Ask Erica…Frequently Asked Questions Vol. 2

I get a lot of the same questions over and over, so I thought I’d do another Frequently Asked Questions post. Here is a link to my first Frequently Asked Questions post in case you missed it.

1. How do you do it all?

The truth is I don’t! But you can click here to see how I do do what I do do.

 

2. How Do You Track Your Yearly Lesson Plans?

I currently use Homeschool Tracker. They offer a free basic version, and a paid ($50) version. I finally purchased the paid version this year and I’m very happy with it. They have video tutorials which I HIGHLY recommend watching before adding in your lessons. One nice thing about Homeschool Tracker is that you can go in as a Teacher and add Lesson Plans for a subject. Once you get those done, you can “Assign” those lessons to any of your students. Which for me, means that I can type in my plans once for Strawberry Shortcake, then assign them out to Turbo, Tinker Bell, and Teeny Tot once the time comes without having to retype their lessons each year!

It will keep track of attendance, hours, grades (you can even do weighted grading), assignments, etc. You can schedule holiday’s, vacation, as well. It does take a little work to get the assignments added in, but once you’re done it great as far as seeing your schedule, and printing reports. You can see all the features of the Plus Edition here.

My favorite feature is the reporting. It’s very easy to print out reports that show my students and what they’re assignments are for the week. I print it out using the Assignment Calendar, it shows a grid with Mon-Friday across the top, Subject down the left side, then the assignments across for the week. I use that to decide what to put in our workboxes for the week, and also have a copy printed out that we highlight off once an item is complete so I know that we’ve covered everything for the day. I keep the completed weeks in a binder woth divider tabs for each student’s name as record of what they did for the year.

At the end of the year, I print off their finished hours and attendance to send in to the state. (You’ll want to see what your reporting requirements are for your state, you can find this information at www.hslda.org .)

NOTE: Since all this information is stored on your computer, you’ll want to make sure to back up your data, there is a video on this as well.

• There is also an online schedule tracking option called SkedTrack, but I find they don’t have all the reporting capabilities that Homeschool Tracker offers, so I don’t use that one, but I know friends who do and like it.

 

3. What’s your typical daily schedule like?

You can see a typical day here. Basically we start our day with breakfast and devotions around 8 or 8:30am. Then we move on to the main schoolwork at about 9am. We work until noon then break for lunch and a “recess” if you will. I put the baby down during that time, then we pick back up around 1:30pm for our Geography, Art, and Science depending on the day. We’re typically done around 3pm, some days earlier, some days later depending.

 

4. How do you schedule your school year?

I typically follow our public school schedule. We start in mid August, break for about 3 weeks in December through Christmas. We start back up at the beginning of January, take a Spring Break usually the 2nd or 3rd week of March, then finish up the year at the end of May. Then we do a summer break from June – July. You’ll want to check your own state laws to see how many days you’re required to do each year before organizing your schedule.

 

5. Do you do every subject every day?

No. I do core subjects daily such as bible, math, reading, writing, history/geography. Science, PE, art, typing, and Spanish will be done a few times a week. I think as a homeschool mom I’m always worried about fitting everything in, but even in public schools they do not do every subject every day.

 

6. What order do you teach the alphabet in when doing Letter of the Week?

I teach vowels first then start going through the rest consonants. This way once they learn vowel sounds you can start with the beginning reading blends. So like if they know a,e,i,o,u sounds then you teach them B, you can teach ba, be, bi, bo, bu. Once they get that beginning blends concept down, you can add on ending consonants to make easy CVC words: bat, bed, big, bop, bug.

 

7. How long do you spend on school with a preschooler?

I typically do about 1.5 to 2 hours of school with my preschooler. Last year she did a little bit extra in the afternoons with our Expedition Earth course, then this year it will be with Road Trip USA. But normally I wouldn’t be doing those subjects with a preschooler unless they had older siblings. One thing with preschool is that I really try to keep it light and fun. Since you’re just starting off with school I suggest letting them set the pace somewhat. If they’re getting burnt out or frustrated, then just stop for the day. There’s no reason to stress them out before they even get going in their school career. I also let them do their workboxes in whatever order they choose, just again to help them enjoy the learning process.

