Advent calendar with optional activity

We’ve been using a canvas wall advent calendar I made years ago (this one is similar). Our’s has held up to the test of time. Sometimes I print off our verse cards with optional activities, and some years there is just some candy and I read something from one of our favorite advent books. The pockets are big enough to hold lots of candy and so we are able to use it for the whole family. I usually put in a different kind of candy each year and vary it through the month. Also, I don’t fill it all ahead of time because.. well that would be too tempting and plain dumb!

Add to our nativity set

We made a cute little set a couple years ago with peg dolls and because we let the kids play with it, we inevitably have new pieces to make or add in for fun. It is a simple peg doll kit you can get at Hobby Lobby. We just used the felt pieces you can get for under a dollar there as well. Here are some instructions to make your own

Supplies needed you can find at most craft stores or here online:

• Wooden peg doll kit
• Felt fabric pieces
• Hot glue gun and glue
• Scisoors for cutting

Gingerbread houses with graham crackers

Every year we make gingerbread men cookies, but not houses. Like I said, we keep it simple around here.

We aren’t about to go spend  $100+ on 9 gingerbread house kits either.

“Sorry  kids, one less gift this year because we bought gingerbread houses that you were frustrated to make and we wouldn’t let you eat until they were stale and dry!” hehehe. But seriously.

However, we do make these little graham cracker “gingerbread” houses that the kids love to create and we actually let them eat them when they want to. They’re small enough and I don’t actually want a bunch of gingerbread houses laying around all season anyway. 

Buy the kids a themed ornament every year

My hubby and I have a standing date at the start of the season where we do a couple things together to prepare. First up, we buy a themed ornament for each child every year that they will take with them when they leave. This was a tradition my parents started and when I got married, I got to take quite an assortment of sentimental ornaments with me. We always have a memory tree now, and that’s totally fine with me. Maybe someday we’ll have a designer tree, but likely not! For now, I love this tradition and the kids are so excited to see what we’ve bought them each year. We sharpie their name and the year on the bottom and hope they last through until they leave our home. Most won’t, but that’s ok too. 

Secondly we pick out our wrapping paper we’ll be using for the season at Hobby Lobby. They have the best options at a great price. You get a huge roll and can find many coordinating patterns. 

Our favorite stores with charming affordable ornaments

• World Market
• Target
• Hobby Lobby

Make inexpensive crafts from Hobby Lobby 

Every year when I am out doing my first solo outing, I pickup 2-4 easy craft kits from Hobby Lobby to have on hand. These are super affordable and have everything needed to make a fun ornament or gift for someone that I can pull out whenever we have a free evening. They’re cheap enough that I don’t care if the toddler paints all of it, but challenging enough that the middle schoolers usually want to join in, too.

Take the kids shopping to buy gifts

We put a spending freeze on come November. You aren’t allowed to buy anything for yourself so that you save your extra money for gifts. We keep a list of pay chores they can do throughout the month as well. Then we  take each group of kids shopping to the dollar store, Target or Walmart, stores that are affordable and easy to price check. Each child carries a shopping basket with their coat over so no one can peek. An older sibling takes them through the aisles and helps them with the math. We also let them pick out a wrapping paper of their own to wrap their gifts in. This really helps keep the focus on the excitement of giving instead of receiving. They get so much joy in anticipation of giving instead of receiving.

Cutting down our own Christmas tree in the National Forest

Usually the Friday after Thanksgiving, or very soon thereafter, we go “hunting” for a tree. We’ve kept up this tradition through all the babies since the first year we were married! This is one of our favorite traditions and we have lots of fun and crazy memories of these trips. Some years we have an abundance of snow and bring sleds. Some years there has been no snow and we find a tree in less than an hour. It’s so fun to see how far we have to trek each year to find that perfectly imperfect tree. We always have cocoa, coffee and candy canes packed along. Sometimes, we bring chilli with us to eat up there after.

Decorating the tree and house

We have learned to get 2 Christmas tree tags now, because I love decorating with real boughs around the house. The Sunday after we get our tree we pull out all of those saved, sentimental ornaments and ALL the rest of the decor and start decorating the tree. If we get to the rest of the house, that’s great, but otherwise we just decorate as I go through the week after that. I keep it super simple, with lots of fresh natural greenery, white lights and a few fun things added in each year I find on clearance. Every year Nick’s goal is to add one more item to our outside lighting display, as well. 

Pajama ride to see lights

Once the season has been kicked off we love to wake the kids up after they’ve been tucked in for a surprise ride to get a treat and see the lights in some special neighborhood on display. Some years we’ve made it extra special with cocoa in the car and a special ‘golden ticket” Polar Express style. Other years, we’ve gone through Dairy Queen or just taken an extra route through a highly lit neighborhood on our way home from somewhere.

Watch our favorite Christmas movies

I know this is the top pick for most families, but in case you see any new ideas below I’ll include ours. Be sure to leave your favorites in the comments below, too.

Our favorite movies that we cycle through each year are the following:

• It’s a wonderful life
• Little women
• The nativity
• The Star
• Elf
• Santa Claus
• The Family Man

Make candy cane tracks to leave on windshields

Some years we put together a larger homeless kit to pass out to the needy we have in our area, but since our town has a huge ministry for this, we often just leave tracks with candy canes with a sweet encouraging note and verse to leave on people’s windshields when out shopping. It’s also a fun activity to prep with the kids in the evening. Tying the little notes on each candy cane and having them help decide which verse and what to say are a fun activity. You can easily make your own, like we did, or here’s a fun free one!

Deliver gifts to neighbors

A few days before Christmas we deliver a homemade goodie to our neighbors. The kids usually help me make and package up these and then we all walk around the neighborhood together delivering them. We focus on the families we know well, or who have just moved in near us. This number usually doesn’t exceed 10 families, so it’s not a huge amount. 

Here’s what we normally make that is an affordable and easy to scale option:

• Cranberry orange sourdough loaf
• The easiest caramel corn- except I use honey in place of corn syrup and add spices.
• Mini cinnamon rolls

We don’t do this EVERY year, but definitely the ones when we have new neighbors to meet. 

Of course there are the usual Christmas parties to go to, cookies to bake and exchange and recitals to attend, and treats to make and eat, but these activities are always on our list to choose from each season. I hope they’ve given you some fresh inspiration and ideas to try in yours.

Pin to save & share 12 Christmas Traditions we actually do

As always, thanks for being here in my little corner today, friend!

In HIs service,

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I hope you can enjoy these books and some cozy moments with your family this season, as well!

Blessings,

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Fall favorite picture books

1. Homeplace by Ann Shelby

This was a new book to us this year and we fell in love with it! Such a sweet story about a grandmother telling her granddaughter the origins of the family homestead 5 generations back. Our kids loved tracking which generation is being referenced and what changes they’ve made to the homestead. Told in a sweet lyrical style, but not too wordy.

2. Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman

Our boys have loved the Bear Snores On series from forever, and this newer one is a fun retelling of the animals little Thanksgiving feast they collaborate one.

3. Bearskin by Howard Pyle

We’ve enjoyed several of Pyle’s books especially the cheeky Old English Robin Hood! Pyle, always the creative story teller, weaves a tale that has echos remnant of greek and roman myths with a compelling storyline!

4. From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer

A fun story illustrating the entire process of growth a pumpkin goes through from seed all the way to harvest for your inquisitive little minds. You get to see underground and inside the plant as it grows along it’s journey to harvest.

5. In a Pumpkin Shell by Joan Walsh Angland

This Mother Goose ABC nursery rhyme book is one of our favorites! With enchanting lyrical prose and poems you can enjoy with your little in any season.

6. Saint George and the Dragon retold by Margaret Hodges

This made the list as it has some gorgeous fall scenery and scapes in this beautifully illustrated retelling of an epic tale. Hands down, one of the top favorite picture books of our boys. This is a sweeping story of courage and perseverance until final victory. A retelling of Spenser’s The Faerie Queen.

