Anyone want to do Mystic's Homeschool Audit with me?

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I can't remember if it was last Christmas or last summer that Mystie created her homeschool audit, but I think I'm ready to do it again before next semester.  

 

Here's the link: http://www.simplyconvivial.com/2016/audit-results 

 

After I go through it, I'll post my thoughts.  

[EmilyGF]

I'll join you! I just signed up to get the PDF sent to me.

Emily

[maize]

Just downloaded the PDF as well :)

 

I'm planning today so timing is good.

[Renai]

I'll join as well.

[Tranquility7]

Ooooh I'm on it! Thanks for the heads up about it.

[mellifera33]

I signed up. We just moved so we've been out of school mode for a while. This might be what I need to get back into the groove.

[meena]

This looks great! I just signed up as well.

 

For everyone who is doing this: How long will you spend on this? Will you do it gradually or all at once? There are a lot of questions on the audit and a lot to think about, so I think I might break it up into chunks -- 15-20 minutes a day, maybe? I also want to watch the accompanying video Workshop, so I could watch the video for 10, then work on the questions/brain dump aspect for 10 or more as time allows.

[frugalmamatx]

I'm in too. Homeschooling has been on the back burner for a while and I need to make it a priority. 

[frugalmamatx]

Looking over it now - is it safe to assume that if we have situations not covered {like being a single parent}, we'd pick the most similar option?

[maize]

Looking over it now - is it safe to assume that if we have situations not covered {like being a single parent}, we'd pick the most similar option?

I would say yes.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

This looks great! I just signed up as well.

 

For everyone who is doing this: How long will you spend on this? Will you do it gradually or all at once? There are a lot of questions on the audit and a lot to think about, so I think I might break it up into chunks -- 15-20 minutes a day, maybe? I also want to watch the accompanying video Workshop, so I could watch the video for 10, then work on the questions/brain dump aspect for 10 or more as time allows.

 

 

Personally, I am someone who thinks best when I have one long, undisturbed stretch to work on something like this.  I will probably attack this over two nights (being realistic here, I'd rather do it in one).  But I don't think there's anything wrong with nibbling away at it.

 

 

 

Looking over it now - is it safe to assume that if we have situations not covered {like being a single parent}, we'd pick the most similar option?

 

 

If you're thinking of the points she uses at the beginning, I would take it for what it is:  She is trying to draw attention to the fact that our lives are multi-faceted, and often more full of responsibilities and stresses that what we give ourselves credit for.  She's asking you to be realistic about what is on your plate when planning or reviewing your HS year.  Basically, if your home has toddlers, don't expect your homeschool to look like that of a mom with an only child in middle school.  If you are a single mom, don't expect your school to look like that of a blog family where dad does all the science experiments with the kids on the weekends.  KWIM?

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Here are my thoughts, roughly arranged through the audit sections:

 

Year (semester)

- Good progress in all core subjects for both older kids.  

- Physical geography going well, continue next semester

- Science was only reading, need to plan mom-directed lessons for next semester

Curricular changes/modifications for next semester:

- DS math:  finish SM5b --> MM 7 ch1-2 --> AOPS PA

- DD math: try BA3

- DS history: move to daily instead of weekly

- Grammar: Switch to English focus after French exams in May

 

Schedule 

- Starting the day with reading baskets and pre-school for dd5 worked really well.  Letting it slip impacted both dd5 and the rest of us in terms of satisfaction with school day.  It slipped when kids began waking up earlier after clock change.  I plan to begin waking them up on a schedule next semester.  

- Getting core subjects done in AM worked really well, having all materials grouped into one box worked really well.  

- We kept activities to a minimum and really focused on school work.  

- A weekly checklist worked better than daily planners- less paper/books to juggle.  Need to clearly mark what work can be done independently so kids can keep things moving as I deal with distractions.

- I'm struggling with my OWN motivation in the afternoons.  Not sure how to address this besides caffeine.  :-)  How can I make the afternoons more rewarding for ME?  Too much content work was dropped in the afternoons this semester.  

