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Divide And Conquer The Ever Growing List of Homeschool Subjects

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

We always have the best intention when we add more homeschool subjects to our already busy and jam-packed schedule.  More is better right?Today, I want to share a few of my secrets that help me to divide and conquer the ever growing list of homeschool subjects.

Are You Sabotaging Your Homeschool Day?

Child’s Age Matters.  When teaching the younger grades from PreK to 3rd grade, try to resist the urge to add subjects that go beyond the core subjects.

Look here at What Subjects To Teach and When to Teach Them Part I, What Subjects To Teach and When to Teach Them Part 2,What Subjects To Teach and When to Teach Them Part 3 to get a good overview of the core subjects.

I know, I know, foreign language is best taught in the early grades, but it should not be at the expense of your child not being able to read and write. Too, remember not every homeschool approach is for every child.

When I started homeschooling, I followed a more classical approach, which included teaching Latin extensively.  There were some benefits of learning Latin to Mr. Senior 2013, but looking back I see that I could have given him about half as many lessons to accomplish my purpose.

Instead of helping him at the early ages, I was weighing him down with the complexes of language arts that could have waited until the older grades.

On the other hand, if your child is middle school or high school, you want to have a variety of subjects to whet their appetite.  By this age, they are beyond the learning to read age and need changes in their schedule and how subjects should be approached.

Look at a few of these other posts to help with those ages too. Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 1 and Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 2 .

Teaching Your Children To Be Quitters

Keep it Skinny in the Beginning.  Waiting until your child has a good foot hold on the basic subjects in math and language arts until you introduce other subjects will help him to avoid burn out.

Too, it will give your child a sense of accomplishment because he finishes what he starts.  Why is this important? Because if your child, whatever age they are, never gets past the struggling level, he will never find the intrinsic value of learning.

He never gets the satisfaction and pleasure that comes with learning because he has only struggled with every subject.

Don’t throw out stepping stones to help him be a quitter by continually adding to his mounting list of subjects.

Reevaluate Often/Watch for Overkill.  Life changes, our children grow up and have different opinions than us, and you might find a new side or angle to your child that you didn’t know existed before that you now want to nurture.  Go with it!

Pitch your curriculum in the trash or toss your subjects aside when they have accomplished whatever immediate need that you wanted to.

For example, all of my boys loved covering critical thinking skills when they were younger.  But as they grew older, I realized a lot of the math and history resources that I was using covered some very detailed critical thinking skills.

Divide and Conquer the Ever Growing List of Homeschool Subjects

Covering both history and critical thinking at the same time is a much more better use of your time instead of flipping open the critical thinking workbook after having just covered those skills in history.

Avoid Separating the “Yoke“ Syndrome.   Sometimes we just can’t help ourselves and feel we need to compartmentalize every subject, but learning just does not take place like that no matter how hard we try to keep subjects separate.

Even without trying, our children understand they are covering two or more subjects at a time.  They understand when they are reading a paragraph about the bull fights in Spain that they are not only checking for cohesiveness in a paragraph, but they are learning about another culture.

You can be the only judge of when homeschool subjects are closing in on your homeschool day. Adding a few of these tips that I shared today, I am hoping they will add the spring back into your step and allow you to check the box “completed”.

What do you do when you find that you have more homeschool subjects than children?

Also, you’ll love these tips:

Hugs and love ya

3 Easy Fixes to Recharge Your Homeschool Routine

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Because our living location is temporary right now and our homeschool routine not so routine because of our recent move to South America, I thought I would share 3 easy fixes to recharge your homeschool routine.

These are things that I keep in mind when I have a big change in my life.

Recharge Your Homeschool Routine

Too, it doesn’t take such a huge thing as a move overseas to feel defeated.  Some days when the boys were all very young, just a move from their bed to the living room was enough for chaos to follow and my well planned routine go out the window.  

You hope as they get to the teen years that it gets better.  Okay, you do get a break, but even as teens they need a recharge for their routine.

If you are feeling a bit defeated in your new routine, try these easy fixes to bring some peace back into your day.

The Challenge

Easy Fix 1.
Try a new location. 

If there is anything that can breathe life into your day, it is changing where you and your kids do school. 

The old kitchen table has stood the test of time, but sometimes we just need to pull back from it. 

Maybe you’re a rocking chair and porch type of girl. 

Give yourself some room to enjoy spending part of the day where you like to be.  Especially this time of the year when the weather is a bit cooler, you can start part of your school day outside. 

Then, when you do come inside to the kitchen table, everybody will be much more relaxed. 

