“The grass withers and the flowers fade,
but the word of our God stands forever.”

Isaiah 40:8

Wow, can this be that I am actually writing something again today?! My children are finishing up their school work currently and since it’s not Math time or English time (2 subject areas requiring the most help) and it’s not a period in which I am required to teach, I am taking this opportunity to write. Today I started with a Bible verse that I was reminded about when reading through our Bible lesson this morning. It did not mention the verse but some wording led me to remember something I’d read from the Bible. This is only one tiny part of a larger passage but it speaks truth. No matter what happens in your life, no matter what changes in this world, God never changes. His word never changes. His will is always going to be accomplished just as He has planned. His words will never change in the moment to fit into some new idea. He is who His word says He is, and He will always be. How wonderful that is! You can’t really say that about anyone else. People often change continually throughout their life but God never changes. He is totally reliable and someone for whom we can always turn to and depend on. So on those tough days, be it in homeschool days or otherwise, the truth in that is comforting.

So today I’m going to share with you a little bit about our homeschooling day. Keep in mind what I tell you is just what has worked, mostly, for us. This is my first year homeschooling and I expect our days in the future could look different. I felt this year was a tremendous amount of work for me in lesson planning, grading, prepping, looking up math video helps, and researching science experiments and art projects. Was all of that necessary? No, but most of it just enhanced our learning experience. Next year I am hoping to free myself of so much planning, but if that’s not possible it’s okay, I am willing to do what needs to be done.

First off I am going to be honest here, I might have a problem with over-organizing. Yes, it’s a thing and yes it can be a bad thing. However, I would still recommend some kind of calendar system. I searched around for a homeschool lesson planner or some kind of monthly planner until I settled on one from Christian Liberty. It is actually for their C.L.A.S.S. distance learning program but I found it helpful for me even though I did not use their program. I am not sure if I will buy it again next year or try something else but it worked well for me so I may stick to it. It’s really only for one child but I made it work for my two.  Messy looking,  this is a peek inside of my planner:

It may look like a nightmare to you, but it worked for me and I would have been lost without it. Here’s a tip : pencil in your lesson plans so when you have to re-evaluate and change something you don’t need a small investment in white out. Going forward if I use this planner next year, it will be done differently. Basically, since I used Lifepac workbooks, I planned out each day of each week how many pages they needed to do. I then transferred that information, weekly, to  notecards for them to keep on their workspaces. If we didn’t finish the goals (normally did) then I would have to adjust the next week. If we did more than our goals (which we try to do when possible) I would again have to adjust. We do stick to a regular Monday-Friday routine but we aren’t so strict that we didn’t sometimes make changes based on what the day threw at us. Those days could have been doctor appointments, social trips, field trips or holidays.

On a normal day for us we wake up by 7 a.m. (a luxury but no bus rides so why not!) and begin the school day at 8 a.m. On special days we usually start school an hour earlier. We prefer to get the school day done first thing and have our afternoons free. In Pennsylvania we have a requirement to track either days of school or hours of school. The requirement is 180 days or 990 hours for 7th-12th grades and 900 hours for grades K-6 (although you are not required to report until your child is 8 years old, unless you were previously in private or public school). We start our day with Bible, move on to English, Math and History before we get to our “specials”. Specials, a term my children’s former public school called it, are Health, Art, Music, P.E. and we also used that period to review fire safety, internet safety, bike safety, and Pennsylvania history.  Once we completed the latter we implemented typing, civics or cursive handwriting. Basically every day there is a class period that alternates. This class period is the one that I teach.

Here’s what a typical day looks like : Monday, for example, would be Bible, Math, English, History, Health, Lunch, Science, Computer or Enrichment time (which is used a study period or time to read books for leisure or reports) Thursday, for another example,  would be the same except instead of health we did Art class. My son being in 7th grade had a computer elective course while my 5th grader was using that time to make up work, study, or read. Now that he has completed that course, he uses that time the same as she does. You might think that sounds like a lot in one day of homeschool. That really varies from family to family. Some families like to be done in 2-4 hours and I think it really depends on your approach and your children’s ages. Overall we do 5-6 hour days. This will also help prepare us for the highschool years when hours equals credits. A 12th grader needs so many credits and so many per subject in order to graduate.

Once we are done with academics, usually by 2-2:30 my children have the afternoon to relax and/or play outside. We also have used that time for other activities like Lego club. You might think my kids don’t get outside enough, well, often for P.E. that’s where they are and once its nicer outside we can sit out there and do our work. Looking forward to that again! Currently my children are trying to keep a wooly bear caterpillar alive in hopes to see it transform, so everyday they are out there and they even take it for walks!

In a few weeks we are going to be putting their portfolios together to take to our chosen evaluator. Soon after we will have that done and then send off our letter with our next year’s affidavit and objectives. It’s seems impossible that we have gotten here already. This year has really felt like it’s gone by quickly, even with days like today where tears fell. Hey, it’s going to happen.

The pros to homeschooling for me outweigh the cons by leaps and bounds! I have just 2 children and families with more than that may find it more challenging. Don’t misunderstand me now, I have had plenty of challenges. I know that I would not have gotten through those without the Lord’s help. And so we come back to where I began. God’s plan is going to be done in His timing and His way that He chose long ago. He has preplanned everything and so we can trust that He’s got it and what He’s got is what is best. That might sound easy, but it’s not always. I for one need His grace, and His forgiveness, everyday. I don’t always let Him be in control even though I know in my heart and my head that He is the ruler of my life.

Ephesians 1:9-11 “God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.”