When I begin planning for the new schoolyear, I find it helpful to review the successes and failures of the previous year. This allows me to eliminate activities or curriculums that didn't work and refocus our educational methods.
The 2021-22 school year was a busy one for us as a family and we had to make a lot of adjustments to our original plans. Some things turned out well, some things didn't but that is a part of life in general. Here's my recap of the school year:
The Bad
1. Our nature hikes were decreased.
In July 2021, one of our children was suffering from Lyme disease arthritis of the knee. We originally thought that it was a result from a soccer strain but after extensive testing and a week's stay at the children's hospital, he received the correct diagnosis.
The healing time for this illness was long. He wasn't able to participate in our typical hiking activities, so we stopped. Once he had recovered, we had gotten out of the habit and simply didn't take the necessary time to return to nature.
2. Our schedule simply collapsed.
In the state of Kentucky, the required school days must fit in between July 1st to June 30th. We usually start the school year in July to give us a buffer for life events that may derail our studies throughout the year. While we have modified our school calendar in the past, this one was a challenge. We moved, the teacher (me) became pregnant and had early pregnancy fatigue and nausea, we had the occasional illnesses and then I was diagnosed with an unexpected pregnancy complication that required hospitalization. Usually, we end the school year with many documented educational days above the state requirement because we stop when we have concluded a particular subject or found a good stopping point for the year instead of a specific date on the calendar. This year, I was introduced to the issue of running out of time to complete all desired study topics. I didn't like it. We completed the required days, but we didn't complete my expectations for the year. I guess that is just how some years work.
3. We fell behind in math.
We utilize Right Start Math for our mathematics base. We supplement with living literature and Life of Fred but our base curriculum is Right Start. We have found that this hands-on curriculum has allowed my children to truly grasp the math concepts rather than memorizing a pattern for a worksheet. The downside is that this curriculum utilizes a lot of manipulatives. With the many interruptions in our schedule this year, dragging out the manipulatives for each child during math lessons started falling to the wayside. We simply fell behind on this subject.
4. My beginning readers didn't get the one-on-one time that they needed.
I utilize a different approach to teach reading to my kids. We start with a lot of read-alouds involving good quality literature. This is followed by oral narrations where the student summarizes the story and provides their own perspectives and insights to the material. We spend time discussing vocabulary and they gain an understanding of how words flow together to form good stories. We avoid sight words and utilize phonics-based reading instructions. We avoid "early readers" and "easy reader" books and focus on incorporating their phonics learning with books that we are currently reading aloud. We challenge them but also slow down if they become frustrated. The vocabulary, critical thinking and comprehension base is formed before the technical act of reading. This alternative method results in my kids learning the technical skills to read at a later age than many of their traditionally educated peers, but after they have mastered it, they really take off and end up reading (and comprehending) above traditional grade levels within a short time.
This method has worked well for my oldest two readers and my third reader was on the cusp of breaking through to the independent reading stage when our school year was derailed by my hospitalization. This method is very teacher-time-consuming, but I really appreciate the results. I know that we will have to back-track a bit with the reading instructions because of the long pause, but I am confident that she is almost ready to take off on her own.
5. Living in a more rural area required time adjustments with regards to outside homeschool activities.
Adjusting to a move that placed us further away from our regular homeschool groups (about an hour drive) forced us to make scheduling adjustments. We no longer were able to meet for a quick afternoon activity and return to finish up bookwork. We had extended travel time to consider. We packed snacks, incorporated errands and added car-schooling activities such as podcasts, videos, etc. In the end, we did have to start making choices about which activities we could participate in and which ones that we needed to pass up.
6. The kids missed out on a lot of outside activities this year.
When I was hospitalized, we were very lucky to have grandparents that were willing to step in to take care of the kids so that hubby could continue to work. We felt that asking them to uproot their schedules to watch our kids was enough of an imposition without trying to replicate the kid's normal activities. Springtime is a popular time for field trips with our homeschooling friends. We simply had to cancel the majority of these trips as it was too much to add onto our currently stressful circumstances. The kids were disappointed but handled it with a grace and understanding that surprised me given their young ages.
The Good
1. We spent more time at the pool.
Since one of our children was unable to participate in a lot of our typical outdoor activities due to his recovery from Lyme disease arthritis, I had to find alternative activities to prevent him from turning into a couch potato. We had joined a local pool club and it turned out to be a great thing for our family. Our son discovered that he could keep up with the other kids in the pool and not be hampered by his illness and use of crutches. The infectious disease specialist was impressed with his improvement and approved of the water-based "therapy" that we were employing with the pool. All of the kids developed their swimming skills with increased time in the water. The younger kids graduated from using floaties with to diving by the end of the summer.
2. My kids became more resilient to unexpected events.
A lot of issues in the year came without a lot of notice. We had delays in moving but had our school items packed, we had to immediately modify the learning experience when I was hospitalized, etc. My kids have always been somewhat flexible with a schedule since the hubby and I have had various work schedules over the years. We've never had a set Monday through Friday type of scheduled lifestyle. However, this year tested our ability to be flexible. My kids rose to the challenge, and I am so proud of the way that they adapted to all of the changes within the last year.