Chapter books we enjoyed last quarter

7. The Blue Hill Meadow by Cynthia Rylant

This is a charming watercolor illustrated little chapter book my 4th grader enjoyed. The books takes you through the seasons with this charming anthropomorphic family living among the Blue Hill Meadows.

8. The Green Ember by S.D. Smith

We are circling back around again with this series for the younger boys and they are engrossed! A riveting tale of animal adventures you’ll be sure to get hooked on and enjoy the entire series through the season! If you like the Redwall series, you’ll enjoy these!

9. Poppy by Avi

This is a book we are reading for a bookclub with our coop, and although it is the 3rd book in the series, we heard it is the best one to start with. We have really enjoyed the conversations the story has prompted and the tale of heroism and bravery. It certainly could be read independently for confident readers, but it’s a great riveting story to discuss as a read aloud, as well. A brave mouse defies her family to find out the mystery behind why an owl keeps them under his “care”.

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We have been homeschooling our 9 children since the very beginning with a very limited budget. However, we have still been able to provide a rich broad and classically based education for them. That is why I am so happy to be sharing with you today how we homeschool our large family on a budget. You don’t need to “unschool” to be able to homeschool your children with limited funds, nor do you need to buy every top of the line recommended curriculum in every subject. It is totally possible to create a curriculum that is reusable and repeatable yet customizable in order to best serve your family AND your budget! Today I’m sharing practical steps as well as tons of sources!

Is homeschooling a large family expensive?

Homeschooling a large family can get very expensive depending on how much time you have to give. Usually the more time you can give to planning, the less money expenditure is needed. For example the costs go up when the prep time is done for you. Full enrollment in online classes per child, for example, will cost the most. An open and go curriculum is also going to be a larger expense. The more you are able to plan and schedule yourself, the more money you will save per child. The good news is, if you put a little time in now, you will actually begin to save more every year and your costs will continue to go down and not up. This will happen by creating the ability to reuse books and repeat plans, plus you will get better at knowing what works! Read below to see how I plan and my free resources to help you!

Here is a cost comparison for homeschooling options:

Online tuition and co-op classes comparisons per student:

(Cost of books NOT included)

• Classical online full enrollment: $2,500- $5,000 a year (Courses usually range from $500-$700 each with the average being 4-6 courses enrolled a year NOT including the cost of books)
• Classical online partial enrollment: $1,500- $2,500
• Bi-weekly (with paid teaching) co-op enrollment: $350- $1,400
• Weekly co-op enrollment (volunteers or parents teach): $300- $500

As you can see from the above list, for us to afford 7 full time students in full enrollment I would need to put a full time job’s salary towards it. Remember these prices do not include the books and curriculum itself.

Curriculum price comparisons per student:

• Full open and go curriculum packages: $450-$1,200
• What we pay by planning and sourcing our own curriculum: $50-$250

The open and go packages are a great option, but it is totally possible to create a solid curriculum plan that is reusable and repeatable so you don’t need to purchase individually for each student every year.

Can you homeschool on a budget even through high school?

You can absolutely homeschool on even the tightest budget! I homeschooled the early years, for almost nothing! I borrowed books, printed off math and copywork sheets, got lots of books from the library, and still kept to a scheduled curriculum plan. Teacher’s manuels are usually very comprehensive. You only need to be one lesson ahead of your students in prep. It’s not as hard as it seems! As our children moved up in grades, some more investment was needed for them to study at a deep level. We invested in curriculum that could be reused with other students. Once we have purchased a book each consecutive student costs less.

We have also been blessed to be a part of a local private co-op that meets weekly. Our high school students took their science classes through that co-op which was a very affordable option at less than $50 a month per family. Parents and students alike volunteer their time to teach the classes, so it is a collaborative model. There is also a local program that offers middle school and high school classes for homeschoolers to prepare for college. Former teachers or homeschooling parents volunteer their time to teach at a very affordable rate.

What are the best affordable curricula- within our philosophy framework?

How we homeschool our large family on a budget primarily is by using a literature-based education. A feast of stories and first person accounts is rich as well as affordable, because many of these quality books are in the public domain or easy and inexpensive to source. Our children absorb and connect with the subject through the eyes of someone else’s experience. Tales of heroes, bravery, courage, and noble character also enhances their desires to live their lives in this way.

From what I have researched and found to fit our standards and goals for our children’s educations the following curricula are our top choices. Although there are many homeschool curriculum out there, these are practically free and provide a rich base to customize to your needs. Keep in mind, the more you source things yourself the more customizable you can keep it to your own preferences, and your children’s needs. You are also able to remain flexible when you aren’t buying an entire package and spending quite a bit per student.

Ambleside Online

We have found that the most affordable and comprehensive curriculum is Ambleside online. They have freely provided so many rich online resources that are free as well as schedules, plans and book suggestions. Ambleside Online will give your children a rich and deep education. It is also a heavy load for some, but you can tailor it to your specific needs. That is the beauty of it! I use Ambleside alongside A Gentle Feast to customize our subjects to each child and year as needed.

Price: Free!! + cost of books

A Gentle Feast

A Gentle Feast has a literature based scheduled plan that includes all grades and forms, as well as just a booklist option, so the prices range from very low upwards. The books are not included so you will have to source the books yourself, but she offers links that are discounted as well as free. As a result, her curriculum can be very affordable, especially as you acquire a library of books to be reused. Because of the affordability and ease of use of this program we have used it for the last 5 years. I already have purchased all 4 cycles. Consequently, each year, homeschooling costs us less!

Price: $5- $85 for entire family package including all grades and schedules (minus cost of books)

How we homeschool our large family on a budget – the breakdown

Keep it simple

It is very easy to feel like we aren’t doing enough for our children’s education. We can easily begin to feel that more would be better. More subjects, more projects, more books! However, in my experience usually when things don’t feel right, pulling back is the best answer. Simplifying and really focusing in on what works and what brings us joy will lead to more success in our homeschool. Leaning into our primary goals for our children’s education results in better retention and more joy in our work. Instead of heaping on more and more until we are both frazzled!

Establishing our core values has been crucial for determining which subjects are the most important. We desire our children to have a biblical worldview with a purpose of serving God by serving and loving His people. This means we desire them to be students of His Word and world, good communicators, and have tools and skills they can serve and share with others. Somedays these goals help me keep perspective even when trying to get through a tough math lesson. This also helps me remember buying a new book isn’t always the answer.

Doing our own planning & scheduling

As I mentioned above, paying for an open and go curriculum is what will save you time but not money. But, it doesn’t have to take a ton of time to schedule out and plan on your own. You can check out my post here on how I plan our homeschool. l also have an entire video series on it over here, which is basically a free course. Planning and scheduling doesn’t need to take you all summer. I explain the way I streamline and combine where I can, so I don’t have to plan and individualize every subject for every child. Get my templates below to start planning your year to save time and money!

Combining subjects and grades

In my planning post I also explained how I combine grades and subjects with some of our children in detail. This saves time as well as money, as I don’t have to purchase separate curriculum for each subject per child. About 75% of our subjects are combinable. The rest are individualized and require more one on one time with me. This helps our schedule to be more manageable and also our budget.

Printing our own schedules and charts

Most curriculum schedules out lessons to be completed in a 32-36 week school year. Decide how many weeks you want to be actively schooling and divide the lessons by that number of weeks. Then reassess each quarter or week if the pace needs adjusting. I then fill in a weekly assignment page for my children that work independently (grade 4-5 and up).

Using non-consumable books for our core curriculum

Our core subjects are reusable so we can sell them if they aren’t working for us, or lend to a friend to try. This ensures I’m not locked in to continuing something that isn’t working for us.

Here are our favorites:

Math: Life of Fred

This math curriculum we have used all the way through now, and loved it. The students use a notebook to work the problems and the answer key is included in the book, as well.

Science: Apologia

We love this science series because it works well to teach to multiple ages and grades. The kids seem to grasp the concepts well and relate with the information. There is also an audiobook version available! We don’t usually purchase the separate student notebooks until middle school. Hoping they come out with a pdf version soon, as we never use every page anyway. It would be a more affordable option if they did.

