mirth Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 (edited) ... to drop out completely of a large, local hs support group. Only afterwards, I did I realize how much ground noise it added to our lives. You? Edited December 3, 2011 by mirth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Got homeschool tracker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 ...switched the whole family to TOG. I'd been doing 4 Sonlight cores plus WTM for a long, long time and finally hit the wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Last summer, I prepared, photocopied, and printed out everything I needed for the whole year in most of my subjects. That had made my school days open-and-go, even for the subjects that I put together myself. There is only a little bit of work for me to do to prepare each week. This has made a world of difference! I am not running around like a chicken with my head cut off all day trying to get things together this year. It has already been put together, and I just grab the next thing to do. I highly recommend it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvingLife Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I had made a huge plan for 11th grade and stuck to it this time. Everything worked out well, I am excelling in everything and towards the end of my senior year I will be starting classes to earn my associate's degree in medical billing and coding. I found a plan that works after almost 4 years of schooling and I am so excited by it! My dad is going to start teaching me some medical billing and the rest I will be taking at college. Very happy this year!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbaraL in OK Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 to start a habit in the summer of getting up earlier than my earlybird for precious quiet minutes and some spiritual and other reading for me, and not opening the laptop until breakfast. The combination has created the morning time I'd needed for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 ...to embrace it as my profession. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Print out everything that wasn't an open-and-go workbook and put it in file folders for every week of the school year. Every Sunday, I pull out the upcoming week's papers and put it in five daily file folders hanging in each child's filing bin. Every day, I place the days work in pocket folders. My oldest can open his pocket folder and work on independently until I'm finished with dd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 I set up a school area with two desks instead of everything by the kitchen table. I am rearranging again so I can look out the window :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amo_mea_filiis. Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 To start homeschooling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Buckle down and educate myself more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplain Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 (edited) oops, double post Edited December 3, 2011 by jplain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplain Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 The smartest things I did this year were adding more structure and increasing my expectations. HST has been immensely helpful for keeping us on track, and my 8yo is loving the increased challenge. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosyl Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I let go!!!! Less is more!!! If work is duplicated, repeated and unnecessary (re busy work) I dropped it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Demand more from my homeschoolers if they are capable, and never assume they're not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Concede that I ds and I just think differently about math and let him start using EPGY online. He is much happier and learning much more from listening to their lectures and then working through the problems in his own way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I started making sure school gets done even on the days we don't have time or energy for it, or the day's not going well or whatever...I still make sure something gets done even when it feels totally forced and there is no flow to it and we have to hurry....it still gets done. This has really helped improve our work habits. Stamina, focus and productivity are much improved and we rarely miss a day now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Planned out the entire year's schedule. I have open and go curric, but we'd never finish. Doing a schedule to keep me on track helped immensely! And a biggie, pre reading all of dd's reading! Wowser! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 ...started using the workbox system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 The best thing I did in 2011 to improve my manner of hs'ing was ..."... to drop out completely of a large, local hs support group. For me it was something similar. Not exactly, but similar. Only afterwards, I did I realize how much ground noise it added to our lives. Exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thessa516 Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I started making sure school gets done even on the days we don't have time or energy for it, or the day's not going well or whatever...I still make sure something gets done even when it feels totally forced and there is no flow to it and we have to hurry....it still gets done. This has really helped improve our work habits. Stamina, focus and productivity are much improved and we rarely miss a day now. YES! And it gets done because... ...I prepared, photocopied, and printed out everything I needed for the whole year in most of my subjects. That had made my school days open-and-go, even for the subjects that I put together myself. There is only a little bit of work for me to do to prepare each week. This has made a world of difference! I am not running around like a chicken with my head cut off all day trying to get things together this year. It has already been put together, and I just grab the next thing to do. I highly recommend it! Great thread! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama2cntrykids Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 ...to embrace it as my profession. This. And also to chill out about stuff. My youngest is an Aspie and can be difficult. If I chill, he tends too. Plus, he learns differently and I'm learning to be ok with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Rearrange my work schedule to work Sat. instead of a weekday. I work three days a week, and I was able to make one of those days Saturday. My kids much prefer having me around for school work during the week, and they get to have their Saturdays off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 It was something a little different for each child 1. For my oldest I took him out for lunch before we started our year and explained to him what it was going to be like now that he is a middle schooler. How my expectations for him were changing and what I was planning to do to help him get in the groove with it. This year has been so much smoother with him now because of this. 2. for my dd, it was to not push more phonics on her. Her reading delays are because of vision issues that require therapy, pushing phonics wasn't helping her. I then moved that energy to helping her enjoy reading the things she can. We get picture books from the library every Monday on our way home from therapy. She now loves reading to me and asks to do it daily. 