Homeschool 2 Hours/Day On a Budget

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By Almost Unschooling Grama Sue Whitson

To my children, my guinea pigs, who would have had a much better

education had I known all this when we started.

Contact Grama Sue on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/almostunschooling

✜ Table of Contents ✜

Chapter 1 ✜ Our Start

Chapter 2 ✜ Ditch Tradition

Chapter 3 ✜ Educational Myths

Chapter 4 ✜ Grades & Grading Systems

Chapter 5 ✜ Record Keeping

Goal Setting

Daily Goals

Long Term-Record Keeping

Materials List

Portfolio

Chapter 6 ✜ Curriculum Ideas

Bible

Math

Language Arts

Social Studies

Science

Health

Life Skills

Art

Music

Chapter 7 ✜ High School

Chapter 8 ✜ College

✜ Epilogue ✜

✜ Appendix ✜

✜ chapter 1 ✜

Our Start

How It All Began

Most people who homeschool started studying the process way before they actually jump in and do it. Not me! To be truthful, I started homeschooling by accident. An “accident” I now believe was God's plan.

Our family’s journey into homeschooling began because I was believing God for a Christian education for my three kids. Tom and I were extremely poor. We had one car and lived in a house with no toilet at the time. The closest Christian school was more than 30 minutes away. Even if we had been given scholarships, the car situation made the prospect of a Christian school nearly impossible, but, with God all things are possible! When my oldest daughter, Mary Jo, turned 5, I reluctantly sent her off to the local kindergarten for ½ day sessions, since no answer to my prayer was in sight. She did well there and had a ball.

The next year, I thought my oldest son, Spence, was ready to learn to read but the woman who taught kindergarten in town was very wise. She told me, “I don’t care how smart he is. He is 4 ½ and he’s a boy. He will be bouncing off the walls and he’s not coming into my classroom.” Later I realized she was absolutely right, but at the time, I got all in a huff and decided to “see what I could do on my own!” I ordered some books through my church, which had started a Christian school that year, but got my order in late. So, when Mary Jo went off to 1st grade, all we had were some Highlights magazines and some flashcards I made up on index cards. When his big sis went to school, my son and I sat down for 90 minutes every day to “do school.”

Mary Jo had a fantastic Christian teacher at school, but within a couple of weeks, it became apparent that Mary Jo was falling behind and would need extra help if she was going to make it. She was the type of kid that needed 14 hours of sleep every day and a nap. She was getting on the school bus at 7am every day and coming home at 4pm. By the time she got home, she was tired, over-stimulated, and crabby. There was no way I could help her. She usually fell asleep by 6pm. Not to mention the fact that we no longer had any time to learn her Bible verses! By the end of three weeks, Spence was starting to read and Mary Jo hadn’t learned a thing.

On a whim, I decided to call an acquaintance that I had heard through the grapevine was homeschooling. I figured it would cost thousands of dollars to do, but I had to find out what the rules were. She assured me homeschooling was entirely within reach for us so I approached my husband, Tom.

A couple of years before that, Tom had driven the school bus. He wasn’t exactly morally pure at the time, but he had seen enough on the bus to cause even him great concern. So, he agreed with me to homeschool. He said, “Go ahead. Just don’t get thrown in jail.” It wasn't too long before he started saying, “If someone comes to throw us in jail for homeschooling; I'll meet them at the door with a gun!”

At first, I was going to wait until the semester break to pull Mary Jo out, but by the next week, things had deteriorated so badly I revised my plans. I would pull her out after the first report card. By the end of the 5th week I could stand it no longer and withdrew her. Once home, Mary Jo thrived. Our family peace was restored and she learned to read very quickly.

Like many people who start homeschooling, I was only going to do it for 2 or 3 years, but by the 2nd year we were hooked. It was a lifestyle. This little “accident” provided a better education for my children than they would have ever received in a traditional school, it was less expensive than a private school, and God had answered my impossible prayer for a “Christian education.” Once I figured out that I didn't need a bunch of expensive curriculum, it was actually less expensive than sending my children to public school! I spent less than $50 a year to educate all three of my children and that was before the Internet!

Unlikely Candidate for Homeschooling

My life was a total mess and my house showed it! It was not unusual to see moldy dishes in my house and finding a path to walk thru was difficult. I could not discipline myself, much less my kids. When I look back, I just have to shake my head. How could someone like that even think about homeschooling?

Homeschooling was not part of what I wanted to do; in fact I was looking forward to sending them off to school so I could have a break. When I gave birth to my third baby (son, Jesse), I found myself grieving because I would now have a total of 11 years of having preschoolers in the house! Shoot! I didn't even want kids to begin with! I can't imagine actually "planning" to get pregnant!

Being a homeschooling “teacher” wasn’t in the plan. I didn't have a teaching certificate. I could barely add 2 + 2 without a calculator, and although I read very well and had high comprehension, I struggled to read out loud. It was weird, but for me, words printed on paper were another language that I rarely translated into English. I was also incredibly sick and disorganized. Several years later I found out that I had been operating on less than half my lung capacity all through that time. How could I ever teach my kids?

Additionally, we were so poor that I had to work. In the early 1980s, the country was going through a deep recession and the farming community was experiencing a real depression. Very few young adults in our community had steady jobs. Our total income often was less than $5,000/year. For varying reasons, we had not qualified for unemployment or state aid. At one point we did but ended up declining it because it was nearly impossible to stay qualified without cheating or getting a divorce. As a result of all this and having three babies, when I started homeschooling in 1985, we were deeply in debt and still living well below the poverty line. The first two years of homeschooling, I cleaned houses, helped care for my husband's dying grandfather, and raised sheep. For the next 9 years, I worked outside the home at varying jobs 50 - 60 hours a week.

Nope, I can't think of anyone less qualified to homeschool their children! I was horrible at housekeeping. Children weren’t “my thing” and I couldn’t wait to be “free” of them. I was sick a lot of the time and that made it hard to concentrate. I didn’t have a degree or teaching qualifications. Our finances were bad and I had to work more than full-time hours to help keep the family going. If ever there were an unlikely candidate to homeschool their kids - it was ME!

Praise God! We did it anyway.

Are You Ready For the Journey?

You might be a little intimidated by the prospect of homeschooling. I started homeschooling back in the Stone Age and I’m pretty sure I’ve made all the mistakes. Hopefully, I can help you overcome some of the obstacles that you will encounter with some practical advice and tips.

