Coffee with Titaw

Tag: teaching

  • Falling to Your Systems

    James Clear is famous for the quote, “You do not rise to the level of your goals.  You fall to the level of your systems.”

    I think this is a very important idea for a homeschooling family to take into consideration.  I do believe that we set goals for our homeschooling year, a particular student and even for subjects studied.  However, if we do not have systems built around those, we will too easily fall off course.

    A goal is something you are reaching towards.  Perhaps you want to finish the math book, or read a certain number of books.  When you are home schooling you need to know where you are going.  Goals are an important part of planning.  However, what happens when the student isn’t grasping the subject on the “schedule”, or there is an unexpected illness, or crisis in the family.  As James Clear says, we will “…fall to the level of your systems.”

    A system is an order of our day, that helps us meet our goals.  For instance, if one my goals is for my student to finish the math book, I will have a system for working on math every day.  If I want my student to be familiar with artists of the impressionistic era, I may have a system of displaying and discussing art work from that era during a week of school.  The system means that at a certain time every day we have a habit of math.  At a certain time every week, we discuss the art and artists. There are different levels of intensity to the system depending on the goal.

    Core subjects like math, reading and writing will likely be a daily habit for students. Other subjects could be every other day, once a week or as often as you deem necessary to meet the goal.  The system for these intensities is essentially building a habit in your educational day that ensures a consistency of work towards the goal set. Even if you miss the goal, but consistently maintained your systems, you will have made progress in the direction you were heading.

    One year, I wanted my daughter to finish her math book.  However, she struggled with learning how to count and work with money.  We had a consistent system of doing math every day at a certain time.  I did not change the system, but I did have to change what we worked on during that math time.  Two or three times a week, we set aside the math book and used a workbook I bought that focused on money concepts using fast food menus.  On those days of the week, we spent the time practicing “paying” for menu items and making change.  We counted money over and over and made change in all different combinations.  My daughter did not finish the math book however, she learned a lot of math and was much more confident in her money skills at the end of the year.  I may have missed the initial goal, but our system moved us forward in math.

    There have been occasions, when an illness made me unavailable to be the most effective teacher.  Since our systems, or habits of the day, were ingrained, the kids could move forward on the core subjects.  If it was 9:00am, they knew to do the next math lesson.  It was what Pam Barnhill calls, a minimum viable day.  There was a system in place that held.

    Another issue that occasionally presents itself is a student who moves faster than you anticipated.  Perhaps you had a certain book list to be covered in the school year and your student got so excited about reading that they finished the list in far less time than you predicted.  If you had a goal, you could say the goal was met and that reading time falls off the schedule.  However, if you have a system, you can be excited that they were enthusiastic about learning and just keep giving them more books to read during that time slot.  If we only have a goal and not a system, we may thwart a student who could possibly exceed the goal.

    Set goals for your homeschool – mighty and exciting goals that you and your students are looking forward to accomplishing.  However, don’t forget to establish systems that you can fall on and ensure you are moving in the right trajectory.

  • The Mom Binder

    I am in the process of packing away over 25 years of homeschooling materials.  As I was sorting, and purging, I came across my very last Mom Binder.  I took a few pictures for you, because of all the things I did over the years, this was the most practical teacher tool for me.  When we were in school, I carried it all over the house with me.  If not, I would invariably be folding laundry and someone would come with a question and I would have to send them to get my Mom Binder.

    Some of you may be old enough to remember the unwieldy binders that a “homemaking binder” used to be in the 1990’s.  Women were encouraged to keep price comparisons, important phone numbers, household routines and all manner of information in them and carry them everywhere.  I suppose my mom binder was something like that for homeschooling, but not always so giant and I only kept it with me around the house during my school times.  I would imagine some of you will find a way to do this digitally, but I was never satisfied with my digital attempts and found it easier and faster to keep my little binder.

    The binder I have pictures is the year I had two high schoolers.

    As you can see, I kept it very simple – nothing fancy.

    I put dividers in for each of my areas, starting with each child’s name.

    Behind the name binders were their assignment lists.  When they completed assignments, I simply checked them off, so that I would know where they were at all times.  They had a duplicate set of assignment lists in their own binder. I had a weekly calendar for them, any assignment lists provided by curriculums, or instructions needed in the book of assignments.  I didn’t always have to create assignments as much as clearly indicate a timeline I expected for each student as we worked through books and curriculum that we had chosen for the year.

