Homeschool Journal: October 2023 (6th Grade & 4th Grade)

Take a look at what homeschooling is like today. If I missed anything, please let me know. You can also find all of my homeschool journal posts, curriculum reviews, and other general posts on My Homeschool Page.

Here I am in October 2023 homeschooling H (6th Grade) and K (fourth grade). You can find all our curriculum choices on this page. Now… Dear diary…

It is still true that my attitude depends on how I embrace the season. I love the early years of homeschooling. I often romanticize those days when I read books, took nature walks in search of a leaf and did crafts. The younger years were so cozy. We are now in the middle age, or should I say the middle years, where we have added more activities, some of which take us away from the house more and we all enjoy it!

One day a week, the girls take a creative writing course. It’s a nice change from the usual structured writing. The girls are still doing IEW structure writing at home but they enjoy the creative class. Each week, they look forward to the class and ask to be read their writing in the car. It’s great.

Even the younger years seemed to be structured (if I remember correctly, who can say) by routines and nap/quiet time. While we still have some of it, we are now able to embrace a greater degree of variability. It’s working. Each week looks different. The days that we spend away from home, such as co-op or writing classes, make our days at home special. Both kinds of days are great and I think we’re enjoying a good mix of them right now.

I mentally plan our week on Sundays, not just to create our menu, but also to get an idea of what we’ll be covering each week. Math, reading and writing are our staples. Every day, we focus on math, reading and writing. I then sprinkle in other things like read-alouds, geography, science, Mystery Science experiments, outdoor activities, social functions and life skills where it fits. It’s not a rigid system.

I began writing down the kids’ schedules for the month onto a large calendar that was stuck on our pantry door. Each child has a specific color pen and it helps them to see their commitments. K has a lot of commitments: TKD, theater and soccer. H also adds some responsibilities, like regular pet-sitting, to her existing commitments.

Each year brings a new opportunity to embrace the fact that “school” is woven into everyday life. One thing that I have to constantly remind myself is that we can complete our lessons in the entire day. On some days, we finish everything by noon with an afternoon free. Some days, the kids are distracted or move slowly. It’s okay to let them get distracted and then return to math later.

It’s mid-October and I am reminded of why I like starting school in the summer. I feel like we have 6-8 weeks of lessons under our belts, before the fall and Christmas season. It’s still important to keep up with our lessons but it is nice to have some flexibility in order to enjoy the wonderful weather and cozy atmosphere of this time of year.

As I type this early in the morning, I want to do a mental check and make sure that I am not romanticizing our day.

They can fight with the best of them (or worse?) The girls can fight like… well, I suppose sisters with the best (worst?) I can’t stand it when I hear them deliberately provoking each other to stupid spats. Like, why? Why would you push her buttons or get her all worked up without any reason? I sometimes step in, and at other times I just let them figure it out on their own. When I step in it is usually to redirect or involve chores. I’ll say “it sounds as if you are bored and want some help.” You can ask me to clean up the porch. Or, “H, why not take out the garbage?”

They are best friends whether they know it or not. H will still help K with her play, and they will both share half the cookie that K got from TKD.

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