WOW!! After reading the topic on record keeping, you guys seem to have it all together. I am new to homeschooling (11-2005) I live in fl. It seems like from what Ya'll have said it is best to start from the beginning keeping a portfolio, problem is, I don't even know where to begin.
I am using Alpha Omega (lifepac) 8th grade for both my children. Any suggestions?
Thanks

I started in August and am currently under an accredited program where they keep the records ~ however, I won't be with this program next year and have been keeping a "practice" portfolio for this year. I have saved my weekly planner sheets, all tests, special projects and a few daily items to round it out (I have saved her first attempt at writing her name in cursive from August and plan to add her final attempt from the year when we get there.).

There aren't any strict guidelines on what to put in your portfolio in Florida. Here is a good place to see the laws for yourself: FPEA I hope this helps!!!

Thanks for the info. I looked on FPEA, maybe its just me, but I am still confused.

I have a daily log that has the lifepac number(801,802, etc.) than the page numbers and the date. I keep this for Math, LA, History and Science. I also have a space for Bible. There is extra space to add in writing assignments, spelling test, projects, etc. Do I need to have them hold on to all of the pages that they do? Is there a minimum number of hours they are to spend each week on the subject? Sometimes my DD gets done with math in 10 or 15 minutes, other subjects may take 30 to 40 minutes. I need to try and see if I can find more info that is a little more detailed. Thanks so much.

What I do is log all of her subjects, everyday I write down the time that she starts a subject then the time she has finished that subject. I also put the date on everything. For a portfolio, I get a separate binder or folder and place a few samplings of Jessica's work from each subject starting with the first day of school; then skip a couple of months and add a couple more things from each subject. This shows progression in learning and it shows that your child is doing the work. At the end of the year I get a friend that is a registered teacher to do an evaluation on Jessica. For the evaluation I bring Jessica's portfolio and a list of curriculum that we used during the year; for certain subjects like writing I just bring the whole workbook. The lady checks everything and asks Jessica a few questions and fills out the evaluation slip and I send it in to the school board. I highly recommend that you find a local homeschooling group in your area if you haven't already. They will help you out by showing you or telling you how to start a portfolio, also they can recommend certified teachers that can do your child's evaluation.

Heather in Fl.

Thanks for the help. I wasn't going to join one because my DD only wanted to finish out this year, but now that she has decided to finish high school at home, we will definitely join one. Once again THANKS.

If you have any questions or need examples I would be glad to help.

Heather in Fl.

Florida is so relaxed. No minimum hours are required, no logging times or days. And you don't have to keep every page your student completes. Just keep enough stuff to show progress and that you are doing something. Florida's system of checks and balances comes with the annual evaluation. There are five options: standardized testing (I chose this), evaluation by certified teacher, psychological evaluation, a state assessment test, and "anything else mutually agreed upon by the parent and the superintendent."

So what your saying is that I may be keeping a little too much information!
So if I keep a log or summary of what they do each week (life pac number, pages, spelling test, writing assignments and such), that should be ok for their portfolio and than maybe put in the test from each lifepac they do and than some of their writings and info on their science project, that would be enough?
You guys are a GREAT help. Thanks

That's about right. This is what I do.

Records:
Monthly journal for each subject. One page (with each subject on it) per month.
Reading list, includes books on tape, newspapers, Bible, anything they read or was read to.
Curriculum Used: Our evaluator requests this, I am not sure if it is required.
List of field trips or activities

Certificates:
I put in there any certificates they have earned. The last one that is in there now is a Certificate of Achievement for climbing the lighthouse.

Pictures of any of their activities. Could be a project they worked on or a field trip. Whatever I want or the kids want in there.

Then I have dividers for each subject and each one has samples of their work and all of their tests.

That is all that I put in there. I did start a topic on this a while back. I'll have to hunt it down and bump it up. It is getting to be that time to work on it again. Donna has many wonderful forms to use for your portfolio.

Once again THANKS. BIG HELP

It is that time again for me to prepare the portfolios. This year I have four to prepare.

Since I am not able to find the extend dividers, I have decided to print up Donna's cover sheets or make my own, and print them on card stock paper. These will go into a plastic cover sheet and then I will place a tab on the edge to tell what the subject is. This should make the page wide enough to see it.

