How I Do Homeschool Series
I’ve homeschooled for almost a decade and have learned a lot over the years. As many of you may already know, I have documented a lot of what I’ve learned on my YouTube channel. Even with the wealth of knowledge available there, I wanted to create a series of videos that answered specific questions regarding “how I do homeschool”. The question “Ashlee how do you do…XYZ” has been asked of me so many times and was the inspiration for the playlist I have shared below. I hope you all find these short videos helpful as I answer how we do all the things in our homeschool.
And now for the disclaimer: The way I do things in my homeschool works for me and my family. I am not here telling you to do things the way I do them or that I do it the best. I am sharing the way we do it in hopes that it will encourage you in your own homeschool journey.
PLANNING MY YEAR||WEEK||DAY
Planning your homeschool year can be a daunting task. Watch these videos to learn how I pick a start and end date, begin the year strong, plan quarterly, prepare a week of homeschool, plot weekly science and history lessons, create flows that make our days run smoothly, set up the night before, and much more.
GRADING
I have graded the same way since starting homeschool. In this video, you’ll learn my opinion about grading homeschool work, how I correct work in the moment, check independent work daily, how we adapt with autograde curriculums, and much more.
STANDARDIZED TESTING
Fortunately, I live in a state that doesn’t requires standardized testing, but in this video I share about the best thing you can do for homeschooling in your state, my beliefs about standardized testing, the importance of test taking skills, and much more.
TEACHING MULTIPLE GRADES || MULTIPLE CHILDREN
With four kids, homeschooling multiple grades can get a bit hectic if you don’t have a plan in place. In this video, I share how I find resources that work with all my children, utilize independent work, schedule the flow of the day to fit our homeschooling needs, and much more.
FIELD TRIPS
A wonderful perk to homeschooling is the flexibility to take field trips that align with what you're teaching, but also to take them when it works best for your family. Not to mention that you don’t have a limit to the number of field trips you can take, like many public school systems do. In this video, I share how I select the field trips we’ll take in a year, my experience with field trips as a group versus just our family, and much more.
SUMMER BREAK
Each homeschool family may approach summer break differently. As a year round homeschooler, our summer break looks different from those in public school. In this video I share some of the things I’ve done during our “summer break”, such as review packets or reading challenges. Watch this video for even more information on what our summer breaks look like.
LACK OF EFFORT||OFF TASK||BAD ATTITUDES
Let’s face it. Kids aren’t perfect and neither are you. Sometimes you will encounter bad attitudes, a lack of effort, or a child being off task. In this video I share some tips on how to distinguish between a need that my child may have and a moment of disobedience. I also share how I have developed my children’s character in this area. Watch for more tips.
READING||ASSIGNED||READ ALOUDS
Reading has been a huge part of our homeschool journey from the very beginning. In this video I share how I encourage a love of reading in our homeschool through read alouds, independent reading while also utilizing reading assignments and book reports. Watch for more!
HANDLING CRITICISM AGAINST HOMESCHOOLING
Whether you hear it from your friends, family, strangers, or society, criticism against homeschooling can wreak havoc on your confidence as a homeschooler. In this video, I share how I battled criticism when I first began homeschooling and how I handle it now. Watch for more encouragement in this area.
HOLIDAYS||THEMES||ELECTIVES
Homeschooling my children has provided many opportunities to bring in themes based around seasons and holidays, along with different electives. In this video I share when it is and is not a good idea to include themes in your homeschool, how I plan for upcoming holidays or theme, and what resources I use to help me include themes in my homeschool. I also touch on the electives I use and how we pick them. Watch for more information regarding this topic.
HOMESCHOOLING THROUGH HARD TIMES
Let’s face it, life can be difficult sometimes. Different seasons of life bring different challenges, but if you are homeschooling family, it's important to adapt in those times and not let homeschooling fall through the cracks. In this video, how I navigated heaviness based on things that happen in our world, but also life circumstances that arose and how I approached each situation. For more encouragement in this area, watch the video below.
READING||ASSIGNED READING||KEEPING TRACK
In an earlier video I shared how we do reading in our homeschool. This video is a sequel that is a bit more focused on the topic of assigned reading. Watch for more information on what I do for assigned readers, how I keep track of comprehension, what we expect in our homeschool for reading, and more.
CHOOSING HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM
With so many curriculums out there to choose from, it can be daunting to choose one for your family. In this video, I share how I select the curriculum for each of my children and each subject, what questions I ask myself when choosing curriculum, how I determine if its the right time to switch curriculum and when it is not, and much more.
Be sure to check back for more videos in this series as they come up on my YouTube channel. Until next time!
