File Folders

I had a mountain of paper growing on my desk. I attempted to reclaim my desk with binders but then I had a binder problem. I had a binder for every child, every subject and another binder for completed work. I also had another crate full of TMs, CDs, and other resources that I use throughout the year. I was starting to lose items that I needed to load our workboxes and the clutter was disrupting our day.

Then I read this blog post from Springs of Joy Homeschooling and found our solution!

Each quarter is color coded and has 10 File folders. 9 for each school week and 1 for the extras that I will use for the whole quarter. Each weekly file has a folder for each child that contains all the loose items they will use during that week. Currently each child's folder has their MFW sheets, LA sheet and math sheets. The orange folders in the back contains the resources that we will use during the entire year such as our phonics game, TMs, CDs, etc.

I was able to eliminate all our extra binders! Now I only need to look in 2 places....instead of 7...... when looking for items for our workboxes. So Simple!

Now I need to decide what to do with the papers once the child has completed the assignments. We are already on week 8 of MFW Adventures so the MFW sheets will continue to go into Sam's history notebook. I believe for now all the completed work will be returned into the weekly folder so I will have a clear visual of the progress the kids have made for the year.

Hopefully this tames the paper monster!

Winter Schedule

We no longer need to take a break mid morning! I have streamlined our day and Sam is able to stay on task better now that he has matured a bit.


~8:45am
Charlotte- Read AO year 0 selection, work on topic of the week, start activity
M-Playdough
T- Pattern Blocks
Th-Watercolors
F-Wedgits

While she continues on her own , I start working with Sam.

Reading-includes spelling
Math
Poetry ( Garden of Verses -1 poem per day)
Speech Therapy work
First Language Lessons
Writing With Ease
HWT on narrations days with WWE
Nature Science Reader
M- Geography, T&TH Story of the World, F- Fairy Tales
Review


Rest of morning with indoor freeplay while listening to composer of the quarter.

After lunch

~15 min with longer Literature selection (any other book on our list that is not scheduled in the morning)

M- Artistic Pursuits
T- Nature Study
Th- Handicrafts
F- Park day or science experiments depending on weather/expected turnout at park

Rest of afternoon spent outdoors playing.

LCC -List of Attainments

I posted a question on Latin Classical Ed yahoo groups regarding a list of attainments for LCC similar to CM's list. Mr. Andrew Campbell , author of LCC, posted the following reply.



"........ there are some skills that students need to have by the end of 8th grade in order to get the most out of the high school curriculum as written.

* Mastery of Latin grammar, a varied Latin vocabulary (1500 wordsmin.), and the ability to read Latin fluently (i.e., without translating)
* Mastery of the fundamentals of Greek grammar, but to a lesser extent than Latin
* Mastery of math facts and concepts through pre-algebra, including the basics of geometry (shapes, area, perimeter, etc.)
* Mastery of English grammar via Latin and/or through composition
* Mastery of basic composition, including the paragraph and the three-paragraph essay
* Familiarity with the foundational stories of our culture,particularly the Bible, Greek and Roman myth (including the stories ofthe Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid in retelling), fables, fairy tales,legends, and Shakespeare (in retelling), plus a generous selection of poetry
* Familiarity with the broad outline of world history, with an emphasis on Greek and Roman history
* Familiarity with world geography (including land forms, waterways,nations and capitals, plus states and/or provinces of one's owncountry and its near neighbors)
* Familiarity with the natural world by observation and, by the end of 8th grade, the general divisions of the natural sciences, the types ofquestions each science seeks to answer, and the most important principles of each branch
* Some work in formal logic (although some may want to defer this to high school)

It is also good for students to be familiar with well-known artists and composers and to be able to sing or play an instrument and draw ana ccurate representation of a natural object (including persons). I don't schedule the arts formally, since families have very different priorities and opportunities there, but I do think they are important for a well-rounded education.

Hope that helps!-Drew"

Multum non Multa or Where do we go from here....

I started off this blog with a list of goals to work towards with Sam. We have met many of them and should have no trouble meeting the remainder by his 7th birthday.



"A Formidable List of Attainments for a Child of Six", a reprint of a curriculum outline from a CM school in the 1890's.


1. To recite, beautifully, 6 easy poems and hymns
He has memorized 2 poems.

2. to recite, perfectly and beautifully, a parable and a psalm
We haven't done this yet but he memorizes quite easily so this shouldn't be a problem to complete in the next 6 months.