If you have teens, you know they want to be in their room for part of the day.  But if you have homeschooled them from the beginning or as you do, you will find that teens still look forward to spending some of their day with you.  When Mr. Senior 2013 had those moments, we would move to the living room to read together. 

Here is our new and temporary location until we find a home.  It is just a small space in our apartment that I set up to suit them.  Tiny loves sitting on the floor to do his school anyway so he thinks this set up is just perfect..

Our makeshift school room

And then moving a few tables around in the apartment, I have set up a place for Mr. Awesome do some of his online classes.  The key is we are together and embracing a new change.

Push Back When Your Routine Gets Crowded

Easy Fix 2.
Stick with a Set Time To Begin Your School Day. 

Though I thrive with having a set time to start school, I have a lot of fellow feeling for those that feel jailed when they hear the words “time management”. 

My simple advice is this: There is nothing more important in your day than your children. 

Though I love all my family and homeschool friends, I try to remember that my children’s education has to be first in the day and not the musings of my family or friends. 

And guess what? Instead of thinking that your not a close friend or “be there for them daughter”, your family and friends, whether they support your homeschool decision or not, will respect the priority placed on time with your children.

Easy Fix 3.
Stop and Reorganize. 

Without adding homeschooling to our day, this world is enough to make us think that if we stop one moment to plan or reorganize that we will waste a time.  It is kind of funny in a way though we may not see it at the time. 

I think about all the focus we put on curriculum and not enough on the help we will get with supper, clothes washing or bill paying.

One of my back to school chores includes emptying my pantry or kitchen cabinets

One year, somehow I had hoarded collected 9 pie plates.  Not in any dinner I make would I ever make 9 pies to go with it. 

But the fact, they were taking up room in my cabinets was taking up space in my mind and weighing me down. 

It was completely stressful and a waste of time in making dinner when I would have to reshuffle those 9 pie pans each time to get the pans I needed to actually start supper with. 

Why do we do put up with tiny time zappers that turn huge over time?

You may have another room bothering you. For me, it’s always the kitchen that I make time to organize so that I save time.

A homeschool routine is not about scheduling every block or minute, but only the important ones.  Not everything on your list for the day is urgent.  It’s important, but there is a difference.

Whether you have temporary circumstances like me right now or you are feeling a bit defeated, push back when your routine gets crowded. 

Instead of planning your whole day, plan to get started.  It is so worthwhile.

Hugs and love ya,

3 Easy Fixes to Recharge Your Homeschool Routine


Top 10 Tips To Getting a New Homeschool Year Rolling

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

In sharing my top 10 tips to getting a new homeschool year rolling today, I hope that you will remember that nobody can replace you as the teacher. 

And that while some of my tips apply to our kids, a lot of it is shared to encourage you to keep on plugging along because I am here to tell you that in the end it’s WORTH every bit of effort each year!

1. Make time for the teacher, not just mom. 

We get a lot of encouragement to make time for ourselves as mom though we don’t always follow the advice.

I am guilty too, but I have always taken time each year to polish up my teacher skills. 

It is easier, we think at the time, to turn the teaching reins over to somebody else either through a co-op or on-line class.  When in fact if we do that, we may be bringing more stress to our year.  Taking time to hone your skills as the teacher will help you to choose more carefully any extra “help” you think you may need.  Look at the bottom of this post for books I read that set me on fire when I teach.

2. Make time to be with other homeschoolers.

No, you don’t have to get fuzzy wuzzy with other homeschoolers if you’re not the joinder type.  But your kids may need to be around more people than you may need in your inner circle. 

How to Begin Your New Homeschool Year

Too, I have learned more about myself and the fact that though, like you, I can be pretty independent, that has nothing to do with needing encouragement. 

ALL of us, independent or not, eventually need to know that we are not alone and that others are in our unique circumstances. 

There is just something about being around other homeschoolers that brings my blood back to a boiling point for homeschooling. 

Being around other homeschoolers is contagious and keeps you plugging along.  Even on days when you don’t feel like leaving the house, try to maintain your park dates, field trips or co-op classes that you have carefully chosen.

3. Dad is not just a figure head.

Unless you are a single mom (hopefully she has a support system too), you are not raising or educating your children alone. 

Your husband should play a large role in your homeschooling. 

You may wonder how that is possible if you are doing a majority of the teaching.  As you know there is more than the academic growth of a child. 

Your husband provides not only a safe environment in which your children can learn, but his love for your children stimulates intellectual growth. 

Too, discipline is very important in homeschooling. 

And some days after teaching, I was just too pooped to think about discipline. 

