New Folks: Don't Freak Out!

[Spetzi]

Hello,

 

I just had to offer a caution once I began reading the lists of what everyone is using next year. It may look like a lot or even a TON. The families may not be schooling 10 hours per day. There are several other reasons the lists are so long.

 

**They are using only part of each of the books listed

**They are completing one set then moving on to the other

**The books/workbooks are not a full year curric. Some learning tools may only have 30 lessons and we might do one/day instead of one/week or something like that.

***They don't work on every subject every day. We have done some subjects a couple of days/week and others on the off days. We've worked on some things for 10 or 12 weeks, then focused on some other skill or topic (like vocabulary or spelling or reading comprehension)

***Not every child completes everything on the list (I have one doing all of SL 6, one doing SOTW + Activity book and one child doing a little of both--she's NOT going to read every SL 6 book and complete every SOTW activity!)

**The student loves that subject so they might complete 3 science currics for fun (did that last year!)

 

I'm sure there are other reasons, but these are the first ones off the top of my head.

 

PLEASE do not feel as though you need to add to your because of what you've read on the boards. Start your year and see if the work load is right for your dc and you. Make sure you don't add in a bunch of teacher intensive projects that seem like they might be worthwhile or "fun" but are really challenging to fit into your day. Just breathe.

[Mommyfaithe]

Good advice.

[happyhomemaker]

Thanks so much! I had started to feel like maybe I was a lazy homeschooler or something. :tongue_smilie: I'll try to :chillpill: and be confident with what we are doing!

[Spryte]

Thanks for the reminder.

[Thia]

Very good, thank you. Not only did you ward me off of biting off more than I can chew, but you suggested some options I had not previously thought of.

[Erika]

Very encouraging, Thanks.

[~Amanda~]

I could have used this last year :P I totally didn't understand how some were doing as much as they had listed!!

[PentecostalMom]

In addition, some of us school year-round, so we have quite a bit more time to do different things. :)

[Satori]

Very good advice! I'm one that looks like we do a lot, and we actually do stick with almost all of it, but here's how we do it.

 

• School year-round (plenty of vacation though)
  
• We use the Charlotte Mason suggestion of doing short lessons (some only 5-10 minutes)
  
• DD learns fast so we zoom through many lessons sometimes
  
• Once we finish one program, we move on to the next
  
• Some subjects are just 1, 2, or 3 times a week. The only subject we actually do consistently 5x week is Singapore Math.
  
• DD loves language arts so we do multiple subjects
  
• I'm a curriculum junkie :p
  
• I justify my purchases by doing reviews so people can see what using them might be like. :)
  
• Even though I have a large list, we only really do two hours a day or less. That might jump to three for second grade this fall.
  
• We just love homeschooling!
  

[black_midori]

Excellent point!! I was reading my own list last week as I typed it into a post and thought "WOW, that's scary" - but although we have a ton of things on our list, we truly only work about 3-4 hours a day, 4 days a week (although we do have a 45 week school year).

 

Most of the subjects take like 15-30 minutes a day, maybe 2 or 3 days a week...

 

(1st & 2nd graders)

[kristinannie]

Thanks for posting this. It is so easy for people to jump to conclusions about what other families are doing. Honestly, if whatever someone is doing works for them and their families, then they are doing the right thing! That is the beauty of homeschooling! Thanks for the reminder!!!! :D

[warneral]

 

• i justify my purchases by doing reviews so people can see what using them might be like. :)

 

 

love that :)

[baybedaul]

Good advice! My list seems long to me this year, but I've been sitting down with the books this year and taking notes on how *I* want to use the curriculum. For instance, last night I read through the first year of WWE. There's no way we'll do 4 days of composition work for 36 weeks. My plan is to incorporate the copywork and narration METHODS into our other subjects. Same with TOG and SOTW... I'm using TOG as a basic timeline, SOTW as a resource, and then picking and choosing the activities from both as time and interest allows. I've heard people describe TOG as a "buffet" before and that's how I'm looking at our entire curriculum list this year.

[2cents]

Good post! I've been hsing for over 10 yrs and my list would look huge BUT...I hs year-round and with the exception of core courses, we do many units and we stagger curriculum to begin as one ends. It all adds up but daily it is very manageable. :)

[LoveBaby]

This is excellent advice for newbies as well as seasoned homeschoolers. I think we are all prone to 2nd-guessing ourselves and wondering if we are always doing the best! Thanks for the reminder!

[Shannanlee]

Thanks for the advice. As a new homeschooler that is reassuring.

[jenL]

Excellent advice! I was one of those moms who would freak out looking at others' lists, thinking I was missing the mark & failing my kids. Now, I have a long list. The only subjects done daily are reading & math (30 mins. each - if it takes us that long), and the rest of our subjects rotate. We also school year-round, so although it looks to some like I have a lot, we only school 2-3 hours/day, often only 4 days/week.

[MomToJediKnights]

Thank you for this! I always feel so overwhelmed reading some of the signatures and posts! :eek:

[mcconnellboys]

Good information, thanks!

[Dana]

Also, the observation that the first year is the toughest definitely held true for us. We're in our 4th year (we school year round) and it's going better than any other years have (so far).