Homeschooling With The End In Mind {week 18 lesson plan & recap}
All this year, I am sharing our weekly, interest-led learning lesson plans, as well as a recap of our prior homeschool week. These recaps are a peek at what works for us, in real life, every day. This is Week 18.
As last week progressed, I found myself reminded of how fast it all seems to be going.
We had the pleasure of meeting up with a local homeschool family we have known since we started homeschooling. We hadn’t seen them in years, so it was strange/wonderful to see how tall and mature the kids are now.
It was also amazing for us moms to talk about how well our children are doing, despite all of our fears and all of the guilt we experienced early on.
When I Was A New Homeschooling Mom
If there is one thing I wish I could go back ten years and tell my new homeschooling mom self it is this – the details matter so much less than you think.
Homeschooling it turns out, really is more about the things the moms further ahead have been telling us all along.
- Your relationship with your kids
- Cultivating an open and honest flow of communication
- Helping our kids see their innate value and become productive members of their community
I spent years, literal years, worrying about math, about cursive, about transcripts and testing. Looking back, I can tell you that none of the individual details mattered much at all.
Homeschooling With The End In Mind
It’s so easy to say it and believe it, now that I am only three years away from ending our homeschooling journey. It seems obvious now, as we prepare this week to move my son back home for the summer after his first full year of college.
Even if you struggle to accept that the spelling list matters less than the walk you took with your kiddo last week, I want you to know one thing.
Doing what you feel is right for your child – even if it seems completely the opposite of what the public school down the street is doing, or what you see other families doing on Instagram – is the best possible decision you can make.
It’s true for curriculum choices and therapies. It’s true for your family schedule and whether or not you join the co-op. It’s true when you decide to put the books away and let your struggling child play.
When all is said and done, what mattered most for my family was simply the fact that we did it together and in a way that worked for us.
These lesson plan recaps are a peek at what works for us, in real life, every day.
Last Week’s Homeschool Lesson Plans vs. Reality:
Monday
THE PLAN
- Physical Therapy – 2 hours
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Infusion – 4 hours
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
- Physical Therapy – 2 hours
- Documentary about rock climbing being in the 2021 Olympics for the first time
- Infusion – 4 hours
Tuesday
THE PLAN
- Drivers Ed Online
- Everyday Math Word Problems
- Jamestown – American History
- YouTube Video – His choice, something educational
- Online Voice/Music Lesson – one hour
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
- Drivers Ed Online
- Jamestown Study, including book, colonial maps, and YouTube Video
- Math word problems practicing measurement
- Online Voice/Music Lesson – one hour
Wednesday
THE PLAN
- Rock Climbing with Coach – 2 hours
- Spelling Practice
- CTCMath
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Science: Experiment TBD
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
- Rock Climbing with Coach – 2 hours
- Finished Human Body study with the skeletal system
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Spelling practice using text messaging (I give him a word, he texts it to me. Autocorrect helps a bit, but it was a fun way to shake things up a bit and help him practice. I used more difficult words, because of autocorrect, than our usual spelling list.)
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
Thursday
THE PLAN
- Country Fair Field Trip
- Audiobook in car for commute to and from Fair
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
- Audiobook and discussion
- Country Fair Field Trip with Homeschooling Friends
- Agriculture
- Indigenous cultures in Los Angeles Basin
- 19th century school history
- Leatherworking
- Bee Keeping
Friday
THE PLAN
- Audiobook and Discussion
- CTCMath
- Drivers Ed
- Another rock climbing competition
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
- Space – Black Holes
- YouTube – What does a black hole sound like?
- CTCMath
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Rock climbing competition – he took 1st place in his category!
Our Homeschool Lesson Plans For This Week
Monday
- Physical Therapy – 2 hours
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Infusion – 4 hours
Reference Notes: Every Monday, my son has subcutaneous immunoglobin infusions. This means we typically keep learning to a minumum.
Tuesday
- Drivers Ed Online
- CTCMath
- Creative Writing
- YouTube Video – His choice, something educational
- Online Voice/Music Lesson – one hour
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
Reference Notes: Tuesdays are our first full school day of the week. Because my son always feels better post-Monday’s infusion, we typically do a large percentage of our more traditional homeschool work on this day.
Wednesday
- Rock Climbing with Coach – 2 hours
- Spelling Practice
- Drivers Ed
- Audiobook and Discussion
- Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
Thursday
- Travel to my oldest son’s college
- Audiobook and discussion
- Local gemstone exhibit
As I mentioned above, my oldest has completed his first year of college and is headed home for the summer! We are traveling to help him pack up his dorm room and to bring him back home. We also have some fun, remotely educational things planned while we are in the area.
Friday
- Rock climbing at gym in a different city and state
- Help brother move/college dorm life
Thank you so much Shawna 💕 I look forward to your posts every week, but I especially needed to read your wisdom today. I’ve been feeling a lot of guilt about ditching the lessons to play outside – it finally feels like spring in Northern Wisconsin and I can’t keep my kids inside if I wanted to! My son hasn’t done any math in two weeks in favor of riding his bike nonstop lol. Thank you for reminding me that it’s okay 🤗
Sarah – Not only is it totally OK, it is actually what I think makes the biggest difference for our kiddos overall health and success.
You are doing a great job!
So exciting and emotional to have your son coming home from college for the summer! And I love the idea of texting spelling words! These reminders are always welcome, especially at this point in the year!
Thanks Nicola. Texting the spelling words was total desperation on my part, but it worked. I’m glad it helped!