 

Stuff

- Our stuff is organized well.  Everything is accessible but put away.  I could use one more shelf... not sure how to make that happen.  

- Need to get German notebooks in order for the kids as there are tons of loose papers flying around from German with tutor, German with daddy, and German workbook.

 

Flow

- Flow is good.  Kids come back to task easily, thank goodness.  

 

Relationships

-Restarting evening read-alouds has been good for more one on one time, but it is tiring to me.  I will be happy when we've finished Return of the King and move to something lighter for DS.  

- Relationship with dd5 definitely suffered when I let pre-school slip, I can see she is feeling neglected a bit.  

- Made the commitment to DD7 that she would help with one meal a week this semester just she and I.  She is very, very anxious to do "real" things and be competent and useful.  

- We will keep working on politeness as a character trait.  We've made big strides this semester but need to keep it as a focus until it is more automatic.  

 

[prairiewindmomma]

I'm working my way through this.

[idnib]

Just signed up and will take a look later.

[Ravin]

I'll work through this with DD. I signed up for the email.

 

[displace]

Sounds like a good idea. I'll look over it as we restart homeschooling next week (eek!).

[prairiewindmomma]

The points concept is fascinating. I have a lot of points. I knew that, but quantifying it is an interesting experience.

 

I am bringing back morning basket and I need to focus on getting my middles to do more on their own. I purchased a laptop yesterday for younger son and I am loading Dragon Dictate onto it. I realized that we are at the point where tech needs to start stepping in for me because DS's LDs are so pervasive and significant.

 

I need to tweak a couple of stuff things.

I am aware of our flow issues.

Relationships are good.

[MyLife]

I just signed up. Can't wait to see everyone's audit.

[MyLife]

I have 22 points. 10 of those points come from teaching separate subjects and 5 points from outside activities (more on that in a bit). Also, I wonder if the audit should also include how many hours those out-of-the-house activities consume.

 

Audit your Year: My children mostly enjoy everything they are studying. We have a few days here and there where the kids complain about Bible, history, and science. I don't think it is the content, but more that we've dawdled and everyone is tired.

 

Audit your schedule: I use a paper planner and my 7 year old uses a laminated checklist to keep up with what needs to be done. I also use a digital timer, which helps both kids stay on target. We do need to start school a little earlier. The biggest red flag was the question, "Was there enough time budgeted to do the necessary work?" The answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT. We get the work done but are pressed to do it. That pressure sucks much of the enjoyment out of our content subjects. My 7 year old takes classes outside of the home for a full day along with several other hour long activities throughout the week such as Scouts, Sports, Art, and Music. We are dropping the full day out next school year. It takes too much time away, which contributes to my "we are pressed for time stressful attitude."

 

Audit your relationships: I feel like our relationships are pretty good. I think the thing our relationships lack is just a relaxed enjoyment when learning.

[LMD]

I'm having trouble understanding what the points mean? Is it just a way to quantify all the stuff on your plate? I was surprised that there was nothing about the homeschooling parent working in another role.

 

Working my way through slowly...

[idnib]

I've reached the question "How did the kids turn in their work or get help with their work? Did that flow work for you?" and I'm wondering what people have as an answer. We just sort of all work together and go moment to moment, but maybe there's a better, more organized and/or independent way? 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I've reached the question "How did the kids turn in their work or get help with their work? Did that flow work for you?" and I'm wondering what people have as an answer. We just sort of all work together and go moment to moment, but maybe there's a better, more organized and/or independent way? 

 

We do basically like you.  I correct immediately, so I have no "inbox" of assignments to correct throughout the day.  I prefer to immediately correct while we're all still in "math mode" or "spelling mode" or whatever.  Generally, I stagger my kids so that I give a math lesson and set that child to work, then give another math lesson and set the second child to work.  The first child has to save any questions until after the 2nd child's lesson is over, then they are both doing workbook at the same time and I answer questions as they come.  