3. for my youngest to embrace his eagerness to learn. I felt so guilty last year for K when his stuff would get dropped due to time constraints or other things. This year I always make sure that he has official school time, even if it means he's doing his math while sitting on the counter while I cook dinner. In general for the house the best thing I did was ask the kids to do some of the chores I was doing since we're without dh until summer due to deployment. I needed them to pitch in with me a little more and am so proud of the way they've all stepped up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 And a biggie, pre reading all of dd's reading! Wowser! Yeah, not my biggest change, but I ran into trouble when ds was reading ALA recommended books and the subject matter was not appropriate for his age level. He's a great reader, and this is the first year I've had to really monitor the content of his books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnTeaching Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 This has been a process this year since it is our first year of high school: 1. Chill out somewhat about high school. I was freaking out and pushing 9th grader harder than when I was a senior. 2. Agree with the kids that it was OK to do year-round school and to be able to take off time during the year to do cool things. (They asked, "Isn't this why we do homeschool, anyway?") 3. Went to a "semester schedule" for highschooler's history and science. It gives him time to focus on history and corresponding lit for half a year/several hours a day - then to focus on biology for the rest of the year with several hours a day to do labs, reports, and clean-up. 4. Focus on the Barton System with my dyslexic dd13 and not worry that she's "behind". Also, to get more use out of Learning Ally/ Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic for her Lightning Lit, etc. It is a tremendous help for her (and me). 5. To put a load of laundry in the washer EVERY morning, make menu plans & shop every Friday during the kid's outside classes, enforce "tidy-time" with the kids for both the housework and replacing school items back on shelves. (This has been one of the biggest homeschool helps this year.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McKay Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 The best thing that I've changed for this school year is to hire a math tutor. It has made our life so much happier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 We joined classical conversations. We dropped out of the 'fluff' co-op we had attended. We are so much more focused, making meaningful friendships, and participating in so many more things as we pick and choose what interests the kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlestonmom03 Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Started in August and set up a schedule of 4-5 weeks of school, followed by 1 break week. It was hard for me to start on August 1, but then we found out about baby due in March, and now I am so glad I forced myself to start early. Even with taking a long break for the baby and all of our scheduled break weeks, we will still finish at the end of the May/start of June. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Demand more from my homeschoolers if they are capable, and never assume they're not. Yup, still working on this one. He has surprised me lately, in a good way. My best thing was a make a personalized schedule. I scheduled some block-type sessions for classes we'd normally spread out doing a few times a week during the whole year. We're already done with art history and formal logic for the year. This next 12 weeks we are doing history and Japanese. I believe it made a world of difference doing logic everyday (okay, almost everyday) for 12 weeks. It doesn't feel so fragmented. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma aimee Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 my youngest goes to public pre-school 2 days a week for 3 hours each time for IEP services. On Monday's while he is there I take my Kindy kid to a mom I know that does in-home daycare (small group of kid, 2 plus him today) and he knows them all. I get 2.3 hours to CLEAN --i put avay clean laundry, gather and sort the dirty, tiddy up all but kitcehn and living room (toys) -- and I feel soooooooooooo much better. I am less anxious, the house is ready to go for the week, i do not feel behind, and I can focus on School and the Kids --- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 my youngest goes to public pre-school 2 days a week for 3 hours each time for IEP services. On Monday's while he is there I take my Kindy kid to a mom I know that does in-home daycare (small group of kid, 2 plus him today) and he knows them all. I get 2.3 hours to CLEAN --i put avay clean laundry, gather and sort the dirty, tiddy up all but kitcehn and living room (toys) -- and I feel soooooooooooo much better. I am less anxious, the house is ready to go for the week, i do not feel behind, and I can focus on School and the Kids --- This is important for me too. I can't school in a messy/dirty home. So I make sure to make the time for this, however I need to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheApprentice Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 The expectation is that they can do it. And to redo all math problems they get wrong. I was a little slack in the past. Now I feel everyone is maturing and can handle a more difficult work load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom4him Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I have been much more thoughtful with which curr. we are using those haven't bounce quite as much. I did do some changing but did it early on instead of plowing though 1/2 a yr and then feeling like we simply couldn't keep going. Also I have been much more diligent in planing my week ahead at the end of the week we have just finished. We we start on Tues morning I am ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momma aimee Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 This is important for me too. I can't school in a messy/dirty home. So I make sure to make the time for this, however I need to. Glad I am not the only one. I buckle down and clean the kitchen the last thing at night so the morning is easier -- i am finding I have to be realistic -- i need a certain level of clean (not talking shiny bathroom floors here :001_smile:) to function, and there are a limited amount of vays for me to get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
learningmama Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Gave each kid a crate to put their school books, notebooks, and a few file folders in and it has helped us greatly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Going to a unit study approach! It has been working great with my younger kids and they LOVE doing school and are retaining so much. It's ironic since when I first started looking into homeschooling, I thought unit studies were ridiculously stupid! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisbeth Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Simultaneously set a serious schedule AND relaxed to take our time within the schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabetika Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 (edited) Move my eldest towards taking the CHSPE and graduating early. Definitely one of the best HSing decisions we've ever made. Edited December 6, 2011 by Alphabetika Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embassy Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Consistency. It makes a big difference :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaffodilDreams Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 I reminded myself of all the reasons we started doing this in the first place and began honoring those reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plucky Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Consistency with hs kids, sending one child to private school, listen, listen, listen, love, cuddle, and more of the same. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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