Discipline is more about instruction and my husband had the mental reserve when he got home to keep the instructing going when it was needed.  Don’t leave him out and let him know how you feel daily. 

In all my years of helping homeschoolers, I have never met a dad supportive of homeschooling that did not want to be plugged in to the every day goings on.  You are not doing this alone, so don’t go it alone.

4. Adopt a routine. 

A routine has been one of the mainstays or anchors of my homeschooling year after year.  Not assuming you should follow the same homeschool schedule you followed last year will help you to see clearly if you need a different routine this year. 

Check out the tips I share in A Day in the Life of a Homeschooler Part 1 Early Years , The Sticking Power of a Homeschool Schedule and How To Create a Homeschool Schedule That You Can Stick To .

5. Show Up Earlier & Stay Later. 

There are just some tips that work equally across the board for all teachers and showing up earlier and staying a bit later than the kids is one of them. 

There are a variety of things that your kids can start working on that don’t require you (I will share some of them in an upcoming post) but taking a few minutes to look over your lesson planner for each child will help your day to go smoother. 

This is especially important if all of your children are very young. 

Young children have shorter learning spurts and your being well prepared will help to engage them quicker. 

Choosing to stay a bit later after the kids are playing or having computer time will also help you to think of what needs to be prepared for the next day while the children’s needs are fresh in your mind.

Top 10 Tips to Getting a New Homeschool Year Rolling

6. Don’t Shove Your Toddlers & Preschoolers Aside. 

I know you would never do that intentionally, but when it comes to school time, include them.  It’s hard I know because they seem to be pint size destroyers of your just so schedule. 

But hear my heart on this and that is if you don’t include them now and make school part of everyday, they may not want to be part of it when it is time to formally learn. 

Don’t make the mistake I have seen by veteran and new homeschoolers alike and that is to shove them aside only to want them to be ready to homeschool later. 

Taking time to set up your house and school area to suit them, whether it’s by activities you have created ahead of time or an area, then they will naturally want to be included in the formal part of your day as they are older.

7. Make Time For Middle School  Merriment. 

Though I hear many homeschoolers who believe that their 6 or 7 year old needs “friends” what they really want are playmates. 

Unlike your middle school kids who actually need friends, it is important that your middle school kids have time to explore friendships and pursue goals. 

At a time when puberty hits, our middle school kids can go through a whole host of emotions. 

From feeling useless to insecure because of possible hormones highs and lows, it is important that they not become self-absorbed. 

More New Homeschool Year Tips

Healthy friendships are a way to help push our kids through difficult times and especially friends who are homeschoolers.

This will take work on your part because as I always say at this age, our middle school kids are independent dependents.  It is easy to overlook this age with all the tug and pull of the little ones.  Add in the mix a high school student who demands our time and it becomes almost impossible. 

My best tip on how I survived the middle school years was to make a date and stick with it.  Something that I could plan for each week or so was much better than spur of the moment planning when my plate was full.

8. Is Curriculum Worth the Cost? 

You paid for new curriculum and want it to work out for the year.  You know the one that you told the Mr. you just had to have this year. 

Knowing when a curriculum has ran its course (no pun intended) whether it’s in the middle of a year or just a few months into the year, is not an easy thing to try to figure out.  Counting the costs sometimes just does not always come at the beginning of the school year no matter how careful we are.

Our children’s needs can change just a few short months into the school year.  One year, Mr. Awesome jumped two grade levels in spelling. 

No matter how hard I worked with him the previous year, he just did not make improvement.  It was a developmental thing and keeping him in a lower grade, even just the few short months into the school year, would have held him back.  I had to buy upper grade curriculum after only completing a few short lessons. 

Curriculum is a constant process to check throughout the year.

9. Our Home Reflects We Care. 

Just a few short weeks into homeschooling when I was a new homeschooler, I was embarrassed by my home.  The truth of it was I had underestimated my energy level and time. 

Instead of having my kids’ nose buried in worksheets I had assigned, I should have had them buried in folding a load or two of laundry. 

I had to end up taking off a whole week to get caught up on cleaning my house. 

Because the care in our home reflects the way we care for each other in our family, it is an important part of homeschooling. 

Successful New Homeschool Year

While it’s important to have a comfortable home that we can study at, it is also important that it is a place where we can find peace and rest at the end of the day.  Remember that when your children do chores at home it teaches them about responsibility, caring for others and gives them a sense of pride.

10. Just Push it Aside and Stop. 

I wished I could say that each day will be full of fun and exciting things to do, but we both know that is not true.  What is not easy to figure out is to know when to just take a break for the day and when to push school aside for a longer bit of time.

