainly on language arts and math, letting science, geography, art, and Spanish slip in where they naturally fit. We spend 2-2 1/2 hours on school each day. That made me feel guilty at first, and I wondered if it was adequate, but I’m realizing it really is plenty. We’re covering topics so quickly and my goal is to keep things enjoyable, not cram as many facts into her brain as I can.
The apple theme was a hit! At first I felt like it was too much on top of our core subjects, and it was too much. So while we did read through most of the books and did most of the activities, I reminded myself it is a guide, not a checklist.
Places We Went and People We Saw
Field trip Friday is officially a thing in our house and the girls look forward to it every week! This month’s big trip was to Apple Hill Orchard! I had never been apple picking but being that I’m a mountain girl, I knew I’d enjoy it, and I was right. We took our time, climbing trees, inhaling the faint scent of apple cider vinegar that filled the air, and tasting almost as many as we picked.
On another Friday (Hailey’s birthday), she got to choose! We spent the morning at Discovery Place Kids, surprise surprise. And on another Friday, we opted to stay home and bake. Apple pie of course! I mentally prepared myself for the epic mess, which was good because it definitely came to fruition, but the girls had an absolute ball. I see lots of baking in our future.
We also attended our first homeschool “event.” The Historic Latta Plantation hosted a homeschool day. I’d never been and was excited to explore it but had NO IDEA how slammed it would be. We waited in line for about 25 minutes, but it was worth it. We gobbled endlessly at the turkey.
And wandered the plantation, listening to stories from the (in costume) staff as we went. Hailey looked at me at one point and in her most sincerest voice said “mom, this is really neat.” Not amazing or fun, but this experience was legit cool to her. Now I’m giddy to read Little House in the Big Woods with her next month. I think she’s going to love learning about that time period.
As far as people we saw, there weren’t many. During daytime hours at least and I really want to work on this. I didn’t join a co-op because I didn’t want to over-commit us, but now that I better understand the relaxed schedule, I’d like to figure out a way to meet up with more friends for Hailey. We stay and play on the playground quite often after picking Kaitlyn up and that works well as an outlet (there are kids Hailey’s age too). She’s also in soccer, music, and Girl Scouts (which she loves), but I’d like to find more daytime meet-up options too.
My Favorite Thing This Month
Having the one on one time with my firstborn. Snuggling up and listening to her read, watching her mind work through math concepts, having time to just talk about whatever pops into her head… I feel lucky, really lucky, to have this time with her.
What’s Working for Us
For me, it’s two hours on a Sunday that is making a big difference. I am really enjoying the Brave Writer language arts curriculum because of the grammar rules it teaches using interactive games and activities, but I really need time to look over the upcoming week’s lessons and map out our days before the week begins. Also, keeping Fridays open for field trips or fun activities with both girls is a trend I see sticking with for the long haul.
Homeschool Questions and Thoughts I Have
How do you choose what to do?! There are seriously so many wonderful things to choose from that I’m trying to figure out how or when to fit it all in. I want to study countries and cook their food. I want to do monthly themes. I want to do more science experiments because we both love them. But how?! I don’t know yet.
A Link to Share
I found a post on The Unlikely Homeschool about homeschooling on the go. I’ve always been a fan of using car time for learning (we play the “spelling game,” listen to audio books, and pick up kid songs at the library) and bookmarked this list of kid podcasts and music CDs to try out. Also, I am adding this Handwriting Without Tears workbook into our routine next month too. I’ve heard great things about the program and while Hailey loves to write, some letters still need a little work. Her “y’s” look different every single time she writes them 🙂
On My Website In Case You Missed It
Kindergarten Book Wishlist (we’ve procured a lot of these by now, mostly from ThriftBooks.com)
Our First Day of Homeschool: An Emotional Rollercoaster
Wow that was more detailed than I really intended, but really helpful to me. I think in homeschool (like life in general) it can be challenging to see the forest for the trees. I have a tendency to focus in on each day, but when I step back and look at the month as a whole, I’m much more able to clearly see the progress and learning taking place.
Your questions, tips, guidance, and encouragement has been invaluable to me, so I want to end this with a big THANK YOU. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Angie says
It’s great this is going so well. Just like a classroom teacher having the prep time to plan the week is so important. I noticed our library has a homeschool meeting time. Not sure what they do but that’s something you can definitely check out! I love the apple activities. Our neighbors homeschool and they have 5 kids: 16-5. She said the older kids do most of it online and can meet in person for help with people. Are you taking this year by year and evaluating or looking at doing this through high school?
