Barbara Lopez, Author at Academic Advantage Association

How Do I Keep a Homeschool Plan Book?

South Carolina Law requires homeschool parents maintain a plan book detailing what you accomplish each school day. So, one of the most common questions we receive is, “How do I keep a plan book?”

The good news is: it’s not nearly as hard as you think! Plan books can be as simple or as fancy as you desire. Our store carries several commercially produced planners. These have all the bells and whistles you might look for.

Our most popular planners include:

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner by Deborah Bell is a favorite resource for many experienced homeschoolers. If you are a ‘planner junkie’, this one’s for you!

The first 11 pages explain how to use the planner most effectively. She has pages to record both academic and character goals for each child. There are overviews for yearly planning, monthly planning, and weekly/daily planning. This planner includes pages for recording grades, reading lists, and field trips/outside activities. Pages 272-273 are a planning guide to help map out a high school academic plan.

You can use this planner solo, or you can combine it with the other two planners in this series. The Ultimate Weekly Planner for Teens fosters independence in planning and organization needed after graduation when students are managing adult schedules.

The Ultimate Daily Planner for Students is the first step to instilling independence in young learners. Once they can read and write well enough to record tasks assigned, have a weekly planning session with your child and let him record the assignments you have mapped out for the week. Over time, you will be able to let children do their own planning with your oversight.

For those overwhelmed by lots of bells and whistles, The Homeschooler’s Journal is much more straightforward. It comes in a variety of colors, so you can match your student’s plan book to his or her favorite color! The 1st few pages include a log for objectives and resources, books used, and field trips taken as well as pages to record grades. The last few pages include a log for recording educational resources you use (including websites) and a list for contacts you stay in touch with frequently.

The book has blocks for each subject and day of the week, so you can record assigned work in an orderly fashion, grade it, record the grade, and check it off as the work is completed.

While Deborah Bell’s resource will accommodate multiple students, The Homeschoolers Journal will allow you to track one student per book.

S. C. homeschool law requires each teaching parent maintain a homeschool diary or plan book for each student taught at home. Commercially prepared journals, like our most popular ones above, meet the need for many families. However, if you are not a ‘planner junkie’ or just haven’t found a plan book that suits your needs and pocket book, a DIY option may be just what you are looking for.

Part 2 of this series on record keeping details how to set up and maintain a DIY plan book.

Setting Up Your Own Homeschool Planner

As a new homeschooler (or if finances are an issue), commercially produced planners can seem overwhelming. If you are already in information overload, planners may be reassuring. They may also be intimidating if you are organizationally challenged or need time to figure out your own path. Setting up your own homeschool planner may be more appealing while you find your ‘homeschooling legs’.

Keeping a plan book or journal can be as simple as purchasing a spiral bound notebook or journal and entering the information specific to your child’s school day. Let’s look at how our fictional student, Eve Adam’s, mom maintains her plan book.

On the cover (or 1st page) of a simple spiral bound notebook, she recorded the name of the student whose educational plans will be recorded along with the academic year and Eve’s grade level.

On the next page, she records the curriculum and resources for each subject:

Subject & Curriculum

Language Arts
Daily Grams 7
Writers in Residence Vol. 1
Selected Novels from suggested reading lists noted in daily plans and book list

Math
Horizons Pre-Algebra

Science
Masterbooks Anatomy and Physiology for Junior High

History
Selected living history books re Civil WAr noted in daily plans and book list

Art
Homeschool art lessons at the community center, Tuesday from 10a – 12n
PE
Soccer team practice and games x 6 hrs a week, April 1 – October 15 (M, Thur, Sat)

**Leave several spaces between each entry so you can add new resources or activities if you change or add things mid-year. Set aside 2 pages to record curriculum and resource information.

Now, create logs for your reading list:

Eve’s mom has begun to record her reading list.

Title Author # Pages Date Subject

The Red Badge of Courage S. Crane 99 Sept 10 literature
Abraham Lincoln’s World G. Foster 376 Jan 10 history
Rosa Parks (CD) D. Brinkley 7 hrs Feb 15 history

As you see from the list, Eve is studying the Civil War for history. She read a book related to Civil War history for both literature and history. She also listened to a book on CD about the life Rosa Parks during February for black history month. They recorded the date Eve completed the books in the date column. Eve’s mom will continue to record each book Eve reads or listens to on CD or iTunes for the entire academic year as noted above.