You hold in your hands, more than just a book, but also my prayers for your success. I hope and pray that your homeschooling experience, no matter what form it takes or what it ends up looking like, will be a blessing to you and your family and ultimately in the lives of the people you live in community with.

May God richly bless the work of your hands and give you wisdom as you move forward on this exciting journey.

Grama Sue

The Almost Unschooling Grama

P.S. - don’t worry; the “end of the story” will be shared with you too!

✜ chapter 2 ✜

Ditch Tradition

So what does homeschooling look like? To be quite truthful, there are as many

different ways to homeschool as there are families who homeschool, but it is helpful

to look around at what other people do so that you can decide what is best for your

family. If you have access to the Internet look up “homeschooling styles”. There are

several basic models, but most families are a mix of two or more.

Some people have their children start the day at a certain time with the Pledge of

Allegiance. They try as best as they can to replicate a high-end private school. The

children sit at desks, use textbooks, and have recess time, the whole nine yards. I started out that way. Lots of people do. But most of us soon find our children doing their school work at the kitchen table, on the floor, or in bed!

The truth is that most children learn much better with a looser structure. There are even many families who never make an assignment, never use a textbook (unless the child decides they want to!), never have any “lessons,” don't teach their children to read or do math unless the child asks, and never, ever give a test. Their kids go to college, even places like Harvard! It's a homeschooling style called “unschooling.”

Sounds impossible, doesn't it?

Radical unschoolers believe all children are naturally in love with learning and that to push them in any direction will dampen their love and stifle their creativity. They believe children, like adults, learn best if they want to learn whatever it is they are studying and that children (if free to follow their own interests) will learn all that they need to know. Radical unschooling parents encourage their children to explore their world by reading to them, inviting them to work alongside them, and providing them with books, videos, games, puzzles, and other items they might be interested in, but they don't push them in any particular direction. Radical unschoolers practice “strewing,” that is, providing materials they think their child might be interested in around the home but waiting until their child takes an interest in it to work with it. They also allow their children to focus on one particular activity as long as they want. If they are fascinated by a particular game and want to spend hours playing it, they let them. They point out that computer games involve math, science, and language. They also often involve history. If the child wants to take trombone lessons and decides to quit after two months, they also allow that. They believe life can't be divided into subjects or grade levels and insist that children will learn things like math from cooking and building forts.

Sounds crazy, huh? But the fact is that it works. I've seen this with my own children.

Mary Jo, my daughter, learned measuring and fractions through cooking and sewing. She is also a Civil War expert because of the time she spent doing re-enacting. Spence, my oldest boy, loved to watch TV for hours on end. He not only was able to win almost every Scholastic Bowl game for his team when he went to high school but when his grandpa needed to frame a door, Spence took over and framed it up all by himself. Where did he learn that? From his TV addiction! Jesse, my youngest boy, learned to do complicated algebraic problems with his dad figuring out how much seed and fertilizer his “to scale” pretend farm would need for each field.

While it's not radical unschooling, the homeschooling system I have developed over the years is very child-led and it can cost very, very little. The major differences between what I practice and radical unschooling are that I have a little more structure and I actively introduce things if I think the child is capable. I also encourage my kids to stick with something for a while if they don't catch on right away. But, if they just aren't interested or they are really getting frustrated, I drop it. Each child is different. If they aren't getting it, they may need to be taught another way, they may just need to wait until they are a little older before they will catch on, or like the trombone example, it just might not be for them.

✜ chapter 3 ✜

Education Myths

If you grew up in a traditional school, you might have picked up a few misconceptions along the way. These things aren’t so much “taught” as “caught” because the system is set up one way and if that is all you have ever experienced, you may think it is the only right way. Until you “hear” the other side, you might never question your experience. Most of us have to do a little paradigm-shifting when we start our homeschool journey. Here’s a list of some of the most common misconceptions.

1. Homeschooling is illegal or there are impossible requirements to meet.

Fact: Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, but the requirements vary in each. When considering homeschooling, the first thing you need to do is contact your state homeschooling association. They can give you a copy of the law for your particular state and help you understand how to comply with those laws. They will also be able to connect you with other homeschoolers in your state. The support and encouragement you will get from them will be invaluable.

Do not contact your local school or state Department of Education until you know what is required. It is rare that they actually know what the law requires for homeschoolers and even if they do, they lose money if your child doesn't attend their school so they aren't likely to give you the whole truth. This is not to say they will purposely lie to you (although some do); they just don’t have any incentive to learn what the laws really are. It is not unusual for them to tell you what they “think” instead of what the law requires. It is rare that you will get good information from them.

2. The state has a responsibility to educate my children. That is why there are laws that force children to go to school.

Fact: Parents are responsible to see that children are educated. Children who do not have a high level of parental involvement in their education are unlikely to receive a good education anywhere. Compulsory education laws were enacted because some children and teenagers were on the streets committing crimes. People thought if they could compel children to go to school, this would solve the problem. It has not. In spite of record spending in our public schools, juvenile delinquency and adult illiteracy still abound. Juveniles with the least parental involvement are the most prone to dropping out and/or getting into trouble.

3. Making sure that children get a good education is such a complicated process that only highly educated people are qualified to oversee this process.

Fact: Numerous studies show that homeschooled students score 20% to 30% higher for their grade and age level on standardized tests than public schooled students.

When parental education levels are recorded, no appreciable difference can be found between homeschooling parents who did not complete high school and those who have college degrees. http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000010/200410250.asp

4. A teacher’s certificate ensures that a person is qualified to teach.

Fact: If you have had a public-school education, you know this one is not true. While most certified teachers love children and are truly talented, there are also certified teachers who are incompetent, neglectful, and even abusive.

5. I’m not educated enough to teach my children at any level.

Fact: The only qualification parents need to teach their children is a commitment to do whatever it takes to ensure their children get a good education. Homeschooling parents typically learn right along with their children. There are ample resources from which parents can learn what they need to teach their children: teacher’s manuals, Internet sites, and homeschool support groups are just a few.

6. Parents cannot educate at the high school level unless they have a good grasp on high-level subjects such as calculus or chemistry.

Fact: One of the basic principals of homeschooling is teaching children to seek out information so they can learn independently. To have one’s children pass you up in knowledge of certain subjects is a goal every parent should strive for. This can be accomplished through independent study, correspondence courses, community college classes, and apprenticeships. It is not unusual for homeschooled students to begin taking community college classes at the age of 15 or 16.

