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I can finally say that after months of diligently assessing school material, researching topics, creating supplementary materials, and putting everything into a weekly schedules, I am pretty much finished the kids school schedule for 2023/2024! And it feels so good! There will be a few update posts coming your way because we have been up to a lot! First topic: homeschooling!
Also, quick side tangent. Does anyone else get tired of the “bet you can’t wait to send your kids back to school” comments? Like no! I actually enjoy spending time with my kids and enjoy being their main influence (aside from Josh) and raising them. They’re only small for so long and I want to spend as much time with them as I can. I know a lot of times it’s said in good spirits, but let’s find something else to say.
Back to homeschooling. I had no idea that every time I would choose a specific material for a certain subject, that I would get such massive amounts of cognitive dissonance (buyer’s remorse). Or I even went so far as to create my own lesson plans for Grade 5 Ontario science, but then the doubt creeps in like “Is this going to teach them everything they need to know?” Do teacher’s get this every year? I want to make sure that the kids are getting the most out of their education, like every educator wants, but then I start to think, “Is this really up to snuff?” At this point, and because I am not detail-oriented what-so-ever, I have a back-up plan for my back-up plans. I have a great plan that I think will be a lot of fun, but if it isn’t working or if I feel that they are missing context or learning opportunities, I have extra resources listed and lots of hands on learning opportunities. Once we get into the hang of it all, since this is the first year we are homeschooling, I will share details later on.
The only goal that I did not meet, which has now created even more of a drive in me, is to find and create it all for as little money as possible. I was off to a great start and created those awesome science lessons for Grade 5, but cognitive dissonance set in and I wanted to ensure the kids were learning everything they should, so I purchased science materials instead. That then lead to purchasing materials for other subjects too. My justification for this is is that, it’s summer now. Josh is off work and we really need some family time. So, I did what I did to create an awesome curriculum plan in a shorter amount of time. This is where you need to assess your budget and figure out what is worth being purchased because time is money. Science, Social Studies, and French are the subjects I am not super confident in. I love learning them all though!
I have to say that I am super excited for this year. I have included fun projects, science fair style! The boys are doing lots of experiments and learning through guided discovery which I think they will really enjoy. I have some super cool visual art projects and music lessons. All this is to say that I am finally done! I now know which material I want to work with to teach the kids all the subjects they would typically cover. I will use this first year to assess how complete the material is that I am using, and if I am satisfied, then I am quite excited to say that I have a game plan for elementary school. As time goes on, I do plan to create material just like the material I am using so that there are free options available to others.
If and when I am satisfied with the material, I will add the material to the Homeschooling Resources section. I will also update the various other sections with our timetable that we use for each day and week and the schedule that we will follow for the year. I will include videos of how our days go and update you with how the year is going, how the plan is working out, etc. I think it is fair to be honest in beginning this homeschooling journey because I know a ton of people have approached me about it. I know a lot of people are considering it so I will give all the details each year.
I will say this though. If you are planning to create the resources yourself for as little as possible, prepare to put in a lot of time and effort in creating lesson plans, finding worksheets to practice the concepts, planning hands on experiences, etc. There are many different ways to homeschool and most have at least a very vague plan to them. I feel like we are not the “typical” homeschoolers. Not that I really know what typical homeschoolers are like, but there are some stereotypes out there. I do believe that the kids should have a certain skillset accomplished by the time they are ready for high school level courses. Then, the high school level courses should be preparing them for college, university, the trades, or whatever endeavors they set out on. There is a basic set of skills that they should have.
So, our schedule and school year does follow the typical subjects that you would find in school. We do cover other subjects like finances and business as well. I have relied on external products to teach them their subjects because I just don’t have the time right now to create all the lesson plans myself. Maybe one day, but for now I am happy with where we’re at and look forward to the upcoming school year! Check out our homeschool homepage, by clicking the button below, for more information on how we homeschool!
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