3. We added a personal finance course.
As mentioned above, we fell behind in our regular math curriculum for the year. To adjust for this, I signed my 7th grader up for an online personal finance course. He was able to complete this without a lot of intervention from me and it gave him some insight on how to budget and financially plan for his future. Some of the topics discussed are ones that I had to teach myself in my late 20's and early 30's AFTER making some significant and costly mistakes. I hope that by introducing him to this topic early in his educational career that he can avoid some of my financial mistakes. At least for this child, he didn't necessarily fall behind but took an alternative path in his mathematical studies for the year.
4. We utilized more paired activities.
With my youngest two children learning the importance of comprehension and discussion after readings, I was able to incorporate more paired activities. I paired one older child with one younger child for certain supplemental readings. Then, they returned to me and gave an oral narration about what they learned. This group dynamic forced them to work together and make compromises as they were both responsible for the final narration. It also gave me more time to work one-on-one with another child.
5. We discovered a family interest in a nutrition course.
I experimented with adding a nutrition course to our science studies. Some of the material was above their initial understanding as we truly dived into what is considered good nutrition and the topic of "real food". I was cautious as I thought that this would be too much for them, but it turned out to be a very positive thing for our family.
They quickly pointed out the differences in the processing of canola oil and olive oil after watching two documentaries and how that relates to the nutritious value each one provides to our bodies. They started reading ingredient labels and called me out on the amount of high fructose corn syrup in my Coca-Cola drinks. With their encouragement, we switched to seltzer water. They showed an interest in cooking food from scratch and eliminating a lot of processed foods from our pantry.
I was trying to change some of our family's eating habits and it was really nice to be supported as they learned the importance of eating real, unprocessed foods and how it affects the functioning of our bodies. It wasn't a fight but instead a collaborated effort.
6. The kids were forced to improve their life skills.
With my hospitalization, we explained that the kids would have to step up and help out more around the house. My oldest learned how to do laundry (a task that I voluntarily liked to do myself up to this point) and took on a large portion of the family meal preparations. My other son took more responsibility over the care of the animals and volunteered to plant and oversee a garden for the family. The girls stepped up their housekeeping skills by learning to properly clean the bathrooms, sweep and mop the floors and to help fold and put up the laundry. These are in addition to their regular chores.
In all truth, the list of chores that I left for them were too long for children their ages. Yet, we demanded that they step up and fill the void. While there have been some hiccups along the way, I am very proud of their accomplishments. I don't know very many 13-year-old kids that can and will plan and prepare dinner for the family several nights a week. I don't know very many 11-year-old kids that can plan out, plant, weed, water and harvest tomatoes and peas from a garden mostly by himself. I don't know many 8-year-old and 6-year-old kids that can clean a house like my girls (even if they still require a lot of reminding and refocusing).
I know that they were forced into learning these skills in order to maintain some order in our chaotic circumstances, but I hope that they will appreciate having these skills in the future.
7. The kids gained more independence this year.
Our 13-year-old obtained his first phone. We are a bit stricter than most households when it comes to the use of electronic devices and screen time. He is allowed to access the internet in the common areas of the house on shared computers or tablets. He is not yet allowed to have social media accounts. Based on these factors, we decided to opt for an older style, flip phone. He could have been bratty about not having the latest tech toy but showed great appreciation for the phone that we did give him. This phone allows him to make phone calls, text and take some pictures. He keeps the phone in the main area of the house overnight but is responsible for its use during the daytime hours. I am very proud of his responsible use of this device.
Our 11-year-old has been allowed to spend some time home alone. He appreciates having quiet time by himself and has proven to be responsible. We will work on setting up more independent learning activities for him this upcoming school year.
Future Plans
1. Continue participating in pool activities but increase the number of nature hikes.
We have maintained the pool membership and the kids are enjoying this fun summer activity. We will have to make adjustments on how to hike with a new baby (we have hiked with babies before), but we hope to restart this beloved family activity.
2. Set up a more structured homeschool schedule.
We are still dealing with the hospitalization and will welcome a newborn into the mix this year so a rigid school schedule will probably be unrealistic. I do hope to regain some semblance of order and balance when we head into the fall months.
3. Focus on math.
We need to spend more time on this core subject. I realize how it fell to the wayside last year and we will have to make a conscious effort to catch up a bit on this subject.
4. Give my daughter more one-on-one time for reading instruction.
She has practiced some reading over the summer and is doing quite well. With a bit more instruction and encouragement, she will soon take off and be another successful independent reader.
5. Continue with paired activities for supplemental readings.
This worked very well last year so I will continue using it for this year.
6. Continue our nutrition studies.
This was an enjoyable topic for the family so we will continue to pursue it.
7. Participate in more field trips.
We have joined a couple of local homeschooling groups in hopes to meet new friends and participate in more outside activities.
8. Continue to encourage independence.
My children are growing up and have shown that they enjoy their independence. They have ideas for business ventures and future educational plans. I hope to be able to encourage them in their pursuits while being an advisor to prevent them from making any dangerous mistakes (not prevent all mistakes, just the dangerous ones!).
I hope that you were able to see from my review that a perfect education does not exist. We choose to homeschool because we feel that it provides an educational and lifestyle experience that traditional schooling methods simply cannot provide. This doesn't mean that everything that we do is perfect. We make mistakes and learn from them. However, even when we experienced a rough year, the kids were able to learn and develop essential skills. I hope that my children look back on their educational path with fondness and appreciation for this different lifestyle that we are creating together.