I will be making a "Watch Me Grow" chart for each of the children. I thought this would be fun to see how each child grows during the year. (This will also be sad. sniff They grow to fast.)

I hope to have all of these done by the end of the week.

One more thing I have decided. We now have a computer that will burn CDs. I will be putting my schedules on CDs for future use. One grade for each CD. I will also be adding any notes of possible changes at the end of the year.

This is what my husband wants to do also and place them in their portfolios at the end of the year. This year he is taken more of an interest in helping this year.

The children want to do more lapbooking and notebooking this year. So I have been searching to make those. Lots and lots of ideas I found.
One is on "Star Wars", speaking of Star Wars my little guy saw Mr. Potato Head as "Darth Vadar and Spud Trooper!"

I found some!!
But Michelle, you're not going to like this... I found them at SuperWalmart.
They weren't in the school supply section or the section with the page protectors & tab dividers. They were, get this, by the labels. I found them when I was picking up my garage sale supplies. Go figure.

Wow you guys do too much. And you are all so together getting these done. I wouldn't even be able to find the papers the kids did.

Maybe I can go by there soon and have a look-see. Thanks for letting me know.

First I think her idea of making her own is BETTER than store bought... can maybe just put plain card stock in them at first and then add pictures of kids doing something with that subject as the year goes on ... OR take pictures all year and make a collage and print at end of year for the page to keep for ever ... (besides this may be cheaper...)


I LOVE IT WOW you guys are Fantastic.

We saw that, too! The kids went ga-ga over it, and they haven't even looked twice at Mr. Potato Head in YEARS.

I'm not working on portfolios right now, but I'm trying to figure out how I'd like to do it for next year. I'm finding all your different thoughts and methods very helpful Thanks, ladies!

I got the quarter planners done for grade 6 and grade 2. I am still working on grade 1.

I have printed out the holidays for the public schools and we will be following them, since some of our friends are in public school. This will allow the children to play together on their days off. These days off will be added to our weekly schedule.

My next project will be English and Spelling schedule. Glad to be getting this done.

Once I have all of the regular things scheduled, I will be working on history, geography, and science.

The forms I will be using in the portfolios are (all are found on Donna's site):
Weekly Planner
Quarterly Planner
Monthly Calendar
Year Calendar on one sheet
Field Trip Sheet
Attendance (we are not required to use this, but I think I will just for me)

Other sheets not from Donna's site:
Reading log (I made this sheet, but you can find one on Donna's site)
Information on Child
Curriculum Used

What do you say on this page???

Name of child, age, address, extra activities they are in, what they like or don't like. Things like that. I usually add a photo of the child on this page. It is the second page in their portfolio. The first page is just a title page with name, year, grade, school name.

Michelle, do you put important papers that they complete throughout the year in this portfolio?


My portfolios (1 for each child) consist of:

Child Overview (yearly objectives, subject list, curriculum key)
Reports (report cards, transcripts, etc.)
Physicals & other records
Correspondence (with Christian Liberty, any co-ops they may attend, the Y programs, etc.)
Opportunities (my personal list of any field trips or activities that I may use)
Subjects (the master lesson plan for each subject, all copied tests that I'll be using, all manipulatives that I'll need, etc...)

They work out of binders for most subjects and a spiral notebook for math. I was thinking of letting them put together their own "Portfolio" of significant works. But then I wonder if I should put those papers in mine?

Oh okay I think I get the idea. It is an "all about me page." I was thinking like mtbriere had mentioned about physicals maybe shots or illnesses.

Thank you for typing out the steps for how you make your portfolio Applie.
I keep forgetting to tell you how much the information you typed out step by step has helped me in the past and right now

My first year in FL I was completely lost and the help I got here in the forum helped me pull it all together for my first evaluation.

I'm trying to get high school plans in order first and then I'm going to finish the portfolio's. I took your advice and made the portfolio at the beginning of the year and just transferred examples from the girls working notebooks to the portfolio. I also kept daughter#2

Applie you are so full of information and willing to help you are an

Applie is fantastic!
Thank you, Michelle!

I agree!!!

Gee, thanks ya'll. Glad I can help. Donna's site (and CD) makes it real easy.

