DIY Homeschooler

I remember reading somewhere along the line on during our homeschool journey about a framework one family used to build their homeschool.  We adapted that framework, and others that we encountered that had similar purpose, into a general framework that met our own needs, creating the building blocks that established our learning days.

Our end result looked something like this:

Scripture

The foundation of everything we do.  First we hide God’s word in our hearts.  We have a morning devotion and individual Bible reading time — a time when the entire house is quiet.  We have a family devotional time which has taken different forms throughout the years but always involves a family Bible reading.  We enjoy psalms and hymns and songs.

• Making Scripture Study a Priority
  Whys and hows.

Skill Development

A time to hit the books.  We followed a schedule through skill subjects — reading, writing, math — working sequentially through those skills.  Table time is a vital part of a homeschool day — but not the only part.  And certainly, not more vital than the other parts. Think of it as just another part of the whole.

Covering Content

We covered history, science, art appreciation, music appreciation, and other content in various ways throughout the years.  Much of the content was contained on a reading list — we read through a list full of great history, government, economics, literature, and science biographies.  This wasn’t hands-on activities.  That came later in the day.

Literature Time

A read aloud that the family enjoys together.  One of my favorite times of the day.

• The Library
  A few treasures.

Reading Time

We started this when my oldest was a baby — only the reading time was really my time to read and hers to sleep!  This was carried through as she grew.  During reading time we had a cuddle place on the floor with lots of books handy.  She could pull any books off of the shelf she wanted but had to put one back before selecting another.  As time went on reading time was time to read through our list of great literature.

Creative Pursuits

Hands-on activities that could include science experiments, creative art projects, music practice, and hands-on history projects.  We typically scheduled these for the afternoon.

Projects

Lots of time to cover things our children were interested in.  We had them make a list at the beginning of every year.  Most of the time these lists went unused, but the point was that it got them thinking about what types of projects they would like to work on.  We made sure they had the resources they needed to work on these projects.  Sure, the projects changed over the years.  But in the end they rather solidified, and our children were able to get a great jump on their 10,000 hours.

• 4 Ways to Provide Time for Productive Interests
  A few ideas for making it happen.

The building blocks of your homeschool day may look very different than ours, but I encourage you to think about those elements that are important in your home — those things that make your homeschool well rounded — and schedule those blocks throughout your day!

Additional Resources

Skill Subjects vs. Content Subjects
Self-education takes advantage of the skills we have developed to teach ourselves any content subject area.

A Road Map
Step 5 of our Step-by-Step Guide.

Educational Bucket List — 6 Things To Do Each Day
There are many ways to look at those building blocks!

22 Ways to Love, Do & Think Every Day
Practical ideas.

10 Ways to Stay Well-Rounded
This one is for Mom.