7. Children with learning disabilities cannot be homeschooled.

Fact: Children with learning disabilities, who are homeschooled, like their “normal ” counterparts, have more parental involvement than traditionally schooled children.

They are also not segregated in the home as they often are in traditional school systems. As a result, homeschooled students with disabilities have a comparatively higher rate of success, just as the homeschool population in general. There are organizations and groups devoted exclusively to homeschooling learning disabled students from which parents can learn and share educational strategies.

8. Homeschooling takes a lot of money.

Fact: By taking advantage of used curriculum, libraries, and Internet sites, many families whittle their educational expenses to less than they would typically spend on book rentals and activity fees if they sent their children to public school.

9. Homeschooling takes a huge time commitment from parents.

Fact: Parents of children who are doing well in public school typically invest as many or more hours supervising homework, getting their children ready for school, and transporting their children to and from school and extra-curricular activities as most homeschooling parents. “The child who attends public school typically spends approximately 1,100 hours a year there, but only twenty percent of these — 220 — are spent, as the educators say, ‘on task’. Nearly 900 hours, or eighty percent, are squandered on what are essentially organizational matters.” ~ Homeschooling for Excellence, David Colfax. It takes much less time to teach a few children than a class of 20 or 30. Most homeschooled students accomplish in 1-3 hours a day what takes 6 hours plus homework time for traditionally schooled students.

10. Working parents can’t homeschool.

Fact: Working and single parents are successfully homeschooling across the US. Some have home businesses, others have babysitters, family, or other homeschoolers take care of their children while they work and homeschool during their off-hours. Many working parents who homeschool find themselves spending equal or less time than their public-school counterparts participating in educational activities. Bonus: They do not have to deal with the negative social aspects of public school.

11. Homeschooled students will have difficulty getting into college or the military because they won’t get a diploma from an accredited high school.

Fact: Many colleges actively recruit homeschooled students because they are typically better prepared for adult life and study. Homeschooled students typically present a portfolio of their work to 4-year universities or start college at community colleges and then transfer to a 4-year university.

Successfully completing one year of college negates the requirement for an accredited high school diploma in nearly any situation. Many homeschooled students start taking classes at community colleges or online schools while in high school and have their first year completed by the time they “graduate”.

Another avenue for students wanting to join the military is to enroll in an accredited online or correspondence high school program. There are even some free ones out there.

12. Homeschooled children aren’t eligible for scholarships.

Fact: There are all kinds of scholarships out there that are available to homeschoolers. Some even are available exclusively to homeschoolers.

13. Homeschooled children miss out on dealing with others the same age so they cannot develop healthy social skills.

Fact: Children will imitate those they are around most. If we want our children to grow up to be adults, who do we want them to be around most? Children or adults?

Regular schools have an artificial social structure that does not in any way reflect the real world. They actually foster unhealthy age discrimination and negative peer pressure. Families are set up with God’s wisdom in mind. Older children imitate their parents, younger children imitate their older siblings, and older children learn to teach and be responsible by caring for younger children.

It is the rare homeschool parent who isolates their children. Most are involved in church, clubs, home business, and other activities which expose the children to a wide variety of people of all ages while giving the parent the opportunity to closely supervise and correct the child's social behaviors.

Statistics show homeschooled adults outshine traditionally schooled adults in the area of socialization. They have better self-esteem. They are more likely to be involved in government, volunteer work, and own their own businesses. Among homeschooled adults, the rates of drug use, suicide, depression, crime, and illegitimate pregnancy are significantly lower. The results speak for themselves.

At the founding of our country, only a small minority of people received a formal education and even then, it was usually only for 2-5 years. If grouping children in classes of people all the same age for 13 years is necessary for proper socialization, producing men like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and all who helped to found our country would have been impossible.

14. Homeschooled children cannot participate in organized sports.

Traditional schools are not the only place where organized sports are played. There are YMCAs, churches, summer baseball, private leagues, and homeschool groups to name a few. Many public schools also make accommodations for home and private schooled students to play on their teams.

✜ chapter 4 ✜

Grades and Grading Systems

When I was a kid, my folks took me for swimming lessons every year. I could never get past the “guppy” class because there was a particular move that was required before they would pass you into the class where you actually learned to swim. I could not, for the life of me, do this move, year after year. My dad finally got disgusted with it. He demonstrated to me how to do the butterfly stroke and the dog paddle and explained to me that I needed to kick my feet. Then he put me in a rowboat, took me out to a place in the lake that was over my head, and told me to get out. I did and I swam!

The “school” my parents sent me to actually held me back and kept me from achieving the purpose for which I had been sent there. The “grade” structure of a typical school often does the same thing. They focus on weaknesses instead of building on strengths. As a result, many kids come out of the system convinced that they are failures and unable to function well in society.

The beauty of homeschooling is that each child can work at their own pace in every area. It is very common for homeschooled children to be reading at a “5th-grade level” while working on math at a “2nd grade level” and vice versa. With the method of homeschooling that I am going to show you in this book, the bright 7-year-old isn't limited to the 2nd-grade curriculum and the 10-year-old who is still learning her multiplication tables isn't forced into doing fractions.

Another problem with the typical school is the A, B, C, D, F grading system. This grading system was set up to give parents and students an idea about how the student was performing in any given subject, but it is very limited. It doesn't actually give any details about what the child has learned. Different school systems have different things that are taught in different grades so an A in one school system will mean something entirely different in another system.

Grading even varies from one teacher to another or from one grade level to another. Some teachers and schools recognize that children cannot excel in all subjects at a certain age, so they grade according to ability. This is noble, but when the child gets into a competitive setting they fail and the parents can't understand why. I've had several parents come to me and say, “My child was getting As in ______ until she got into 7th grade and now all of a sudden she's flunking.” When I would sit down with the child, I would find they were way behind in basic skills for that subject.

Grading encourages mediocrity and contributes to low self-esteem. People, in general, are driven to conformity. This tendency is even more pronounced in children. If a child is talented when it comes to book smarts, he will be taunted by the others as “too smart.” The temptation will be to just skim by with a B or a C. If children are not as capable in an area, they come to believe they are worthless or defective in some way.

Mastery learning is a much better practice. Children should be encouraged to master what they are learning. You can get by in life with “B” or “C” work, but you will never truly succeed. When kids have a chance to work at something until they master it without being compared to everyone else, they learn about what it takes to be excellent.

