Radish4ever Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 It's our first day of school for the 2014-2015 school year. Is anyone else getting started today? I'd love to hear your plans! Since I'm due in late October/early November, I wanted to make sure we got into a good routine well before his arrival so it'll be a little less stress. Also, by finishing in mid to late May, we'll be finishing up right around the time this baby is mobile. That's when I have the worst time homeschooling, anyway! The early baby stuff is usually a piece of cake in comparison to a mobile baby. I have all of our lessons scheduled in Homeschool SchedTrak and each of my two big kids will have their own login info to access their lessons for each day. I've lightened the load on Tuesdays since we do extra-curricular items. We also usually have an all-morning Bible study on Wednesdays, so I took off a few things on that day, but they'll just have to be tired on Wednesdays because I don't want to swing a 3 day week. My 4 year old (he'll be 5 at the end of September) really wants me to schedule activities for him so he can log in to the system to get his assignments, but I don't see that happening. He's technically pre-k this year and will continue with a once a week speech class through our local ISD for an hour a week. He's super smart, but I don't want to get all formal on him for another year or two. Maybe I'll "schedule" Teachyourmonstertoread.com and starfall.com or some BrainpopJr. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalypso Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 We are starting today, too. My ds15 goes to a public charter, and I will be homeschooling my 3 youngest. We will start with a few subjects this week and add more next week. I'm not ready to start. The summer seemed as if it flew by. Hope you have a great first day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachelpants Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 We are starting today!!!! We have a mostly light, fun day planned. We are making "hot cross buns" for language arts....and learning about nursery rhymes. Good luck to you all! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Morgan and I started last week, but this is the first day of school with both girls. I'm right back where I was last year: super excited about all we have planned, but I have no earthly idea how to do it all - we have a lot of do-together or teacher intensive stuff, and I always struggle to split my time between the girls and keep the younger doing something useful when I'm not directly working with her . . . we'll see how it goes. We have swim lessons this week, too, so I don't expect we'll get everything done, but I do want to get back into the routine now - we're taking time off in September and it would be good to get a solid start before then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 I promoted the little man last week, so now he is a sixth grader instead of a rising sixth grader. :D We also started fall schoolwork, but German and orchestra won't start until after Labor Day. Although we did some math on Khan, in a review workbook, and some geometric drawings, I still do not have a math textbook or even any idea what I want to buy. I guess I need to make a decision. Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 For all the curriculum hopping I've done, I've always schooled/tutored all year. For my boys the schedule was: Full days September-November 1/2 days December. 10 days off for Christmas/New Year Full days Jan-Jun. 1 week off for February vacation. 1 week off April vacation. 1/2 days July-August. 1 Week off for July 4th. 1 Week off for Labor Day. There was so much I was always changing, but it's funny that I did this from the first to the last day of homeschooling and never tweaked the schedule once. And I still feel this rhythm of the year, and naturally still schedule my life and current tutoring accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessicamcc Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 I'm not, but I should be. I pushed it off to next Monday..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flux Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 We started two weeks ago, but we've been working out the kinks. :willy_nilly: This week feels like our first week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaderbee Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 For all the curriculum hopping I've done, I've always schooled/tutored all year. For my boys the schedule was: Full days September-November 1/2 days December. 10 days off for Christmas/New Year Full days Jan-Jun. 1 week off for February vacation. 1 week off April vacation. 1/2 days July-August. 1 Week off for July 4th. 1 Week off for Labor Day. There was so much I was always changing, but it's funny that I did this from the first to the last day of homeschooling and never tweaked the schedule once. And I still feel this rhythm of the year, and naturally still schedule my life and current tutoring accordingly. Hunter, I love the half day idea, especially for December. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 We actually finished up the last bit of leftover from 8th grade last week and so she has an almost free week this week as part of her birthday celebration (she does have a test in an outside Spanish class that runs on an odd schedule and will continue through Sept). Official high school really starts next week when we start back with math and current events, add in English and career/college planning the following week, art the first week of Sept, then full on the second week (as several classes are on Mondays). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsgardCA Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 I had planned to start today. I still have organizing to do, though. The schoolroom is a mess. I was thinking of pushing it back until next Monday. I'm also due mid-November, and I havent had a newborn in a while, nor during school, so I'm a bit anxious as to how it will work out. I'm also not used to hubby being on night shift so I'm not sure how I'm supposed to make use of my schoolroom since he sleeps right beside it and my kids are loudspeakers. Sigh. We're doing as much as we can upstairs, without having had our library visit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Hunter, I love the half day idea, especially for December. When the boys were complaining about 1/2 days in the summer, I would remind them they got 1/2 days in December, and it would soothe them. Doing 1/2 days in the summer kept them from getting bored, and it meant I didn't need to finish a math book before a break. 