    I also kept lists of grades for classes that made sense.  These were for high schoolers who had textbook style classes like math or science, I didn’t always need a list of grades for younger students.  Grades were different for classes with narrations and writing assignments.

    My state does not require attendance sheets, but the standard for schools is 180 days.  So, during the summer, I planned our 180 days and all of our days off on a yearly calendar. I also used an attendance calendar during the year, to keep a count of days that we actually did.  Sometimes we didn’t follow our plan exactly taking extra days off for events or sicknesses that could not be planned in advance.  These calendars and other similar items I purchased from the Homeschool Better Together website. I highly recommend their materials.

    For younger children, my binder would often have copies of things we were memorizing or loop schedules of my read alouds to them.  Also, lists of things to cover in our one-on-one meetings.  In the height of my homeschooling days, I had eight students from high school to preschool. The notes behind each tab were often reminders for me.  It might be formulas my high schooler was memorizing for math, or which math facts to drill for my younger students.  I just flipped to their tab and could find my footing.

    The back of my binder simply had blank notebook paper and blank graph paper.  I could take notes as I went through the day, or simply use these to work with the child.  I didn’t always have the white board or chalkboard to work with, so we would just pull out a paper and work through the steps of a math problem, spelling word, or practice formation of a difficult letter.  It just felt easier to always have paper available. When my kids were old enough to have any independent work, they had their own binders with lists for them to check off, blank paper, and time schedules to keep them moving through the day.

    I encourage you to create your own mom binder.  You can be simple and analog like I was, or create your own digital format.  Anything that feels easy and helps you stay on track.

  • A New School Year

    It’s the beginning of a school year for most.  Homeschooling denotes freedom, so some may be working a year-round schedule and some may be working a 6 week on, 1 week off, etc. Be that as it may, this is probably a good time of year to discuss the beginning of a new homeschool session. I remember these times so clearly as I was the most excited person in our house for school to start. I had picked out all the books, I knew all the subjects we would cover, all the ways I found to present something to the kids, I could hardly wait to get started.  My kids were usually not quite as excited, and some not excited at all.

    It took me awhile to not take these attitudes personally.  However, I began to realize that this signified the end of their free-flowing days.  Our days never lacked complete structure, but there was definitely more structure in place than the summer days had.  Also, the school year was work for them.  Not necessarily work they hated, but definitely a job they had to show up for.  It was work for me too, but I was an adult and working was something adults do out of having an adult life, this is not something 10-year-olds are ready to fully grasp.

    Starting the year out recognizing these facts can really help with our ability to not get too sidetracked right off the bat.  They are not likely to be as excited as I am about the shiny new math book and manipulatives we get to use this year.  That new grammar book that is going to help us really grasp the grammar rules, is also not a motivator to a kid. Mine wanted to go kick soccer balls in the yard and now that was not going to happen until the work was completed.

    How do we not let everyone get the doldrums right out of gate of our new homeschooling year?  I like to acknowledge the true facts of the situation. “I know math is not that exciting, but I think if we work together and tackle it first, you will see it is not so bad.”  I also don’t recommend starting the first day of school off with the hardest lesson.  It feels like they probably will remember more, we could likely skip some of this review, but you might need to do the review lessons to get them back into the game. Honestly, I have had kids come to me and ask to skip ahead. I usually would let them at least try.  If they have the gumption to go right for the meat, I like to let them do that.  Others, though, may need a bit of a slower start to warm up.  Both are just fine.

    We need not fear a slow start.  As long as we hit the subjects we intended to hit in the first few days or weeks, we can say it was successful.  When I say hit the subject, you might not finish what you would determine to be a full lesson. It is perfectly fine to just get to each subject, get a little bit flowing and move on. You will not be behind at the end of the year, for slow starting.  Homeschooling is freedom, there is no behind if you are working steadily and consistently.  

    Finding something the kids could get excited about also helped with the start of the year.  For some of my kids they just wanted to jump in to their day. Being allowed to bring coffee and a muffin to the school room and get started on their first assignment felt good.  They had an early start and felt they had some control over when they would be done.  For some it was knowing this year they could use school time getting credit for something they loved – like a cooking or sewing class. I have heard of families starting their first day with donuts, or offering a special activity as part of the kick off celebration – any of these ideas could really help ease that first day.

