Adjusting The Schedule

Going to college this year has definitely altered my plans in homeschooling... And I haven't even officially started yet!  

When I decided that that the time to go back to college was NOW, not in a year or two, I knew our homeschool would need some adjusting.  As I have spent hours every day reviewing and relearning high school math to pass an entrance exam, I have caught a glimpse of just how much homeschooling will need to "adjust" in order for work to be done in a productive manner by the girls and me.

Truthfully, it has been a scary realization.  My oldest homeschooler this year is in high school.  She is very independent and works steadily through, only doing her Bible work with me... At my insistence.  I have spent the last few years doing Bible with my girls and I enjoy the time together. 

My nine year old, however, has been a challenge.  She is very ADHD, or maybe it only seems as if things have gotten worse because I am busy myself this year.  She is smart, but her focus has been very crazy this year so far.  I have redone her schedule three times and had to take some serious time to re-evaluate what we are doing.  She has to be able to do a lot more independently.

Today was the first successful day we have had in a week.  I cut out a lot of the busy work, and even much of the activities.  Read aloud time is in the evening before bed so that I can work on my studies during the day.  Cutting busywork freed more time for one of the ways she learns so well... Reading.  We made a trip to the library to pick up books about the subjects she is studying in her main lessons.  We grabbed books about George Washington and colonial times, bird books to go along with reading about John Audubon, and some fun reads for the end of the day.  I know some curricula schedules time for a "book basket," which follows a similar concept as what I did today.  Rounding out the core lessons with extra books about the topics, from nonfiction to fiction, helps students retain information and go more in depth about a topic. 

I have had to cut some things in our studies that required a lot of time from my day.  Gosh, that sounds so bad, especially as I am sitting right next to my daughter most of the day as she completes her school.  However, these things have either been blended in elsewhere or are nice to have, but not vital.  For instance, my daughter is reading through readers with a lot of poetry.  She is completing two separate reading programs beside her extra reading.  Does she really need a complete separate poetry section that is mom dependent right now?  She also completed a Bible program that I have loved for years on top of Bible memory work for church.  Does she need to do another Bible program? 

I have been reading a lot about self-learning because my daughter does this type of thing all the time.  She gets interested in something and reads everything she can about the topic.  Being ADHD, she can fly through material if it catches her interest and she hyper-focuses.  While I want her to stick to a lesson plan, I think this is the ideal time to give her more time to explore her own interests some also.  

I've pared down her lessons to include math, English, spelling and vocabulary, music, and reading, reading, reading.  In that reading is history and science and literature. She will also go through some geography this year. She is artistic on her own and is always creating a new "masterpiece."  The majority of the reading is coming from the Heart of Dakota plans.  Plus, we read aloud for an hour every evening.  We finished The Green Ember last night and are nearing the end of The Penderwicks. 

As we make these adjustments, I am apprehensive.  I pray fear away.  I don't want to cheat my children for my own goals.  Other homeschooling families have two parents that work.  Some homeschooling families are single parents, working and schooling their children.  I may have to adjust some of the learning and time schedules, but I am determined to make this work. Online classes are truly a blessing for a mom that homeschools.