We are very hands-on (Montessori-ish) homeschoolers and have been homeschooling for four years, headed into our fifth! This article is all about our homeschool curriculum, schedule and checklist for 2013 -2014. Chase and Gage both are taking high school level classes so we are now using transcripts. Thankfully our umbrella school, HomeLife Academy makes it easy with their new AppleCore Reporting System!
So many people think Montessori homeschooling is akin to chaos or unschooling without structure… But that is just not accurate, as you will see with the boys’ curriculum and schedule! It is FAR from unschooling and nothing remotely close to chaos! I have included with each of my sons’ curriculum section, their schedules and their daily checklists (which includes their home chores). Montessori focuses on independence in education and the realization that we are life long learners. The tools we are using (schedules and daily checklists) are very effective at keeping them on track, holding them accountable and giving them freedom within their daily schedule. You will notice lots of study halls on their schedules. With the exception of those virtual or co-op classes that have specific times that the boys must attend at a specific time, we allow them to do their work at any time each day, as long as it is done that day. Thus the study halls sprinkled throughout the day allow for that flexibility.
Another aspect of a Montesori education is a particular focus on life skills. You will see on the boys’ daily checklist a variety of daily chores they do from vacuuming to washing clothes. And we regularly swap out chore lists to allow for the boys to learn all aspects of running a home. We have also taken practical life skills to the next level with a focus on entrepreneurship. We realize our children will be part of the next generations’ leaders. We believe they will be the generation that gets America back on the right track, from a spiritual, economic, moral, government and academic perspective. So we are teaching them the skills they will need to achieve that goal! Each of our sons has their own business. Their businesses focus on agriculture simply because we live on a farm (and it is a great, wholesome and healthy place to raise boys). So, it is natural for all of their businesses to be farm-based… thus we call it “farmschooling”. However, if we urban, they might not have these same businesses, but they would have some sort of business to teach them about capitalism!
We have gotten a bit creative in how we encourage the boys to grow their writing skills… we allow them to blog about their businesses and our homeschool on our homeschool blog. All comments on our blog are moderated by me and all of their emails forward to me, so it is very controlled and protected (as much as they can be in this fallen world). The boys are really loving this new avenue of communication with the outside world called social media! It will be a part of their world when they are grown, so we might as well teach them how to use it responsibly now!
All of our boys have a focus and desire to go to college, so you will notice they are pretty aggressive in their workload. This is primarily based on what they are capable of. Do not use our classes or our schedule as a model of a typical child in these grades. Children all learn at different levels and at different paces. Don’t ever prevent your children from running ahead if they want to. My yougest son wanted to do algebra in 3rd grade because he was chasing his older brothers. So we let him. He has since just completed the Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra curriculum (in third grade) and has started the Teaching Textbooks Algebra before entering 4th grade. Let them run and only slow them down if they are setting themselves up for a huge failure that you know they would not recover from. Don’t forget what our founding fathers were by the time they were sixteen years old. Be sure your children research them and know their character! We have got to realize, as a society, we have failed miserably in preparing the next generation. It’s up to us to turn this around!
I can assure you, we don’t have homeschooling or child-rearing figured out, but we are in a pretty good place right now. We are so very blessed and realize where this peace and prosperity originates!
If you have any questions, leave a comment below or email me! I’ll do my best to answer any questions you have!