I'm referring to the contemporaneous log we are required to keep in FL under homeschool option 1. Your oldest would be option 2 in FL with Christian Liberty so it would not be required. We also are not required to keep a log if we submit a standardized test. The log is just a weekly planner. We used the Homeschool Planner from scholastic this year (one for each daughter) but you could print out Donna's forms and do the same thing. I didn't do much preplanning just used Donna's Course of Study, Curriculum Key and Goal forms and we just moved forward all year each subject book and wrote down daily...or a few days later what we did by subject.

Each county is different. In our county it is required that we keep a portfolio for two years, even if we send in standardized tests. The school district can call at any time and request to see it.

You are right I was thinking since I don't need it for an evaluation I was safe but I remember seeing that now. Guess I better go make sure daughter#1's log is in order

Don't worry about it. I haven't kept up with my son's portfolio in two years. It is all there, but not very neat and actually one year doesn't even have teacher planning sheets in there.

Our county has that too. Just out of curiosity, have you ever known anyone who had to show their portfolio to the SD?

I think the only thing I would like to do in addition to what I've mentioned is to pick papers throughout the year to include in the subject sections to show the type of work they've done. Examples, if you will.

I don't have any record keeping requirements other than attendance, but with my daughter in high school now, I would like to be more thorough and professional. Currently she is setting her sites on Indiana University which is not so friendly to homeschoolers. And it also sets her mind at ease, she was in public school through the 7th grade.

ME!

That is what we do. The suggestion is six sheets of work per quarter. Some from the beginning, some from the middle and some from the last part of the quarter. I put a lot more in there than that, though. Also pictures, graphs, science experiments, etc. Pictures are great; kids love those. I also let the kids pick out drawing they have done and put them in there.

I do this. I pull a hand full from each subject. Examples of their writing and handwriting are also important. With writing, I like to show a rough draft and final draft from the beginning and end of the year, to show progress. I also do an end of year report. This includes what curriculum and what we finished and accomplish and what is the most important to me, what they may need additional help in for next year. I use this as a tool.

I'm just starting on a portfolio just to keep for my records. At first, I just wanted a list of subjects and books they used this year, but it may just evolve into something bigger.

I just finished a reading/subject book list for my oldest daughter. I can't believe how much she has done! I'm going to show her in the morning... I think she may just faint.

The only thing missing is Geography, which I don't really use books for that... just a lot of maps.

I got the cover and spine sheets on the portfolios this weekend. The kids had fund putting stickers on them. I just need to get the two other binders that I need. Today I will be adding their new dividers (if needed) and some of the schedules that I already have done. I think I am doing well, just plugging along.

Same here. I just have a few subjects left to plan. Spanish for daughter#2, Latin for daughter#1, economics & theology for daughter#1. pe, music, and art for all 3. And halfway done with biology.

I would like to have a professional picture done for each of them to include. Anyone have suggestions? I was thinking maybe Walmart?

Sounds good to me. I have never had Wal-Mart take pictures of my kids, but I have seen some of the photos and they do look nice. Don't know anything about the price.

I was just going to take individual pictures myself.

Now there's an idea!

I have had portraits done at Wal-Mart. I wasn't pleased - if it hadn't been so cheap I would have been upset! I have actually had better results setting up a home studio in my garage. Just open the garage door, hang up a large sheet (I use black, but I'm sure any color would work,) set up a tripod about four feet away, zoom in, and start shooting. I like to place a floor length mirror at an angle to reflect some light back onto their little faces so I don't need to use a flash. If you want a black and white picture, you can get Kodak film that is black and white, but is developed as a color film. It does not have the archival qualities that true B&W film has, but you can get the look for a fraction of the price (and hassle.) I have found the B&W film is more forgiving than color film. This would be a good art project for the kids - they could take the pictures for their portfolios themselves.

I don't know what kind of pictures you are thinking about ... Walgreens does passport pictures for $6.99-$8.99 it is only two though. DH had some done there about 2 years ago. They were nice. Then again my husband is soooo gorgeous that I believe all his pictures look good
Do you need to turn it in soon?
I like Melanie's idea of the children taking the pictures themselves. It would be a good art/photography class.

Are these for last year??
Do you have to turn stuff in soon for this coming year?

These are for the school year 2005/2006. I like to have them prepare ahead of time. I just add pages throughout the year.

I make my own cover. I print out their name, school name, grade and year, on whatever paper the children pick out. The spine covers I get from Donna's site. You have to scroll down and the link is on the lower right. I print these on the same paper as the cover. She has two sizes. She also has these on her CD, but they are hidden and I can't find them.