They also learn about their strengths and weaknesses without being shamed. Mastery learning focuses on building strengths instead of fixing weaknesses. That's not to say that weaknesses never need to be dealt with, but oftentimes it's just not necessary for the child to grow up to be a successful adult. There are multiple ways to accomplish and learn.

If a child is having difficulty grasping something, (like the move required in my "guppy" class) there are other ways you can help the child master an area in spite of her weakness. History can be learned through documentaries if a child is not a proficient reader. And how many adults do you know who use a calculator for basic math calculations? My youngest son will probably never be an excellent reader, but driving trucks and tractors doesn't require that. He is able to back a semi into a place six inches wider than the trailer without hitting anything. That is excellence! Mastery learning encourages children to become excellent in the areas in which they are capable of being excellent.

Homeschooling parents are able to encourage their children to do this because they are there. They know what the child is learning and what she is capable of and they can tailor the child's “curriculum” to fit that child exactly.

✜chapter 5 ✜

Record Keeping

So let's get down to the nitty-gritty of this! It doesn't matter where you live. If education is compulsory, you need to keep good records. Even if it wasn't, good records will help your kids in many areas of life. If they ever go to another school, they will need their records transferred. If they want to get a job, the records you keep can help them with a resume. If you learn to keep good records now, you will be able to teach your children to keep good records. Although it takes a little time, record keeping is a vital tool in one of life's greatest challenges: time management. Learn to keep good records and teach your kids.

The first step in creating a curriculum that fits your children is to sit back for a couple of weeks. Don't “do” any school work. Just observe and record what your children are doing both individually and as a family. The object here is to study each child. Record what they are doing on a form like the examples on the next pages. Then go back over the activities and identify any activities that could be classified as “educational”. This is what I call “learning to speak educationeze.” Yes, I made that word up. You will find that your children are already learning lots of things with no prodding from you. This is the starting point from which you will build an individualized curriculum for each of them.

What is each child's basic schedule? When do they eat and sleep? Are there certain activities they participate in on a regular basis? What, specifically, do they do at church or at scouts? What TV shows do they like? What games? What pretend games do they play? Do they help with chores? Do they do crafts? Do they play instruments? What kinds of music do they listen to? Do they build forts? Sing? Dance? Garden? Work on cars?

Helping with household chores is called “Life Skills.” Cooking and sewing can be called “Home Ec” and “Math” (because of the measuring and fractions involved). Animaniacs can be the starting point for “History”. Dora the Explorer and Dirty Jobs are “Social Studies”. Mythbusters, Sid the Science Kid, working on cars and gardening are all “Science”. Listening to someone read, reading, writing notes, e-mails or lists and even playing Simon Says can all be “Language Arts.” Riding bikes, climbing trees, cutting wood, shoveling snow and raking leaves count as “PE.” Gardening can count both as “PE” and “Science.” There are often math skills involved in gardening as well. Measuring when planting and weighing the produce you bring in are just a couple of examples. A grocery store trip can be “Math” or “Language Arts.” Challenge your kids to estimate the bill. If the store isn't too busy, have them pay the cashier. Have them read the ingredients. Take a calculator with you and have them figure out the price per ounce. Crafts and finger painting are “Art.” Pretend play is “Drama.” Singing at church is “Music.” Got the idea?

The following is an example of what your child study might look like.

Child Study

Name: Date:

Hour Activities Categories

6-7am	Wake up, shower, pick up room	Home Ec, Health (hygiene)
7-8am	Breakfast, dishes	Home Ec
8-9am	Played Minecraft	Soc. Studies, Math, Science, La. Arts
9-10am	Helped dad fix car	Science
10-11am	Bike riding	PE
11-Noon	Craft time	Art
Noon-1pm	Lunch
1-2pm	Quiet time reading	La. Arts
2-3pm	Watched SpongeBob and Looney Tunes	OK, not everything is educational
3-4pm	Outdoors with neighbor kids, climbing trees	PE
4-5pm	Running, doing cartwheels	PE
5-6pm	Watched news on TV	Current Events, Science (weather)
6-7pm	Supper, dishes	Home Ec
7-8pm	Watch Deadliest Catch & Gold Rush	Social Studies
8-9pm	Pick up house and get ready for bed.	Home Ec
9-10pm	Bed time

Categories can be but are not limited to: Bible, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, PE, Art, Music, Life Skills, Home EC, Drama, and Music

Notes:

Feel free to copy and paste my blank forms!

Child Study

Name: Date:

Hour Activities Categories

6-7am
7-8am
8-9am
9-10am
10-11am
11-Noon
Noon-1pm
1-2pm
2-3pm
3-4pm
4-5pm
5-6pm
6-7pm
7-8pm
8-9pm
9-10pm

Categories can be but are not limited to: Bible, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, PE, Art, Music, Life Skills, Home EC, Drama, Music

Notes:

Goal Setting

So, you've spent a couple of weeks discovering all the things your kids are learning just naturally. It's time to set some goals and document all this learning!

Decide what subjects to study, depending on the age and abilities of your child. Look at your local school curriculum for ideas about subjects. Most schools teach the core subjects of Reading, Writing, Math, History, Science, Social Studies, Art, Music, and PE, but classes may have more specific names, especially in the higher grades.

On the next page is a chart to help you brainstorm. I call it a class planning sheet. Make enough copies for each “subject area” or “class.” Write the name of one area on one page, then if your child is old enough, have him think of four things he would like to learn in that area. Leave big spaces between each goal. For instance, in math he might want to learn his time tables, how to count back money, measuring, and reading a traditional clock.

When you have four, go back to each one and think of activities that might help him achieve that goal. Then choose at least one of those activities to put on the assignment sheet. Be sure to use your child study notes to identify activities he is already working on. Those should be at the top of the list. Most kids prefer hands-on activities and games, but some really like flashcards and worksheets. Go with assignments that fit his personality. If your child has “assignments” that he wants to do, you will avoid 99.99% of all the stress typically associated with “school.” Strive for a “no more tears” education. They will learn more and your relationship will soar!

You do not have to work on all four goals at one time unless you want to. This is just a tool to help you figure out where to go. You may be working on a goal and find a rabbit trail you want to follow or decide that one of the goals just isn't important enough to pursue right now. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Look for ways to tie the different subject areas together. I find it helpful to plan Social Studies or Science first. Say your child is really interested in horses. You can put down “study the history of horses” on the Social Studies sheet, “learn the parts of a horse” on the Science sheet, “learn how horses are measured” and “timing races” on the Math sheet, “read Black Beauty” on the Language Arts sheet, “horseback riding” on the PE chart, and “learn to draw a horse” on the Art sheet.