    I also had a printed schedule for each child for the day.  They could see what was expected of them and when they could be finished.  Often, my kids really needed to see everything before day 1 to allay any fears they might be harboring.  “This is the next grade it’s going to be so hard!” I could spend many days and conversations telling them that it is just a continuation of what we have been doing.  However, when I left the books out as I was planning over the summer, let them see a sample schedule of a day, let them help me pick a book or a subject they wanted to cover, etc.  Then day 1 was not a big surprise of what this year was going to be like, it was the start day of what they already knew was coming.  Occasionally I would find one of my children reading a book from their basket during the summer.  That was perfectly fine!  Then they knew this coming year wasn’t a big unknown, we were just getting back to a schedule of work.

    Be excited about your first day of school; enthusiasm is often contagious.  Talk about school, before school.  Let them see or be part of the planning that is going on.  This transition might be a bit harder for some kids than others –find something they can look forward to in their day. Let your first few days be a bit slower and easier, a slow start can be a great start.

  • A Schedule That Works

    I had all my books.  I had researched all the new books I wanted to use for the year.  Usually, I got a bin for each student and put all the books for their year in it.  It was so exciting!  Then, the end of the summer was approaching and I was ready to write out our daily schedule – the flow of each day.  Then I crashed.

    I was relying on my experience in public school and put down an hour for every subject: Math, grammar, history, science, literature (reading), geography, foreign language, writing.  That’s 8 hours of school, with no breaks, lunch or even PE or fine arts scheduled. I felt defeated before I started.  I had more things to learn too.  I wanted them to study things they were interested in – cooking, art, music, etc.  How was this going to work?

    First of all, homeschool is not public school.  I definitely did not need an hour for every subject on our list. A few subjects did need an hour set aside, math and maybe science (depending on grade level).  However, I ended up not focusing on scheduling times for completing subjects, but a list of subjects to be covered.

    On that schedule I put each of the subjects that I intended the kids to work on every single day – primarily skill subjects.  Skill subjects are those that are needed in order to learn.  Math, writing, spelling and reading are skill subjects.  Therefore, we would hit math, writing, spelling and reading every single day.  Depending on their age, math could go up to an hour.  Spelling will not usually take an hour at any grade level.

    The next type of subjects are content subjects.  These are subjects where information is learned.  Skills need to be practiced and honed every day; content does not have to be every day.  Some of these subjects I assigned and switched them out to every other day schedules and some I put into our group time.

    Group time varied over the years from 30 minutes to glutting over an hour.  Over an hour is way too much, but somewhere between 30-60 minutes seemed to work perfect.  I often put music and art in this area.  We could discuss a composer, listen to a piece or look at some famous art and read about an artist. Poetry, read alouds, history, memory verses, geography, even some grammar I would often put into this slot.  It depended on the year and the needs of the kids.Finally, our schedule became workable.  We were working on school in a reasonable amount of time with breaks and free time. Every year we had to tweak some things as we went along, but generally we were working on the feast that I was hoping to lay out.

  • Does Homeschooling “Work”

    I don’t know. Yes.  Maybe.  Wait!  What?  Define Work?

    I have heard this before,  “I see what you are saying, but does homeschooling really work?”  My head replays the response from above.  Total confusion.

    What we need to define is what do you mean by “work”?

    Will your child turn out perfect and your relationship intact?  Maybe — maybe not.

    Will your child far outshine all the public school counterparts?  Maybe — maybe not.

    Will your child avoid all the sinful habits in the world and come through their teenage years unscathed?  I would guess not, but I guess there is a maybe there.

    My point here is nothing “works” in the sense of outcome.  Insert public school — Does public school really work?  How about private school — does private school work?  All of the models work sometimes.  Great kids come out of all of these models.  Dismal failures come out of all of these models.

    It all goes back to your goal.  Most would agree that what we are trying to do is educate our children. Let’s define “educate”. I used an old dictionary and a modern dictionary:

    Webster’s 1828:

    To bring up, as a child; to instruct; to inform and enlighten the understanding; to instill into the mind principles of arts, science, morals, religion and behavior. To educate children well is one of the most important duties of parents and guardians.

