Archives for September 2016

A Day in My Life ~ as a 9th Grade Homeschooler

Taking Photos

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This post is part of the 8th annual “Not” Back-To-School Blog Hop over at the iHomeschool Network.  This week is ‘Day in the Life’ Week in which homeschooled students share what their days are like!  Today, I’m letting my oldest daughter take over the blog so that you might be able to get a glimpse of her day to day life as a homeschooler.  Enjoy!

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Well… I don’t think you are usually allowed to do cartwheels with your little sister in a typical school hall way,
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or make special treats for snack.

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Also, you are not normally in a class room family room with five different grade levels, all learning different things at the same time. Unless … Your home is your school, your mom is your teacher, your siblings are your classmates, and the world is your classroom!

This is my day as a ninth grade homeschooler.

We generally get up about 7 o’clock each morning. Once we’re up, we can work on school before breakfast, read our Bible, etc.  I found my 5th grade brother doing school this morning when I came out of my room. (This often occurs because he is an early riser.)

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This is what happened though when I tried to take his picture. ;-)

After breakfast, I go up to the school room to see what I have for school that day.IMG_0436 IMG_0439

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This is my sheet that tells me what to do each day. As I get things done, I highlight them with a highlighter. To make it easier to see which day I did each subject, I use a different color for each day. (My curriculum this year is scheduled for four days each unit, but I can spread it out over five days or have one lighter day!)

My 7th grade sister is also taking pictures of her day today.
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Now, it’s time to study!
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Ok. So, maybe it didn’t quite work out like that. If you have ever been homeschooled for any amount of time, you know studying doesn’t always go that smoothly. There are almost always distractions …

IMG_8657 like funny little brothers…

IMG_0524or beautiful butterflies….

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or chores (Does that count as a distraction? Maybe not.)

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or giving piano lessons…but we normally get back on track.

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Also, did you think we just did book work? No way!

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Above, I’m making clay stamps. In the picture to the right of that, we are all painting our clay turtles that we had sculpted on a previous day. In the photos below, I’m writing a song and playing violin. (I also play piano.)

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For recreation, I like to do gymnastics (Remember the cartwheels in the hall way?), dance about the house,  and ride bikes around our neighborhood when it’s not too terribly hot.

Additionally, our family gets together with other families from church to do our science labs and more art. Yay!

After I finish my school work, I enjoy reading a good book (Historical fiction is great!), sewing, playing music with my siblings, and writing stories.

So, that’s my day. It’s busy, but it is also fun! Sometimes people ask me how I like homeschooling, and, to tell you the truth, I love it!  I wouldn’t trade this style of learning for any other way. Thank you for pouring so much time and effort into my life, Mom!  I love you!

P.S:  The special treat that is shown towards the beginning of this post is called Chocolate Bread. It is a yummy, easy to make, snack that my siblings and I enjoy.

Chocolate Bread
Bread

Ingredients

– 1 slice of bread  – butter  – chocolate chips  – peanut butter chips (optional)

Instructions

1. Spread butter onto your slice of bread.
2. Place your chocolate (and/ or peanut butter) chips onto your slice of bread.
3. Bake your bread in the oven until the chips melt. (As you saw, we used a toaster oven.)
4. Once your bread has been baked, spread your melted chips over the bread.
5. Eat your Chocolate Bread and enjoy!

Yes! Workboxes are Still Working for Us

Mostly.  =)

IMG_8704(Above:  Our first grader’s workbox and supplies on his desk)

Over the years, we have found that implementing the use of a modified workbox system has helped tremendously in keeping this busy family of five homeschooled kids on task and moving forward each day.  Our kids know what to expect.  It is easy to use and rewarding as they can clearly see the progress they are making throughout the day.  I have greatly enjoyed witnessing our children becoming increasingly independent and taking ownership of their schoolwork.  I attribute a large portion of their self-sufficiency to the use of the workbox system.

Our first, third, and fifth grade children still successfully use a plastic file box with hanging files (what we call our workboxes) for their Bible, math, and language arts.  However, once our older children hit 7th grade, the hanging files began to droop and break due to the increasing weight and width of their books!

So, what do our older children use?

Workboxes!  Just modified, once again…

IMG_7603 (2)(Above:  Rearranging and making room for the new ‘workbox’ drawers)

Since we no longer needed our drawers to house ABC and Math Learning Games for our younger kids, we decided to repurpose the drawer units for the older girls!

High School…

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and Middle School….
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Things that are different…

  • There are labels for each subject attached to the drawers.
    (Printable Labels)
  • There are no longer removable tags to show when subjects are complete.  (They have a weekly sheet that shows them what needs to be done each day.  Also, we require them to write down assignments that they complete each day.)
  • The ‘workbox’ drawers take up more space and, obviously, can no longer sit on top of their desks.
  • They provide so much more room for their larger materials (books, binders, etc.)!

Things that are the same…

  • The drawers provide clearly divided sections to place materials for different subjects.
  • The organization system keeps things neat and tidy.
  • The drawers continue to support the goal of working towards greater self sufficiency.

So, yes!  Workboxes are still working for us.  =)   And…we’re doing what homeschoolers do best.. tweaking our learning materials and environment to meet the ever changing needs of our students!

 

Take a Peek at our past ‘School Room’ Posts…
Homeschooling With a ‘School Room’ – 2014
Homeschooling – Apartment Style – 2013
Home + School = Homeschool – 2009

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This post is part of the 8th annual “Not” Back-To-School Blog Hop over at the iHomeschool Network.  Check out  the learning environments of other homeschool families!

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