This will be the first year that I am homeschooling two kids in different grades simultaneously. Tori is a first grader now and Maddox is a preschooler. Our compulsory school age in Maine is 7, so neither of them technically have to submit anything to the state at this point.
Where to start? Start by googling your state requirements. In Maine we need 180 school days and an end of year assessment by a teacher, after the compulsory school age, which we send in to the state. Some states require hours logged, portfolios and/or testing, etc. We are also required to do "Maine studies" at some point. The law might also dictate what subjects need to be taught and logged besides common core, like PE. You can log just about anything as PE though when you have little kids running amuck. Hehe. You may need to turn in an intent to homeschool to the state. Keep a dated copy in an accessible place and always call to confirm they've recorded you as a homeschooler so a truancy worker doesn't pester you. We don't have required hours luckily and we manage to finish formal homeschool stuff in two hours or so, then some of the independent stuff is counted, plus outside time and art, and STEM, which adds on a few hours. We do add on an extra month of school though, instead of going September through June, we start in August. I do this because it alleviates some of the pressure to have longer days and also so we can skip days where kids are sick or just unhappy. Now that you know what's required... Search the Grade + Common Core I took to Pinterest for this, starting with my eldest child, "First grade common core". That way I get a good idea of what she needs to learn that year. For kindergarten we did mostly first grade curriculum so I will also search one year ahead "Second grade common core", and incorporate in some of the earlier second grade stuff. I also search "curriculum MAP first grade", or "First grade units". The units map is what will tell you how to apply different study units over the months, like "fall/seasons" and "Family Traditions" in September. So for 9 months of school I do 18 units, 9 for social studies and 9 for science. For example: in August we'll do common core stuff, plus bugs (science), plus community helpers (social studies). Then I print out tons of freebies for those subjects for the month, in both first grade and pre-k levels of difficulty. THAT'S where I merge the kids. All their units are the same, so technically my pre-k'er is doing first grade units at a pre-k level. He's doing pre-k core though, of course. For him, we are doing one letter a week, and one number a week for core. So for August he's learning A, B, C, D and 0, 1, 2, 3 plus bugs and community helpers. Get it? Since we'll exhaust the alphabet half way through the year we will then work on letter recognition, sounding out, writing, and small site words. All of our reading will be shared between the two kids of course, and we'll do arts and crafts that are friendly to both ages. I make files for every month with sub categories for each child's math/ writing/ unit. So in an August hanging file you'd find one folder for the unit study that's shared (Bugs and Community Helpers) , one file for Maddox Common Core, and one for Tori's Common Core. I also have a big ol' file of accumulated Core stuff for each child so that I can draw from it to fill the upcoming month instead of searching the Internet at the last minute. I also spend a whole day (if not two) before school starts printing off for the different units, for each grade ("pre-k Seasons printables" PLUS "first grade Seasons printables", for example). Each child has their own weekly folder with all their unit studies, math core, and English core in it. I reload it from the hanging files on weekends for the following week. Wait until the third one becomes school age...
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Here is a list of extra chores the kids can do to earn money. Each one has a $0.25 value and they have a safe place to keep the money and save towards something. This is in addition to their normal responsibilities like making their bed, cleaning up after themselves, clearing their table place,and feeding the dog. •Clean the guest bathroom •Pick up bits of trash and small toys •Clean up all toys downstairs •Sweep kitchen •Arrange the couch •Wipe countertops and table •Put away laundry •Fold laundry •Clean up someone else's mess •Arrange shoes •Organize a shelf •Bring down your own laundry •Sweep porch •Put away silverware I am writing these on Popsicle sticks so they can draw one to do when they're feeling inspired, helpful, bored, or want money towards a purchase. I printed an image of a toy off amazon and glued it to the back of the cup, to remind them to save for something, not blow it on dollar tree junk or quarter machines. I cash in the sticks for quarters when the "Chores" jar is depleted or its time to redo some of the chores. The printable is on my Pinterest under "Printables", my username is whitneyct1 . They get $1 weekly for completing their chore chart adequately. Ingredients :
1 bag strawberries 1/4 cup water Optional: sugar green apple wedge for natural pectin Finally, jam without preservatives and corn syrup and it doesn't cost $9 like organic jam. I buy the strawberries in Dollar Tree's frozen section!! They're 12oz per bag and that makes one jar of jam. Put water, apple wedge, and all the strawberries in a small pot or saucer. Simmer and stir (add sugar if you're using it, I'm not) until the strawberries dissolve. FUN TIP: add in some chia for an extra gelling effect and added nutritional benefits! Cool and transfer to a jar. Consume within one week. Enjoy! |
AuthorI am wife and mama to 3 beautiful kiddos. We live in Maine on a bunch of land where we homeschool. |