History: The Story of the World

This history has resonated with my boys the most, and also has a printable pdf activity book you can purchase through their website. This makes it a much more affordable option as you can print how many you need without repurchasing.

Grammar: IEW Fix it!

We discovered this last year, and wish we had sooner. A comprehensive and fun program my boys loved. The teacher’s manual comes with a printable student notebook option. The link is inside the book you can see after you purchase it, so you don’t need to buy the student text. Plus, this makes it easy and affordable to print as needed for multiple students at once.

Humanities/ Philosophy: Omnibus

Our highs schoolers have really enjoyed studying with these texts. They are pricey, but I only need to purchase it once and we have the set for the rest of the children, which saves more over the long run

Of course the countless literature books also qualify, but I won’t list all of those here.

Borrow books and sourcing used

Another way we homeschool our family on a budget is borrowing books or finding them free or inexpensively. After I have done my planning, I begin sourcing our books needed that year that we don’t already have. I rarely have to pay full price for a book unless it is one of the reusable core books I listed above. Even then, I usually can find them used or discounted. I keep a list on my computer of each book’s source as I find it, so I know which ones I’ve purchased and which I’ll need to check out at the library when the term we’re going to use it in comes up.

Here is the list I go down from free to most expensive.

1. Local library- my library lets me keep a saved list, and I group books by grades on there.
2. Borrow from friends – it’s fun to swap with each other!
3. Librivox for free audio versions
4. Amazon Kindle books have a lot of classics in the public domain or for very little
5. Check Facebook groups for used options for sale
6. Amazon’s discounted and used books
7. Abe books
8. Ebay
9. Christianbook usually runs sales

Printing most of our own consumables

We have been printing our own worksheets from the very beginning. It really doesn’t take much time at all. We bought a cheap black and white laser printer that we use and buy refurbished toner for, so it is a more affordable option for us.

Some sources for free online printables we use often:

• Seterra: great printable geography maps & drills
• Dads Worksheets: tons of math drills, plus handwriting paper.
• Super Coloring: great realistic coloring pages for history, art, architecture etc. Easy to navigate!

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In conclusion

I hope this post has given you excitement for how you can homeschool on a budget! There are lots of great resources out there, and I hope my lists here helped narrow things down for you, so you aren’t as overwhelmed. Stick to your values and search for what you love! Homeschooling can be such a joy to experience learning alongside your children!

In His service,

The post How we homeschool our large family on a budget appeared first on A Legacy In Days.

Today I’m sharing our homeschool year in review. What worked and what didn’t, the things we changed and loved this year, and our old standby favorites. We have some changes planned for the upcoming year, and I will be sharing those below as well.

Towards the close of the year I prefer to begin our planning for the next homeschool year. I’ve found the end of the current year is the best time for me to have fresh eyes for the next year. I can more easily see what will need to change without being unrealistic with what we can accomplish. The close of the year is a nice time to reflect back over the year and see what worked and what didn’t. Maybe schedules need to be tweaked, habits established better, or curricula changed. We have the children fill out an ”audit” of the year to see their preferences, as well. (You can watch my entire series on how we homeschool here on Youtube.)

Finally, a few things really clicked this year, especially for me as a teacher. What works best comes clearly into light when it’s repeated enough times, I suppose. I’ve found some things that really fit well for our family, and even though I’ve tried, some that don’t. Every family is different, and my desire with this post is to encourage you to do what works best for your family, and maybe get some new ideas, but not to feel compelled to have to do what we do.

Homeschool year in Review- What worked & What didn’t

This year we had grades 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th! This means I had all 4 forms going at once, along with our first graduate! (More of my thoughts on that in a future post ). However, I did not teach our 10th or 12th graders. I helped and oversaw some of their work, but they did history, literature, rhetoric, writing, and science with their co-op teachers, and most everything else, they worked on independently. I checked in with our 8th grader and went over his work with him everyday, but didn’t do any hands on teaching really. So, the magority of my teaching was spend with my 1st- 6th graders.

What worked + New favorites

I’m usually the type that prefers to stick with something for long enough to see if it works with different kids or another grade before giving it up. Over the years we’ve found books or curricula that work well for most of us, and I will tend to continue with those. However, there are times I try to make a book work because it fits in the right ”model”, but if it doesn’t meet these important criteria, we drop it.

• Challenges the students while maintaining their interest
• I enjoy the content along with the kids
• Can be finished in a timely fashion
• Not overly complicated
• Straightforward enough the students can work independently (when relevant)
• Affordable- or can be used again if cost is higher

It was challenging this year to teach with a baby then into a toddler along with 2 busy boys who needed lots of attention. For this reason, we kept our schedule flexible. Somedays we did our most important “mom time” work in the mornings, and sometimes we waited until naps. It just depended on the week or even the day. The kids would work on their independent work, which I oversaw as much as possible, until I could do their lessons with them.

History

The Story of the World Vol. 2 with Activity book
I found a printable pdf of the activity book as well as audio C.D’s of the readings. This is so helpful during our busier days, and it’s makes getting lessons ready so much easier!

This has been the only core history our boys have latched on to. They understand it, enjoy it, and I do as
well. There are plenty of suggestions for further study when we have more time, yet the main lessons are
very doable for our family, as well as the activities are just plain fun! I read aloud this book as family
history and give further assignments to the older students.

Omnibus– (history, literature, rhetoric.)

Our high schoolers have done this history with their coop group and really enjoyed it. It lends itself to
great discussions as well as critical thinking and logical essay writing. Whether you agree with the
prelude author’s perspective or not, it challenges the students to form their own conclusions in the frame of a Biblical worldview of some of the most formative books of our times.

A Gentle Feast’s booklist
We did Cycle 1 History this year, and many of the history and science biographies from the booklist were some of the boys’ favorites. Our highschoolers have also enjoyed supplementing their Omnibus lessons with books from the history selections in AGF booklist, as well. My son finished Susan Wise Bauer’s A Medieveal History of the World this year, as well as some Paul Johnson, David McCullough and others.

Science

Apologia Science– General Science, Biology, and Chemistry
This is one I’ve strayed away from a bit in the lower forms, and usually end up coming back to it. This
year my oldest 3 did the above listed books, and it worked really well for us. It’s a comprehensive
curriculum and offers alot of ways to learn the true scientific method of study in the upper levels. With
the teacher’s manual, it has been doable to keep up through 8th grade. However, our high schoolers
have been able to continue with a proficient coop teacher, so I can’t speak to those grades’ ease of
teaching. We prefer our older students to learn under a more skilled teacher, particularly in the upper levels of science, whenever possible.

Natural histories- Thornton Burgess and Arabella Buckley

Our littles still enjoyed the natural history books written by Thorton Burgess or Arabella Buckley that we get on librivox for free. They listened to these this year during quiet times in the afternoons, to save me some time.

Logic

The Art of Argument– This was our second time through this book and it’s worked really well for us. The firs time, we did it in a coop group, and this time my son worked on his own. He’s done well enough on his own with it, but it lends itself to a group context and discussion better.

Literature

A Gentle Feast booklist-
Forms 1 -3 stayed pretty true to the pace and schedule of the booklist with selections that correlated
with our history time period. That is one of our favorite parts of the curriculum! Our high schoolers had
their literature mostly covered in Omnibus. It has a pretty heavy booklist, so I don’t usually supplement
much other reading.

Geography

We’ve mostly enjoyed the biographies and autobiographies in the AGF booklist, minus a few exceptions listed below. We’ve had alot of success using the map activites included in our history activities, a map the kids print and color in slowly, alongside map drills on seterra.com.

Grammar

Ok, here’s where we started something new this year! We tried the IEW FIX IT! Grammar curricula for the first time this year, and loved it so much! We did books 1 & 3 and they were a huge hit. I ended up buying the pdf versions of all of the lesson books, and the corresponding teacher’s manuals. This makes it a very affordable option for using multiple times. My boys loved grammar for the first time! The lessons are complete sentences that build on top of each other to form an entire story that the student copies down. It requires only 10-15 minutes a day and builds applicable grammar skills to the context of a real story. Each lesson also includes a rich vocabulary word.

