Schedule 2017 another year of Homeschooling Torah

This post is for Homeschooling Torah users.  I am just taking a minute to share our schedule with all of you.  Each year it changes a little based on my students, our goals, and dad’s work schedule.  This year dad works third shift, and sleeps in the day time.  So evenings are when he is available to help with schooling.

2017 schedule

Sunday 7pm Home Club

Monday 3:00-5:30 Lansing Outreach Club

Tuesday 4:00-5:30 Laingsburg Outreach Club

Now, I will take a minute and share exactly what is done during our day.   Wait, let me introduce you to my students this year first.

Brenden, 18, senior, should have graduated last year, but prefers building, mechanics, and just about anything else to doing academics.  So, this year must focus in and finish his academics.

Rebekah, 17, first year senior.  I call her a first year senior because by the end of this school year she will have all her academics done, but I will require her to do one more year of schooling with a senior project.  I did this with my daughter, Rachel, as well.  Academically they are ahead, but I feel there is still more learning they need before they graduate officially.

Jeremiah, 14, 8th grader.  He is actually doing some ninth grade work too.

Joshua, 12, grade 5, severally dyslexic and some speech delays.  He had oral surgery this summer which has improved his speech dramatically, hoping it builds his confidence this year and improves his reading.

Zachery, 10, also grade 5, smarty pants, but perfectionist, so have to work on that.

Stephen, 8, second grade, right on target. Strong reader.

Mary, 7, 1st grade, some emotional development delays interfering with her reading and comprehension, but very, very capable.  Only been a Hirn for three years, so working on bonding and security more than academics.

Christianna (Anna), 6, Kindergarten.  Another smarty pants, but we enjoy some interesting behavior (she has Mosaic Down Syndrome)issues that we must continue to help her find self control.

Benny, 4, preK, smarty pants.

Davey, 14, special education, Davey is very cognitively impaired but has an exceptional attitude.  He enjoys group learning and doing coloring and preschool papers.  We make his IEP goals more life skills than academic.

That is all my students, but I have help.  I also have at home:

Daniel, 22, working at WalMart.  Helps me with the baby when he can.

Tyler Ann, 21, missionary with CEF.  My right hand and secondary school teacher.

Lydia, 18, starting a part time job at day care.  My laundry lady and all around assistant with house work.

I also have my sister, Lizzy, age 18, at home.  She is profoundly handicapped physically and mentally.  Lydia, Rebekah, and Tyler assist me with he many needs each day.

Lastly, there is my partner in crime, Jeremy, who not only leads some of the teaching times, but also assists me with meal making.

So, back to the schedule.

So, my goal as a teacher is to get my children prepared to teach themselves by grade 5.  Some learn faster than others, but usually by grade five after a month of introducing the students to their work again, they can self teach.  This frees me up to work with students one on one as needed.  I also love, love , love learning in  a group setting.  So, we do a lot of that.

Each junior high and high school student is responsible for their own daily schedule and completing all assignments by Friday morning.  If they do not complete them by Friday morning then they are to complete them before they can have free time on Sunday.  Sunday is the only day a week that I allow my kids to use electronics freely, like videos games and such.  So, this is a huge motivator for my preteens and teens to get their work done by Friday morning.

So, my schedule is very flexible.  I try and leave enough room for each thing to take longer, just in case we need more time.  Bible reading, prayer, and our Proverbs study usually does not take as long.  So, that is nice that it gives us flexibility.  We use Anne’s  Lessons in PRoverbs for our weekly devotional, i read it the week ahead of time and then teach it the following week.

After devotions we sit at the dinning room table together and we get out our HT Torah portion lessons and our HT Hebrew lessons.  I work through these lessons at the same time each morning, bouncing back and forth from Hebrew and Torah, including using Heidi Coopers PSalms 119 copywork as well.  I have also added Michelle Huddlestons Hebrew workbooks to this time.  We do these daily as a group.  It usually only takes a half hour.  I also have my kids copy from the Torah Portion at this time using Heidi Coopers copybooks.  Everyone copies a section of Torah weekly.  Then on Thursday morning, we discuss the Torah portion and do art and journal on it as a group.  Upper grade students must also complete a full page of journaling on the Torah portion each week on their own.

At this time my youngest students go play outside, and my middle schoolers stay with me and do either history or science.  We are back to year on of history this year  of HT with my younger students.  My high school students are in year four and do this together without my help.  My younger students are in science year one again too.  My older students are doing Chemistry and Physics using apologia this year instead of HT.

Next, we call the little ones in and I have all my students 5th grade and under working at the table.  I work around the table giving them their work one on one.  They complete at this time HT copywork by grade, HT phonics by grade, HT math by grade, and I also include some other worksheets and I also have them each read to me from Rod and Staff readers at this time.  My older daughters help me with this time if they are at home.

We are usually done with all this work by 12noon.  We only do this morning routine Monday thru Thursday.  They are to turn in all their work on Friday morning.

Friday morning we have a special preparation day devotional, and then we spend some extra time in prayer on Friday mornings.  Then we plan our work for the day and get it done.  Friday evening we have a family time of worship and Torah reading.

Sunday evening through Thursday evening before we eat dinner we read through the Bible as a family.  We spend about 45 minutes reading out loud the Bible from cover to cover and we discuss it.  After dinner we read a missionary story and/or we study about the feasts depending on the time of year.  After the little kids go to bed we often have another big kid Bible study we are working through.

So, that is our schedule.

Some things to know:  I usually school all year round.  But restart the year after Sukkot.  This past year was sort of crazy, so to give us some order, I decided to start our lessons on Labor Day this year.  But we are not actually flipping many of our subjects till the new Torah reading cycle.  I like having my lessons line up with the Torah reading cycle.  Also, we take school of for Unleaven bread week and Week of Sukkot.  We also take two weeks of in the summer, and then we use our other off time as needed.

Shalom.

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