Homeschooling Lesson Planners

I love to plan. Although, admittedly, I'm horrible at it. I find it to be one of the most calming things I can do when my anxiety is high, mainly because it gives me a sense of control, even if that sense is an illusion. But I still love to plan. I have a blog planner, a Home Management Binder, a Financial Binder and of course a homeschooling binder that keeps all of Sam's worksheets (both to do and finished) all in one place - on her "homeschooling shelf" on the book case next to my "office."

I, now, have a lesson planner!! Here's the thing about me and planners: the have to be pretty or I won't use them. They have to have some sort of aesthetic appeal or it will just sit and collect dust. I found several lesson planners online, and even made one of my own, which is the one I used the most:

 

I actually really liked this one. It had plenty of room for me to write stuff, but there was something just not right about it.

Our New Curriculum

As I said in my last post, I started reading a new book called The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise, and it discusses... well... a classical education curriculum.

 

It's an awesome book, and reminds me quite a bit of my Catholic school education, which isn't necessarily a good thing.  But, it was definitely classical!

Creating a Homeschool Notebook

Since we live in Florida, our unschooling has to have a bit of structure. The state requires that any homeschooling parent keep a record of the child's progress throughout the year. Although the records may never be checked, you have to be able to produce said records within a few days of being notified that the superintendent wants to see them.

I won't lie, I've been worried that the superintendent is going to pound on my door and say with a menacing voice "SHOW ME YOUR RECORDS!" 

 

So, instead of staying in a constant state of anxiety, I decided to create what I call a "Homeschooling Notebook."

Family Household Rules

I'm really not a rules person. I've never set rules for my family and I've never really had a problem.

But things are getting a bit out of control!

 

2013 hasn't started out the way I intended. We have an inspection of our home coming up and since we're hoarders clutterbugs, we've got a lot of cleaning to do. Unfortunately, my husband is still out of work due to his hernia, and I'm the only one bringing in any money, which means I don't have time to clean. But I have a list a mile long of things we need to do to get the house ready for the inspection.

On Choosing a Curriculum

Strict Curriculum vs. Unschooling

Taking our puppy outside allows Sam plenty of
opportunities to learn about nature and get
plenty of exercise.

Both my husband and I have ADHD, so we knew our daughter would have it without a doubt. I also knew a traditional school setting wouldn’t allow her to excel, and certainly wouldn’t foster a life-long love of learning. When I decided to homeschool her, I found there were quite a few ways to do it. Choosing a curriculum proved difficult because most of them were patterned after a traditional school curriculum.

I came across a book called The Unschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith. After reading just a few pages, I knew this was the way to go. Since ADHD causes my daughter to jump from one thing to another, I knew trying to set up a strict curriculum would only aggravate both of us. But, when I read about how unschooling worked, I was ecstatic.

On Being a Stay at Home Mom

The clutter was driving me nuts!

I had no idea what I was getting into. I quit my job because I could no longer work for someone who didn't have one shred of integrity. I thought being a stay-at-home-mom would be a cake-walk compared to my career. WOW, I was so wrong. 

The first few months of my SAHM life was completely chaotic. I’m a creature of habit and routine. Since I quit my job, I had no routine. I also had no reason to get up at 04:00 am to work out, and nowhere I had to be. It was almost as if I had lost my life’s purpose.

Why I Chose Homeschooling

When I got pregnant 6 years ago, I was on the fence about sending my daughter to formal school versus homeschooling her myself. I didn't have the greatest experience when I was in school. I didn't have any friends and I was routinely picked on by bullies. My mom told me it was because they were all jealous, and looking back, she was probably right. I had a high IQ, and I was told by adults that I was very pretty.