You can read through the entire blog and find a lot of info about how/what I do. The information overload may overwhelm you. So here's a condensed view of what our homeschool currently looks like (as of May 2020).
Two Middle Schoolers:
They take one class at Palomar College each semester. With lots of help from me.
They independently do all their other work. My biggest difficulty with them is making sure they're doing a quality job on their work, because they'll hide away in their rooms doing school and if I don't check it religiously, they'll do a shortened, poor version of it. Will they be ready for high school? We will soon see. But the college classes have taught them many things about school that I never could - deadlines, tests, following other people's instructions, etc.
Two Elementary Schoolers:
I tend to focus my attention on them and school goes well and is high quality. I would rather teach elementary school kids - I love their wonder and enthusiasm and the fun activities we can do together. It's hard to balance my focus and attention between the two age groups. I need to focus on the older ones because they're going to high school soon, but at the same time, the younger ones will lose their innocence and love of learning and I want to take advantage of that while it lasts.
School Week:
M - school
T - math tutor, piano lessons, guitar lessons, art class
W - school
Th - school
F - school or field trip
School Day:
Timing is flexible. I workout and cook in the morning. When I'm ready, I start school with the littles and get done in a couple hours. Usually from 9-12ish. After that, we all have free time. Once quaratine ends we will have sports every day starting at 4ish.
School Chart:
I use the same one I've used for years. I print a new one off each week. Every kids' is a little different. And I tweak it all the time. Here's one of them:
Curriculum:
Refer to this post which has been recently updated: https://oldfashionedschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2019/07/curriculum-in-nutshell.html
Organization:
Instead of bins and closets, every person now keeps their books and notebooks in a backpack. That way we can do school in other places. My kids focus better and go faster when we are doing school elsewhere (library, institute building, back yard).
Charter School:
We use Inspire Charter School. They give me a lot of flexibility (which I have to have), plus $3000 per child per year. I use the money on things like curriculum and music teachers. I only have to turn in one sample per month per kid (plus other easy stuff like attendance). My kids take 1 or 2 tests through them each year, which is a small price to pay to help keep charter schools open.
College Goal:
I wanted my kids to do college during high school, and count it for both. That way when they graduate from high school they'd have their Associates and would be Transfer Students instead of New Students. However, as of right now, my kids want to go to public high school (to see what they're missing out on), so my college plans may not work. But if you're interested in doing it this way, I know a lot of teenagers who have done so. It works!
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