Class Planning Worksheet

Subject ________________________________________________

Goal #1

Goal #2

Goal #3

Goal # 4

Daily & Long Term Record Keeping

Set up a table with 8 columns. On the left side put assignments or activities and the other 7 columns are to record what is done each day.

Daily Assignment Sheet #___

Name: Week Starting: Ending:

Activity	Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat

Write the name of each class in the activity column and leave several blank lines below it. Typically, you will need 2 or 3 activity sheets for each week.

Set daily time goals and then decide on activities to do that will fulfill those time goals. Use the goal/brainstorming worksheet to help you do this. Write those activities under the class name. Always leave 2 or 3 rows empty for spontaneous or new activities you decide to add during the week.

For instance: One day, my mission-style rocker sparked a discussion about the social Christianity movement of the late nineteenth century. Under history, we added this discussion. We could easily have added a research paper on the history of the YMCA or started reading the book What Would Jesus Do for a Language Arts activity.

Daily Assignment Sheet #1

Name: Week Starting: Ending:

Activity	Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Min/ E
LANGUAGE ARTS
Journal
Spelling
Typing
Reading


Time/E-Points

Another thing I like to do is build in rewards for completed or well-done work. I call this method “E-points.” “E” stands for excellence. At the end of each day or week (depending on the child's age) we count up their E-points and pay them in play money that they can spend on whatever rewards we had decided beforehand would be available. A treasure box with small toys works well for small children. Older kids might buy a date with Dad, screen time, or a sleepover with friends. The thing is to give your child the motivation to make learning fun. Adults rarely do things without some reward associated with it. Why should kids?

Record time spent doing activities for each class in the day columns. Also, note any E-points earned. Add the total time each day and put it under the appropriate day in the class row. At the bottom of each page, total all the E-points for the day. Older children should be encouraged to keep their own records.

For preschool children, you may not want to keep time records or E-points, but checking off the activities as you do them each day will help keep you focused.

In this example, the blue numbers = time and the red numbers = E-points

Activity	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri
LANGUAGE ARTS
Journal	20 * 29	30 * 38	15 * 12	40 * 45	15 * 12
Spelling	10 * 2	10 * 1	10 *2	10 * 1	10 * 2
Typing	20 * 5	20 * 5	20 * 10	20 * 5	20 * 5



Time/E-Points	50 / 36	60 / 44	45 / 24	70 / 51	45 / 19

Daily Assignment Sheet #___

Name: Week Starting: Ending:

Activity	Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat















E - Points

NOTES:

Daily Assignment Sheet #1

Name: Week Starting: Ending:

Activity	Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Min/ E
BIBLE
Read Narnia		15 * 10	30 * 10	20 * 6	15 * 5	20 * 5	20 * 5	120/41
Exodus	20 * 5	20 * 2	20 * 3	20 * 4	20 * 2	20 * 4	20 * 8	140/28
Memory Vs		10 * 1	10 * 1	10 * 1	10 * 13	10 * 1		50/17
Church	90			90				180
Time/E-Points	110/5	45/13	60/14	140/11	45/20	50/10	40/13	490/86
LANG ARTS
Reading		60 * 1	30 * 1	45 * 25	25 * 1			160/28
Journal		30 * 14	20 * 10	15 * 6	25 *8			90/38
Copy Work		10 * 24	10 * 21	10 * 12	10 * 18			40/75
Spelling/Vocab		10 * 2	10 * 1	10 * 1	10* 2			40/6
Chat/FB	180	30	90	15	20	50	60	445
Typing		15 * 1	15 * 10	15 * 1	15 * 1			60/13
Time/ E- Points	180	155/42	175/43	110/45	105/30	50	60	835/ 160
MATH
Store		25	25	15	10			75
Work sheet		20 * 10	20 * 9	20 * 10	25 * 10			85/39
Domino Math		30 * 10	40 * 10	15 * 10	20 * 10			105/ 40
Monopoly						120		120
Chart time	5 * 1	10* 10	5 * 1	5 * 1	5 * 1	5 * 1	5 * 1
Time/E -Points	05 * 1	85/30	90/19	55/20	60/20	125	05 * 1	385/81
Sheet Totals	295/6	285/85	325/76	305/76	210/70	220/1	105/13	1750/ 327

NOTES: Mem. Vs Prov. 29:11 Complete, Prov. 29:22

The preceding chart is an example of what a middle school student's chart might look like. I generally print it out with the daily activities, but I let the students fill in the time and E-points. I also challenge them to total up the points themselves. This is great basic math and self-checking practice. I give them an E-point each day for correctly totaling each subject area. If the student is able to get the numbers to match from both the columns and the rows when we complete the chart, I give him extra points that day. You might want to skip all this and teach your child to use a spreadsheet to keep his records on. Both ways are good practice for adult life.

You might have noticed that the bulk of the work is only being done four days a week. When I first began homeschooling, we had “school” five days a week, nine months a year. We took the summer off like regular schools. The next year I spent the first two months of the next year re-teaching what I had taught the year before. That seemed pretty silly to me, so I decided to shorten the school week and take shorter vacations when we wanted them. I aimed for four days a week in the winter months, but during the summer if we got two or three days in, I was happy. In Illinois, there is no minimum amount of days or hours required by the state. I found that 100 days a year with this schedule was more than enough to keep the kids up to speed, but it is good to aim for the 180 days!

There will be approximately three sheets total for a middle school student. Arrange them so each subject area has at least two blank spaces to record spontaneous learning. On the last one put a row for weekly totals to add up all three sheets together. I tell my kids to round their time to the nearest five-minute mark. If you were to give each child a stopwatch, you could make it more accurate, but personally, I'd forget to turn it on about half the time, so I can't expect my kids to do that :) Grace is a wonderful thing!

Some states require parents to report a certain number of hours per year per subject and in high school, you will want to keep track in order to award credits. A spreadsheet can easily track each subject. If your child is old enough, have her help you set it up.

To keep track of time spent working in each subject area over the course of the year, set up a chart or a spreadsheet similar to the one on the next page.