3. to add and subtract numbers up to 10, with dominoes or counters
Already done with MUS Alpha. Will continue to work through MUS.

4. to read--what and how much, will depend on what we are told of the child
Nice vague goal, huh? I've rambled enough about his reading in our Fall Quarter update.

5. to copy in print-hand from a book
Sam's handwriting is getting better and better each week.

6. to know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, where the sun rises and sets, and the way the wind blows
7. to describe the boundaries of their own home
8. to describe any lake, river, pond, island etc. within easy reach
Easily met.

9. to tell quite accurately (however shortly) 3 stories from Bible history, 3 from early English, and 3 from early Roman history (my note here, we may want to substitute early American for early English!)
He recalls many of our stories from our Readings. Easily met.

10. to be able to describe 3 walks and 3 views
11. to mount in a scrap book a dozen common wildflowers, with leaves (one every week); to name these, describe them in their own words, and say where they found them.
12. to do the same with leaves and flowers of 6 forest trees
13. to know 6 birds by song, colour and shape
We were working towards meeting all these goals without difficulty until getting side tracked this fall. We should have no trouble meeting these goals.

14. to send in certain Kindergarten or other handiwork, as directed
15. to tell three stories about their own "pets"--rabbit, dog or cat.
Easily met.

16. to name 20 common objects in French, and say a dozen little sentences
I keep putting off Spanish.

17. to sing one hymn, one French song, and one English song
18. to keep a caterpillar and tell the life-story of a butterfly from his own observations.
All easily met except the Spanish song.

So with the exception of Spanish that we just haven't started we will meet all these goals this year.

So the question is where to go from here? I started down this path of a CM education because of my observations of my older kids as they self-educate. This past year I have re-read the CM series, reviewed her PNEU curriculum and participated in many dialogues with CM educators and I have come to a few conclusions.

- I do not have the ability or desire to recreate a carbon-copy of a PNEU curriculum down to the precise page count and brushwork! Counting pages per quarter would drive me crazy.
- I work better with curriculum that has some of the work done for me.....so although there are many a homeschooling mama who likes to choose their own copywork , etc. I am not one of them.
-It is more important to work with my children's abilities/nuances than to work with a specific curriculum recommendations. Sam preferred SOTW and retains far more of the readings then if we followed the AO Year 1 recommendations.

Sam's current age 6 curriculum has 3 ....yes 3!....Susan Wise Bauer texts and I would never classify myself a classical educator according to her definition of the word. Her LA texts help me to fulfill my CM Language Art framework for this age and Sam's just likes SOTW. I have reread The Well Trained Mind and walked away with the same feeling I had the first time I read it. Bah! TOO MUCH STUFF! Will NEVER work for me and my kids! I have continue reading classical education texts specifically the Latin-Centered Curriculum and now have a more balanced sense of what is a classical education.

Another thing I relearned...... Nothing..... and I mean nothing...... gets a bunch of CM-purists riled up quite like comparing CM to Classical Education. Obviously TWTM and CM have virtually nothing in common even though SWB texts do mesh quite easily. BUT compare LLC and CM on an academic level and the similarities are there.

So back to the original question....where to go from here. What I will not do ......textbooks, unit-studies, lapbooks, TWTM, or unschool. So does that make me a CMer, Classical, Literature-based, LCCer, or the plain ol' nondescript eclectic? Does it matter? Probably not. But my new maxim is

Multum non Multa

not many things, but much.

I have been reviewing CM List to attain by age 12 and LCC trying to get a feel for the direction we will head. LCC does not have such a list but Handicrafts, Tonic Sol-fa, brushwork would not be on that list....and it most certainly would not be on that list before Math, Latin or Plutarch!


CM has a list of attainment for children to accomplish in the years 6-12.
What a Child Should Know at Twelve, from the appendix at the back of School Education, Volume 3 of her series.