Math

Life of Fred– This still remains our math curricula of choice and we now have worked all the way through Algebra 2 in it. It is math program the teaches the students in a mastery method. The students master each math fact before moving on, while learning to find the formula and solution on their own through challenging story problems.

Our oldest daughter really wanted to do geometry this year as well, but she wasn’t able to finish it alongside a very challenging chemistry course, which also required a lot of math. She might continue on in the math program after graduation, though.

Phonics/ Writing

Explode the Code – We’ve been continuing with Explode the Code and I’ve seen a lot of progress in how fast the boys are picking up reading. The self-paced style is so doable for our family dynamic. I don’t have time to sit and teach long phonics lessons with each child. I work with them through the first few books and teach reading with Bob books now primarily. The 2 that were learning to read when we started seemed to to be reading chapter books independently much sooner. We have done all the books in the series until they’re ready to start grammar around 5th grade.

The Little Red Writing Book- Our oldest son really enjoyed working through this book and was able to apply a lot of it to his other writing. He worked independently with it, and it was challenging but doable. Our oldest daughter didn’t get as much from it, when she did it, but I don’t think it felt as relevant to her, as she isn’t as interested in creative writing and storytelling like our son is.

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What didn’t

I’ve had to give up some books that just haven’t worked as well in our dynamic or with our specific group of boys especially. I’m usually the type that prefers to stick something for awhile to see if it works with different kids before giving it up. Some books are better fits for different kids or in different years, so I’m not too quick to give up on something. But, after several times teaching through a book that hasn’t worked in different years with different children, we drop it.

History

Genevieve Foster Histories These core history books in the booklists from A Gentle Feast haven’t really worked for us. I really wanted to make them work, but they were written more factually then it seems from the outside. They do not have that exciting story landscape the way The Story of the World does and didn’t capture the boys’ imaginations. We’ve had to drop them and stick with The Story of the World for now. I enjoyed them fine, but the boys just couldn’t connect with them and I felt like narrations were challenging for them, which shows me they’re not grasping what was read.

Math

Older kids helping– I had assigned my high schoolers to work on math with one of their younger brothers once a week, to free up some time for me to work more on the reading lessons. Unfortunately, with their full high school load, this ended up not working out. They had a hard time being available when the littles were ready, and when they were available (afternoons for example) the littles were NOT interested in doing more school. I ended up just needing to do it with them in the mornings as ofter as I could, which meant we are a bit behind where I’d hoped we’d be at the end of the year.

Science

The Way Things Work– I love this book, but it didn’t work well for me to teach to multiple students, and mine weren’t ready to really jump in on their own. I think it is a great reference book, especially for boys that are interested in the particulars of mechanics, and the boys had fun reading through it, but I don’t think we really grasped enough from the book to make it a core book for our science base.

Geography

Hollings Geography books– Paddle to the Sea, Seabird etc. For some reason, I love these books, but the boys haven’t. They will listen and narrate, but I’m choosing to drop these books, too, just because I would rather put more time towards our other books we enjoy together more. We do a lot of map work and reference so a specified geography program isn’t as necessary for us, except some of the biographies we’ve enjoyed from either the Ambleside or AGF booklists.

Grammar

Simply Grammar– All of our boys despised this book. Maybe it would be better for younger girls. It works well enough, but it wasn’t challenging enough and felt dull.

Shurley English- We really enjoy the chants and songs we learned with the Shurley curriculum, but the FIX IT program from IEW has given the kids the insight into understanding grammar in contexts outside of the curriculum. I felt like with Shurley grammar the kids can do the work, but had a difficult time applying it to other sources.

Homeschool Year in Review- What we’re planning to change next year

C-Prep– We are looking into have our 3rd born take some C- prep classes that are offered here. He’ll be beginning is first year of high school and I want to give him the same opportunity our older 2 had to learn from other teachers and be challenged by a bit of healthy competition and fun with classmates. Particularly science, as we won’t have a coop class available to join, as far as we’ve found anyway.

Visual Latin– I have not been able to maintain a Latin curriculum with the kids alongside teaching the core subjects, but I’m very interested to try this online option next year. It looks to be more self-paced and engaging and I’d love the boys to have this base in their education! It also is an affordable option at only $25 a month for unlimited viewing and streaming of all of their offerings.

Apologia Science for middle school– We’re going back to Apologia for the Form 2 science next year. We will use the journals offered alonside it, as well. Simply because it is works the best when teaching multiple children and all our kids love it!

My hope is that you’ve found some inspiration to try a new idea or to continue on with what’s working currently for your family. Either way, I hope you feel encouraged to press on in this high calling we have to teach the next generation about the amazing world God has made!

Thanks for joining me today!

The post Our Homeschool Year in Review 2021-2022 appeared first on A Legacy In Days.

Here are some last minute Mother’s day gift ideas for homeschooling moms that have come from my own wishlist. If you’re like me, you have an amazon wishlist so your hunny and kids know what you want. Thought I would share my own list with you today, in case you needed to give them some ideas but needed a little inspo.

Gifts to wear

14K Gold plated Sterling Silver for $15.99 (at time of posting) This has been on my wishlist for awhile.

Mama necklace

Key leather chain wristlet- etsy

Ok, these are all the rage this year and it makes me wonder why we haven’t thought of this already? Such a genius idea. A stylish way to keep track of our keys hands free as we come and go with bags and books galore. Starts at $14

(Disclaimer: some of these are affiliate purchases, which does not mean they are sponsored- I picked these out myself. It just means I make a tiny commission off of these sales with no added expense to you. This helps the work I do here. Thanks in advance for the support!)

Baby teether key wristlet Minimalist teether key chain option 2

Only $10 for this fun version if you have littles! I would probably unclip the key part before giving to the baby. I love how there is a handy toy option at your disposal in a pinch!

Teeshirt: I can do all things through Christ

A little daily reminder and encouragement to wear everyday, and looks comfy and cute. Starting at $19.

Not all classrooms have 4 walls- red tee

All homeschool mamas know teaching can happen anywhere! Love this cute color option, but there are others available as well. Starting at $16.

Gifts to help

The Peaceful Planner

Every Homeschool mom can benefit from an organized system! I love what the Peaceful Press puts out and their philosophy on education lends itself to a more restful homeschooling atmosphere. I wanted to try this planner out for next year, as it is so well laid out and has a nice minimal design. Less than $25 (at time of posting).

Collapsible tote

I need this tote! I have a black grubby one that desperately needs this replacement! How cute is this design and fresh spring colors! Starts at less than $40.

Raising little disciples tote

The purchase of this tote (starting at $24.95 and ships quick) supports another christian mama shop! Can’t even with the cute and sweet message and simplistic design. What homeschool mama doesn’t need another great tote?

Gifts to savor

Stumptown coffee

This coffee is spendy, but oh so worth it- hence why it makes a great gift! Our favorite local coffee shop, with the BEST lattes, uses this coffee. I’m obsessed with it’s smooth yet strong nutty flavor. EVERY homeschool mama deserves a cup of good organic coffee!

Half Baked Harvets’s new cookbook!

Tiegan has a new book and it’s for everyday cooks- like we homeschool mamas! I have her other cookbook and her flavor combos never disappoint. Her website is aw-inspiring and this cookbook looks to be another winner. Ships for under $20 on sale at time of posting!

A FREE BONUS GIFT FROM ME!

A little daily reminder you can hang anywhere. Print for yourself, a friend, or send them over to print themselves!

PIN TO SAVE & SHARE IF YOU CARE

Thanks for stopping by my little corner today!

The post Mother’s day gift ideas for homeschooling moms appeared first on A Legacy In Days.

Today I am sharing some ways that we are teaching gratitude in our family this season and in general! As we say- more gratitude = less attitude. I also have a fun printable that you can download right now and start noticing the joy, good and beauty around you, too. Scroll down for our list of books we have enjoyed about the real Thanksgiving story and it’s history.