I forgot to answer this question. We don't have to turn in anything until the end of the school year.

I remember in another post you were finishing some for this year. Then you are working on more ... I thought they expected you to have new info ready for this year. Some people have to submit curriculum plans for this year.
Boy I am glad I don't have to do this wait you all are motivating me to anyway. Am I crazy?????
DH may just be right.

Yes, I was adding photos, and last minutes stuff. Each year I get a little more prepared for the next school year. We do not have to show curriculum plans.

You do way too much Applie.
I wish one day I could be like you.

Ahhh, so it does happen! How'd it go, if you don't mind my asking?

It went just fine. I had nothing to hide. I had just moved onto this street and had been homeschooling for less than 3 months. I had homeschooled my son in Kindergarten, but never sent in the results for two reasons. 1. It was not required and 2. I didn't have him tested or evaluated.

Anyhoo, They wanted to see my portfolio and I said, I needed a written 15 day notice. I got that, then I made the appointment, at which time she graciously offered to come to my home. I said of course not. My husband had to take the day off to watch the kids while I went to the school board in St. Augustine.

I brought my son's portfolio for 1st grade (which had less than 3 months of work), because they did not mention which portfolio they wanted (K or 1st) and I wasn't going to ask. They looked through it, asked some question and commented on how well it was maintained. He mentioned Kindergarten portfolio and I said, well you didn't tell me which one you wanted to see. When I asked for the fourth time why I was called in, they lied. They said they were checking up on people who have been homeschooling for 2 years or more. If you counted K, I had only been homeschooling for 1 year. Besides I already knew why I was there. It only took me two days after the first phone call to find out what happened. A neighbor works for the school board and is in charge of truancy in another of our county. She doesn't like homeschoolers and also hates it if you send your child to a private school. The man who interviewed me is her boss.

The man asked for something to show that my son graduated from Kindergarten. I flat out told him I didn't have anything, because nothing is required. He said that was true but still would like something in his records. I said fine, I'll send you a copy of his diploma, which any idiot can copy off the computer, it doesn't actually prove that his even went to Kindergarten. So that is what I did.

I haven't been called since. They really don't have the time to mess with this kind of thing, but I was special.

Well this is the truth anyway.

What a neighbor.
Glad that I don't have neighbors like that not that is would matter since I don't have to report anything.

Thanks, Applie! That's kind of what I always suspected; that they say they can do their own evaluation at any time, but generally don't unless they have some reason (like wanting to harass someone, as in your case).
Like you said, they really don't have time for this (The p.s.'s have enough problems of their own!!)

Noah loves his portfolios, I just combined his kindergarten work with his first grade work and was told ~ "when I have children and they are old enough to understand they can see what I did in school".

Can you tell he loves having his work saved and looking nice? We even scrapbooked some of his pictures from our school stuff in a real scrapbook not his 3 ring binder. I also put in any certificates he earns~ like VBS, choir and the summer reading club at our church. I don't add in everything he did but keep whatever we show the teacher at the end of the year.

Hi Everyone-

I homeschool my children, ages 2 ds 14 and 9. I feel like our schedule is overwhelming but I am afraid to miss out on things if I change it. I personally love Science and History/Geography and we have been doing them everyday. However, I am considering changing our schedule and wondered how often others do Science and History/Geography- what are your schedules like?

We do science and history 3 days a week, only doing both one day a week. Our geography is part of our history curriculum. I could never do them all every day... that sounds like a very long day. I should add that my 8th grader does do science daily, but she works independently.

We do history/geo MWF and science TTH. This has so far worked out fairly good for us if not perfect. I'm not sure what our schedule will be like in the fall as we will be schooling tow kiddos then and still dealing with a preschooler and a baby.

For my 5th grader:

Science: 1st semester/4 days per week
Health: 1st semester/4 days per week

History: 2nd semester/4 days per week
Civics: 2nd semester/4 days per week

I try very hard to do both, each day. I find, if I start out with the hard stuff and then go to the easy stuff...it is easier to get it all done. So we do Bible/History/Science/Latin and then they can do the rest with stand by help from me. It seems to work for us.

We do everything everyday unless it is going to be a light day. Then we will drop science first, then history. Daughters do everything everyday, except Cassie and I have designed her Economics and Art schedules to be 1X/wk.