8th Grade
Algebra 2 (VideoText)
Exercises in English H (Loyola Press)
Vocabulary in Action H (Loyola Press)
Classics Club via Virtual Homeschool Group
Teaching Writing Structure and Style (Institute for Excellence in Writing)
Biology (Apologia) via Virtual Homeschool Group
Spanish II Descubre via Spanish Clicks
Finish Paths of Exploration / Start TRISMS History Makers / Masterminds
Logic (Fallacy Detective and Books from Critical Thinking Company)
Biblical Worldview (Philosophy Adventure and Young Historians Introduction to Worldview and our Bible)
Art II via Local Co-op
Photography II via Virtual Homeschool Group
Economics (Capitalism for Kids, Commonsense Business for Kids and Starting a Micro Business Carol Topp IEW)
Photoshop via Virtual Homeschool Group
Creative Writing: Blogs at www.LiveAndLearnFarm.com and Teen Book Reviews (Psalm onenineTEEN Reviews)
Daily Checklist 4th, 7th and 8th Grades
7th Grade
Algebra 2 (VideoText)
Exercises in English G (Loyola Press)
Vocabulary in Action G (Loyola Press)
Classics Club via Virtual Homeschool Group
Teaching Writing Structure and Style (Institute for Excellence in Writing)
Physial Science (Apologia) via Virtual Homeschool Group
Spanish II Descubre via Spanish Clicks
Finish Paths of Exploration / Start TRISMS History Makers / Masterminds
Logic (Fallacy Detective and Books from Critical Thinking Company)
Biblical Worldview (Philosophy Adventure and Young Historians Introduction to Worldview and our Bible)
Art II via Local Co-op
Photography II via Virtual Homeschool Group
Economics (Capitalism for Kids, Commonsense Business for Kids and Starting a Micro Business Carol Topp IEW)
Illustrator via Virtual Homeschool Group
Creative Writing Blogs at www.LiveAndLearnFarm.com and chronicals his business and homeschool at Deluxe Clucks
Daily Checklist 4th, 7th and 8th Grade
4th Grade
Algebra 1 (Teaching Textbooks)
Exercises in English D/E (Loyola Press)
Vocabulary in Action D/E (Loyola Press)
Handwriting without Tears Cursive
Study of Classics
Teaching Writing Structure and Style (Institute for Excellence in Writing)
Exploring Creation Physics and Chemistry (Apologia)
Spanish (K-6) via Spanish Clicks
Finish Paths of Exploration / Start TRISMS History Makers / Masterminds
Logic (Fallacy Detective and Books from Critical Thinking Company)
Biblical Worldview (Philosophy Adventure and Young Historians Introduction to Worldview and our Bible)
Economics (Capitalism for Kids, Commonsense Business for Kids and Starting a Micro Business Carol Topp IEW) NOT REQUIRED
Art II via Local Co-op
Photography II via Virtual Homeschool Group
Creative Writing Blogs at www.LiveAndLearnFarm.com
Daily Checklist 4th, 7th and 8th Grade
Curriculum spreadsheet for all three boys that we use as a GUIDE to keep us on track.
Trish Corlew
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I am really interested in the Spanish Clicks.. how ‘hard’ is it? My young man is 10 and in the 3rd/4th grade.. he’s on the autism spectrum (asperger’s probably.. I won’t have him officially diagnosed because I don’t feel it would do him, nor I any positive, so we do our own thing and learn a lot of life skills.) We tried Rosetta with our older kids and were not very successful with it, it was too picky to deal with. I so enjoy hearing about your homeschool. It’s so different from ours.. you’re an organized machine 🙂 You GO GIRL!!!
LOL Katharine, I really am not as organized as it appears.. we fly by the seat of our pants sometimes too! We LOVE Spanish Clicks! Profe Krista offers either live or “at your own pace” offerings. Blake (9 year old) has been doing the at your own pace style, but is moving into a more “live classroom” style of environment this fall. My two older sons are in live classes with Krista. Krista is very dynamic and fun and energetic. The kids just love her! I honestly can’t say enough good things about her. She is in the process of changing from Croghan Language Academy to Spanish Clicks… so this is her old website, but her new one has not been launched just yet (should be in the next month or so): http://croghanlanguageacademy.webs.com/
Thank you for your encouragement! I so appreciate you doing that! Comments and feedback like yours is what keeps me blogging about our adventures! Take care and thanks again!! ~Trish
Hi Katharine! I am the owner and teacher of Spanish Clicks (the soon to be defunct Croghan Language Academy.) If you have any questions or would like to see a video demo of the class that Trish has her youngest, Blake, taking… I would be glad to send you that and any other information I can share with you. My email is croghanlanguageacademy@gmail.com for now, but we will be setting that to forward to the new email when it is set up.
Hope to hear from you… and anybody interested in homeschool Spanish classes for their youngsters. It is such a practical class, as just about anywhere you go in the U.S. it can be used! 🙂
-Krista
I love looking at what other parents are doing in their homeschools, especially with their 7-9th graders. Your advice to let them run at their own speed is great advice. We have been having a problem with my daughter lately. She is finishing 7th grade proper, will be beginning 8th grade week after next, but she has run ahead on science and has done all my planned science curriculum up to 9th grade. I was holding her back from moving into high school science (we are starting Time4Learning Interactive High School http://www.time4learning.com/homeschool/high_school.html#high) because I wanted her to “catch up” on her math. She was miserable and came to me with a plan. She wanted to move on to her high school sciences working until her math knowledge held her back and then do math until she could move on in science again. I have fought this idea for months. I needed a nudge to remind me that homeschooling is individual and flexible. I have given in and agreed to let her zoom forward in science until she needs to pause for more math learning. I think I am making the right decision for her, though I am not sure it is the right answer for every kid. Thanks for making the statement to let them move ahead, I needed the reassurance! Happy homeschooling!