The six years' work--from six to twelve--which I suggest, should and does result in the power of the pupils--

(a) To grasp the sense of a passage of some length at a single reading: and to narrate the substance of what they have read or heard.
(b) To spell, and express themselves in writing with ease and fair correctness.
(c) To give an orderly and detailed account of any subject they have studied.
(d) To describe in writing what they have seen, or heard from the newspapers.
(e) They should have a familiar acquaintance with the common objects of the country, with power to reproduce some of these in brushwork.
(f) Should have skill in various handicrafts, as cardboard Sloyd, basket-making, clay-modelling, etc.
(g) In Arithmetic, they should have some knowledge of vulgar and decimal fractions, percentage, household accounts, etc.
(h) Should have a knowledge of Elementary Algebra, and should have done practical exercises in Geometry.
(i) Of Elementary Latin Grammar; should read fables and easy tales, and, say, one or two books of 'Caesar.'
(j) They should have some power of understanding spoken French, and be able to speak a little; and to read an easy French book without a dictionary.
(k) In German, much the same as in French, but less progress.
(l) In History, they will have gone through a rather detailed study of English, French, and Classical (Plutarch) History.
(m) In Geography they will have studied in detail the map of the world, and have been at one time able to fill in the landscape, industries, etc., from their studies, of each division of the map.(n) They will have learned the elements of Physical Geography, Botany, Human Physiology, and Natural History, and will have read interesting books on some of these subjects.
(o) They should have some knowledge of English Grammar.
(p) They should have a considerable knowledge of Scripture History and the Bible text.
(q) They should have learned a good deal of Scripture and of Poetry, and should have read some Literature.
(r) They should have learned to sing on the Tonic Sol-fa method, and should know a number of English, French, and German Songs.
(s) They should have learned Swedish Drill and various drills and calisthenic exercises.
(t) In Drawing they should be able to represent common objects of the house and field with brush or charcoal; should be able to give rudimentary expression to ideas; and should be acquainted with the works of some artists through reproductions.
(u) In Music their knowledge of theory and their ear-training should keep pace with their powers of execution

My Language Arts History

I did not follow my Cm LA framework with the older kids because I did not have a complete understanding of CM when we started out. It has been through much trial and error that I arrived at a working plan. I've been trying to look at our homeschooling experience with the 80/20 principle in mind-what 20% created 80% of the results. My CM LA framework is what I have concluded to be that 20%. My older kids were my guinea pigs and my younger kids are going to benefit from their experiences...


I've already discussed reading here so I won't re-cover that area.


I honestly don't recall what we did during the first few years in regards to language arts. It seems strange to have completely forgotten those first few years and any records I had were lost in a flood about 8 years ago. I don't recall studying grammar or spelling using any type of program. I know we read, used a handwriting program and narrated.


When the kids were about 8 or so we spent a few years using Learning Language Arts Through Literature. I actually liked these books and I can't say that I won't use them for a few years with the younger kids. We did not do everything in them because it would have become tedious. We used the examples as copywork and dictations and I used the exercises for ideas for teaching grammar....meaning we didn't do every exercise or fill in every blank. We continued to narrate and I encourage them to write their narrations during this time.


Around 11 or so I felt that I really needed to "buckle down" with the writing and we tried and discarded a plethora of writing programs. Out of desperation we enrolled in a creative writing class at a local homeschool store. This is the point that the kids decided they were bad writers. Although they made good grades their hearts were not in the process and they became increasingly discouraged.

The years that I encouraged and expected written narrations and used dictations from great works were the years they progressed the most as writers. Ironically the more that I focused on a CM styled writing program the more creative the kids were in their writing during their free time. When writing poems and stories became something to do for fun and not an assignment they felt free to explore and write. Writing has 2 components.....how to write and having something to write about. Written narration eliminates the need to be creative and think of something to write about and the kids could focus on the "how" to write it down. Then they could use their creative energy to write during their free time and not have to worry about it fitting a formula or meeting the objectives of an assignment.

At the highschool age we did follow my suggestions on my CM LA framework and they have also participated in some outside literature classes....primarily for the social aspect of the class.

I did not use a spelling program with either child .....except the spelling ideas from LLATL. My oldest child is very natural speller and required little to no spelling instruction. My oldest daughter is not a natural speller and we attempted several popular spelling programs without any noticeable improvement in her spelling. Sequential Spelling was the program that had the biggest impact in her spelling and will be my first choice if spelling help is needed with the younger kids.

Grammar- we used the ideas from LLATL when we used that resource. When we were trying and discarding writing programs we were also trying and discarding grammar resources. I have found that studying grammar in a low key way in the context of good examples that are being used for copywork and dictation is the absolute best way to study grammar. If I find I cannot do this effectively without direction I will use LLATL as a resource followed by Simply Grammar.