Eve’s family will make lots of use of audiobooks while they are riding for errands, trips to grandma’s and for vacation, and on sick days, etc. The latter is a great way to ‘have school’ when a child (or mom) is feverish and unable to do a lot of work.

Next, create pages for DVD’s and website resources:

In Eve’s case, she has watched a YouTube video review of math to prep for Pre-Algebra. She also watched a DVD they got from the library.

Resource Author/Source Time Subject Date
Quick Prep Math Review – Video Math Tutor (YouTube) 25 min. Math August 20
The Human Body – National Geographic Classics (DVD) 5 hrs Science Sept. 3

So, anytime they use a library DVD or online resource, she will continue creating the records.

On the next pages, list field trips and activities:

Location Date/Time Subject
Civil War Museum October 12 2-4 p.m. History
City Park Sept 5 PE/Back to school party (dodgeball & tag)
Soccer M & Th 6-7:30p; Sat 2 hr games (Aug – Oct) PE
Homeschool Art Tue 10a – 12n (Aug – May) Art

Now, you are ready to begin your daily logs:

You will have a log sheet for each of the 180 days you homeschool. Your log book can include your attendance record with a very simple approach. After the day’s date, put the # of your school day in parenthesis. That way, you will always know at a glance what day of school you are completing on any given date. When you hit 180 in your daily count, your school year is over!

Here’s the way Eve’s mom set up her daily log:

Monday – August 1, 2016 (#1)
Language Arts: Daily Grams – complete day #1
Red Badge of Courage – read chptr 1
Writers in Residence – see the daily schedule on p. xliv and complete day #1
Pre-Algebra: All of section 1 & 2 on p.3; do every other problem on p. 4
Science: read Pp. 4 – 9. We will look at the teacher guide together and plan the rest of the week together.
History: Read Abraham Lincoln’s World Pp. ix – 21
PE: practice from 6 – 7:30p

This no frills approach to keeping your homeschool journal or plan book is a great method for folks who are new to homeschooling or who need a cost effective approach. A simple, DIY homeschool journal is not as easy to set up as you think and allows easy tracking for your attendance days as well.

How Do I Withdraw My Child from Public School to Homeschool?

In South Carolina, you may not legally withdraw a child from traditional public school until you have enrolled in one of three homeschool options.

If you withdraw your child without the proper paperwork in place, you are at risk of contact from truancy officials.

When you begin to consider homeschooling, take a look at our member handbook and our S. C. Homeschool Law tab. Review our information regarding what is required of you as the parent-teacher in your homeschool.

To homeschool in South Carolina, you must have legal physical custody of the child you are homeschooling and must have at least a GED.

Follow these steps to withdraw your child from public school:

1) Fill out our membership application and submit your payment.

2) Be sure to indicate you are withdrawing a child from public school on the membership form.

Checking that box let’s us know we need to provide three documents for you: a school withdrawal letter, a membership letter, and a membership card.

If you are withdrawing children from separate schools, we will send a letter for each school with the name of the child who is withdrawing from that school listed.

3) Once we have received your application and membership fees, we will create your school letter, membership letter, and membership card.

You will receive your membership card and letter in the mail within 5-7 business days.

We will email you a scanned copy of the school letter as soon as it is ready.

Keep a copy of the school letter for your records. It will serve as your member letter until you receive that document in the mail.

Give a 2nd copy of the school letter to the school from which you are withdrawing your child. Once you present them with the letter, you are free to take your child home and begin homeschooling.

***In an emergency, you can come to our store, fill out your paperwork, pay your fees, and leave with a school withdrawal letter the same day.

May I Award High School Credits During Junior High?

Are you a panicky junior high mom who feels high school breathing down your neck? Rest assured, you are not the only mom with questions and uncertainties keeping you awake at night. One concern we often hear is, “May I award high school credits during junior high?”

In South Carolina, junior high students may be awarded high school credit for core academic courses including English, math, science, history, foreign language, and computer keyboarding/applications. The curriculum used must be 9th grade material.

When a student completes a 9th grade core course in junior high, the course is considered to meet ‘honors‘ level requirements. Upon successful completion of the course, the student will receive the corresponding extra .5 credit on the GPA for that class.

