How did your homeschooling go last week? Still stuttering with surprise? Feeling a little overwhelmed about this week? No problem! Here’s Week 2 No-fail Lesson Plans. You got this!
These are so simple, you can implement them while you figure out what else you may need to meet your family’s needs. I am so proud of you for taking on your children’s education. Congratulations!
Self-learning: Our Passion
Naturally, you can find tons more great, relaxed ideas on creating self-learning moments with your kids on our website. Self-learning is our passion. Our daughter Anna Krafve Pierce is an educator and a mom. If you search her name, you’ll find some terrific podcasts and blogs sure to encourage you! (If your child struggles with reading, click here. To create intentional morning rituals, here. Or cross-cultural holidays at home.)
You got this! Certainly, children are natural learners and some of the best stuff they will learn in the coming months will be about how to adapt to change and handle stress with grace. (To sign up for our weekly blog, click here.) Also, if you need to work from home, these lesson plans can easily be delegated. Teenagers and grandparents can pick up the slack with your younger kiddos.
DIY Curriculum
Long ago, one of my children created her own curriculum using a book she picked out. First, she analyzed her material and summarized lesson plans. Then, she created quizzes and tests with answer keys. To this day, she can describe types of birds, their wing structure and, well, more stuff than I know about birds, that’s for sure!
Last week, we suggested flashcards for Math. Memory work is an essential foundation in Math, but there’s so much more. One year, our children repeated Algebra because, well, as homeschoolers we were free to do so. Clearly, there’s nothing wrong with giving your kids a solid foundation by repeating difficult work until it feels familiar and easy for them. In fact, you’ll be building their confidence. If your kids struggled to master any math concepts along the way, now is a great time to review for mastery. For our homeschool, we always started Abeka books, then supplemented with lots more books, of course!
Week 2 No-Fail Lesson Plans
Monday—
1) Memory Work: We hope you start your day with the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge may have been enough memory work for your family last week. This week, consider adding another great piece of memory work to bless for them for the rest of their life. All these years later, my children still thank me for making them learn the following over the years: Paul Revere’s Ride, Hiawatha, the Gettysburg Address, the Declaration of Independence, and countless Bible verses.
2) STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math): Review your kids’ math flash cards. Today, find out which concepts in Math still baffle each of your kids. (For inexpensive resources, check out all the stuff Mentoring Minds offers. They provide resources by subject. They’ve even created individual assessment testing if you wonder where to start!)
3) Language Arts, History: Keep reading the classic chapter book you started last week. Let older kids take turns, too, but keep the story moving for everyone’s sake.
4) Innovation, Ingenuity, and Stewardship: Encourage your children to use their imagination to create something wonderful. If you have an old set of encyclopedias, they are fabulous for exploring together or independently. (I like to save Easy Craft Ideas for our family here. While you’re there, check out Easy Food and Crock-Pot recipes.))
5) Emotional Intelligence: Build individual quiet time into your day so everyone gets a chance to decompress alone.
Reflection and Innovation: Faith, Not Fear
When our daughters were young, we noticed an alarming trend. For some reason, many Americans felt they were unable to learn a second language. Yet, worldwide, many people speak multiple languages. Could Americans be the dumbest people on earth? Not likely! We soon realized this fear was based on the traditional way languages were taught in American classrooms. We decided to homeschool to try something different.
Of course, some friends thought we were crazy. Maybe we were since our son was a toddler at the time!
Mainly, we wanted our children to embrace their God-designed tendency to be natural communicators. No fear. Instead, we embarked with deep faith in God’s own creativity and desire to communicate with us.
Before long, we were studying in multiple languages. Our family learned to dissect the original language of the Bible’s New Testament. This “crisis” could be a wonderful time to reflect on what you really wish your kids could get out of their education. You have what it takes to innovate your children’s education!
Tuesday
1) Memory Work: Review your memory work together out loud several times. Make it fun by standing on one leg, or doing jumping jacks while you recite. Create a game by tossing a ball to each other to complete phrases.
2) STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math): This is a great time to teach your children to research on the internet. Of course, be certain you have limits in place so they don’t wander onto an inappropriate site.
Have your older children research online resources to clarify concepts they’ve struggled with in the past. Create a chart of the hardest concepts in Math, how we use them in daily life, and online sites with educational resources you may want to tap into. Don’t forget—What you have on your own shelf may surprise you!
3) Language Arts, History: Read another chapter of your classic book. Serve tea and pretend you are meeting with the Queen of England who wishes to discuss your book with you.