Linda, thank YOU for responding! What a blessing for your daughter to LOVE science! I am thrilled that you gave in and your daughter’s logic is impeccable! So Mom, you have done well! It’s fabulous when our children can argue their case and present a reasoning that just makes sense and her reasoning does! She is a very logical thinker, she will probably zoom right through both and do fabulous! I look forward to hearing how she is doing in math!! ~Trish
Trish, Great post! I can’t wait to sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and go back through it slowly. Hmmm… Maybe I’ll post what we are planning as well. You’ve inspired me! Next on my list, though, is planning out our Physics course.
We also incorporate free work time in our day and they let me know their plans for time management and their focus.
I didn’t finish my comment, lol. I was going to add that the free work time, or study hall, lends it that Montessori aspect even though we are using published curricula. I also see similarities in that I’ve mostly done subjects by time rather than by lessons. This worked for years and years. When they hit 10th and 11th grade (or was it 9th and 10th) and were behind in Math from a move, etc, they had to bump up to a lesson or two a day because the Math was taking them so long.
Hope my comment(s) make sense (I’m rushing!).
Beth, you always inspire me! So few of us are doing Montessori at this level and it is a challenge to allow them the flexibility within such controlled times (virtual and co-op classes, sports). But we are working through it and figuring it out as we go, just like you guys had to. Doing a schedule like this is so hard for the Montessorian in me, and you understand that 🙂 I can’t wait to start our middle / high school linky … but it will have to be around the first of September! I’ll get back with you between now and then! ~Trish
Trisha,
Thanks for sharing this! I appreciate the effort you put into planning. We use some different curricula, but share a similar approach to planning. My kids are just entering 4th and 2nd grade, so you have some years on me. 😉 Best of luck in the new school year.
I’m going to check out the logic resources you listed. Thanks for the inspiration!
– Marisa
Thanks Marisa! We are getting excited to get started ourselves! Our boys’ Spanish teacher has been doing Google hangouts over the summer to keep their Spanish fresh. We never stop Math… it is going all the time. And this summer we threw in Paths of Exploration to investigate an all inclusive product. We love POE but still haven’t figured out how to make it all inclusive… we love our other pieces too much to give them up! LOL 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and leaving me a comment! I hope you guys have a fabulous year too! The Critical Thinking Company is a favorite of ours too… for logic! Take care!! ~Trish
Hi there! I know your kiddos aren’t technically in high school yet, but since they are taking high school level classes, I didn’t think it was inappropriate to contact you about this… 🙂
I’m creating a blogroll of blogs that blog (at least occasionally) about homeschooling high school. (http://letshomeschoolhighschool.com/homeschool-high-school-blogs/) I came across yours today and added it. I love finding blogs by folks in the same stage of homeschooling I am! 🙂 I hope you’ll drop by and hang out with us at LHSHS.com soon. Thanks in advance! Blessings…
Katie
We will be starting a blog hop in the fall… for middle and high school articles! So perfect timing! Thank you! ~Trish
That’s great! I’m so glad! 🙂
Katie
HMMM. intriguing. We are in cincinnati and recently revisited a homeschool montessori hybrid for my K student. I was reminded of all of the great stuff and then stumbled upon your blog. We use a lot of the same materials for my 5th and 6th graders… Makes me think….
THANKS!
Hi Trish, just Jackie stopping by from the February Let’s Homeschool High School Blog Hop to say thank you for linking up with us this month.
This is a really good post. We are semi-unschoolers and also live on a farm. My daughter works lots on life skills. She is in the process of trying her hand at her own business. My husband and I support her efforts.
Thanks for sharing.
Joyfully,
Jackie
Let’s Homeschool High School Admn
http://letshomeschoolhighschool.com/2014/02/04/homeschool-high-school-february-2014-blog-hop/
Hey Trish! I found you via BYB and am grateful. Having a 7th and 4th grader, it’s such a blessing when I can see what others are doing. I intend to come back soon when I have a little more time and really dig around in your blog to find some more nuggets. Thank you for sharing!