    Merriam Webster’s

    1a: to provide schooling for

    b: to train by formal instruction and supervised practice especially in a skill, trade, or profession

    2a: to develop mentally, morally, or aesthetically especially by instruction

    b: to provide with information : INFORM

    3: to persuade or condition to feel, believe, or act in a desired way

    Both of these sources indicate that to educate is to in some way pass on a program of instruction. Merriam Webster’s defines this as “schooling” or a “trade”.  Webster’s 1828 talks about principles.

    From these two sources we see a system presented of training, skills and information that a child will need for their next phase of life.  Since we are homeschooling kids high school age or younger, this ought to be a decently broad list of topics to give our children a well rounded view of the world.  We would agree I am sure that children should minimally learn to read, write and do basic math.  However, I would argue that we should be including sciences, arts, etc.  — what some would define as a liberal education.

    Both definitions have an element of morality indicated — even behavior.  Instructing our children in morals, courtesy and manners is also part of their education.  Our family is decidedly Christian, so these flow from our study and understanding of the Bible. We then teach our children that all people are made in the image of God and should be treated as such.  That means we are polite – look someone in the eye when you are talking with them, learn to shake hands, address others with respect, etc. We taught them about Jesus Christ and his saving grace poured out for all mankind, they were instructed in the creation account found in Genesis.  Morality, religion, behavior were all a part of our system of instruction.

    We didn’t just sit at a table and teach phonics and math.  We went to art museums and live plays. Music in the park or a full presentation of Handel’s Messiah.  They took music lessons and we listened to music – we learned about different instruments and composers.  We looked at art and talked about artists and painting styles.  We did crafts and learned to make things.  Some of my boys even learned to put up drywall and frame out a room.

    We followed what we believed to be important skills as well as a liberal introduction to the arts.  Some kids loved some things and some kids really didn’t. That is perfectly acceptable, we weren’t waiting for their approval; we were whetting their appetites. Just as some children develop a taste for avocados and some don’t, some loved classical music and some did not.  However, they all had at least tasted it.

    So, back to the original question: “Does homeschooling work?”  Yes, most parents are endeavoring to provide a system of instruction to their children — to educate them.  In the same way, most schools, public or otherwise, are providing a system of instruction to a class of students.  However, if you are defining “work” as an outcome of every child.  No one, not even a tradtional school can promise that. All people are born with a free will and there are choices made.  We have all heard of someone like George Washington Carver, who did not receive any real form of education who loved to learn and went about teaching himself all that he could. I am sure most of us know someone who seemed to have the necessary things provided and turned their back on all of it.

    You can provide a good, dare I say, even a great education to your child at home.  Yes, it works.  No one can ever promise you the outcome.  However, being together with your child everyday, teaching from a place of relationship and love, I believe gives you a greater chance at  helping a person grow into their purpose.

  • The Why

    In my last post on curriculum, I alluded to this idea of finding your “why”.  I had asked what you wanted your homeschool day to look like.  However, there is a deeper question, “Why do you want to homeschool?”

    Some circles will encourage you to find your educational philosophy. That would be very helpful and keep you focused on a direction.  However, to begin, find your why.  Are you thinking of engaging in this endeavor, because it looks like your friend is having a good time and her kids are cute and fun?  Do you want to have the smartest kid on the block and you want to make sure they can get into an Ivy League school?  Do you want more family time?  Are you fearful of what you see happening in the local public schools? All of these are valid in their way, but lacking in depth and are based in fear. The Bible says in 1 John 4:18 …fear hath torment.  If you are afraid that your child will not get into the best schools, or will be harmed in the local school.  That may be a place to start, but fear will always haunt you through your homeschooling days.  Am I protecting them enough?  Am I getting the right information into them for that desired school?  Likewise, it may look like someone else is having a grand time, but every homeschooler has hard days, and if that is your motivation you will falter in those tough times. What are some solid reasons for homeschooling that would give you a foundation and a place to cling to when the days are hard?

    Consider homeschooling to give your kids a strong foundation in the Bible and to know Jesus.  Homeschooling affords time, and that time could well be used to disciple your kids in the faith as you walk along the way.  Deuteronomy 6:7 “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up.”  I suspect, most of you have heard this verse quoted when talking about homeschooling.  However, it is very valid.  How can you teach the Lord’s principles to your children diligently as you sit in your house and when you rise up and when you walk throughout the day?  I would say, it woud be mighty hard if you weren’t with them at those particular hours of the day.  One of the things that you can cling to is that you are teaching your kids to look to Jesus and walk with him, even on days when it feels hard.

