How we Survived our First Day of Homeschool
We started Charlotte Mason homeschooling officially this August 2. Yay! If you have been following us--we actually started sometime around May.
It hasn't been easy but thanks to all the help and support from the Living Learning Homeschool community--we are confident this journey is going to be magical! Over the past few months, I have seen some key developmental progress in my homeschooler's intellectual, emotional/social, and relational skills.
Intellectually, Olivia can read better. She can read more challenging words--words with more than three syllables at the least. She has gained confidence in narration. She has also been able to retain knowledge as well as memorize prayers, songs, and verses, thanks to practice. She's also now able to tell time, understand the days of the week, and score using tally marks. But that's just a shortlist! I could go on!
Emotionally, she's become more expressive and empathic. She listens and pays attention. She's also gained some confidence. Most importantly, I think she's now realized that she's more mature now and that she can do things her own, that is why sometimes she complains when I do things for her or remind her to do things she has got to do.
Her relational skills have also improved. She now has more empathy and more patience. She's also developed more sensitivity to her surroundings and the people we live with together, including my Dad, her younger, as well as our house helper.
To see Olivia flourish is fascinating. And I could not be more excited!
How did we get here? How is it possible to transition from an online Montessori school to a Charlotte Mason-style homeschool? These are questions I'll try to answer in a separate post, but today let's focus on how we got to survive our First Day of Homeschool.
1. We Kept it Simple by Learning to Say No
When I started this homeschooling journey, I started to compile resources, online ebooks, guides, bookmarked pages, and of course, living books. I listened to podcasts, attended webinars, joined online groups, and made new friends.
I was armed with so many new ideas and wanted to do so many things!
But it got kind of unwieldy.
I know we like to think of ourselves as supermoms and it can be tough to say no. But the more you take in, the more complicated things will be for you.
So stop yourself from saying yes to more than what you can manage. Learn to say no.
Keep it simple by learning how to say no.
2. We Planned, but Kept our Schedules Flexible
As the saying goes, failing to plan is preparing to fail.
If you are a homeschooling mom of 3 and you don't have household help, you got to have a plan. If you have only 1 homeschooler, you still need a plan.
Having a plan helps you to keep your days organized. It gives you some sort of rhythm to follow.
A plan doesn't have to be perfect.
You have to make room for spontaneity and unexpected surprises. I know mothers like to be very much in control, but we have to learn to let go sometimes. If we fail to follow our plan, we can always pick up from where we left off the next day.
3. We Made it Sure We Were Having Fun
Charlotte Mason is about helping kids to develop their love of learning.
And that is what I want for Olivia.
So in the middle of our early explorations--when all we were doing were filling up Math worksheets (we did this every single day)--suddenly Olivia complains.
"I don't want to do Math."
That's not good. There must be something wrong.
Olivia was beginning to dread our lessons-- or at least she wasn't showing the excitement that I'd expected from her. It got me thinking--what can I do to make this exciting for her?
I stepped back and had to do a retrospective because what we had was not sustainable and fun.
I put myself in her shoes and tried to imagine what was going on inside her head every time we do our lessons.
I knew I had to change the approach and format of our lessons.
And so I started to incorporate games and added variety in our narration. For example, we would do pretend-play with her toys as narration instead of asking her to simply re-tell.
Also, every night Olivia and I make sure we talk about what happened during the day and give each other feedback, so we can improve on our weaknesses and faults--make our homeschool days better, happier, and more enjoyable.
Sorry if I didn't stay on point "How we survived Day 1" but for sure these tips would help you throughout your school year! I would love to hear your tips and suggestions. Would love to hear about your experiences.
Sharing here photos of Olivia's Day 1 .
Subject: Social Studies - Filipino History
Resources: The Fabulous Fiestas of the Philippines and The Myths and Legends of the Philippines
Keeping: Drawing of the Philippine Flag
Resources: Cursive Writing by Schyrlet Cameron and Carolyn Craig and The Rhythm of Handwriting by Denise Eide
Accomplishment: We are done with all the small letters! Woohoo! And Olivia can already write her name in cursive!
Subject: MAPEH - Life Skills
Resources: Anything we can find :)
Activity: Olivia helped me bake cookies. She helped rolled the dough into circles.