At the highschool level we did work through Jenson's Grammar. The oldest son finished JG in about a year and my oldest dd in about 2 years. I had planned to work through Jenson's Punctuation but it was clear that it was going to be busy work for my son so we skipped it. I will decide if my dd would benefit from this resource in the next few months.

I expect that I will be reviewing this post often as the younger kids get older to remind myself of why I created My CM Language Arts Framework.

My CM Language Arts Framework

Ages 6-8

Reading Instruction- Complete 100 EZ lessons with further phonics instruction taught as needed to read. Goal to be independent reader by age 8-9 and able to read own school books. If needed use Pathway readers grade 1-3 for my kids that need a more controlled vocabulary during this working to fluency phase.

"It may be profitable for the little German child to work through all possibly dreary combinations of letters before he is permitted to have any joy in 'reading,' because wherever these combinations occur they will have the sounds the child has learned laboriously. The fact that English is anomalous as regards the connection between sign and sound, happily exonerates us from enforcing this dreary grind." Home education pg. 223

Oral Narrations- Daily and in all subject areas. Allow them to develop their fluency in narration during these years. Sequencing, main idea, details are all specific comprehension skills that are learned through narration. Foundation of Charlotte Mason method.

"Narrating is an art, like poetry-making or painting, because it is there, in every child's mind, waiting to be discovered, and is not the result of any process of disciplinary education. " Home Education pg. 231

Copy work- starting with about 10 min when 6 yo and working up to 20 min when 8yo. Use literary examples such as poems, passages from literature, memorable quotes, etc. They should write only as much as they can write perfectly. Start some informal grammar study to include

1. Capitalize sentences and proper nouns

2. End sentences with punctuation.

"Transcription should be an introduction to spelling. Children should be encouraged to look at the word, see a picture of it with their eyes shut, and then write from memory." Home Education pg. 239

Dictation- Start simple dictation around age 8.

"A child of eight or nine prepares a paragraph, older children a page, or two or three pages. The child prepares by himself, by looking at the word he is not sure of, and then seeing it with his eyes shut. Before he begins, the teacher asks what words he thinks will need his attention. He generally knows, but the teacher may point out any word likely to be a cause of stumbling. He lets his teacher know when he is ready." Home Education pg. 242-243

Ages 9-11

Reading- Reading most schoolbooks on their own. Narration to check comprehension.

"Writing, of course, comes of reading, and nobody can write well who does not read much." Vol. 6 pg. 234

Oral Narration- Continue in all subject areas.

"The simplest way of dealing with a paragraph or a chapter is to require the child to narrate its contents after a single attentive reading,––one reading, however slow, should be made a condition; for we are all too apt to make sure we shall have another opportunity of finding out 'what 'tis all about' "School Education pg. 180

Copy work- Continue with copy work with progressively longer passages. Instruction of grammar with copy work.

Grammar- Introduce parts of speech and basic types of sentences and a few punctuation and capitalization rules. Consider using Simply Grammar during this time if the informal study needs more focus.

"In Language, by twelve, they should have a fair knowledge of English grammar, and should have read some literature." School Education pg. 236

Dictation- Allow kids to really study each passage of dictation. Expect the kid's spelling to improve during these years through their dictation practice.

Written Narration- start with 1 per week and increase to 2-3 a week during this time. Written narration are for informational purposes and not for teaching grammar and spelling. Give the kids a couple of years to get proficient with written narration and then could possible edit and review one written narration per month of so if needed.

"Form II (A and B), (ages 9 to 12). Children in this Form have a wider range of reading, a more fertile field of thought, and more delightful subjects for composition. They write their little essays themselves, and as for the accuracy of their knowledge and justice of their expression, why, 'still the wonder grows.' " A Philosophy of Education pg. 193

Optional typing program if they have not learned to type by now.

Optional Sequential Spelling if spelling needs to improve at age 11-12.

Ages 12-13

Formal Grammar- Jenson's grammar worked as slow as necessary for them to grasp all concepts-may take several years to work through.

Oral Narrations- Continue doing daily oral narrations from all reading

Written Narrations- Introduce Format Writing during these years and encourage them use as resource when writing their narration. Review and edit 1 written narration per week. Encourage more frequent written narration working up to daily in a variety of subjects.

Dictation- continue using longer passages.

Optional copywork, spelling program, typing as needed.

Ages 14-18

Grammar- Refer to Elements of Style and reviewing and editing of own writing. Finish Jenson's Grammar if not done. Consider Jenson's Punctuation if needed.