So, for example, a student taking Spanish I in 8th grade who receives a final score of 95 will receive a 4.75 GPA for that course. Had the course been taken in 9th grade without opting for an honors level class, they same student would receive only the standard 4.25.

When completing core academics, the guiding principle for determining credit is successful completion of at least 80% of a high school level text.

In situations where one may pull from a variety of resources to create courses (ie using living history books for American History, etc.), a combination of 150 hours of instruction and related activity in that course would equal a full credit. Again, the work must be equal to what would be required of a high school student.

Track hours spent in instruction time with teaching adults, independent reading, and completion of related projects, research papers, or field trips. Upon completion of 75 hours, you may award 0.5 credits. Upon completion of 150 hours, you may award a full course credit.

Keep these ideas in mind as you plan your junior high experience. Any credit earned now will free up time during high school!

Have more questions than answers? Member families may contact us Monday – Friday from 10a to 5p. Give us a call (864-968-1118) or email us! If we are not available to assist you, leave a message. We return calls between 1:30p and 4:30p and try to return calls (and emails) within 24 hours of receipt.

Not a member? Join now!

***If you live outside the state of South Carolina, please consult your local state guidelines for more definitive information about timelines for assigning high school credits.

Reading Readiness Skills

One of the primary goals for 1^st thru 3^rd grades is learning to read. Understanding reading readiness skills will help you determine how you and your child are moving from learning to read to the goal of reading to learn.

If your Kindergartener was reading a few months in, it is especially easy to feel your work is done. However, if your 2^nd grader still can’t remember the word ‘cat’ from one day to the next, it’s easy to think your work will never be done.

Some children will be ready to read to learn vs only learning to read before 3^rd grade. Others will need all three years to become confident readers. Those with significant learning issues like dyslexia or sensory processing issues may take even longer to find reading easy.

Do you know the steps to reading fluency? Understanding the readiness skills for reading will foster confidence in both you and your reader:

1) Does your child recognize upper and lower case letters (not necessarily able to write them) by name.

2) Is your child able to connect each letter with the various sounds the letters and letter combinations make?

Quick Fact:

Did you know the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet make 74 sounds! The sounds are referred to as ‘phonograms’. So, early reading instruction is often called ‘phonics’.

When I was in 1^st grade, I learned the letter ‘A’ had only two sounds. You know them as the ‘short a’ in ‘cat’ and the ‘long a’ in ‘rake’. As a homeschooling mom, I learned about the 3^rd phonogram for ‘A’. This sound is the ‘ah’ you hear in ‘ahhhh-chooooo!’

3) Is your child beginning to connect strings of sounds (represented by their letters) into short words?

For example, ‘c-a-t’ is ‘cat’ – the furry pet named Fluffy that purrs! This process of putting letters together to make sounds that equal words is called ‘decoding’.

4) Is your emerging reader beginning to decode words more rapidly over time? Research shows a new reader sees a word between four and fourteen times for the word to become a ‘sight word’.

Quick Fact:

A word becomes a ‘sight word’ once it is recognized without needing to be decoded. Many folks try to teach via the ‘sight word’ approach only. Slowing down and teaching all 74 phonograms results in a more solid learning foundation.

Quick Fact:

Children with dyslexia may need to see a word forty times or more to reach this type of fluent recognition of a word.

5) As your child develops fluency, is he beginning to make connections about what he is reading or ‘synthesize’ the material?

At this stage, comprehension allows for reading to learn. You will know you are reaching this pivotal point when you no longer have to read and explain directions before turning you child loose to complete assignments.

So, if you are short of breath because you are sure your child is falling behind on the reading curve, take heart. Some children unexpectedly bloom into fluid readers around the third grade because other pre-reading skills are just reaching maturity.

Remember:

Comparison robs you of peace and your child of the joy of learning. Don’t get caught in the ‘but my child is/is not doing what my friend, neighbor, or relative is doing’ trap! These years are time for gentle paces and lots of praise. You just can’t break your student as long as you instill a love of learning and pride in achievement.

Our goal is to be your soft place to fall on the days you feel anxiety is your best friend! If this article was helpful, let us know in the comments below? If we hit a nerve and you need more information or encouragement about reading skills, email us, leave a comment, or come by the store!

