September

What I liked:

1. Flexibility!  2 weeks into school when Noelle said "Mom, I don't want to do homeschool anymore.  I want to go be with my friends," I said FIELD TRIP! And we went to the aquarium and bought an annual membership.  Then I scheduled a play date with her friend and I haven't heard that complaint again.

2. Co-op. This has been a lot of work each week, but only because I've been having do to lesson plans as I go. Future preparation for several weeks at a time will take care of that.  We love co-op because Noelle gets to be with other kids, ranging in age from 0-13, she gets to do fun science and art experiments, and it gives us something different to do during the week.  I particularly love it because I have 8 new instant friends in the other moms.

3. Going at our own pace.  After working with Noelle for a month I can see areas where we can speed up and others where we need to slow down.  For example, the math program we are using started introducing some new concepts before she had the previous ones mastered.  So, instead of struggling to keep up with a schedule to fit public school curriculum, we are pausing to focus on doubles facts until I am completely confident that she has mastered them.  There's no point in learning "doubles plus one" facts before she's got the doubles learned.  Also, this is stuff she should have mastered last year in 2nd grade, but because they had to move on to other subjects (like time and money, which she also still doesn't know), she never really learned it.  So I love that we are slowing down and making sure she's ready before we move on.

4. Life learning.  We've done laundry, planned meals, compared prices in grocery ads, and gone shopping.  Skills like these, and many more that she will learn over the years, are just as important for life (if not more so, sometimes) as learning about Shakespeare or ancient Rome.

5. Spending time with Noelle.  Before we started homeschooling, Noelle used to ask me a question almost every day.  This question left me with feelings of guilt, frustration and inadequacy.  I haven't heard this question once since we started homeschooling.  "Mom, will you do something with me?"

What I learned:
1.  Preparation is VITAL.  I don't like staying up until midnight.  But it seems to be the only time of day that I can work, uninterrupted, on planning, organizing, deciding, copying, reading etc.  When Noelle and I wake up early to a clean school room with our agenda written on the board and all necessary materials neatly organized in front of us, we do SO much better.  When I let her sleep in, even just an extra hour, and when I haven't made all of the copies I need for the day and organized her independent work folder, the day feels much more chaotic and we don't get as much accomplished.

2. Everything takes longer than I think it will.  Maybe we will get better at this with time, and as Noelle learns how to learn for herself.  Or maybe I will have to adjust my expectations and not try to schedule as many topics as I want to each day.

3. There's no right way to do this.  As much as I love the Charlotte Mason method and want to follow exactly Ambleside Online's suggested year 3 schedule, it just doesn't work for us.  The material is too hard, Noelle isn't ready or doesn't like most of their reading selections, and there's just too much going on at once.  It's okay with me that we decide what we want to do each day, and I don't have to feel guilty that I'm not doing everything that someone else says I'm "supposed" to be doing.

What I'll do different in October:
1. Simplify.  I need fewer books going on at once.  Only one or two literature selections at a time, alternating each day until we are finished.  Fewer topics each day with more time allotted for each, instead of trying to do every subject every day in a short period of time.

2.  Prepare in advance.  Never go to bed without having a clean school room and a filled independent work folder.

3. More narration.  I know she will get better at this with practice, but Noelle seems to resist retelling me things she has learned.  I will focus on teaching Noelle how to learn for herself, and encourage more narration and discussion.