    In fact how we handle the hard moments in life, is the greatest teaching tool we have.  A whole lot of homeschooling is problem solving.  Why is my child struggling in reading or math?  How can I help them?  That begins the research and the trial and error of different methods (not always different curriculum).  Maybe it’s time of day, noise in the room, adding modalities, etc.  The point is, you and your children work to solve this problem, so they can have forward momentum.  My husband worked 2nd shift all through our homeschooling days.  That meant our main family meal was lunch, which we had at noon.  I had to figure out how to schedule my cooking meal prep time so that school was still happening and lunch was on the table for that all important family meal.  On and on you will go throughout your homeschooling resolving one issue after another as they crop up.  You may be teaching math or history, but what else has your child learned.  How to solve problems, how to be flexible, how to research, how to use trial and error, how to work as part of a team, how to encourage the discouraged, and the list could continue.

    Solving these problems with prayer and looking to Jesus teaches them more than problem solving, it teaches them to lean on the Lord and look to his ways.  I had a child once that was mad at me and told me, “I am so tired of hearing you say, ‘the Bible says.’”  I know this one was angry, but in a calmer moment I explained that I really had nothing else on which to base my decisions.  My answers, my ways, my walk need to line up with the Scripture and the Lord that I trust with all my being.  The reason, I explained with “the Bible says”, was partly for me.  Am I walking out my faith in line with what I say I believe?  I hope so.  I had another child who challenged us on Halloween celebrations and whether that was in line with Bible teachings.  We were a young family then, and I was just doing things the way I grew up.  We asked him to research it, and he did.  In the end, we changed our ways because of the challenge from one of our children. These are two great wins in our time with our children.  Pointing them to Jesus and allowing them to research their answers.

    The Why of our homeschool held us together on those days when everything else fell apart.  We were still “Looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” Hebrews 12:2

  • Curriculum

    As a homeschooler the first question that I typically receive is, “What curriculum do you use?” It sounds simple enough, but I find it to be a difficult question.  I didn’t use ONE curriculum.  After years of trial and error, we had different things for different subjects.  I used different things for different kids.  I used different things for different seasons.  I used a lot of different things.

    I did a quick google search of my state to see what curriculum they use.  The state has learning standards and local school districts each select their own textbooks or methods for reaching those.  I tried searching my local school district and their textbooks are not publically listed.  Basically, not even the public schools in our country use one type of curriculum.

    It is safe to say that the curriculum market is wide open.  If you have ever been to a homeschooling convention you will know this to be true when you step into the vendor hall.  It is overwhelming and the choices are endless.  I understand why homeschool moms ask about curriculum, I did too. However, I think there are more important first questions that need to be considered.

    What do you want your homeschooling days to look like?  Children watching their videos for the day and completing workbook assignments?  Desks in a room with books and workbooks to be completed?  Reading living books with narrations? A mix of all of these?   Do you want a tradtional school that looks a lot like a public school? 

    There are many different styles of homeschooling and philosophies of education.  I suggest that you do some reading and researching on the different ways and thoughts on education.  Also, do ask that older homeschooling Mom.  However, I suggest you ask questions along the lines of  how.  As in, “How do you teach math?  How do you approach language arts?”

    These questions and thoughts will begin to inform your curriculum decisions.  Your curriculum is the tool that you will use  as a means to provide the education you wish your child to receive.  Whether that includes a package of workbooks, a streaming video provider, something you develop on your own or a mix of all of the above.

    Perhaps you decide that you love the idea of a classical education with Charlotte Mason ideas and want to use living books and narrations.  You will need to look at curriculum sellers that have this as their philisopy of producing materials.  In some cases, you may not need to actually purchase a curriculum.  You may be able to follow a living books list or develop one of your own.  Use a free curriculum guide like Ambleside Online.

    You may decide to be quite eclectic with developing your curriculum.  You may use a living books approach with history and a textbook/workbook approach for science.  Maybe you find that for this season, you need a box of workbooks that can be graded and checked off.

    The point is, there is no one way to homeschool.  You need to evaluate the season of life you in and the goals you have for educating your children. Then follow those to find resources that will support your vision.