If you haven’t read the first part of this blog, you may want to check it out before continuing to read this one. I think that it is crucial to having the right mindset in order to understand how it’s possible to homeschool. Like all good teachers though, I have some tricks up my sleeve that I use to make sure that I get my children’s instructional time in.
Note: Under New York State law, I am required to do 900 hours per year, which translates into approximately 5 hours per day. . .if you use a Monday through Friday school year. However, if you school year round and include some Saturdays. . .you can easily fit in more than 900 hours by doing 2-3 hours per day.
Trick #1 Manipulatives
I mentioned in my last blog about how using the right curriculum for your family situation really helps. One thing that I do is buy manipulatives. It allows me to teach similar concepts to several ages at once. It also allows me to keep younger hands busy while working with older ones. One example, is Handwriting Without Tears. This is a handwriting program that comes with manipulatives. So for example, if I’m working on writing the letter ‘a’, Lizzy has her paper and book, Alex has his chalkboard and chalk to work with and Meghan has wooden letter pieces to make letters. Even the twins can get in on the act with the wooden letter pieces.
Trick #2 Unschooling to the Rescue
I have written before how I’m not really an unschooler in the truest sense of the word. However, no one can deny that kids learn through play. After the twins were born, I made sure to have lots of good learning materials, great books and little television so that my kids would continue learning. Although the ‘instruction’ may well come in the form of: “build me a Lego tower as tall as you can. . .”, my son was able to figure out that in order to build a taller tower, he had to build a wider foundation. (Physical science through play!) Kids learn through play all the time and providing them with good things to play with encourages learning and can be counted as ‘instructional’ time.
Trick #3 Blessed Group Work
In schools there is some sort of fancy word for grouping advanced students with struggling ones to teach and reinforce concepts. At home it’s called “Help Your Sister”. Yes, it’s true, my older one does flash cards with my 4 year old while I work with my son. My 4 year old plays Legos with the twins while I do science with the older two. And there is no law that says you can’t teach all of your children about planets at the same time, (our current course of science). We often study the same things in science, history or other applicable subjects. Reading and math, at least for us, are generally separate.
Trick #4 Field Trips, Outings, Lessons and the Dinner Table
Field trips in traditional school count as instructional time and are considered an important part of the educational experience. Why would it be different for homeschools? Even trips that happen on Saturday or Sunday afternoons count as instructional time and are educational. (And yes, I even wrote certain parts of recent trip to Disney World down as instructional time on my daughter’s quarterly paperwork.)
Trick #5 Time = Money
There are times when it is worth it to be frugal and there are times when it is worth it to save the time. As a family we decide which is which and sometimes we choose to spend money in order to save time. Andrea has talked about how she has a housekeeper and I have a mother’s helper. (A new addition to the family budget after the twins were born.) We eat out or order take out more than I’d probably like because sometimes I just don’t have the time to cook dinner. In the end it is a choice.
A final thought: The local public school is under review by the state because its students score so poorly on state tests and there are so many discipline problems. I recognize that this is not the condition of all public schools but it is the condition of the one our children would attend were they not homeschooled. My husband and I feel that since we can homeschool, sending our children to public school would be akin to educational neglect. We homeschool, and make it work well, because we have to.