Cultivating gratitude has been on our hearts and minds recently more than usual. We have alot going on in our family and it seems like most sinful attitudes can stem from ungratefulness. Just think about how hard it is to have a selfish attitude when we feel grateful! This goes for our children, AND ourselves! So we are digging into refocusing our attention to notice all the good, the beauty, the joy and the generous gifts God bestows on us everyday that tend to go unnoticed.

Teaching gratitude and being grateful all the time is not something we have down! In fact, we don’t expect to ever get to a place where we have “arrived”. We are all bent toward seflishness, ingratitude, and discontentment and have to work constantly to cultivate gratitude in our home. We so commonly default to our sinful apathy and complacency without looking for areas we can grow and change in. So we seek to remind ourselves often of these principles that we strive to cultivate first in ourselves and teach in our homeschool and family life as well.

It can be difficult to raise kids in an over materialized and entitled culture, but we have to fight against the tide of our culture for what is biblical. Being intentional to create an atmosphere of thanksgiving will reap so much fruit in your family!

10 ways we seek to teach gratitude

1. Pray and ask God to open our eyes to His blessings even in the small things
2. Visit and befriend those who might be in harder circumstances than we are
3. Giving acts of service for each other and to others
4. Read stories (also movies) about those who have faith and gratitude in hard circumstances
5. Going without something we want for a set amount of time or giving it up altogether
6. Distrubuting chores and responsibilities so everyone has a role and a part to what they receive
7. Not over indulging, practicing moderation- needs vs. wants
8. Keeping our material items pared down & minimized as much as possible
9. Look for the hidden gifts and blessings and sharing them with others
10. Keeping a visual list of what we are grateful for (little kids can draw pictures)

As we come up on the season where we intentionally spend time giving thanks, let’s remember where our thanks should be directed towards. As we see everything good thing from the Lord, we will begin to have our hearts and minds filled with all the beauty and joy that is around us already.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1:17‬ ‭‬‬

Thanksgiving books that teach gratitude

Pocohantos by Ingri & Edgar Parin d’Auliare

An enjoyable, beautifully illustrated story of the Indian princess. A great read aloud for your little to middle kids.

Squanto’s Journey

A fun picture book story for your older elementary grade students.

Squanto Friend of the Pilgrim’s

An good story of bravery for your beginning readers and early elementary students.

If you sailed on the Mayflower in 1620

Fun insiders perspective on the Mayflower journey. Great to read to your inquisitive kiddos!

If you were at the first Thanksgiving

Another insider’s perspective with great discussion inducing questions for your older elementary to middle school students.

Sarah Morton’s Day

This book is on our to be read list this year! Looks like a good one for my independent readers!

Squanto by Eric Metaxes

This is also on our to be read list! We’ve enjoyed some of Eric’s other books!

The Thanksgiving Story

A fun read aloud take on the Pilgrim’s story for your little guys.

And here are some free prints for you to enjoy this month! Click on any of the pics below to download and get started enjoying and cultivating thankfulness this season!

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Thanks for stopping my my little corner of the interwebs!

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The post 10 ways we are teaching gratitude in our home appeared first on A Legacy In Days.

The moments we are given are precious, but that doesn’t mean they always feel that way, in fact, they rarely do. It is often that someone’s attitude needs to be corrected or we have to start where we left off multiple times from the same spot, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t making progress. Every day spent in small moments of intentionality in your homeschool morning routine will bear fruit. The more and more you incorporate the elements to your morning that you long for, the more it will feel natural and you will meet with less resistance from your kids and even yourself.

The next day starts the night before

My desire is to have a slower pace to our mornings and time for togetherness before we have to get to our to do list. A little extra preparation the night before goes a long way towards not feeling rushed the next morning. Some evenings I prep a baked good or another dish I can quickly bake- like a quiche or some muffin batter. We make sure the kitchen is cleaned, do a quick tidy, and sort out a load of laundry to put in in the morning before tucking in for the night. Having an evening routine that helps me sleep better and wake feeling ready for another day is so helpful for setting our mornings off on the right foot.

Using Time blocks for more flexibility

We schedule our day in what is commonly referred to as time blocks. We aim to accomplish certain tasks within a set timeframe and leave what isn’t done in that block until another day and move on to the next block. I stick to the priorities so if we have extra time we can do a little more, but at least we are getting to the most important things in that block. These blocks of time usually are plenty to get done what we need to and still be able to maintain this schedule. Each day making progress forward is the goal.

I used to try to schedule our days for each item on our schedule. But it would leave me feeling panicky and behind if we couldn’t fit in what we needed to get done. I would push each undone item into the next time block and constantly felt behind. Now, I have made our blocks with plenty of margin to get done what we need. If there is an unexpected interruption or delay, we just move to the next block and drop what’s not finished as needed.

No day is ever “perfect” and that’s precisely why the schedule is so helpful for me. I don’t have to think about what I should do next when something is off rhythm or try to “catch up”. We just keep plugging forward! By the end of a week we have generally balanced out anyways. The things maybe dropped earlier in the week have a chance for recovery and I don’t stress it if not. Progress is the goal, not perfection.

How our homeschool morning routine begins

6-7:30

I love the slow quiet of morning before the kids all wake up. I try to get up before they do so I can calm and quiet my soul before I am taken up with directing the show. Even after a rough night’s sleep, waking up early enough to be able to orient my heart to the Lord’s will for my day renews me for another full day more than an extra bit of sleep will. I typically get up at least 30 min to an hour before I wake the kids up. I aim to at least have enough time to get ready and read my Bible. If I’ve had enough sleep, I will try to wake up even earlier to sneak in a quick workout or write.

My older kids get up earlier, as needed, to begin their school. Our younger children like to sleep in, so we don’t have a household of kiddos up at the crack of dawn, like I know a lot of families do. Our struggle is more in getting the kids UP! In this block I set out any breakfast things, start tea and coffee or do a quick prep (preheat oven) right before I wake up the children that aren’t awake yet. I try to wake us up earlier than we would want to so that we can have TIME to enjoy the morning together.

Our homeschool morning worship routine

7:30-8:30

I turn on their lights and cheerfully rouse them, but then I go out and let them wake up. Eventually they make their way out to snuggle on the couch by the fire. They usually chat with me, while having tea or coffee. I love this slower moment with snuggles and time for a chat with my kids before the pace picks up for the day.

Then we begin morning worship. Even though it is never easy or peaceful, and can feel tempting to skip it, this is the most important part of our morning routine. At some point in here the baby wakes up and I feed her or she joins in on the readings.

Our morning worship flow includes the following:

• A chapter from a passage of scripture, alternating OT & NT, Psalms and Proverbs
• Recite together a verse from our Bible Verse memory selection-currently Romans 8:31-39
• Reading from a short devotional- currently using Training Hearts Teaching Minds & Leading Little Ones to God
• Sing a hymn or Psalm
• Reciting our term poetry memorization
• Prayer requests and prayer time
• Go over the plan for the day and dismiss the kids for the next block

This usually takes us 20- 30 minutes to complete. If we are having more interruptions or have a busier morning, I will just read the Bible reading for the day and pray. Sometimes I have slept in, have discipline issues to deal with a child or everyone is not getting up in time. But I have learned it is better to do less and stick to it, than throw it all out because it’s not ideal every morning.

Breakfast & Chores

8:30-9:30

When devotions are finished I dismiss the kids for their morning “dailies”. I finish getting breakfast ready, and finish my own morning chores. As the older kids finish their chores and breakfast they start right into their independent work. It is tempting to do everything myself because it’s faster and more efficient, but it is not as effective for the goals we have in parenting children. We desire to give our children real life skills and instill competency, a good work ethic, and diligence. Which means, they all have chores. This home belongs to ALL of us, and we all have a key role to play in how it runs and shapes our lives.

