Finding Our Groove

Banana Bread collecting treasures on our daily walks.

Good heavens, where have I been for most of September? Well, obviously not blogging! It has been a great month - the daycare kids are happily adjusted to their new routines, and my older kids have found their groove with home schooling.  I've developed a nice rhythm to the days - enough to do that things aren't boring, but not so much that they're overwhelming. A lovely balance.

So what to touch bases on first?  I think we'll tackle homeschooling in this post.  I'm so grateful for the planning I did in early August as the start to the year was pretty seamless as far as what to work on. This freed us to focus on fine-tuning our schedule in September - figuring out where we had overcommitted, and where we can reassign some things.

Some highlights this year:

•  Muffin Mouse (Grade 7)
• With Bus Pass in hand Muffin Mouse is out-and-about 4 days a week. She has incorporated a couple of volunteer shifts into her schedule this year, and I managed to shuffle music lessons to a daytime slot to free-up our evenings a little.
• Her Science class is going really well. She is working through the BC science curriculum with this group, meeting weekly for an hour and a half.  We're using her home-school funds to help cover the $235 cost for the year.
• Dance has taken a new path too. Due to a rescheduling of a Highland dance class which didn't work for us we have found a wonderful new dance home at Dance on IT studios.  Muffin Mouse is now doing ballet (Grade 2/3) and Jazz on Thursdays.
• Of course, she'd say the highlight of her year is the inclusion of horse riding lessons.  She is riding twice a week, volunteering at the stables once a week, and taking online equestrian courses this year. Our goal was to mirror the sport institutes that many of the highschools offer now (in hockey, soccer etc) with an equestrian theme.

• George (Grade 6)
• George is also toting his new Bus Pass and cell phone as he commutes around town this year. He is pumped about his first job volunteering with Beacon Hill Childrens Farm.  Essentially on poo-patrol he and Muffin Mouse spend a couple of hours a week helping care for the animals. After their shift they also try and catch an IMAX at the BC Royal Museum before heading home.
• We made a switch in music teachers this year. George is continuing with his second year on the Alto Saxophone and has really connected with his new music teacher, Joe Hatherill.  After splurging on some music books by contemporary artists music practice is significantly more motivating - no more watching the clock!
• Hockey continues to be a main focus for George, although he is showing an interest in being a Farrier.  We are fortunate that he can volunteer with his horse stables when the Farrier is visiting to get some hands-on practice in this field.
• We're trying a new French program this year through Rosetta Stone. It seems great - an immersion experience online which is more engaging than the pen & paper approach last year.  We got a discounted rate with our school district for the annual access.

• Banana Bread (Preschool)
• Banana Bread is delightfully motivated in her home-schooling. Most days I don't have a chance to eat my lunch before she sits down to do her work.  Her reading is coming along and she loves to identify the sounds she hears in the words and songs we work on .
• Most of her days follow a typical preschooler pattern: free play, snack, outside time, lunch, home school, quiet time, free play. Add some art activities, a dance class, and swim club and that's her week.

We have scheduled our annual home school retreats (I take each child on an individual weekend retreat) in October and November. These are my chance to develop a clear vision for the year ahead with each child, and together we identify the areas of character development we'll each focus on. We really look forward to this time one-on-one - can't wait!

So, here we are.  I hope this doesn't seem overwhelming (I know I can be a bit scary with my spreadsheet!) But, my intent is to share a snapshot of our week for other home-schoolers. I know it was a burning question for me when we started last year - what will our days look like? And, particularly now the kids are older, what does home schooling look like in the middle and high-school years?

Joyfully scheduled,
Caz.

Here's our current schedule:

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2012/13 School Year
		Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
				George Hockey
06:00 AM				5:30 – 7:35am
				(Caz run)
07:00 AM
08:00 AM
			George Book Club			TRANSIT
09:00 AM			8:30 – 9:30am			9am – 11am
			- Math	- Reading	- Horse Council	George & M. Mouse
10:00 AM			- Writing	- Music Practice	of BC online	Horse Stables
			- Socials Project		- Reading	Volunteer shift
11:00 AM		- Weekly Goals			- Music Practice	11am – noon
		- Math	TRANSIT
12:00 PM		- Personal Planning	Noon – 2pm	TRANSIT		Horse Riding
		- Writing	George & M. Mouse	12:30-2:00
01:00 PM		- Reading	Beacon Farm	M. Mouse Sc. Class	- Math
			Volunteer shift	George – French	- Writing
02:00 PM		TRANSIT	TRANSIT	TRANSIT	- M. Mouse French
		2:30-3:30pm			- George Science
03:00 PM		George & M. Mouse
		Music Lessons	- Music Practice				Sunday
04:00 PM		TRANSIT	- Reading				B. Bread Swim
					B. Bread Swim Club		4:30 – 5:15pm
05:00 PM		5-6pm	5-5:30pm		4:30 – 5:15pm		(Caz run)
		George & M. Mouse	B. Bread Dance		(Caz run)
06:00 PM		Horse Riding		- Writing	4:45 – 6:15
			6:30-8:00pm	- Math	M. Mouse Ballet
07:00 PM			M. Mouse Highland		6:15 – 7:15
		George hockey			M. Mouse Jazz
08:00 PM		7:45 – 9:05pm
		(Caz run)