1/2 days in December meant I could spend the afternoons shopping and preparing for Christmas. Two sets of 1/2 days, also broke our year into 2 semesters, and I could start a new year fresh twice a year, if something had been a flop. It just worked. It still works, slightly modified. Some of my bipolar students ride high all summer, because of the longer days and more sunlight. I still run on a half schedule all summer. Giving them enough to have something familiar to tether them, and finishing up anything started earlier. September we try and buckle down for a couple months, as they calm down and can focus. Come the shorter days, these same students slip into depression in December and the holidays throw them over the edge, often hospitalizing them. We regroup in January, first with a lot of body and soul stuff, and then gradually add back in the academics as the days get longer and they get sturdier. I like slowing down twice a year, rather than stopping once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalAlt Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 We started wading in last week, but it was more about just getting into routine, attitude corrections, etc., very light work. Today feels more like starting a real week, with more subjects - then we have a few more weeks until activities like PE start up. I'm feeling really good about the slow ramp up, because it's giving me time and emotional space to observe and tweak things, instead of feeling overly invested in my theoretical plan working exactly as written :). I'm also enjoying the extra time without activities to keep enjoying relaxed summer fun like heading to the pool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 We start 2 weeks from today. I would have liked to start earlier but I'm schooling my nephew this year also and decided we'd follow his older siblings school schedule to make it easier on my sister. It actually turned out for the better because I'm not prepared to start yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachelpants Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 I had planned to start today. I still have organizing to do, though. The schoolroom is a mess. I was thinking of pushing it back until next Monday. I'm also due mid-November, and I havent had a newborn in a while, nor during school, so I'm a bit anxious as to how it will work out. I'm also not used to hubby being on night shift so I'm not sure how I'm supposed to make use of my schoolroom since he sleeps right beside it and my kids are loudspeakers. Sigh. We're doing as much as we can upstairs, without having had our library visit. Get this for your DH, trust me ....it's worth every penny :)http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000KUHFGM?cache=c89858948b6e5289b4fbb181743ece0a&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1407785654&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 We are starting today. We actually took a summer break since my niece came to visit. I have 4 kids homeschooling this year from High School to K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Today was our first day. We will have two weeks of school, then a week out of town. As soon as we get back, DS starts his first outsourced class (Latin through the Harvey Center). Among other things, we watched the first episode of How to Be A SuperStar Student - it was a hit! And we were happy to see Carl from CNN student news today:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsRobinson Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 We started today too. It was slow going, but that's to be expected when summer has been so relaxed and fun. We are starting with lang. arts and math then I will add 1 subject a week until we are on our full schedule. History, science, Spanish. So 1st week of September will be the real test with everything going. History is M, W, F and Science is Tu, Th so I'm hoping its not too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Started today. Yesterday I plotted out the schedule for the year, then added a week's worth of random days off so that we would end the regular schedule concurrent with the local schools. We run close to that schedule anyway, and it was encouraging to see some "surprise" days off in the year. In the summer we do half days when everyone is home. It will be a week or two before I am comfortable with the schedule. Stay the course! Only 179 days to go, more or less. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radish4ever Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 Whew, there are a lot of us getting on with the show today! :) Our day went pretty well. There was some griping (This was mainly about math, from my DD. She told me if she had one wish, she would wish she didn't have to do Math Mammoth. *eyeroll*), but mostly, they did what they needed to do and finished up. I hope they keep it up! I like the half day idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Bean gets on the bus Thursday morning, so we'll probably have a light day here, too. But Buck really starts his year next Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondchen Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Starting tomorrow morning! We're starting off slowly, with just ELTL (reading/grammar/copywork), math and history this week. We'll add in the other stuff in the next two or three weeks and will have our full curriculum going after Labor Day. I'm excited to get started, and so are my girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Whew, we made it through the day! The biggest hit was the Big History project, I think we're going to have a lot of fun with that. I feel completely frazzled, I feel like I've been running back and forth between the kids nonstop, all day long. I still need to exercise, finish the laundry, and cook dinner. What I really want to do is sit down, alone by myself somewhere, and not talk again until tomorrow. (Introverts, unite! But you stay over there in your own space, kay? ;) :D ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwickimom Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Jumped right in full schedule today. It went well. I have a 7th grader, 3rd grader and a 1st grader. And off we go.......Happy 2014/2015 school year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cascadia Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 We started on Monday as well, but it's been so busy that I didn't have a chance to post on this thread until tonight! Ah, Day 3 and we're already "behind!" I'm learning how to keep my 6 year old moving through her work without letting the 3 year old disrupt the whole day. I believe that there will be some schedule tweaking in my weekend plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly1730 Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 We've started "school lite", just enough that I can feel justified calling it a school day but not enough to cause a melt-down on anyone's part:). We will be going on vacation next week and then will ramp up to full speed the week after that. And my boys were surprised to find out that they are now officially 7th graders:) Edited to add: Pay no attention to the siggy, have to change almost everything in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tori729 Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 We started a few things back in July and have just in the last couple weeks started integrating History and Science. It's been a slow gradual thing because it's my first time and I've been struggling with morning sickness and fatigue. I think since we started in July there has only been one week that we schooled every day. And I still need to plan out how long it's going to take to get through some of the books in a year/how often we have to do them. I'm due in February so I know we will be taking a break of some sort then but I hope by then we will be enough into it to have a sort of routine and know how things go and how much time I need, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalAlt Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 I just need to say - this week has been tough. I can look back and see why, see what I need to tweak, where what I was hoping for does not meet reality. But yikes, a tough week. I'm so glad we do Fun Fridays - a little morning circle time, go to the library for books and play, go home and watch an (educational) movie they get, quiet time, pool... Really ready for next week's fresh start! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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