Now I've gone and done it

[Birbitt]

Well, I've ordered my curriculum for the year for both boys, so we'll be starting mid to late may. I haven't filed my affidavit of intent yet though.....I wonder if I should do it now or wait till August??????? The boys can't wait for school to start although they don't realize they've already started....I just didn't tell them it was school! Well I guess once the curriculum starts arriving we'll have to figure out a schedule...that scares the daylights out of me...>I'm afraid that with a schedule they'll get upset and stressed and without a schedule we won't get anything done.....Oh bother, I guess we'll just have to wait and see...but I guess I'm an official homeschooler now that I've officially purchased my curriculum????

[jacqlyn00]

Good for you! It's a scary and exciting step.
In NM you have to file the letter of intent within 30 days of pulling out your child to homeschool, and by April 1st each year there after. Have you already looked into the laws in your state to see what it says?
Oh I just read your just starting Kindy... I'd see if there is a required date to fill out your letter of intent by, and if it hasnt passed go ahead and do that now. If it has passed just go into the school next fall and sign your child out of school, and fill out the letter of intent. That should work.

[dalynnrmc]

Congrats!

Keep in mind that a "schedule" can be as loose or tight as you want it. You don't have to set TIMES for every subject, or even a time limit.

Some people use times. (We'll work on math from 9 until 9:30.)
Some people use time limits. (When we get to math, we'll work on it for 20 minutes.)
Some set minimum tasks. (In math, we'll do 3 pages of work, however long that takes. If it's 10 minutes, fine. If it's 40, fine.)

Around here, we've been doing the minimum task method. My son was getting a little stressed out, doing subject after subject, and so we ADDED a time limit.
I give him an hour to complete each subject. If he completes his math in only 20 minutes, then he gets the other 40 to do whatever he likes (within reason, of course). If he's working on history, and an hour comes up before his minimum task is done, then he has to finish that before he gets more free time.

So if he does math and gets free time, then does history and finishes his hour without completing his task, he puts it down and moves on to English next. If he completes his English in 30 minutes, he goes back to his history. If it only takes him another 15 minutes to finish history, then he gets that last 15 minutes as free time.

Also, we have a list of subjects to accomplish each day, based on what I've decided about how many days each week that each subject should be done. The list of subjects is on the wall, and I let my son pick the order. We start with whatever subject he wants, and do the rest in whatever order he wants as well. (The only rule I have is that the "fun" subjects like art and music must wait until at least half of the "regular" work is completed.)


Anyway. There are LOTS of ways to do schedules. Don't confine yourself (and your kiddos) more than necessary!

And, welcome to the journey that is homeschooling! And congrats on getting your curriculum!

[jacqlyn00]

I have a schedule like DaLynns, heck maybe I got the idea from her in the first place. :D I find my ds works so much better when he has a timer by him, I dont know why he likes it but heck it works so we go with it

[dalynnrmc]

Or maybe I got the idea from you? LOL No telling!

[Birbitt]

Yes, we thought about planning an activity for each subject for each day and then just do what we can do each day...I'm just worried about leaving out important stuff.

[dalynnrmc]

**hugs**

You'll do fantastically!! No worries! ;)

[jacqlyn00]

Ok, want to know what I asked a friend when I first started homeschooling..... this is sooooo embarrassing!

I asked her to lmk what her son was doing in school each week so I could make sure we were keeping up with them lol.


How stupid is that!

It only took me a little while to realize my teachers manuals told me exactly what to do each day..... and we were passing up my friends kids simply because me and my son were working one on one and not one on 20.

[Birbitt]

Jacqlyn Don't worry when hubby and I were researching to do this we looked up the public school standards for Kinder and tried to base what we wanted our children to learn off of that....well needless to say we changed our tune real quick. LOL so I know where you are coming from

[Jackie]

I admit I went to the local Christian school where my friend was principal, and actually copied all the Kindergarten goals for the year, lol!!! And, at that time, I was planning on doing that EACH YEAR! LOL! WHAT was I THINKING???

[Birbitt]

I'm just glad that most everything is ordered and will be here by the 8th...now I just have to find the stuff I couldn't order/didn't order. like I need a planner and I don't know which one to get.

[dalynnrmc]

Have you looked at the ones at DonnaYoung.org already? There are TONS of planner sheets there, that you can print out and use that way.

I'm the sort that wants a bound book (or, I'm just as comfortable with a computer document/spreadsheet), but using DY's sheets for a while helped me decide which type of sheet I liked best before buying one.

:) It's an idea, anyway! (From one who, again, must have all information and KNOW I will like/use something before I purchase it!!)

[Birbitt]

I did try her website but I really need a book like you said since both dh and I will be teaching we need to have it in a book that can be easily understood by all. As well as the sitter on Friday, as she will be doing some review and such and she'll need to know what to cover then.

[jill]

I decide how many "pages" we need to do each year for each subject, whether it's reading (like for history) or worksheet type (life for math) and then divide that into the number of weeks we will school. I try to get at least that much done each week. Some days we do alot of "school" that I have planned, and some days the girls go off on their own and learn other things. If they don't get the weekly minimum done during the week, they work on the weekends.
I sound very "fly by the seat of my pants" don't I? :confused:

[Birbitt]

I don't think I"m brave enough to try that method yet, This is our first year and because dh and I will both be teaching we need to make sure we are always on the same page so to speak. So a planner is unfortunately a necessity.

[bunnytracks]

Our schedule is pretty lose. We have a start time and a list of what we need to finish each day. You don't have to tell them you have a start time ect. Just say something like..."i think we should work on _________ (something they think is fun) then form there you can give them a least favorite task then free time ect. THe schedule will be in your head and on in theirs then.

[dalynnrmc]

Yeah, I'm finding that I do well with a book, too... but there were just so many formats and options that I found trying several of them from DY helpful in knowing which type to buy that would work for ME.

Turns out that, and I already knew that I am very visual, the square blocks method works best for me. I need something that I can glance at and show me what we're doing in each subject for every day of the week... and I use different colors of pencil for each kiddo/level. :lol:

I tried the one that had a big block in one column and lined stuff in the other column, for a week at a time. The blocks weren't big enough for me, and I had no idea what to put in the big square.. I tried month-at-a-glance, but, again, the blocks weren't big enough.

Anyway, so I printed out several different types and used them for a week or two (or three, some of them) to see if I should get a planner that was in that same format or not.


Hope you find something that works for you!