It is a lethal combination when everybody in the house is tired and overworked.  I have made the mistake of pushing through a day when we were in a slump and needed a break.  When you take a break, it actually shows a bit of homeschooling maturity because it means that you now know that homeschooling is a journey and not a one year fix.

Celebrate each year because if you are like me, you are grateful each year that you have been given precious time with your children that will pass by quickly.

What do you do to keep your new homeschool year rolling?

Teaching Handwriting When Homeschooling the Early Years Part 3

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, in teaching handwriting when homeschooling the early years part 3, I’m showing you samples of our transition in handwriting from the beginning of kindergarten to second grade.

But first, if you missed Teaching Handwriting When Homeschooling the Early Years Part 1 , I wanted you to take away the fact that you want to create a print rich environment and trust the natural process that a child has in wanting to learn how to write.

Warning: Lots of pictures and a long post here!

You know I can’t talk to you unless I have lots of pictures.

Too, I wanted to keep the formal part of how to teaching writing all in one post so it’s easier for you to see the progression.

Teaching Handwriting When Homeschooling the Early Years Part 3-1

Sometimes the process does not always require a lot of intervention on your part.  Think of yourself as a partner or coach in the writing process.

In Teaching Handwriting When Homeschooling the Early Years Part 2 , it is important to allow plenty of time for your child to focus on strengthening the fine motor muscles.

This happens through a lot of play and NOT asking your child to write on a line at the preschool ages.

Teaching Writing the Early Years

Scooting down through the years now, we want to begin what I call the “formal” teaching writing years, which is about kindergarten to first grade. 

Obviously, children will continue to work on improving the legibility of their penmanship in the later grades.

But today is about focusing on the nitty-gritty of teaching handwriting.

Teaching Handwriting When Homeschooling the Early Years Part 3 Kindergarten Sample

The reason we want to pay attention to these grade levels or years (not necessarily ages because all children are different) is that children can undergo a significant change during this time. 

They can go from writing illegibly at the beginning of kindergarten to some beautiful beginning cursive by second grade.

I say second grade because that is the end result of the formal teaching which is happening in kindergarten and first grade. 

Again, remember it does not mean penmanship is completely mastered.

But you will see the beautiful transition as they keep fine tuning what they have been taught.

Teaching Handwriting When Homeschooling the Early Years Part 3 Middle of First Grade

The metamorphosis in penmanship during this time was always amazing to me with each son. 

Too,  Mr. Awesome and Tiny progressed close, but not exactly to this same timeline. 

Each child is different like I mentioned but wanted to repeat that again because teaching each child has not been an exact science.

Teaching Writing to Homeschooled Students

I know too that when I was new to teaching handwriting that seeing actual samples of penmanship progress and understanding the growth process would have helped me more. 

Providing that here for you, I am hoping it will help to give you a gauge for when you are teaching penmanship.

In addition to working on fine motor skills in kindergarten, I worked with each son on beginning sentence writing. 

I would start the sentence and write it down. 

Then, they would copy it, think of the ending and write the word or words.

  I know it sounds a bit crazy, but the less I knew about homeschooling the better teacher I was at the time.

After I read about so many different learning styles and about how I was suppose to teach writing, I started thinking I was a public school teacher. 

I forgot the teacher mom part of me. 

In other words, I didn’t even know about copy work and was already doing that when teaching kindergarten.

Teaching Handwriting When Homeschooling the Early Years Part 3 Middle of First Grade 2

No, I couldn’t leave well enough alone because I was afraid Mr. Senior 2013 would be behind. (I hated feeling this way at the time.)

So I started as a good teaching momma, then turned Nazi momma.

I focused more on teaching him “penmanship” than just the skill. 

What do I mean by this?

Well take a look at the picture below. 

Instead of teaching him how to write, I had to now push him to learning how to compose sentences. 

Teaching Writing to Homeschooled Students

So I moved from what I knew to do naturally, which was having him to copy what I wrote, to thinking I was running a classroom. 

And though composing and penmanship are linked, I couldn’t expect him to learn something that I had not modeled or introduced to him yet. 

I guess I expected him to know what a title was for his beginning compositions by one of those Vulcan mind melds they do on Star Trek.

Teaching Handwriting When Homeschooling the Early Years Part 3 Beginning of Second Grade-1

I did allow him to transition between print and cursive up to this time. 

All the while I was teaching cursive, he was still using his print. 