Long Term Time Tracking

Name: Start Date: End Date:

	Bible	Math	Science	Social Studies	Lang. Arts	PE	Music	Art
Starting Time	780	920	635	710	615	450	360	485

DA #:
5	235	220	175	230	195	130	150	85
6	310	350	315	270	225	180	100	145
7	185	230	310	120	360	80	65	260
8	170	190	285	300	150	100	145	130

Ending Time	900	990	1085	905	930	490	460	620
YTD	1680	1910	1720	1615	1545	940	820	1105
Total Hours	28	31.83	28.67	26.92	25.75	15.67	13.67	18.42

It is a good idea to total the yearly time on many times during the year. [ASB2] Four weeks at a time allows you to adjust focus if one subject doesn't have enough time. In the starting time row, enter the times from the previous chart. Then add the total minutes from each subject area on the Daily Assignment sheets. Subtotal the times from the Daily Assignment sheets. Then, add in the starting totals. To record how many hours have been spent in each subject, divide the Year to Date minutes by 60.

Materials List

Another useful form is a Materials List. This helps to document sources for the Course Completion chart which I will tell you about next. Keep the same type of information that you would to document a research paper. A blank list is provided on the next page.

Materials List Name:

Dates Used	Item or Activity	Source	Used For
Write in start date and leave blank until the material is no longer used, then put end date.	Name of: Book, Game, Web Site, TV Show, Movie, Class or Activity, Person, etc.	Publisher, Author, URL, TV channel, school or organization, etc.	Subjects – Can be more than one.
Examples:
8/10/2013 - 12/13/2013	Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons	Siegfried Engelmann Publisher: Simon and Schuster	Language Arts
09/14/13	Exploring caves and touring Hannibal, MO	Mark Twain Cave Historic District	Science and Social Studies
10/01/13	Addition Games	http://www.fun4thebrain.com/addition.html	Math
10/15/13	Sid the Science Kid	IPTV Channel 22 on Dish	Science
01/17/13	Eagle Days – Exhibits, Hands on Craft Booth, Pow Wow, Native American Dancing	Keokuk Mall	Science, Social Studies, Art, PE

Materials List

Name:

Dates Used	Item or Activity	Source	Used For

Portfolio

The following is an actual mastery learning record. It contains much more information than a report card with grades. These are the records that go with your child to another school or to college. They can also be used to create resumes. I always started a new one at the beginning of October and updated it quarterly. You can choose to update more or less often. Just be consistent.

To compile it, gather together all of your child's daily activity sheets and materials lists, then go through each subject and list those things which your child has accomplished. If you are keeping time records, include those as well.

It is also a good idea to keep a file with samples of your child's best work, pictures of projects, letters of recommendation from adults outside the family who work with your child on projects or jobs and anything else you can think of to document your child's learning. You might want to post these to a blog on a regular basis. It would be a great way to keep all these memories, help others who are on this journey and to have it readily available if you should ever be called on to “prove” you are educating your children.

COURSE COMPLETION RECORDS

For ____(name)____ 9/4/11 – 3/10/12

BIBLE

Assignment Date Complete

1. Read and journal Psalms to 35 3/01/12

2. Memorize OT Bible books 12/8/11

3. Scriptures memorized

Romans 5:21, Gal. 1:4, Luke 6:47, Ps 119:18, Ps 122:6,

1 Cor 3:3, Ps 141:3, Ps 142:7 3/01/12

3. Memorize NT Bible books still working

5. Firm Foundations: The Atonement, Repentance,

Prosperity and Giving 1/18/12

6. Bible Trivia Game

7. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis 12/01/12

8. The Door in the Dragon’s Throat by Frank Peretti 2/24/12

MATH

Assignment or Skill Date Complete

1. Count By’s to 11’s 3/01/02

2. Learn-O-Math division in 5 min. 10/17/11

3. Counts change 11/30/11

4. Divides 3 digit # by 2 digit# still working

5. Adds & subtracts like fractions 11/6/11

6. Reads traditional clocks 10/11/11

7. Divides any # by a one-digit # 11/7/11

8. Learn O Math division in 5 min. 10/17/11

9. Rounds #s to nearest 10, 100, 1000 11/30/11

10. Adds and subtracts unlike fractions 3/01/12

11. Multiplies 4 digit #’s by 4 digit #’s 10/17/11

12. Completes Geometry Lines and Segments

By Key Curriculum Press still working

13. Multiplies decimals 3/01/12

14. Multiplies fractions still working

15. Adds and subtracts mixed fractions still working

16. Subtraction flashcards in 4 min still working

LANGUAGE ARTS

Assignments Date Completed

1. Spelling - 43 words 3/01/12

2. Journal - 9 sentences/day 3/01/12

3. Copy Work - 1 paragraph/day 11/30/11

4. Looks up words and identifies correct meaning 3/01/12

5. Kaplan Speed Reading

Beginning: WPM 132, Comp. 81%

Ending: WPM 200, Comp. 100% 3/01/12

6. Capitalization 3/01/12

7. Typing Mavis Beacon WPM 14, Acc. 100% 3/01/12

8. Excursions reading comprehension game 11/30/11

9. Rummy Roots Concentration & Go Fish still working

10. The Farming Game still working

11. Silent Reading Books Completed:

Berenstain Bears in the Giant bat Cave by Stan & Jan Berenstain

Berenstain Bears Meet Big Paw by Stan & Jan Berenstain

Dinotopia by James Lurney

Jokes & Riddles by Scholastic

Animal Hiding Places by Jamie R. McCauly

Karen’s Hurricane by Scholastic

Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul by Heath Communications

The Door in the Dragons Throat by Frank Peretti

The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare

12. Wheel of Fortune game still playing

13. Phonics game still playing

14. Parts of speech still working

18. Kaplan’s Vocabulary game still playing

SCIENCE

Assignment Date Complete

1. 20 Vocabulary words 3/01/12

2. Listen to younger child read:

Health Safety & Manners 2 by Abeka 11/8/11

3. Experiments and Projects:

Tear apart a VCR, dissect a chicken, identify plants and

plant parts, use different thermometers, sound waves,

amplification, water lenses, molds, worm growing

4. TV shows - Bill Nye the Science Guy, 3, 2, 1 Contact

5. Listen to “Plants” article in encyclopedia 10/14/12

6. Listen to “Cells” article in encyclopedia 10/26/12

7. Greenhouse tour 2/15/12

SOCIAL STUDIES

Assignment Date Complete

1. Listen to Joan of Arc 10/5/11

2. Read King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

by Howard Plyle 11/16/11

3. Knows European countries 1/16/12

4. Hancock Co. Courthouse field trip 11/16/11

5. Projects:

Build a castle, make armor, King Arthur puppet skit,

play chess, Biblical house

6. Read aloud Eye Witness Books - Castle by Christopher Gravett 12/14/11

7. Timeline: 40 entries 3/01/12

8. Read Looking at Ancient History by R.J. Unstead still working

9. Fire and Police Station field trip 1/11/12

10. Trucking Trip and Journal 2/02/12

Activities- Walking, gardening, hackey sack, exercise bike

ART

tie-dye, puppet making, coloring, tin can lamps, craft stick Star of David, paper chains, salt dough ornaments, mosaic bean macaroni, glory hoops, 3 SB skits w/props, Valentine’s cards, frost cookies, violin