On our schedule, we do science and history once a week, but we have been doing much more (almost daily) on both lately. Next year, for second grade, I am going to do history/geography/map skills three days a week and science two.

Daily

Hi MK, We do ours in spurts. It depends on what we are working on. Right now we are working on plants for the two younger girls and they are doing that daily. My second grader and sixth grader are not doing science at all right now.

Right now we are doing both science and history everyday, but I'm also counting these two as part of his reading course. We are reading a literary style book on an overview of history plus a Christian Liberty Nature Reader. As we get into more difficult material we will likely split this up some.

We do history on Mondays and Wednesdays, and science on Tuesdays and Thursdays. At least, that is what is on the schedule - some weeks we do all of our history on Saturday and science every day, and vice versa. And some weeks all we can handle is math and english.

I really could use some motivation to make lesson plans. I just don't have a desire to get this stuff done. *sigh*

I know how you feel I need to get going again for science and history and I just cannot seem to get into it at all. I have books from the library sitting here for 3 weeks and have done nothing with them. They are due today so I guess I will have to renew them

Michelle, I hope you find the motivation, especially if the planning is something that you need to get out of the way.

I usually sit down in the dining room with a pot of something to drink (coffee usually) and maybe some popcorn and when I get started and over that hump, I usually enjoy it. It can be hard getting started though.

I know how you feel. It can be a daunting task. I like Donna's advice you drink tea right here you go.
I've been doing a little at a time but sometimes I feel like I'm going in circles instead of getting anything accomplished. I haven't completed the portfolios yet either ... which comes first, the chicken or the egg
Sometimes I just need a little time out of the house to get me motivated and help me focus. If I am home I get distracted by housework and chores. I have done some of the planning at the library but I usually don't have everything I need there so that can backfire too.

I'm having the same problem right now. I started on my lesson plans, but then discovered I made a horrible mistake early on and would have to adjust all the rest of them to fix it. I turned off the computer and I haven't looked at it again since then. I really ought to get it done - the movers are coming in a month and I'll need those plans in South Carolina.

I get started, thinking I've got things going pretty well, but then start doubting what I've done and start over again. Same net effect as not doing anything.

I have all of Kirsten's done for the year, but I don't have Dean's books yet, so those are waiting.

I hate sitting down to do it, but once I do, you can't stop me.

I started the other day. I pulled out the Apologia Botany book. Got through the first couple of pages ... then something else caught my attention.

My motivation is that we start again in August, so I need to get going. Not much time, but much to do.

That about sums up my whole life - I've got the attention span of a gnat.

You mean I'm not the only one???

I might sit down and work on it some tonight, if I make popcorn. I did two weeks of spelling schedule for daughter#1 while the kids were in the pool. We were at a neighbor's house for about 45 minutes.

Applie, I am thrilled to hear you are taking baby steps... keep going, you'll get there! I think my problem was I was doing too much and now I want to stop... I need to pace myself better.

My problem is that I am just lazy.

No woman who has 4 kids, homeschools them, and does all that you do is lazy... I'll give you tired ... worn out... maybe even heat exhaustion... but not lazy!

No way, Applie!

I have been thinking about this a lot lately and I know I am just plain lazy. I would get a lot more done if I wasn't so lazy.

This coming from the mom that bakes almost daily?!? ... on top of everything else.

I must be a sloth.

I actually completed science, language arts, and history for daughter #2 and my son some time ago. Home Ec for daughter #2 is also complete. But I haven't begun any of daughter #1's lesson plans since I received her curriculum from CLA. They've done the majority anyway. I've looked through the Power Glide material for both Spanish & Latin, but haven't brought myself to put anything together.

Maybe after the garage sale.

No kidding! Michelle, just reading your dinner menus makes me exhausted. Plus, you seem to be a lot more structured than I am when it comes to homeschooling. I'm having my first experience with drawing up lesson plans right now, and it is horrible!

Ya'll are too funny. I'll give you an example.

It is 9:00AM, Tuesday. I am sitting here in front of this computer, in my jammies. I haven't even had a shower yet and I think I stink! My daughter, who just turned 4, is skipping around the house naked. My son, who is 11, just got out of bed. The other two girls are dancing to the Jonah music.