 8. What is the difference between the Letter of the Week and K4 Curriculum?

The LOTW is geared towards 3-4 yr olds and teaches letter sounds and recognition, then number recognition and counting 1-10. It also covers shapes, colors, logical thinking and motor skill activities such as cutting, lacing, and pre-writing.

The K4 Curriculum assumes your child knows all of those things and is ready to learn beginning reading. There is higher level counting and basic addition and subtraction as well, so you’ll want to make sure your students have a good knowledge of the LOTW activities before moving on to K4.

9. Where did you get the Palm Tree that you put your letters up on?

I found it at a local Lakeshore Learning store, it’s a bulletin display. If you don’t have a Lakeshore nearby you can get it here too:  Amazon Palm Tree.

 

10. Do you offer LOTW or K4 in printed form?

No, I’m sorry, I currently do not have a publisher, so they are not offered already printed. At this time none of my curriculum is offered in printed format, they are offered in downloadable or CD versions only.

 

11. Do you really cook everyday? (RE: my Monthly Meal Planning)

LOL! Ahahahaha! Oh my goodness no! And if I said yes, I’m sure my husband would comment. I do my best to follow my plan, and it definitely helps with grocery shopping, but no! I do not cook 3 meals plus snacks each day. Some days we substitute cereal for breakfast, some days we eat dinner or lunch out. It just depends on what’s going on. As long as I’ve made it to the store for the week, I do my best to keep to my schedule, but some days just don’t work out like we planned! And some days I just don’t feel like it. But I do feel better having a plan and choosing not to follow it, rather than not having a plan at all! Hope that makes sense?

 

12. How do you keep the Teeny Tot busy while teaching the older kids?

Here’s some of the things I kept my Teeny Tot busy with Teeny Tot School, I also love Carisa’s site, she has lots of tot tray ideas. I think the main thing with toddlers is to keep them involved, and feeling like they’re getting some of your attention too. Keeping them busy with their own school work is a great way to include them in your day!

 

13. Do you have any tips on printing your LOTW or K4?

As far as saving on ink, you may want to check some local printers to see what they cost. Also, most printers have a ‘fast print’ or ‘draft print’ option that you can select that uses less color. I’m not sure what printer you have so I can’t say exactly what your options are, but if you Google your printer name and print using less ink you should get some info!

Another option is to print only what you need. There are so many items to choose from in both of my curricula, you may want to only print what you think would benefit your child most. Or mix it up so they aren’t doing the exact same activities each week.

As far as laminating goes, I usually put 2 pages back to back, so the printed side is facing out. I run that together through my laminator then cut them apart. That leaves lamination on the front, but not on the back. This helps with lamination costs, also allows for a  better surface on the back when using velcro, and also makes the cards less slippery for the large floor letters.

Cheap Printing: www.bestvaluecopy.com has some great prices, you may want to check there!

 

14. What Laminator Do You Suggest?

I have a Xyron 900. I found it on sale awhile back, and I use it for making stickers, magnets, and laminating. It uses a sticky laminate, not a thermal one, which makes it good for cutting out objects. If you’re just going to be doing laminating, I’d suggest going with the Scotch Thermal Laminator instead. It cab be found for around $30 at places like Wal-m*rt and Amazon, maybe even Sam’s Club or Costco.

 

15. When Do You Sleep?

Um, I’m horrible in this area. I stay up way too late. Must go to bed earlier. It’s on my ‘to-do’ list.

 

If you have more questions that I haven’t covered, feel free to email me at erica {at} confessionsofahomeschooler {dot} com and I’ll do my best to get back with you!