SPANISH

Play game, numbers 1-20

✜ chapter 6 ✜

CURRICULUM IDEAS

By now you should have a good sense of how to organize and document your child's learning. So I want to spend some time sharing some of the activities that have worked well for my kids! There are many, many other great activities out there. Keep your eyes open and if you can't find what you want, be creative and make up your own curriculum!

Bible

Besides the obvious spiritual value, there are lots of great reasons to study the Bible. Bible reading greatly increases comprehension. When I was in 7^th grade, I decided to read the Bible. I spent my detention hours (and there were many) struggling through the New Testament. At the end of the year, I was awarded the most improved reading score. I had gone from an average reader to college level in less than nine months! I told one of the kids I was babysitting this story and told him we were going to start reading the Bible every day. This 11-year-old who had never read before started out struggling through one verse with no comprehension. A month later, he was reading whole chapters and understanding it!

It is very difficult to find anything in western culture, history, literature, music, or art that doesn't relate in some way to this awesome book. You and your children will be miles ahead in your understanding of life if you have read it!

Activities

*The best advice I have ever had concerning teaching kids to read the Bible was to have a family Bible reading time each day. Beginning readers are responsible for reading one word. Then they graduate to one verse, then two, etc. You finish up the chapter and the verse the beginner started. Help your young 'uns to sound out words they don't know and praise, praise, praise them for all their efforts!

*Have your kids draw pictures or make up skits about the passage you read. Often times you can find crafts, games, and activities to go with the stories and parables you read. Just Google it and add the word “children's.”

* Create a family prayer journal. Using a scrapbook or a 3 ring binder, make a page for each prayer request. Have your kids draw or mount pictures to represent the person or situation they want to pray about. Help them find verses that speak about that situation to pray and write them on the page. Go through the prayer book as part of your daily devotions and be sure to record the when they come.

Math

When my older two went to the local high school, they did so well in math that the teacher is still certain that I must be a math major. The truth is, I flunked out of math in high school. We are pretty good friends, but this teacher still thinks I'm lying ;)

My secret? Throw out the math books. Until you get into the upper-level subjects like Algebra and Geometry, there is only one good use for math books – to cut word problems out of to put in a box so the kids can draw them out at random. There may be a few people out there who learn math well the way math texts are set up, but for most of us, they are set up to confuse.

Why they teach addition only for 3 weeks and then switch to subtraction only for 3 weeks is beyond me. Most kids are just starting to catch on to the addition by the time they switch. Then by the time they are starting to catch on to the subtraction, they switch back to addition, and the kids have forgotten how to do that by then! To make matters worse, the kids have to do mountains of boring calculations every day. Their little brains just can't digest that much!

Just a little wisdom here that will save you some hair loss:

A. Look around at the adults in your life. How many of them use a calculator to do what little math they use?

B. If you don't use it, you lose it. This is especially true with math. Your kids will be much less at to forget it if they actually need the skill. Don't stress over this. See my post on Jello Brain.

C. Formal math lessons should be put off until the age of 9 or 10 unless your child is really interested. Most kids just don't have the ability to do the abstract thinking that formal math requires before then. If you wait, most kids can learn all of the basic math concepts in a couple of years. Stick with real-life math and games that use math before then.

Here is the right order to teach math:

(I'll go into detail about how to teach these later)

● Addition only until they can add a column of four 4-digit numbers.

● Then subtraction while doing a couple of addition problems a day. Do not start multiplication until your child can subtract 4-digit numbers.

● Stop for a bit here. Have your child do one review problem each of addition and subtraction. Get yourself some old math textbooks and cut out addition and subtraction word problems to put in a container. Have your child draw two problems out each day and help them figure out whether it is an addition or a subtraction problem and how to set up and work the problem.

● Teach place values to a million and introduce decimal places.

● Teach counting money.

● Teach skip counting, not only 2s, 5s and 10s, but 3s, 4s, 6s, 7s … all the way up to 15s.

● Then multiplication with review work on the things they have already learned. Work on these until they can multiply four-digit numbers and numbers with decimals.

● Then division with one review problem for each category of the above. Work until they can divide 7-digit numbers and decimals.

● Then fractions.

Things like time, measuring, and Roman numerals can be mixed in there just about any time but make sure your children master the basics in the right order and don't require more than 8 to 10 problems a day on a worksheet. Play games for drill practice and review whenever possible. They will learn it faster and without buckets of tears.

Finger Math

Many schools recognize that kids are primarily kinesthetic learners and have incorporated manipulatives into their elementary math programs. I use manipulatives too, but I don't spend gobs of bucks on expensive toys. I use something called finger math. If you've never heard of it, go look it up. It is an ingenious use of a free manipulative that is literally at your child's fingertips wherever he goes. There are all kinds of great YouTube videos out there that will show you how to do it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2tkp5x1llY is just one.

How to Do Finger Math

If for some reason you can't access the link, I'll attempt to explain it. Place both hands in front of you with the base of your palms on a table or other surface, with your fingers and thumbs in the air. Once you are familiar with this you will be able to do it anywhere, but start on a table. The feel of pressing your fingers against the table will help you learn.

Your right hand will represent the ones place of a number and your left hand will represent the tens place. Start by putting your right index finger down. This is the number one. Then put your right middle finger down also. This is the number 2. Then add the ring finger. These three fingers on the table are the number 3. Add the little finger. Now you have 4.

Here's where finger math gets a little different from normal counting on the fingers. To make the number 5, pull all of your fingers off the table and press your thumb down. The right thumb all by itself represents 5. Now, to make a 6, add your index finger on the table with your thumb. For 7, add your middle finger. For 8, add the ring finger and for 9, put all the fingers on your right hand and your thumb on the table.