Oral Narrations- Continue daily oral narrations some formal as in a speech or presentation. Find and use speech curriculum during these years or take outside speech class.

Written Narrations- Daily and in all subjects. Use Format writing to structure daily narrations.

"Forms V and VI. In these Forms some definite teaching in the art of composition is advisable, but not too much, lest the young scholars be saddled with a stilted style which may encumber them for life University tutor is the best that can be adopted; that is, a point or two might be taken up in a given composition and suggestions or corrections made with little talk. Having been brought up so far upon stylists the pupils are almost certain to have formed a good style; because they have been thrown into the society of many great minds, they will not make a servile copy of any one but will shape an individual style out of the wealth of material they possess; and because they have matter in abundance and of the best they will not write mere verbiage. ." A Philosophy of Education pg.194-195

Thoughts on Science

The CM Ideal

"that there is no part of a child's education more important than that he should lay, by his own observation, a wide basis of facts towards scientific knowledge in the future. He must live hours daily in the open air, and, as far as possible, in the country; must look and touch and listen; must be quick to note, consciously, every peculiarity of habit or structure, in beast, bird, or insect; the manner of growth and fructification of every plant. He must be accustomed to ask why––Why does the wind blow? Why does the river flow? Why is a leaf-bud sticky? And do not hurry to answer his questions for him; let him think his difficulties out so far as his small experience will carry him. Above all, when you come to the rescue, let it not be in the 'cut and dried' formula of some miserable little text-book; let him have all the insight available and you will find that on many scientific questions the child may be brought at once to the level of modern thought. " Home Education pg. 265-266

How I put the CM Ideal in Practice

I'm a big fan of science . Love, love, love it. What has worked best for me in the past with science instruction is nature study, a bit of planned literature and lots of free exploration. I keep a list of science topics that we have covered and make yearly or quarterly decisions based on topics that we still need to explore. I will pick a few books from my list and spread them out in a quarter, a year, or longer depending on the needs of my family at any given time. I try to remain flexible because my kid's interest and free reading cover many science topics quite naturally without a lot of input from me. Science kits and visual books that are available from Usborne and DK are given as presents and the kids spend hours perusing them. Science experiments are just plain fun and my kids never considered them to be schoolwork. With the older kids I switched to a textbook science course(Apologia's General Science) the year before I thought they would be ready to start Pre-Algebra-usually around age 12- so that they were starting Biology and Algebra at the same time.

A Science Book list

When referring to a favorite science text, Charlotte Mason states, "But the amazing skill of the author is shown in the fact that there is nothing scrappy and nothing hurried in the treatment of any topic, but each falls naturally and easily under the head of some principle which it elucidates. Many simple experiments are included, which the author insists shall be performed by the children themselves." Home Education pg. 267

My job is to find these types of texts.

My incomplete list of science books by age level. Some are family favorites, some are classics and some may never be read by this family. I'm sure I'm missing a few good books and this is a living list which may grow throughout the years as I find new authors and new titles.

Ages 6-9

Among the ….. People by Clara Dillingham Pierson
The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess
The Burgess Animal Book for Children by Thornton Burgess

The Burgess Seashore Book for Children by Thornton Burgess
The Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children by Jane Andrews
Parables from Nature by Margaret S. Gatty
James Herriot's Treasury for Children by James Herriot
Various books from Usborne/ DK
Various science kits

Ages 9-12+
Secrets of the Woods by William J. Long
A Little Brother to the Bear by William J. Long
Great Inventors and Their Inventions by Frank P. Bachman
The Story of Inventions by Michael J. McHugh and Frank P. Bachman
School of the Woods by William J. Long
The Story Book of Science by Jean Henri Fabre
Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley
Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton
The Fairy-Land of Science by Arabella Buckley
It Couldn't Just Happen by Lawrence Richards
The Sea Around Us by Rachael Carson
The New Way Things Work by David Macaulay
Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick
The Story of Thomas Alva Edison by Margaret Cousins
Albert Einstein Young Thinker by Marie Hammontree
Marie Curie’s Search for Radium by Beverly Birch and Christian Birminham
Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia by Margaret Cousins
Pasteur’s Fight Against Microbes by Beverly Birch
Blood & Guts: A Working Guide to Your Own Insides by Linda Allison
The History of Medicine by John Hudson Tiner

other books by above authors
Other scientist biographies as available
Various books from Usborne/ DK
Various science kits as available.

