August 6-9th 2019 was our first week of full-time homeschool. We started on a Tuesday so that we could have a shorter week for our first week.
Next week will hopefully be a full week. Although with all of the medical appointments my two-year-old has the reality is that we will probably only be doing 4 days a week most weeks. We will probably have school on Saturday if there aren't available days in a week.
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Background
We started our homeschool year in August so that we would have time to get in a schedule before the younger two started preschool next month. I want B (who turned 6 last month) to have built up some stamina so that we can make the most of our time when the other two aren't at home. We also had a 2-week vacation scheduled for the last week of August so I didn't want to get too far behind at the beginning of the school year.
I have been homeschooling for at least 3 years. This week was our first full week of doing other subjects besides reading/phonics, literature, writing numbers/letters, and math. This week I added history, handwriting, spelling, grammar, and science.
Next month I will be adding lots of different music activities, a foreign language if I can ever decide on one, and an art program.
Preparation
I have been prepping for this week for about two years. It took me a long time to figure out if I was going to keep homeschooling or send my kids to public school. After reading around 50 homeschooling books, countless blog posts, and much fervent prayer, we got our answer and realized that this is the path our Heavenly Father wants us on.
I have been telling B for months that he would be starting school soon and that he was going to have more work to do than last year because he was in Kindergarten now. (So technically he could be in first grade or kindergarten because he has a July birthday. We just had him in pre-k last year so this is our kindergarten year. Most of the work we are doing is probably at an advanced kindergarten to beginning first-grade level.)
I think this really paid off in a more willing attitude towards school. However, I kind of feel like we will end up doing school year-round so I don't have to deal with any back-to-school attitude in the future.
How The Week Went
Here is how our week went.
- Monday-I spent 5-6 hours (including drive time) taking R(2) to get another prescription for leg braces. They also diagnosed her with a mild case of infantile Blount's disease.
- Tuesday-T had a low fever and a mild case of the stomach flu so he basically alternated between the couch and the toilet all day. R did whatever she wanted to and I worked 1 on 1 with B. I bought some gluten-free Oreos from Trader Joes to bribe him with for having a good attitude
- Wednesday-T was still somewhat sick but much better than the day before. B had a huge fit and didn't want to do any school. After naps we tried again. He didn't want to finish his math (literally 4 problems in all. He was mad about the last 2) so we sat there until dinner time and he finished right before dinner.
- Thursday-T was feeling better and worked on reading, writing letters and numbers, and math. B had a much better attitude and finished quickly.
- Friday-Great attitude from all children; school was done in a timely manner.
- In history we learned about archaeology and history (The Story of the World Volume 1).
- In science we raised tadpoles because they are available in our area right now. We also talked about what makes something living.
- In math we are learning about place value.
- For our free read we are doing Pinochio.
So not the best week, but it just goes to show that you can still homeschool with sick kids and doctors appointments!