My Morning Dailies

• Finish making breakfast and serve littles (older kids serve themselves)
• Prep dinner (defrost meat if needed)
• Put in a load of laundry set out from the night before
• Make bed
• Help littles get dressed
• Finish getting ready if needed
• Soak dishes and clear counter

The Children’s Dailies Include

• Get ready
• Make bed
• Animal chores
• Breakfast cleanup chores: clearing and wiping table, sweeping kitchen and dining room, unloading and loading dishwasher

Lessons with Form 1: 1st-3rd

9:30-10:30

Next, I head downstairs to our homeschool room to check in on what the kiddos have started. After I’ve put the baby down for her nap, I begin read alouds with my Form 1 kiddos.

We focus on short lessons, so we usually only spend 15- 30 min on phonics, copywork, reading, math help, map drills and another 15-30 min. on read alouds.

Current selection of read alouds include:

• Geography- Elementary Geography, Me on the Map
• American History- Pocahontas by D’Aulaire, North American Indians, Indians, Follow the Dream, Exploration & Conquest

They listen to one of these during the afternoon or on car rides:

• Natural History- Birds of the Air, Burgess Animal Stories (both via LIbrivox)
• Literature- The blue, Red & Pink Fairy book stories (via Librivox)
• Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (also on audio)

Afterwards they are free to play outside or quietly in the basement while I move on to Form 2 lessons.

Lessons with Form 2: 4th-6th

10:30-11:30

They each have a notebook with their independent subjects and a daily to do list to check off. They begin right after their chores and breakfast are finished. Whatever they don’t complete before I start work with them, they have to do later. This is their free time and screen time, so that usually motivates them to get right to it.

Independent work includes:

• Phonics
• Math
• Copywork
• Geography map drills
• Math
• Assigned readings

We have about an hour, while the baby sleeps to do some subjects together. Sometimes we get to spend more time and work on fun projects. Otherwise, we get our reading done, take notes and narrate through 2-3 subjects on rotation.

This current rotation includes:

• Geography- O Canada! Seterra
• Ancient History- A History of the Ancient World, Cleopatra by Diane Stanley
• World History- Leonardo DaVinci, Our Island Story (via Librivox),The Story of the World Volume 1 (audiobook)
• Grammar – IEW Fix it Grammar
• Natural History- Nature Readers
• Science- The Way things Work, DaVinci’s Amazing Inventions
• Literature- 50 Famous Stories, Tales from Shakespeare (both via LIbrivox)

Lunch prep & Forms 3 & 4: 8th, 10th &12th

11:30-12:30

I finish up downstairs and we do a quick tidy before heading up to prep lunch. I check in with the big kids during this block to help with math etc. They have a meeting with me in the morning and are working on their own studies during the previous hours. If they need my help they will usually come in and sit at the bar while I work in the kitchen. Sometimes I’m finishing breakfast dishes here, or just letting some lunch heat up while doing math and science help. Some days I have a chance to sneak in a quick workout or some cleaning here as well. I prioritize the most important thing in this block, and whatever else I can get done is just a bonus.

Well, that wraps up our homeschool morning routine! Now we begin moving into lunch and the afternoon finish school, housework and hopefully some rest during quiet time.

Conclusion

We all certainly have overwhelming mornings, and they aren’t bad, but they don’t have to be like that everyday, and certainly don’t have to be the norm. Believe me, our mornings are in no way idyllic. With younger ones still learning to sit quietly, and some kids not even wanting to be awake yet, we definitely have our bumps. However, if I expect every morning to look like our perfect ideal, I will never intentionally carve out a realistic way to actually accomplish what we desire. I desire a gentle start to our day centered around God’s word, NOT just my to do list. Keeping this as the focus helps me remember that those small conflicts won’t really matter in the long run if we stay faithful and keep persevering.

I hope this glimpse into our morning has encouraged you! Please share with me your own biblically centered family morning rhythms below!

Blessings on your mornings!

In His service,

It would honor me so much if you would please share this if you’ve found it helpful or insightful.

Thanks for stopping my my little corner of the interwebs!

The post Our homeschool morning routine appeared first on A Legacy In Days.

I knew there were a lot of problems in the space to solve, not enough time to accomplish what my original vision was, and definitely not the budget for that right now either. But, we needed a more organized and functional space for all of our homeschool supplies, and we needed it soon. I had to overcome my dread and just roll up my sleeves and move forward with what I COULD do now.

How I was able to transform this room into a space that is both functional and beautiful in less than a week and for under $300 is what I want to share with you today. It is not my original vision, but it is so perfect for us right now. That is why I am excited to share it with you today. In hopes it will inspire you to make the most of the space you’ve been given even if it is not ideal or your dream, either.

Our homeschool room journey

When we moved into our home last summer, I had visions of what this tiled room in our basement could become. l saw the possibilities and potential just waiting to be transformed into a wonderful school area for us. This being a large tiled area, it would also make the perfect spot for all the crafting and creating our children enjoy!

Since moving in last year it remained a mishmash of random furniture and had a system that was not very functional or pretty, to say the least. I had grandiose dreams of built ins, creative stenciling on the wall and maybe a boys jungle gym in a corner! But as the coming school year approached I realized I needed to let go of those bigger plans and just create a functional space for us. I still had hopes of it being somewhat pretty, as well.

before

In years past we have done school around our dining room table, on beds, on chairs and couches, and we still do! I love the flexibility of homeschooling and the slow quiet mornings snuggled under blankets on the couch while we read the Bible together. What we were needing this year, however, was a home for all of our things. We definitely lost precious time last year trying to find misplaced books and papers!

With 6, almost 7, full time students this fall, there is a lot to keep track of! I knew our system from the previous year barely got us by and it was time to upgrade to a more functional system. One that would make our things easy to use and find.

Charlotte Mason’s 6th principle, that Education is an atmosphere, certainly rings true for me. In our home we learn in all areas, but what we were needing was a space for everything and a system to organize it. Doing so would hopefully create a smoother rhythm to our day.

When we say that “education is an atmosphere,” we do not mean that a child should be isolated in what may be called a ‘child-environment’ especially adapted and prepared, but that we should take into account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him live freely among his proper conditions. It stultifies a child to bring down his world to the child’s level.

Here

Even though I still have visions for built-ins and new flooring, a functional and aesthetically pleasing space was needed for now. I just was not sure how I was going to accomplish that on a budget.

Essential elements for the the design of our homeschool room makeover

I started by making a list of the needs we had for the room and pain points that needed to be solved.

Here was what I came up with.

1. Bin organizer for individual kids’ things
2. Lots of open storage room for books
3. Closed door storage for craft supplies and teacher’s keys
4. Easy access to map, globe and coloring things
5. Chalkboard or white board
6. Large table for older kids
7. Smaller table for younger kids
8. Paper filing and display areas

Finding the key component

The next step was to determine what I already had to work with. I had a large divided cubbie organizer that our TV was sitting on in our family room downstairs. I had used it in our previous home for homeschool book storage but the original canvas bins were not a sturdy enough option anymore. However, I did have some heavy duty plastic bins I had used on a different shelf last year that were very practical. Well, low and behold! They fit in the cubbies! It was a perfect match for the need.

It wasn’t being used for anything except storing DVD’s. I switched out all of our DVD’s into a small compact disc case which was awesome! Why I hadn’t done that years ago, I don’t know. Totally recommend that! Then we found a smaller TV stand off of FB marketplace for $100. Boom! Now that large unit was free for the using and the perfect piece to for organizing the kid’s individual books.

In any design process, finding the focal point or key component is the most important first step. Sometimes it’s a statement piece of furniture or a rug. Knowing the main thing you want everything else to flow and match with can springboard the rest of the design into place.

Now that I knew what I would be working around, I was able to begin piecing the rest of the ideas for the room together.

The design process

I already had a large oak sideboard hutch down there that was functioning very well for storing the craft supplies. But it was very outdated. There were two large white unused bookcases not being used in our upstairs office, as well. After I took the measurements I found they would fit perfectly on either side of the shelf unit.