Brittany Dixon says
Definitely taking it year by year! My friends that homeschool say the same thing- that as they get older it’s more independent or computer based. It makes me appreciate this time I have to actually be the teacher while we are studying place value instead of calculus 😉
Halsy says
I cannot say enough good things about Handwriting without Tears. The curriculum our preschool was using for writing just wasn’t working for our daughter. We got 2 of the Handwriting without Tears workbooks, and some of the prewriting stuff since I have two younger ones and I even got the teacher kindergarten teaching guide (I highly recommend this). The kids think it’s fun and my oldest Handwriting has improved by leaps and bounds. My newly 3 year old usually uses the letter cards and our wood blocks my husband made and builds letters while I spend about 15-30 minutes working with my oldest.
Brittany Dixon says
This makes me SO happy to hear; thanks for sharing! Now it makes me want to go buy the whole kit 🙂
montessoriishmom says
I really love reading about this! I have no idea whether we’ll homeschool, but reading about what you do makes it seem like a real possibility so thank you!
JOHN J STATHAS says
Wow, it is clear that you, and Hailey, are having a good time learning together! I like the freedom you have to experiment, modify, create, etc… that ultimately makes learning fun.
Kathy says
Lovely recap!! Sounds like you are off to a great start…and that you really do have it all figured out!! 🙂
Nikki says
Sounds fun. Is there a state mandated amount of time you need to devote per week or any rules on what you need to teach?
Brittany Dixon says
North Carolina is a super friendly homeschooling state! No requirements beyond keeping a regular schedule and attendance. All the official rules are here: https://ncadmin.nc.gov/citizens/home-school/home-school-requirements-recommendations but we can’t even “declare” our homeschool until the oldest child is 7. However, we are keeping logs and notebooks of what we’ve been working on for our own keepsake but also as a record in case we ever need it.
E says
I can’t believe it’s already been a month! Great Job 🙂
Amanda Yanetsko says
It sounds so great! We are looking for some friends to meet up with to do recess or “PE” time for our Kindergarten homeschool! I was meeting another homeschooling friend but she’s just had a baby and I want to keep it up! It’s a nice break during the day so get some friend time in! We live in Davidson and would love to play and this mom would
Love to chat homeschool 🙂 🙂
Brittany Dixon says
Oh my gosh, yes I’d love to meet up sometime! We <3 Davidson. Send me an email and let's figure out a time that would work 🙂
melissa says
Sounds like you are off to a great start. I have a preschooler at home and we also did an apple theme this month. I don’t home school – she’ only three, but having a theme makes planning our days/week fun for both of us. Will you be letting us know what your plans are for each month ahead of time. It’s always nice to hear what other people are doing for inspiration.
Brittany Dixon says
Did y’all have as much fun with apples as we did?! And yes, I plan on sharing our themes for as long as I stick with them. I’ll be sharing our pumpkin theme breakdown next week!
Amber says
Ahhh I love that you are doing a monthly homeschool recap! It would also be fun to hear Hailey’s thoughts from the month, too! 🙂 I am also wondering if you have state mandates on how to track your homeschool hours and activities? I am in Indiana and am just starting to think about how I will want to document that when I start homeschooling my son next year. What does Kaitlyn do on the days she is home from preschool while you are homeschooling? Are those days tougher with both home?
Brittany Dixon says
I’ve actually thought about having Hailey dictate a paragraph or so to share of her thoughts, but not sure how detailed it would be at this point. I will definitely keep that in mind though! Great suggestion!
Every state is unique in their requirements and North Carolina is super friendly for homeschoolers. In fact, the state doesn’t even want to hear from us until the child is 7, so we don’t “declare” our school until next year. The NC state requirements are here: https://ncadmin.nc.gov/citizens/home-school/home-school-requirements-recommendations but again, different for each state.
Fridays we don’t do school (beyond reading, circle time center, and other fun stuff) so Kaitlyn joins in on that. As for the other morning Kaitlyn isn’t in preschool, I have a sitter. She watched K in the morning and takes both girls in the afternoon so I can get things done. However, I am already considering keeping Kaitlyn home next year instead of preschool. While I think it works well for now, I really think it would be easier to have both home instead of rushing to get up and out to get K to preschool on time. We will see though! One day at a time 🙂
Sue says
The apple theme was “too much on top of our core subjects.” (Get it?!) You made me smile! I love what you are doing with your life.❤️
Brittany Dixon says
Oh my gosh how did I miss that?! LOL! I’m a sucker for puns 😉 Thanks for making me laugh!
Brittany Dixon says
As a homeschool grad, I’d love to hear your two cents! Are you glad you were homeschooled or did you wish you went to public? Any tips for me to keep in mind as the girls grow? Thanks for your thoughts! Also, ask your mom and dad to send me those CDs please 😉
Lindsay Maddox says
I just love all of this! I’m keeping our journal in my Evernote notebook and it helps tremendously to get all of these thoughts out of my head and onto… well, not paper… a screen? Ha! Reading what others are doing and how they’re doing it is so encouraging.
We’ve been using that same Handwriting Without Tears workbook for about a month now and I highly recommend it! Lila’s handwriting is improving and she loves the methods they teach. It’s simple, easy, and FUN!