I don't do long range planning....

.....because it just doesn't work out. Resources that are working out great this year bore me to tears the next or a new resource come along that I want to use. If you look at various curriculum publishers like Sonlight they are constantly changing. Each year a slightly different booklist, resources and format. The first Sonlight catalog I looked at had each grade in a binded book , recommended only Saxon Math and a spelling program that they no longer offer. Times change.

I did find a copy of an early attempt of my long range planning. The older kids were probably about 6 & 7 at the time. Resources that I listed as being top-notched were sub-par by the time they reached the age to use them. It is a source of humility for me. I know I spent a great deal of time on it but it was useless within a year or two. I could've spent the time with my kids instead of researching and plotting out a defunct homeschool plan.

What I found that really works is keeping a notebook that I keep a running tally of what we have done, what we could do and what we should do. I don't have tabs for those labels....it's just more of a notation. I see a resource that might be interesting- I note it in the notebook. I keep a copy of various booklist that I come across. I might print off an idea from the various email groups that I'm on. I keep a list of science topics that I want to make sure they cover. Design-A-Study's Science Scope and Guides to History are resources that I keep accessible and whenever I wonder if I'm doing enough or if they are learning enough I can pull these out and check off items that we have covered. If I see any "gaps" I can adjust my curriculum next quarter. There have been very few times I felt there were any major "gaps" that I needed to address.

This time, planning is going to be so easy. First of all, I've been there and done that. I'm no longer lured by all the newest and greatest homeschool products on the market. I have no idea how a new homeschooler in 2008 sifts through all that information and comes out with a workable plan that didn't cost them a fortune. So much of the newest and greatest products are complete marketing junk but it would be so very easy to be lured in.

Second and more importantly I know what works for my family. The perfect curriculum for me is the one I create myself. I'm not writing up detailed lesson plans- ugh! -too tedious. I have a foundation that I work with and a year ahead of time I consult my notebook and start laying out a rough framework. Each season I do a quarterly review then I work out a day to day plan 3-6 months at a time. This allows me to customize and tweak as I go along. The only times during the past 13 years that I needed to make a major change during these quarterly reviews were the times I strayed from my CM foundation. Occasionally I did have moments of insanity and let myself get lured into using a resource that claimed to be the greatest.....sigh. But no longer- I have my foundation and I will not sacrifice the present moment with my children to overly plan the future.

Our Rules for a Happy Homeschool

aka. what I wished someone told me in 1995....


1. Outside Time -lots of it!

Outside time should be a priority for every child. Moms that have active children quickly realize that their children are happiest when they have the opportunity to play outside.

Charlotte Mason advocated spending hours.....upward to six hours outside everyday with the children.( Home Education pg.45 ) She didn't encourage us to send them out but to TAKE them out. ( pg. 44) She also suggested that they benefited from being able to be as loud and active as they can.

"The afternoon's games, after luncheon, are an important part of the day's doings for the elder children, though the younger have probably worn themselves out by this time with the ceaseless restlessness by means of which Nature provides for the due development of muscular tissue in them; let them sleep in the sweet air, and awake refreshed. Meanwhile, the elders play; the more they run, and shout, and toss their arms, the more healthful is the play. And this is one reason why mothers should carry their children off to lonely places, where they may use their lungs to their hearts' content without risk of annoying anybody. The muscular structure of the organs of voice is not enough considered; children love to indulge in cries and shouts and view-halloos, and this 'rude' and 'noisy' play, with which their elders have not much patience, is no more than Nature's way of providing for the due exercise of organs, upon whose working power the health and happiness of the child's future largely depend. " ( pg. 82)

Anna Botsford Comstock explains that nature study can be a help to the naughtiness in school that is due to a a child's lack of interest in his school work and his physical inactivity during the school hours.

"The best teachers try to obviate both of the causes of misbehavior rather than punish the naughtiness that results from them. Nature study is an aid in both respects, since it keeps the child interested and also gives them something to do." Handbook of Nature Study. pg. 4.

Wise words.

Outside time should be a priority for our children not used as a reward for good behavior but as a elixar to help prevent bad behavior. Cure for homeschool burnout.....more time outside for the whole family. Try it for a week and see if it helps your day......