My son just asked me to get down the bag of cereal from the pantry. I did, dropped it and it is now scattered all over the floor. I'll have to sweep it up when I get off of here.

I started last night dinner dishes in the washer at 8:00 this morning. I forgot to put the salad away last night, so now it goes to the compost pile.

See what I mean?

I'll post what else I have to do today in Homemaking.

Maybe I am just unorganized.

Maybe I am just lazy AND unorganized. Ouch! That is a bad combination.

No, hon. You are not lazy ...or disorganized... just addicted.

Like the rest of us.

Hey! Have you been spying in my house?



We seem to live in constant chaos (how do you spell that?) and clutter too. No spilled cereal today ... that is only because we had yogurt and fruit!

I have to be honest, I like to know that I am not the only one.


I actually think it is probably quite normal. There really is no Leave it to Beaver, except on tv.


I say, "Cheers" to all the mom's who work so hard, so our children can stay at home and have this normalcy!




PS> My daughter/7 just started her violin lessons 2 weeks ago. She is practicing. It sounds so cute!

and you call this lazy???

Sounds like my house... I'm here in my jammies...although I must say I smell as sweet as a daisy! We all do things like this... I tend to go in spurts.

Right now both of my girls are mad at me. Yesterday my youngest decided she didn't want to do her chores... so she didn't.. well today she's grounded from electronics... she'll have plenty of time to get them done today or we'll repeat the punishment.

My oldest, also decided since she was already grounded that she wasn't going to do her chores either ... so she's grounded too... she ran off back to bed saying... I should have stayed in bed today.

The only child not mad at me already is my son...who I sent to my bedroom to watch TV without his sisters.

All the things we do as moms is draining, add homeschooling on top and I'm not sure how we do it ... I'm sticking to my story...tired, worn out or heat exhaustion!

I'm sure you'll get a bee in your bonnet sometime and be off, showing us all up again!

My 7yo daughter has been playing for 1 1/2 years and she is doing well.


It is 9:30AM and I am still on here!


Here is my in my Bonnet. I'm off until tomorrow!

Got to get busy...got to get busy...got to get busy.

MOVE IT---MOVE IT---MOVE IT!!!!!

Is that motivation enough? LOL.
I have just started on my lesson plans for next year. I have a basic outline of what we'll do, but I'm deciding how much I'll fine tune it. I have a required reading list for each of the kids, but that's about all. I know what math they'll do, but we're a little more relaxed on how many lessons they do a day--mainly because sometimes they can do more than one lesson in a day and other times they'll need more than one day to do a lesson.
The main thing--keep repeating it over and over and over and over---I HAVE started!!

I had been taking a book or two with me on errands such as doctor appointments, swimming lessons, etc. I need to start doing that again. Don't know why I stopped?

I was immediately drawn to this topic because my allergies have been horrible today with my meds. zapping every ounce of my energy and motivation. As I read, I realized that most of you must write your lesson plans for the entire year. I have read Donna's ideas about planning for the year, but I was wondering about how closely you all really stick to the year's plans. What do you do if you have to adjust to reteach, etc.? I was wondering if you all plan this way only for the workbook-driven subjects or for all subjects. Do you think planning this way is easier than going week by week? Are you required to do this by your states, or are you doing it for other reasons? What are the benefits to this long-term planning? I hope you don't mind answering these questions because I am always interested in hearing about what is working for other homeschoolers

Hsbeliever, I am going to post your questions in another topic, so that all can answer. I just moved it to Planning for the year..

Thank you, Appliejuice!

I am planning my 5yo's course of study for next year. My problem isn't what to teach, but what not to teach! How much actual "school time" is appropriate for a 5 year old boy? Currently, we are fairly informal. Though, I have started teaching him to read with Jessie Wise's book. So far I am planning to spend about 1:15 hours a day on Language Arts (15 minutes in a penmanship workbook and 3 twenty minutes sessions in phonics, reading practice, & literature) and 1 hour a day on a monthly theme (currently trying to cut that list down). I plan to keep reading aloud 2-3 times a day to both boys. This is around 3 hours of daily instruction. I am debating about adding a math halfway through the school year. The homeschool group at my church may have spanish classes again next year and he will be old enough then. (This is a rare opportunity as we have several native speakers in our church who help out). Plus he will be starting a Christian scouts-type program at church. I also have been looking into sports programs and/or swimming lessons as a non Church activity to do once a week. Then, there is a playgroup we attend AND...AND ... AND ... AHHHHH!!!!