Some of our favorite resources for teaching reading are:

The American Language Series

Explode the Code series beginning with Get Ready for the Code

and

All About Reading

Preschool Play and ‘Socialization’

It’s the word all homeschooling moms dread to hear: socialization. There are many reasons for understanding the stages of preschool play and socialization.

1) When you know the stages children move through as they develop social skills, you may feel more prepared to answer those hot button questions about <gasp> ‘socialization’.

2) Understanding the normal progression of play skills may help you recognize delays in development.

3) Understanding the way children play will help you make wiser choices about how to plan early learning activities.

Children move through four stages of play skills between the ages of birth and five.

a) Solitary – From infancy through to around age two, children play without interacting with others in pre-planned ways. They may laugh when ‘playing’ peek-a-boo with you and indicate a desire for more. Eventually, they learn if they drop an object, you will pick it up.

Think of play at this age as one experiment after another as they attain new skills and make draw conclusions about each new experience compared with others.

They are interacting with the world around them without the back and forth older children have matured into. Play starts when they discover their own hands and feet, toys in the crib around them, or hanging from a car seat handle.

During this part of the learning process, they learn some things (and people) are predictable and some are not.

If your baby and young toddler snatches a toy from another, you are seeing the influence of solitary play skills in action. Rather than label the behavior as bad and react in a panic, simply move your little’s attention to another ‘shinier’ object, and the uproar will quickly be over.

While short attention spans may plague you as your children mature, this season is one to rejoice at how easily distracted they are!

Parallel – Children begin to play ‘in parallel’ around age two. Given the attention to play dates and play groups, you might think age two is about the time children begin to cooperate with other children to ‘play nicely’.

Understanding their limitations in this regard will save you and other moms and children some heart breaking moments of misunderstanding. At this age children enjoy sitting close to one another while playing. They watch, learn, and listen from one another. They want their own things and space, however, and are not ready to ‘share’.

In this parallel stage, everything within reach, maybe even across the room, is ‘personal property’. Your toddler may howl when another child picks up a toy they want.

They are beginning to learn about the concept of ‘sharing’ when they have to relinquish a toy. Sharing won’t be easy yet because of they are still in parallel play mode. Again, their easy distractibility at this age is your ally, so use it!

Associative – Closer to age three and four, children begin to look as though they are playing together when, in fact, they are following one another’s lead. One may build with blocks and another come along side and begin to build. They may talk back and forth, share blocks, and answer questions each ask the other. But, they will build independently of the other v.s. working on building something together.

Cooperative – Between ages four and five, children have usually learned the listening and communication skills to enter into cooperative play. You will note they are able to develop a strategy to pretend and work together on that imaginary scene under way. This is also the time when children begin to be able to work together to play games – even if they make up their own rules!

You’ll hear conversation revolve around who is playing what role or what should happen next in the joint venture. While there still may be squabbles over who will use what playthings, you will also see some skirmishes over who is playing what role in the game afoot.

Understanding the stages of play will help you in planning learning activities. Toddlers will enjoy independent activities that do not require sharing materials like early learning puzzles. K5’ers can work together to play dress up and will enjoy costumes that allow them to try on roles of community helpers.

Knowing what to expect from your child when you are trying to foster social skills will keep you and your child from feeling frustrated and uncertain.

Prepping for High School

If you’ve ever seen one of the extreme prepper shows, you know prepping for high school can seem much the same. The territory seems extreme, foreign, and just a bit – o.k., a whole lot – beyond your reach.

Junior high parents who are prepping to homeschool in high school often feel as though they are getting ready to fall off a cliff of uncertainty. I get it. I do.

You have awakened with a rapid heartbeat and clammy PJ’s. A tiny scream is caught in your throat. You’ve been dreaming about being ill-prepared for your junior high student’s academic career. You have realized with a sinking thud that high school is just around the corner.

G.U.L.P. Things are about to get serious up in your house.

Your head is a-whirl with the idea that you cannot keep on with life as usual. No more park days. No more field trips. No more PJ days. It’s time to scramble to make up for every lost day you’ve let slip by since pre-K days.

Well, know what I have to say to that?

Here’s your brown paper bag. Hold it to your mouth and nose and breathe deeply. Deeeeeeeeeply! In about six years you are going to wonder what all the fuss was about. Yes, I promise.