Looking back now, I should have focused on one or two well written sentences using his beginning cursive instead of insisting on 5 well written sentences, which is a lot for this age.

Too, I corrected his spelling, no doubt in red (awful, awful momma) on his page. 

How to Teach Writing from Prek to Second Grade

Though you do want to correct spelling errors as they are writing, it’s better not to jump ship and teach yet another skill like spelling. 

Simply showing him how to spell ski on a separate page and not on his writing like I did in the picture above, then going on would have been much better to do. 

Of course, I expected him to compose, spell and learn penmanship at one swallow. 

A TRUE mistake of a FIRST TIME homeschooler!

Teaching Handwriting When Homeschooling the Early Years Part 3 By the End of Second Grade-1

Though Mr. Senior 2013 survived my teaching him writing, I shed a few tears here and there as I think how hard I was on him. 

He  excelled and wanted to learn NOT because I needed to constantly poke and prod him, but because he loved me.

As the teacher mom, I realized I held a lot of power over my little guy and that because of his love for me, he always showed up to try his best. 

Thankfully, the other kids that come after the “first” get the full benefit of your experience.

More Writing Curriculum Tips

Only another homeschool mom can know the utter feeling of sheer delight by you when you have taught a child the writing process. 

Yes, I made plenty of mistakes, but learned in the long run to trust my natural instinct. 

Staying balanced about what I learned about the how-tos of penmanship and not always applying it to my family has been important too. 

Sometimes all the tips just did not apply to my situation at the time.

Preschool Letter Recognition

I hope you do the same thing with what I have shared here with you and apply only the tips that will benefit you. 

I would love to celebrate your tiny triumphs with you when you have taught a child how to write. 

Have you had the honor yet?

I am not done yet with this topic.

I have one more post to share about some of the activities we did and and supplies I used in teaching my crew how to write.

Beyond Museums and Zoos Homeschool Field Trip Form

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Pondering the possibilities of field trips in South America has my brain racing about new field trip ideas and places.  But before I scoot on to that adventure, I want to share today my ideas for beyond museums and zoos homeschool field trip form.

After you have homeschooled for a few years, you realize that some places are what I call keepers for each year.  They are places you don’t mind visiting again and again like museums and a zoo.  But as time marches on and kids grow, you need ideas for other places.

So I created a homeschool field trip reference chart that is divided by season that you can easily add to your 7 step homeschool planner.  I added 10 ideas for each season.

In listing the ideas, I tried to avoid some places, not all though that would be pretty obvious in a particular season.  You know about them already and besides you probably have traditions or will have them in each season.

For example, we had one annual event in January to Incredible Pizza that all of our kids loved.  As adults we could never figure out why not just one, but all ages, young and old loved that trip!!  The place is huge and had lots of games, an indoor skating rink, car races and bowling.  We just couldn’t figure out why it was more special than other places like that we had visited.  It became our group’s tradition in January.

Another thing to remember about field trips as you enter more relaxed homeschooling is that not every field trip do you need to meet educational objectives.

I know groups are different from area to area, but in forming my field trip group it was understood that our main goal was socialization.  I learned as a hard-nosed teacher that learning didn’t have to be so hard and it was better remembered in a fun setting.

Meeting educational goals is tops on our list, but it runs second to our main goal of socialization.  The families in my group preferred our field trip time to be one where the kids had time to interact, form lasting friendships and not be about hearing long-winded lectures.

Beyond Museums & Zoos. 10 Field Trip Ideas for Each Season

Surprisingly, when I relaxed as a teacher and tried not to drill my kids on everything we learned, they too relaxed and wanted to learn more about the places we visited.

I hope you enjoy this form as I plan for a few more field trip forms, but wanted to get this to you as the new year started.   You know how I take my time in creating my forms because they each come from a special place or from my experience in my journey that I want you to know about.  So I really want them useful and practical too.

Download Homeschool Field Trip Reference Chart Here.

Begin building your Free 7 Step Homeschool Planner

7 Easy Steps – “Tons of Options & Pretty Color”

Step 1. Choose a Pretty Front/Back Cover

Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers

Step 3. Choose Goals/Objectives

Step 4. Choose Lesson Planning Pages Right For You!

Step 5a. Choose Unique forms JUST for You! Not a kazillion other people

Step 5b. Choose MORE Unique Forms JUST for You!

Step 5c. Choose MORE MORE Unique Forms Just for You!

Step 6. Personalize It

Step 7. Bind it! Love it!

Hugs and love ya,

2012Tinasignature Helping our Homeschool Children Find their Inner Drive When We are Not Sure We Have It