How do I know I am not burning him (or me) out?
What do feel is appropriate amount of time to "do school" and what is your extra activities cut off?

Thanks -Jill

I think it would take about an hour (at the most) to do our lessons each day.

We did K work in about an hour--some days more and some days less. It was never sitting at the table for an hour. Usually we broke it up into 10 minutes sessions for most things and breaks to run around the house in between. I would just add some math work with manipulatives to what you are doing right now and just read lots of different books as interest is shown. Add some fun crafts and you'll be good to go.

I would not neglect math completely. It is such an important skill, and something that takes time to build on. For Kindergarten math we did some of the following activities which only take a few minutes each day. (You can always use cheerios, marshmallows, m&ms, pretzels, coins, buttons, etc.)

counting objects in sets
sorting, 1:1 correspondence 5 = o o o o o
recognize, name, and draw basic shapes 2-D (square, triangle, octagon, etc.)
recognize, name, and id objects for 3-D shapes (cone, pyramid, cube)
which sets are bigger/smaller which have more/less/equal
how many would there be if we added one more or took one away (beginning add, sub)
sidewalk number line (if we start at 3 and jump 2 spaces, what # are you on)
patterning using colors & shapes & sizes
using pattern block to create shapes, animals, pictures and extend a pattern
tangegram patterning
measuring stuff using kitchen cups, spoons, sewing tape, ruler, lego blocks, etc.
weighing things using a small kitchen scale and a cheap school store pan scale
Counting to 20, then 30, then 100 by 1s
Counting by 2s to 30
Counting by 5s to 50
Counting by 10s to 100
practiced writing numerals
learned number words to twenty
match numerals to number words
color by number
missing numbers i.e. 2, 3, ___, 5 what number is missing?
recognizing coins by name, then by value

N ow we are doing adding and subtracting, first we did it with objects, now she is learning to memorize them.

Hope that helps.

We only did an hour or so a day for my daughter and it was broken up into little chunks of time throughout the day. I am not including documentaries watched, books listened to, or field trips because those are all just things we always do for fun. She also went to Sunday school, ballet and karate, and every so often, she attended a homeschool art class.

We spend no more than one hour of sitting down "paperwork" a day, usually less, but about 2-3 more hours of her "play" is guided activities (arts, crafts, science experiments, nature study, ed games, etc). Plus we read at least 1.5 hours a day.

Regarding your themes and having to cut down ... the more experiences, the better!

Why not reduce the time you spend on each one? Our basic themes run about two weeks each. We discovered that this amount of time is about as much as either of us can take of some topics, but we will often repeat or extend a favorite topic.

You can also incorporate several topics at once that are related: for instance in January we did winter, but that included studying the colors white, silver, and blue (as winter colors), snow, snowmen, polar bears, penguins, Antarctica, North Pole, South Pole, winter sports, winter clothes, winter weather, making snow cones, experimenting with instant-snow stuff, observing changing states of matter with ice, water and steam, observing salt's effects on ice, making N/S pole magnets and testing them, and doing lots of wintry crafts. It all depends on how broad your themes are.

I'd love to hear what themes you have on your list before you cut it down!

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I haven't had time to respond.
Work had me going this week with the bosses out of town.

"I'd love to hear what themes you have on your list before you cut it down!"

One ongoing theme that I plan to start in June is a children's literature based theme. I'm using a book that I purchased at a used book store for $3 called Picture Book Activities by Trish Kuffner. My mom gave me another book called The Preschooler's Busy Book, which I love. It gives 50 kids' books and learning suggestions

The Monthly Theme is more of a Unit Study
Here's the starting list

My Country (about USA/patriotism in June/July to tied in to Flag Day and the 4th
Around the World (beginning world geography)
Native Americans
Famous Americans
volcanoes and earthquakes (he liked this)
magnets
My five senses
the human body
habitats (a two month study studying a different habitat every two weeks)
growing a garden/ plants
weighing and measuring things (graphs and charts included)
counting to 100 (includes skip counting)

These are the just subjects I really like but there is too much to cover in one year. So what do I cut out?
Plus I am planning to add outside activities next year.
Thanks for any input.

Jill