What Is “Normal” For Homeschoolers?
What is normal for homeschoolers? Turns out, normal looks a lot like not normal at all!
I remembering asking another mom the same question I get all the time.
“Is this normal?”
Is it normal to not know what to do half the time? It is normal to give up sometimes on the school work and let them play video games while I scroll on my phone? Is it normal to spend this much money, as much as I am trying to homeschool on a budget? Is it normal to feel like I’m failing all the time? Is it normal to not be able to read at 7, at 8, at 9?
The last month or so has been decidedly NOT normal around here. A close family member had open heart surgery in another state. My oldest came home from college for the winter break. We all got horribly sick.
Suffice to say, we did almost no school.
The Only Normal Thing About Homeschooling
In this week’s lesson plan recap, I want to show you exactly just how normal it is to have seasons when there is nothing happening outside of life’s craziness. This is what I am “counting” as school for the last three weeks. This is what homeschool planning looks like, even when things aren’t normal.
Our Interest Led Homeschool Lesson Plan Recap (Weeks 47-50)
I have “backwards planned” a lot over the course of my homeschooling years.
Technically not “planning” at all, this approach simply encourages you to write down things that your child learns, studies, or discovers, as they happen throughout the course of your daily life. It’s less a plan and more a record of learning.
In taking this approach to the last few weeks, I can see that even in the midst of the NOT normal, learning still happened and my child is still progressing.
Here is a snapshot of my “backwards” plan for the last three weeks:
- Read Aloud Practice and World History using trivia cards
- YouTube – What Makes Muscles Grow
- Drivers Ed Practice Tests (x4)
- Christmas Budget and Shopping
- YouTube – Making Chocolate From Scratch
- Audiobooks (30-45 minutes a day for 4 days each week)
- YouTube – What Would Happen If A Star Exploded Near Earth
- Current Events Discussions
- Percentages used in data analysis to prove your own point (i.e. polls, political ads, etc.)
- Art class weekly
- Music Technology class weekly
- Rock Climbing 3 x’s a week
After recording all of this, I can see that we were light in math, writing and history. Everything else is on track. It’s amazing how little it felt like we actually did, but how much we were able to accomplish through a relaxed, interest-led approach!
Homeschool Plan For The Rest Of The Year
Because we are finally all feeling better, my plan is to do a bit more than I would have the last two weeks of the year. Outside classes are on hiatus until the first of the year, so any learning will take place here at home, in and out of our holiday celebrations.
Here is my loose plan:
- Complete final drivers ed practice exams and schedule the written test with the DMV (this is HUGE for my son)
- Rock climbing 3x’s a week
- Gameschooling with Geogessr and trivia cards
- CTCMath – two lessons before the end of the year
- Christmas poetry (creative writing)
Stayed tuned because next week, I will be back to share my plans for sharing lessons in 2023!
Also, unrelated… I LOVE this book.