 

I can see when I have 2-3 high school level children that I might need to move to a different system, but for elementary, this has been working fine.  I would guess that as kids move more into independent work, then having a "meeting time" with each kid to discuss issues might be a solution. 

[idnib]

We do basically like you.  I correct immediately, so I have no "inbox" of assignments to correct throughout the day.  I prefer to immediately correct while we're all still in "math mode" or "spelling mode" or whatever.  Generally, I stagger my kids so that I give a math lesson and set that child to work, then give another math lesson and set the second child to work.  The first child has to save any questions until after the 2nd child's lesson is over, then they are both doing workbook at the same time and I answer questions as they come.  

 

I can see when I have 2-3 high school level children that I might need to move to a different system, but for elementary, this has been working fine.  I would guess that as kids move more into independent work, then having a "meeting time" with each kid to discuss issues might be a solution. 

 

Thanks. I'm out of likes, but consider your post liked. 

 

Yes, I tend to correct immediately unless we have to leave the house and I'm out of time, in which case I do it at the start of that subject for the next day. It works for us, but since this is an audit, I thought I should revisit that.

 

I wonder if giving their work back to them the next day or even later would give them more of the habit of circling back and working on their mistakes even when they might have moved on to something else. When I was in school we would receive papers 2 days to a week later and I admit I never bothered to redo math problems and such. I do have my kids fix errors, but we're usually in the mode of that subject.

 

ETA: DS is 12, so we're heading into that more independent time.

Edited January 4, 2017 by idnib

[vaquitita]

I've reached the question "How did the kids turn in their work or get help with their work? Did that flow work for you?" and I'm wondering what people have as an answer. We just sort of all work together and go moment to moment, but maybe there's a better, more organized and/or independent way?

I'm having trouble answering this question because it doesn't seem to happen the same way every day. Theoretically we all sit at the table together and they all do the same subject at the and time and I go around helping anyone who needs it or checking papers that are done and then they fix. In reality some kids like to get a jumpstart on their independent work so as to be done sooner so they can go play (and this seems to be in reverse correlation with their age. Lol). So when it comes time for teaching lessons, I grab one kid go over any new teaching I have planned and their finished work. And which kid does it which way varies from day to day. Which makes me feel out of control sometimes.

[idnib]

I'm having trouble answering this question because it doesn't seem to happen the same way every day. Theoretically we all sit at the table together and they all do the same subject at the and time and I go around helping anyone who needs it or checking papers that are done and then they fix. In reality some kids like to get a jumpstart on their independent work so as to be done sooner so they can go play (and this seems to be in reverse correlation with their age. Lol). So when it comes time for teaching lessons, I grab one kid go over any new teaching I have planned and their finished work. And which kid does it which way varies from day to day. Which makes me feel out of control sometimes.

 

Yeah, mine is a bit different but it does feel out of control at times. But I only have 2 kids. If I had 4 like you do, I'm not sure I could go with the flow as much.

[idnib]

OK, brief summaries of the results:

 

Audit your year:

 

Good mix of activities. Lack of focus so we get them do as quickly as possible. The idea that we can just get the stuff done and move onto other things seems to be missing. We need a more consistent morning routine and I need to get to bed earlier. I stay up late because I really need that time alone to recharge and think. Maybe I can get that during the day if I change some things or do a swap with another mom.

 

Audit your schedule: 

 

We are pretty good about not scheduling more work than can be done, although sometimes we work too slowly. The computer can be too much of a distraction for me and when I tell them "5 more minutes" a few times it adds up. I'm doing better at letting housework go and not doing it at the same time as school. Kids don't have anything to do while they are waiting for me. I'll often give them something, but it varies and there is no default. A default would be helpful.

 

Audit your relationships: 

 

They seem pretty good, but when conflict does happen it's usually centered around schedule or expectations. I could fix this by being more consistent in my expectations and doing a better job printing out the plan I use for the kids to reference. I do that sometimes, but not always.