4) Innovation, Ingenuity, and Stewardship: Take a deep breath. Fill up your lungs to your diaphragm. Practice standing up straight, balancing a book on your head. Invite your children to do it with you, then turn them loose to do something fun together. Board games are fun. Or, kids blow off some steam as they earning some spare cash by doing extra chores. They learn important leadership skills as they figure out how to use their spare time wisely.
5) Emotional Intelligence: Notice how well you are rocking this whole homeschool thing, since #4 is also #5 today! Go you!
Wednesday
1) Memory Work: Review your family memory work.
2) STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math): Review their math flashcards quickly today. Today is a great day to think about how numbers have been useful for thousands of years. Get it? Thousands? Turn to I Chronicles in the Bible and have your kids make an inventory of what David needed for the Temple. How much of each thing did he collect? The next few chapters describe an amazing feat of organizational leadership, if you have older kids. And lots more specific numbers, for all ages.
3) Language Arts, History: Since your children took a hard look at the Magna Carter last week, this week might be a great time to pull up some of the original colonies’ charters. How are they different? Which religious sects started which colonies? How does their varied history affect all Americans? Continue your discussion of the basic principles of self-government and self-respect in your home.
4) Innovation, Ingenuity, and Stewardship: See #3 above. Have your children prepare a chart to hang on your refrigerator, spelling out how some self-governing principles will look in your home.
5) Emotional Intelligence: Rejoice for the extra time you get with your amazing kiddos.
Thursday
1) Memory Work: Review your family memory work together out loud.
2) STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math): Quickly review Math flashcards. Then, take them up. Have your kids think of a project they would like to do as a family. Perhaps it’s building a new vegetable garden for spring or painting a bedroom. Help them inventory the supplies you will need to complete the project. Tally the cost. Break the plan into small, achievable steps. Pray and ask God for the resources you will need as a family to complete their project.
3) Language Arts, History: Review your older kids’ research of the book of Romans in the Bible. What did they discover about the purpose of law? What do your children now understand about how laws are created in our country? How do laws help us? What laws were most important to the first colonies? How does your refrigerator chart of family self-government look compared to the purpose of the law?
4) Innovation, Ingenuity, and Stewardship: Read the next chapter of your book. Your children can even dress up. Any excuse for mom to wear her tiara!
5) Emotional Intelligence: Relax and laugh. Laughing is the best of homeschooling! That and the amazing memories you are creating for your kids.
Friday
1) Memory Work: Give rewards for independently reciting the memory work for the week.
2) STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math): My kids loved scavenger hunts. I’m assuming yours do, too. Why not have them search for their flashcards again today? Predictable patterns are an integral part of math. For the kinetic learner, repeating patterns with a daily scavenger hunt reinforces the lesson. Next week, I’ll share a family favorite silly scavenger hunt to keep things fun. (Don’t forget to check out what Cynthia Tobias has to say about learning styles. Find our interview with Cynthia about strong women here.)
3) Language Arts, History: Read the next chapter of your book. Next week, I’ll share some hints about how to encourage your kids to love writing.
4) Innovation, Ingenuity, and Stewardship: Have your children write a quick note to a grandparent or older friend, thanking them for the ways they inspire wisdom. (See our blog about how to write terrific thank you notes here.)
5) Emotional Intelligence: Two weeks of homeschool under your belt! I am so proud of you.
Your Child’s Education
For our family, homeschooling meant our children developed a deep understanding of the language behind scripture. They also gained a love of self-learning. Best of all, being together in the adventure of learning meant deeper unity for our family, too.
Now is the perfect moment to pour yourself a cup of tea and reflect on what you really want your kids to get out of their education.
Mom Gets the Reward of Reading
As your reward for being an awesome homeschool educator, pick up a good book for your own soul and indulge in a little fun reading. (For romance, click here. Historic fiction, click here. History nerds, click here. Sassy faith, click here. Inspiration for prayer, click here.)
May I pray for you?
Dear good Father, Your creativity inspires us as we homeschool. Make us the kind of parents who cherish our children’s natural gifts. We love You so much! Thank You for the amazing children You’ve designed. We are glad to be their parents and grandparents. Strengthen this dear one now as we focus on the best interests of our beloved children. Give us Your creativity and insight as we educate our children. Let us keep learning from You, Oh good Father. Teach our children to seek You as they develop a love for self-learning, too. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.
We LOVE to hear from YOU!
If your kids learned only one thing this week, what would it be? How has homeschooling blessed your family this week? How can Camp Krafve serve you in the coming weeks?
Cathy Krafve, Columnist, Speaker, Blogger, Podcaster, and Christian Writer, invites your stories, ideas, and questions at CathyKrafve.com. Truth with a Texas Twang.
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