2. Limit TV/ Gaming systems / Computer time

Many of a family has wasted precious time with these offenders. Notice I said family......many mamas are as guilty as the children when it comes to spending too much time on the computer. Gaming systems are popular gifts but once introduced in the home there always seems to be a marked reduction of time spent in other pursuits and interest. If you want your children to pursue topics of interest in their free time, limit their time on the tv, gaming system, and computer.

3. Daily Rhythm

Having some sort of plan in place does help a homeschooling mom's day go smoothly. It doesn't not have to be micro-scheduled into 15 min increments to be successful. I'm amazed by moms that can pull off a micro-schedule and not lose their mind! I want my children to have a basic framework to work with but I still want some flexibility. If you say.....hey it's 9 o-clock and the kids automatically start grabbing their books because they know it's time for schoolwork, you are on the right track.

Our Daily Rhythm for Winter 2008

4. Just say NO

This should be a homeschooling moms most used phrased....not to her children but to all the outside activities that are currently offered. In 1995....we had weekly parkdays and monthly fieldtrips. Now in our area there are several co-ops, several options for paid homeschool classes, homeschool Tae Kwon Do, Homeschool sports, Homeschool bands, Homeschool boy/girl scouts, PE classes, Ballroom dance classes, etc. The list goes on and on and that doesn't even include the standard classes offered to all children. Easily, everyday of the week could be filled up with activities. I know moms who spend the day driving from one really great class to another attempting to get some schooling done in the car. Just say NO! If you must, pick one that all or most of your children can participate in and forget the rest . You can always try out something else next year.

5. Work with what you have and not what you wish you had

Have active children? Don't wish they were quieter ....work with that wiggle!

There is a Plan for those active kids and you are just the mama to help them fulfill it. Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education is simple: Education an atmosphere, a discipline, a life. Your job as a homeschooling mama is to apply that to your family and your kids. Create an enviroment that your kids can be successful!

Have limited funds? Don't wish for more money.....choose and spend wisely! You can teach a child to read with a $20 resource or one that cost 10 x that amount. Your children aren't going to read 10x better with the more expensive option....there just will be more bells and whistles which means more pieces to lose.

No Jonesing with your homeschooling endeavor!

6. The perfect curriculum

There is no such thing so quit looking for it. The BEST curriculum for your family is one that...

Mom enjoys using - if mama ain't happy, nobody is happy!

keeps the kids learning- one of the reason we take on this endeavor.

keeps daddy happy- for obvious reasons!

7. Always be willing to change

Seasons change and so will our children and our lives. The schedule that is working so well for me today won't work this summer and it didn't work last fall. Many moms start planning their homeschool and will have a highschool plan in place when their children are still preschool age. Resist that urge.... I could never have planned the past 12 years when my oldest was just starting out. Resources are different, options are different .....we are different! I've homeschooled through a divorce, as a single working mom, through a major move, through a hurricane, difficult pregnancies, and months of bedrest. My early plans are a source of humility......Relax and take it a year at a time.

8. KISS Keep It Super Simple- organization tips

People are making money off of a homeschooling moms fears and disorganization. All you need to get your school and family organized is right in front of you-your computer and your family. Some of us need a complicated binder bursting full of forms but most of us can get by with a little less fluff. Do the minimal to keep your family happy.

Menus are a necessity at my house, otherwise we will eat junk daily. We have a weekly breakfast and lunch menu and a monthly dinner menu. Every 3-6 months we'll revamp it for a change. Took us 30 minutes to type it up and now it is posted on the fridge for all to see.

We've tried just about everything to keep the school stuff organized. I get a box and everything gets that I think needs to be saved for the year is saved in that box. In our state, we are legally a private school so those saved items are for our own purposes. Ok...the highschool years we did get a bit more organized than that but that is whole topic in itself.

Donna Young Printables is a good place to start looking at options to keeping schedules, lessons plans and the like organized.

Fly Lady is a good place to start looking at ways to organize the housework.

9. Habit training

The rule of all rules.

"Habit is ten natures"

"The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days; while she who lets their habits take care of themselves has a weary life of endless friction with the children."- Charlotte Mason

Charlotte Mason writes extensively about the development of habits and had quite a list of desirable habits that we should train our children to do.

Pick a undesirable trait in your family and work on creating a better habit. One at a time is the key.

10. Enjoy every moment

The years go by way too fast- cherish every moment! If you aren't enjoying yourself go back to rule #1.