School started this week! 😉 And so far so good! We usually start the 2nd week in September and did exactly that again this year! It’s been nice to be back on a schedule, but at the same time it makes me feel so busy and so much to do that I’m not giving us a lot of freedom to scrap school and do something fun! But… just wait… keep reading and see what our schedule looks like! It’s super busy, but at the same time we aren’t sitting at desks all week long!
I love the concept of unschooling, but at the same time I really see the need for good schooling and a solid grasp of science, history, math and the ability to think and reason. I also feel like it’s good to do things that we wouldn’t usually gravitate towards doing. It’s good to challenge ourselves to try something that scares us a little or pulls us out of our comfort zone and sometimes unschooling can fail at that. But, to be honest there are failings in all types of schooling! So we just do the best we can!
This year we have LOTS going on, but I’m really hoping I can relax, not stress and just enjoy the journey and the process instead of seeing it as a to do list. I think that will help the learning environment and also the reception of that which we learn!
The following is our daily plan which as you can seem at first glance seems super full and it is, but there are activities that aren’t constrained by time and are pretty free flowing!
As you can see Mondays and Wednesday our our school heavy days and then we have have fun days in between! Here is a little more detail on some of the fun stuff we have planned!
Tea Time – The kids and I did this last year and it was SUPER popular and it up for repeat this year! After rest time we all share a pot of tea and snack together and I read a chapter or two out of a book. It’s really enjoyable for all of us and a sweet time together.
HMN Homeschool Group – We had this group last year, so it isn’t new, but we are getting together weekly instead of monthly. Two weeks are playgroups in the area and then one week is a hike and the other week is a field trip! Should be lots of fun to hang out with friends and do more fun and educations stuff together!
Science Lab with the Parks – This is new this year. The Parks family and the Mintz family is using the [amazon_link id=”1932012737″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Apologia Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day[/amazon_link] as science for this year. Every other week we are getting together to do science experiements together. One week I will lead it and the next Elisa will. When it’s my turn to organize I will make sure we have all the equipment needed. I’m really looking forward to this and I think the kids will have a great time with it too!
CBS – Comunity Bible Study – This is a non-denominational Bible study, and one of the things I like most is that it is specifically planned to have something for every one of us. I have Mom time and Bible study and accountability and adult time away from the kiddos. Tonchi has a class that studies the same book of the Bible as I do, but at his level. AND the younger kids have classes that teach them a Bible story, they have a craft and a snack, music time and Bible Memory. It’s a HUGE favorite for all of us!
Fabulous Fridays! – I currently work every other Friday and on those weekends we do whole house cleaning and we all work together to get it done and finish quickly! On the other Fridays we plan to have fun projects that go with our history book or visit the library. Those Fridays fill up fast, but they are kinda a down day and definitely not stressful at all!
Also almost every six weeks we take a school break and have a week of free time as well as three weeks off for Christmas! This gives us some much needed breaks through out the year!
So there you have it! Our weekly schedule for the next few months! So if you wanna hang with us, you might want to give me plenty of time so we can work it in!!! But if we can’t spend time with you right away please don’t take personal offence…we WILL make it work! Our family and friends are FAR more important than any school or schedule!
What are your plans for this year?
Green & Grateful 
Looks like a great schedule to me. I admire your approach – the unschooling in particular that I don’t think I incorporated into our schedule unfortunately. So what did you finally decide for Spanish? And does math on Thursdays mean no afternoons at 9624? Hope not!
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Nah.. we can bring it with us or do it another day! 😉 There is another post coming up on the curriculum we decided to use. But for Spanish someone gave us The Learnables. I’d never heard of it, and it’s OLD computer programming, but the kids don’t mind! They are enjoying it!
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This is very helpful to me. Thank you for sharing. It seems like we may be similar in our schooling. I’m trying to figure out how we can do field trips and bible study (CBS or something else) and still do our schooling. I am going to look at this and try to come up with a better schedule for us. My biggest struggle is with keeping my 2yo happy during school time. It seems like just when we get going, it’s time to put him down for a nap, and then he doesn’t sleep long enough by the time I get him down.
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The little ones can be hard. I also have a 3 and 1 year old, so I certainly understand. I also try to do minimal book work which helps to keep the time requirement down for the little ones to entertain themselves. I’ve found that finding activities for them to do helps a lot. I have some puzzles, coloring, playdough and other activities I pull out for the littles only when I’m trying to do school with the older ones. Google search “Montessori activities for 2 year old” and there are some things that you can set up for him to do that usually use stuff you already have around the house. Happy to chat more. Best of luck to you. I have a post I’m planning in the next week or two that will tell you what books we are using as well. God bless!
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