Because the black shelf unit was the focal and pivotal point for the room I knew I needed to work from there with the design plan. It was in good shape but with all the angles I did not want to paint it a different color. Hence, I decided to paint the other pieces of furniture to match the cubbie instead. I opted for Sherwin Williams Iron Ore, a black color we’ve used in our previous home. I also found new hardware at Hobby Lobby to put on the other furniture. This gave the room a more cohesive feel.

Sourcing some new pieces

Now, I just needed to source a new better fitting table and seating. The middle larger table I found brand new in the box off FB marketplace for $100. I also found 2 metal chairs for $25 that I spray painted black. I really had hoped to build or source some matching benches for the table, but didn’t have the time or budget to do so. Instead I repurposed unused leftover chairs from our dining room set.

I struggled to find a small table option for the younger kids. Then I happened upon this inexpensive folding table at Walmart and realized that it fit perfectly in the spot I needed. Plus, we could also use it in other ways if we needed a folding table. The chairs that go in front of that were $10 each on FB marketplace.

Hobby Lobby had their wall decor and hardware on sale the same week I was putting all of this together! I was able to gather hardware, and some fun decor items on clearance in one trip!

Cost Breakdown of our homeschool room makeover on a budget

Items Purchased for our homeschool room makeover

Table- FB Marketplace: $100

Black metal chairs-FB Marketplace: $25 for the pair

Wood chairs- Craigslist: $20 for the pair

Black folding table- Walmart: $37

Wall map tapestry- Hobby Lobby: $35

Wall Clock- Hobby Lobby: $15

New hardware knobs and bin pulls: Hobby Lobby: $20

Misc. Decor (plants, sign)- Hobby Lobby: $25

Quart of paint- Sherwin Williams Iron Ore $20

Total purchases: $297!

I still can’t believe I was able to finish this room for less than $300 including furniture purchases! We are all so grateful to have this space completed in a way that can serve our family’s needs, but still allow for changes in the future. Keeping this makeover afforadable allows me to stay flexible with longer term goals, and still be able to enjoy this space in the meantime.

Homeschool Room Makeover Sources

Black folding table from Walmart

Similar cubbie

Similar antique brass bin pulls

Similar antique brass knobs

Map

Globe

Similar gold wall organizer

Faux plants

Bird poster

Wall Clock

More Cavellini posters on Etsy

I am so thankful for this space and how everything came together. Just a few weeks into school now, and our flow is noticeably smoother. We are not wasting time trying to find books and notebooks. Now we are able to better spend our time creatively learning together and enjoying the smooth rhythm of our day.

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The post Our Homeschool Room Makeover on a budget appeared first on A Legacy In Days.

The early years of preschool and kindergarten are some of the most foundational times in our child’s formation

I have gotten a lot of questions about how we homeschool preschool and kindergarten. How do you homeschool preschool? What do you teach in kindergarten? I think this is a challenging age to know what to do with our children. It’s always a struggle for homeschool moms to feel like they aren’t doing enough. The truth is, we will NEVER feel like we are. So, it becomes imperative that we establish boundaries for ourselves for what our goals and intentions are even in the early years. There will always be one more subject we think we could add. One more skill to teach. It never ends. But, I want to encourage you that your child learns much more apart from you than he even will under your teaching. Let that sink in. Your child will LEARN while he plays, or draws. While he digs in the sand or even plays with a pet.

A little background

If your children are anything like mine, they have an insatiable curiosity for the world around them. So, naturally it’s easy to think now is the perfect time to cram all the information we can in them. But, our goal in our children’s educations (more here) is to facilitate them forming  relationships and connections with their creator, language, nature, peoples, places, events. 

In our home we don’t begin our child’s formal education with any scheduled curriculum before the age of 6 or 7. In the early years, our primary focus with them is that they play and engage with the world around them. We desire for them to make connections and form a natural and positive relationship with me, as the teacher, and with learning.

We do, however, have quite a few things we do intentionally with our children in the preschool age. I hope this offers you some practical insight for making this a wonderful time of connection and engagement together!

Working with their natural development

My husband and I always knew we wanted to homeschool our children, so when our youngest was very young of course it was natural for me to begin researching different methods and philosophies. I was excited about teaching her to read early or be a math genius by 5! While I was looking for curriculums and methods to create a child prodigy (ha ha), I stumbled upon the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling. The slow and easy days of the early years and the idea of laying down the rails of good habits early on resonated with me more than any “method for success”.

Reading Teaching the Trivium also clued me into the fact that a child is not developmentally ready for the analytical and abstract processing of grammar and math before the age of ten. As I did more research on childhood development and observed our own children, it made more and more sense to me that the slower introduction to more rigorous work was the best fit for their young developing minds.

However, I did spend some years doubting myself, doubting the process, and even doubting my children. Now, 10 years later, I am so grateful to have taken those early years slowly and gently. Our older children now have a positive relationship with learning and with me their mama and teacher; the habit of attention and excellence; diligence and self discipline. I believe these were won by a gentle leading into higher learning. I hope I can encourage you here to enjoy these formative years with your children and offer some practical and intentional things to do together, as well!

Waiting to begin formal lessons

 “Why take all winter to pound a post into the frozen ground when you can pound it in one day in the Spring when the ground is ready.”

This is something I heard years ago that has always stuck with me. It reminds me why waiting is helpful to the parent child relationship, and conversely how it can be damaging to rush. There are things our children can learn early on, but the connection likely will not come until they are developmentally ready, anyway. While all those hours of input could have been spent forming relationship and connections that time didn’t allow for when the focus is on more rigorous work.

Now this doesn’t mean we do nothing with them in these formative years. We certainly see this as a valuable time for intentional input, but we don’t do any scheduled or formal work with them.

The benefits of waiting

“The educational error of our day is that we believe too much in mediators. Now, Nature is her own mediator, undertakes, herself, to find work for eyes and ears, taste and touch; she will prick the brain with problems and the heart with feelings.

And the part of mother or teacher in the early years (indeed, all through life) is to sow opportunities, and then to keep in the background, ready with a guiding or restraining hand only when these are badly wanted” (Charlotte Mason Vol. 1, pp. 192, 193).

We have not started formal lessons with any of our children before the age of 6. We also wait to teach more abstract grammar and math concepts until 8-9. I admit, it was hard for me to wait with our first 2, but I am so glad I did! We have enjoyed creating wonderful memories and moments together. I have seen the benefit of waiting pay off in large dividends! 

Also,  as more children arrived I found myself beginning every homeschool year with either a baby or a toddler to keep my busy. Not having to worry about a heavier curriculum load for my little ones allowed me the time needed to invest in the children who were ready for more structured work.

A few experienced mamas on waiting in the early years:

I have found this to be true time and again. When I introduce something to a child who is not developmentally ready or try to force it even, I can potentially do more harm than any “knowledge” they would have aquired from it.

Homeschooling the Early Years by Sarah Mackenzie

Classical Homeschooling in the early years by Mystie Winkler at Simply Convivial

What I wish I’d known about homeschooling the early years by Brandy Vencel

These early years are a wonderful time to establish a relationship with  learning that is fun, interesting and interactive. They are also imperative for setting a well laid parent to student foundational connection.

What we do intentionally in our home in the early years

Read alouds

Quality picture books and literature are a fun way we introduce them to language, new worlds and concepts. We don’t require any narrations at this stage. Conversely, we let them ask questions of the story. Or we ask questions and let them discuss what they enjoyed and are interested in. This usually happens before naps, before bed or when they’re needing a cuddle moment. Ambleside Online has a lovely booklist for “year 0”.

Memorization

Getting Scripture into their hearts and minds is the most valuable thing I can pass on. So, this is the one thing I am intentionally prepared to teach them. We have a special verse for our little guys to memorize. Just reading it and having them repeat back will have them memorize it in no time! I simple say it to them during devotions, before bed or whenever! Even if they don’t want to repeat it back, just hearing it will get it implanted in their little minds.

Likewise, if they are really interested in the older children’s poetry memorization I might pick a fun one just for them. I just do the same method with Scripture memory. We read the first line or two frequently until it’s memorized, than move on to the next part. They can repeat back if they like, but usually get it down just by hearing.

