It's February. The forecast is still dominated by cold and wet days, and the evenings are now just barely lengthening with the light of sunset.
As homeschoolers, we are working steadily through our planned curriculum for the year. The end is in sight.
All of this means, too, that THIS homeschool mom is already busy planning for the start of the new school come September.
I like to begin planning well in advance of the summer months to give myself time to consider new goals, explore curriculum options, and pull together materials... with several months to then re-consider, re-explore, and re-pull materials.
I prefer to plan an entire year ahead -- as much as possible -- while still leaving ample room to shift learning modules and modify plans as needed.
So, my initial planning for each new school year kicks off early!
Phase ONE of Homeschool Planning: Reflecting.
Taking time to reflect on the old or currently ongoing school year is a good place to start planning for the new year.
What worked well this year?
What didn't work?
What aspects of the curriculum were most effective?
What did the kids enjoy most?
Where did they make the most gains?
Where do we need more focus?
What are their interests?
What extracurriculars were beneficial?
Did scheduling work well?
These questions and more....
I don't approach this period of reflection as a homework assignment by any means. I am not one to sit and journal. Though, I suppose that is one way to go about it.
Rather, for me, this time of reflection is more about giving myself the space and encouragement to step back from the day-to-day workings of our homeschool life and think with greater intention about the positives and negatives of the current year.
The Current Year: Reflections.
This year, my oldest son Malachi is 6/7 years old. He is a January birthday!
In our home state, children are not required to enter school until age 8. As such, there is no mandatory reporting or requirements for homeschoolers until your child's 8th birthday. So, truly, I have taken a Pre-Kindergarten approach to this school year.
Malachi is an energetic kid and loves learning in the community. He enjoys outdoor activities and museums. He learns best through hands-on, sensory learning. He likes the natural sciences: learning about animals, wildlife and nature. As a child with disabilities, Malachi's homeschool schedule includes blocked time for physical therapy and speech therapy. We are currently focused on language learning through use of assistive technology, i.e. an AAC communication device. We also allow for significant flexibility in our schedule to accommodate regular medical appointments.
This year, our big goal was growth through expressive communication. As a non-speaking/non-verbal child with already well-developed receptive language skills (cognitive understanding), I wanted to do everything possible to support Malachi in developing the skills necessary to utilize a communication device. I developed his entire curriculum around the integration of his communication device into our daily learning. We also focused on the secondary skills necessary to support his use of this device. For example, the fine motor skills (occupational therapy) necessary to use his fingers and hands in such a way as to accurately point to and select word icons on his tablet.
Another big goal for us this year centered around social-emotional learning. I wanted to get Malachi out into the community, interacting with both kids and adults in public spaces, in positive ways. I wanted to see that growth in his social skills and emotional maturity. To support that goal, I got the boys involved in a number of community groups. We made regular visits to the library, museums, play groups, and other public places. And we did see a tremendous amount of growth in this area for Malachi. The time invested in working toward social-emotional learning goals was worth every minute.
We do not use a ready-made curriculum. There is no open-and-go strategy in our home. I personally select our learning themes and goals for the year, and then, I compile materials into weekly units. As a student with disabilities, Malachi requires a highly individualized curriculum. My ability to direct his learning in a way that works best for him, to help him meet his individual learning goals, is the main reason we decided to homeschool in the first place.
This year, I developed Malachi's structured curriculum around the alphabet with a "Letter of the Week" taken in proper order. I played on Malachi's interests in animals and outdoor learning, so that for every letter, we had an "Animal of the Week" and other days of mini-units focused on things in nature also beginning with that letter. It worked well.
The "Letter of the Week" strategy is not my personal preference. It is not how I would necessarily go about structuring curriculum in most cases. However, what it provided this year was a highly structured learning plan with a lot of opportunity for repetition around letters and sounds, all of which supported a heightened degree of interaction with his AAC communication device.
I feel like this year's curriculum helped reinforce language in a "catching-up" sort of way. Lots of letters, lots of sounds, all the time.
That said, I will be taking a different approach next year.
*****
My youngest son Deacon is 1 years old.
He is far too young to begin with any type of "real" curriculum. Of course. But he is very interested in doing everything with his big brother, so he indirectly benefits and learns alongside Malachi. He, too, is picking up on his letters as we go, and mimicking letter sounds as they are introduced.
I do create a weekly learning topic for him -- mostly, to remind myself to include within our schedule dedicated time to focus on early learning. It is important to me that I reserve space in our day for quality one-on-one time with Deacon. Selecting a "color of the week" or "shape of the week" helps me plan for that time. I will find a book at the library, or we color together, or work on puzzles, etc. But that dedicated play and learning time for just the two of us is something I prioritize in our day.
Deacon is a busy little guy. He is a tinkerer -- without a doubt! The kid loves building things and finding ways to put things together. He is also a strong kid! He loves running fast and climbing and riding his little bike. Like his older brother, Deacon loves Sesame Street. He is also a big fan of Baby Shark and playing with musical instruments.
I feel like in the year ahead, it will be beneficial to fully include him in Malachi's learning. My goal is to structure our home-based curriculum around themes that are of interest to both boys, as there is so much overlap in those interests.
*****
This year's extracurriculars -- for both boys -- included:
Weekly outdoor learning meet-up group ("Forest School") for 1-2 hours on Tuesdays, with kids of all ages and stages. This meet-up featured a weekly "learning topic" around seasonal changes.
Park playgroup for 2-3 hours, on Wednesdays, once or twice monthly, with kids ranging from ages 0-12(ish). This group meets at parks and playgrounds across our region for unstructured, free play.
Weekly story time at our local library for 1-2 hours, on Thursday mornings. This meet-up is designed for "babies," ages 0-2. We attend primarily for Deacon's social development, though Malachi enjoys spending the time playing with markers and blocks. Malachi also likes interacting with the babies.
Weekly virtual "Drum Circle" for 90 minutes on Tuesday afternoons. This is a social-emotional learning (SEL) focused program that incorporates music and rhythm as an outlet for self-regulation.
Adaptive sports for Malachi, including wheelchair basketball and Little League Challenger baseball.
Weekend Family Camp at Camp Korey, a supportive and inclusive camp designed for kids with chronic medical conditions and disabilities.
We also maintained memberships at:
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, WA
Hands-On Children's Museum in Olympia, WA
Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA
Additionally, it is important for our family to allow time in our annual schedule for travel. We plan our homeschool schedule to include an extended summer break.
Learning happens everywhere, all the time, and we learn into that idea!
So, for our family, I create a more structured curriculum plan that lasts around 26-28 weeks, around 6 to 6.5 months. We factor in several weeks of breaks during the school year, for Thanksgiving and Christmas, in addition to a spring break. Then, for 4.5 to 5 months in the summer, we travel and spent time camping. We visit historic sites and explore new cities. Last summer, Malachi attended a 5-week language immersion camp for AAC users in Massachusetts. We plan to return again this summer for that camp.
After the REFLECTION phase of planning for a new homeschool year, comes my PHASE TWO: Pondering.
What do you want in a curriculum?
What kind of structure and/or flexibility do you need?
What subject areas need your greatest attention?
What themes or interests will guide curriculum choices?
Stay tuned.
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