Look behind you. Yes, go on. Look at all the years that are trailing along behind you. Did you break that 7^th grader yet? Guess what? You aren’t going to break them now either.

Homeschooling is a lot like riding a bike. Remember the days you were on training wheels. Then, someone ran along beside you while you wobbled around without them.

You got brave enough to ride around the block alone, maybe taking out the neighbor’s hedges and skinning a knee and elbow along the way. Before you knew it, you were saying, “Look, Mom!” as you rode without hands.

The early years of homeschooling have been your boot camp for what is coming next. Little by little, you and God have worked together to get you to the edge of this exciting new cliff. And, I admit, it does seem a lot like a cliffhanger.

Remember when your K5’er was using that cute little antique desk you got at a garage sale to show how many ways his body could bend, twist, and wrap like a piece of Playdough?

Didn’t 6th grade seem just as unattainable then? Now look at you! You made it. You really, really made it.

Homeschooling is a skill just like any other you have developed over the course of your life. Scripture promises:

Phillipians 1:6 (Amplified Bible)
I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].

So, today, take a minute and rejoice over the equipping you have been granted over the previous years of homeschooling. Celebrate your successes, and begin to take stock of your strengths. Be honest with yourself about your weaknesses.

Ask the Lord to show you how both of those will work together for the good of your student. Commit what you are doing to him. Listen for his voice as you plan. Be ready to follow his lead if he tweaks something you have planned.

You can do this if it is what he has burned in your heart to do. And yes, you can do it even if it’s hard and uncomfortable and scary.

Why don’t you tell us your biggest fear in the comments below? If it seems too personal, email us. We can share it anonymously on your behalf. I bet big money, someone else needs to know they are not alone in their fear.

Be kind to yourself and your kids today. You deserve it! See you soon.

Image of cliff sitter by Jordan McQueen courtesy of Unsplash.
Image of school desk courtesy of Pixaby.

Pre-K Learning Fundamentals

The preschool years are times of rapid change for our little ones. They go from almost complete dependence to interacting with the world around them in skillful ways.

A basic understanding of Pre-K learning fundamentals will equip you to enjoy these precious years.

For many of us, worksheets and workbooks anchor our ideas about education. The idea of introducing our littles to early academics by those methods is exciting.

When we see our children developing new skills at a rapid rate, the fascination can become a sense of urgency. You find yourself fearful of falling behind if you don’t get ahead of the worksheet learning curve.

When we have older children already homeschooling, it’s even easier to see workbooks and worksheets as the primary approach to early education.

For the visual learner, worksheets may be an enticing and satisfying activity. For other active children who learn by listening or moving, the pencil and paper approach will soon lead to tears and confusion.

What a relief to know: play is the pivotal foundation of learning for our youngest students.

Play fosters opportunities to:

* develop and integrate fine and gross motor skills
* refine visual motor skills
* model and practice social interactions
* investigate life roles and responsibilities
* rehearse maturing vocabulary and language skills
* develop motor planning abilities
* follow a plan through to an end.

Play is just as important in the learning process as the years of ‘book work’ ahead.

When you understand the central role of play in early learning, it’s easy to plan a more relaxed school day. You won’t feel guilty for a day of playful learning.

If you are finding yourself and your littles frustrated, exhausted, and overwhelmed, take a step back. Evaluate the use of play in your homeschool day.

If paper and pencil looked like a good idea, in theory, but resulted in tears and fears, do not despair. Suspend the traditional idea of pen-and-paper anchored learning.

Want to add some play into your Pre-K to K5 day:

Deb Chitwood of Living Montessori Now has tons of early learning ideas just right for the playful homeschool environment.
Before Five in a Row offers wonderful unit-study based resources to fire your playful schooling ideas.
For more information about play and early learning, Early Childhood News has a helpful article by Jill Englebright Fox, PhD.
If you love the idea of hands on activities but feel at a loss to know how to pull it all together, Kate Funk of Ready Made Preschool has a kit just for you!
Check out or online store for pre-school and K5 manipulatives including geobards and a desk set of attribute blocks.

We hope these ideas will get you started! Be sure to leave your thoughts, ideas, and comments below, so we can plan future play-related schooling posts.

Image courtesy of sixninepixels at FreeDigitalPhotos.net