Here are some great poem ideas!

Play

Open ended toys and a space for creative imaginative play incites hours of engagement. Over the years we have honded in on what toys we see them interact with positively. We try to keep the amount manageable. This can prove challenging with a large family, but is so helpful in limiting overwhelm. A lot of toys spread out all over the floor detracts them from engaging with them. A place for everything with a limited amount of mostly open ended options helps stimulate their creativity. Playing and using their imaginations gives them more opportunities to learn resourcefulness, strategizing, and many other life skills!

Time in Nature

“The consideration of out-of-door life, in developing a method of education, comes second in order; because my object is to show that the chief function of the child–his business in the world during the first six or seven years of his life–is to find out all he can, about whatever comes under his notice, by means of his five senses; that he has an insatiable appetite for knowledge got in this way;

And that, therefore, the endeavour of his parents should be to put him in the way of making acquaintance freely with Nature and natural objects; that, in fact, the intellectual education of the young child should lie in the free exercise of perceptive power, because the first stages of mental effort are marked by the extreme activity of this power; and the wisdom of the educator is to follow the lead of Nature in the evolution of the complete human being.”

Charlotte Mason- Vol. 1

Every time I am in nature with our children, I have a sense that this is where we belong. Especially having 7 energetic boys all in the house together homeschooling. It can become smothering if we don’t balance our indoor play with time in nature. Even just a little walk around the block or a nature scavenger hunt in our yard. The boys can be entertained outside with dirt and a stick for hours, creating their own imaginary world of fun.

Interest lead learning

I follow their lead and answer their questions as best I can while also helping them explore more of what they’re interested in. We might get books at the library about a creature they want to learn about or buy an ant farm! This lightens my load as the teacher. I don’t have to try to come up with engaging topics to explore together. I still keep to our goals for this age from veering off course and becoming too rigorous too soon. 

Real life skills

In these early years, we desire them to gain a practical knowledge of life while living in their own family culture. Because education is an atmosphere. So, they learn counting while unloading the dishwasher and setting the table. We learn about measurements and weights while they help me bake something special. Likewise, when I am doing anything I explain to them the why and how of what I’m doing. This makes learning for them a natural part of their environment and interests.

Beginning Letter and number recognition

We might also work on letters and phonics if they are interested, but we don’t follow any structured method. They might trace letters in cornmeal, or learn them with alphabet magnets. I might even have them trace letters and numbers in a workbook, or on a whiteboard. However, this mostly happens because they see their older siblings have their books out and they want to join in.

Sensory activities

sensory play benefits

I like to carve out some time a couple times a week to do a  fun sensory activity (here are a few ideas).  Once I get things set up, they usually continue to play with the activity for awhile while I sit nearby working with the other children, or we both enjoy the activity together. Sometimes the older kids even join in! 

I try to  set out one or two special  activities they can work on independently while I work with the older kids. If they don’t want to do them, I tell them they are allowed to go and play something else, but they may not interrupt the other lessons. I don’t switch to a new activity group for 30 min. The smoothest mornings are when I’ve set these up ahead of time.

I keep bins in our hall closet of these things to play with only for school or special times. That way they are easy to find, quick to set up, and the child is not already “bored” of them.

I also try to rotate a few new things here monthly or quarterly. (usually corresponding with a holiday or birthday. :))

Special activities I keep on hand for these early years

• Variety of puzzles
• Dry erase markers and a white board
• Play dough
• clay
• Coloring pages & washable markers
• Alphabet magnets
• Pipe cleaners
• Wooden toy sensory scoops
• Watercolor paints and paper
• Magic Chinese Brush paper

To sum up- these years are wonderful! If you take the time to slow down and invest in your relationship with them, and their relationship to the world around them it will bear fruit later on! I hope this has been helpful to lighten the pressure and also encourage you what a lovely time this is to enjoy with your children. For more about how we homeschool you can check out my other posts here.

How I plan our homeschool year and our homeschooling philosophy

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Today I am excited to share some fun activities for preschoolers we are currently loving in our home to keep our younger children engaged, learning and entertained! These are easy to put together and budget friendly.

Want to know a bit more about how we homeschool? Click here

I have always homeschooled with a baby, toddler or both! Currently, I have a newborn, 3 year old and 5 year old needing my attention and engagement while also trying to teach my other 6 children. Over the years I have realized having some intentional time with the little guys first thing in the morning sets us up better for the rest of the day. Even during busier seasons, like the current one with a newborn, we still aim to get an activity in a couple times a week. My boys seem to really enjoy this and it fills up their tanks. They are learning and developing skills, we are sharing an experience together, plus it takes that need to get into something messy down a bit, too! Hehe

My 5 and 7 year olds also love these activities and it motivates them to finish up their assignments so they can have a turn at the activity as well. Sometimes even my older kiddos want to join in!

I have listed below some of our new favorite easy activities on rotation currently. Once I find an activity that is easy, budget friendly and the kiddos enjoy, I repeat it for a month or so. I like to change it up to keep them engaged.

Our favorite activities for preschoolers that are easy and fun!

These activities are budget friendly and most of these items you will already have in your house. These are geared more for preschool and kindergarten aged kiddos, but with adult supervision, toddlers can have fun with these, too! These activities are just messy enough to keep your little ones engaged but also pretty easy to contain and clean up quickly.

Jump directly to the activities

• Color mixing
• Fluffy soap “muffins”
• Fizzy “experiments”

To get started, here is a list of supplies to keep handy for a quick sensory activity on the fly.

Supply list to have on hand for these easy activities for preschoolers

1. Jelly roll pan or plastic trays– keeps the messes contained
2. Food coloring- whichever type you prefer. I prefer the liquid drops.
3. Small bowls and saucers
4. Scoopers, ladles and spoons
5. Eye dropper or medicine dropper
6. Nasal ball syringe
7. Recycled plastic egg containers

https://youtu.be/gGCGbn6zaOg

Colorful mixing

This activity is very popular with my 3 year old and keeps him engaged and entertained awhile!

Supplies: Food colors, nasal ball syringe, or medicine dropper, recycled plastic egg carton bottom, tray or pan for containment.

Instructions: Fill 1 row of the carton with water. Put one drop of a different color in each individual section. Ask the child if they can suck up a bit from one section to a new section and see what colors appear.

Teaches: Color mixing and recognition, fine moor skills, coordination, dexterity.

Fluffy soap “muffins”

Firstly, please use caution when using a hand mixer around young children. Use your own discretion if you want to have them “help” or not.

Secondly, this is a messier activity. However, the soap included makes cleanup easy. This one will excite your kiddos! It is so fun for them to scoop and smooth the frothy “batter”!

Supplies: 1/8 cup of gentle dishwasher liquid, 1-2 cups of water, food coloring, medium to large bowl, hand mixer, plastic recycled egg carton, muffin scoop, tray for containment.

Instructions: Poor the water, coloring and soap into a large bowl. Let the adult mix the soap with the hand beater until very fluffy. Ask the child to scoop some “muffins” into the tin. You can add more water and a bit more soap to the bowl to do again for another child. It’s fun to add a different color as well and watch the colors mix and change.

Teaches: Color mixing, fine motor skills, measuring, scooping, mixing.

Fizzy experiments

This is one of our favorite activities for preschoolers and usually my older kids want to join in the fun, too! They love mixing and watching the bubbles. Just make sure everything stays on the tray or pan for easy cleannup and containment.

Supplies: Water, food coloring, small bowls, baking soda, vinegar, eye dropper or nasal syringe, small scooper or spoon, tray for containment

Instructions: Place some water with food coloring in a bowl, vinegar in another and soda in another. Leave a bowl or 2 empty and ask the child to mix some of each component and see what happens.

Teaches: Cause and effect, strategizing, coordination, problem solving.

Watch the video here on my Youtube channel

I hope you try some of these and have some fun engagement together! If you do, leave me a comment below and let me know which one you enjoyed!

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The post 3 Budget friendly easy activities for preschoolers appeared first on A Legacy In Days.