For the number 10, flip up all the fingers on your right hand and put the index finger of your left hand down. 11 is the index finger of each hand.

Now count by 10s on your left hand. The index finger is 10, the index finger and the middle finger are 20, the index finger, middle finger, and ring finger are 30 and so on. A 65 would be the thumb and the index finger of the left hand and the thumb of the right hand. A 48 would be all 4 fingers of the left hand and on the right hand, the thumb and the first 3 fingers. Seventy-two would be the thumb, the index finger and the middle finger of the left hand and the index finger and the middle finger of the right hand.

Start by practicing counting to 10 and then back down to 0 until you can do it quickly. Then count to 99 and back until it is comfortable for you. After that, practice “writing” numbers with your fingers until you can easily identify them.

Once you've got the counting down, you are ready to start adding. To add 2 + 2,

“write” 2 with your fingers and then say “one” while you place your ring finger down. Then count “two” while you put your little finger down. Now, “read” your fingers! You will see the number 4.

Now try adding 3 + 4. “Write” a 3 with your fingers. Say “one” as you put your little finger down. Then flip all four fingers up and put your thumb down as you count “two.” Continue counting with “three” while putting your ring finger down and “four” with the middle finger. Now “read” your fingers. If you did it right, they should say “7”.

To subtract, simply reverse the process. Start with the number you want to subtract from and then make your fingers count backward as you count the number you want to subtract.

Later, when you are comfortable with the basics, you can play with shortcuts like adding 2 + 7 by writing the 2 and then adding the 7 by putting the thumb down first while saying “five” and then counting “six” and “seven” while putting down the ring finger and the little finger.

It is lots of fun and kids love it! Little children can't do this, but if you use finger math while you are teaching them to count they will catch on to it and start using it as soon as they are able. We sing counting songs every day here while using our fingers to write the numbers in the air. My little 3-year-old grandson loves to wiggle his fingers in the air!

Skip Counting

Make skip counting fun! Create necklaces that have sets of beads separated by a different color and shaped bead.

Have your child start skip counting by holding and counting the beads that are the same, but just moving the different beads. Then have her whisper, “one,” and shout, “two,” whisper, “three,” and shout, “four,” and so on. Once she has that down, have her just say, “two,” “four,” … while fingering the beads. When she can do that quickly, have her go backward.

My kids, both boys, and girls, love these necklaces and wear them constantly while they are learning. We make them for all the smaller skip counting numbers. They get a little big when you get up into the 11s and 12s, though. :)

There are also lots of skip counting songs on-line. The ones I am using right now are rap style. The kids love to dance to them and jump on the mini-tramp as they are chanting.

Don't just teach the basic 2s, 5s, and 10s. If you teach your kids to count by 3s, 4s, 6s, etc., and finger math, they will be able to use finger math to figure out multiplication problems by skip counting until their fingers read the number they are multiplying by. For instance, to solve 3 x 7: Put the index finger down, say, “seven.” Add the middle finger, say, “fourteen.” Add the ring finger, say, “twenty-one.” Now your fingers are at the 3! 3 x 7 = 21

Domino Math

This is a game the whole family can enjoy instead of boring drills.

To start, spread dominoes out face down.

LEVELS:

Counters:

Pick up one domino. Count the dots on each side. Then count all the dots. Say 2 + 4 = 6

Adders:

Pick up a domino. Repeat the steps for the counter level and then write the answer on a piece of paper. On the next turn, add your second answer to your first. The person who gets to 50 first wins. When this is easy, add 2 dominoes together and race to 100 or 500.

Subtracters:

Pull 2 dominoes. Subtract the smaller from the larger. When this is easy, put 100 on a sheet of paper. Pick 1 domino, and subtract the total number of dots from 100. On the next turn subtract your pull from the number you got on the previous turn. The first one to get to 0 wins. This can be made more challenging by starting with 500 or 1000, picking 2 dominoes, adding them together and subtracting the result.

Multipliers:

Pull 2 dominoes. Multiply them together. Add your answers on a sheet of paper. First one who gets to 1000 wins. Or start with 1000 on the sheet and subtract answers.

The whole family can play this at the same time. Just set different goals for each player according to their level.

Hopscotch Math

Draw a hopscotch board. Encourage little ones to jump to "3" or "8." Older children can jump out the answer to a math problem. "3 x 5 is __." You can elongate the hopscotch board to 20 for bigger problems. If doing multiplication or division, the child can "hop" to each digit in the answer.

Store

This one is so simple and the kids absolutely love it! All it takes is a set of play money, some sticky notes, a piece of scratch paper and a pencil. Have each child put prices on 10 sticky notes. We usually have a $100 limit. Encourage them to make their prices cover a wide range (some that are 5 cents, some $3.98 as well as a few that have higher prices such as $50.75).

Then let them stick the notes to any item in the room that they want to. (This gets hilarious when a pencil costs $95.60 and the couch is only a penny!)

Assign one person the job of cashier and let the rest shop. Each child is given $100 in play money to spend. They can choose as many items as they want, but cannot spend any more than $100 total. (We collect price tags rather than bringing the cashier the actual item.) When they are done shopping, the cashier should total up the purchases and ask for the money. The "shopper" needs to give the cashier the lowest amount of money he or she can to cover the purchase. For instance, rather than giving four $20 bills to pay for a $62 total, if they have the change, the shopper should give the cashier three $20 bills and a $5 bill. Then the cashier should count back the change.

Until the kids get the hang of all this, I usually help them in every step of the transactions from estimating the total to counting back the change. I actually do the work and then have them copy my actions and thoughts (by repeating what I say) until they catch on.

When everyone has made their purchases, we put the sticky notes out again and assign another person the cashier job. Whenever we run out of time, (I've never had kids get bored with this game.) we gather up the sticky notes and place them in a folder for use the next time. If some have lost their stick, we replace them.

This game teaches addition and decimals as well as money skills. You can also teach multiplication if you allow shoppers to buy 6 computers for $0.96 each!

Golf Math

Write numbers on disposable cups. Set them on their sides on the floor. Using a golf ball and a stick (if you don't have clubs), have the child putt the ball into the right cup. For small children, ask them to putt the ball into the number 2 cup. For older children, ask them to putt the ball or balls (if the answer will be two digits) into the cup(s) that will answer a math problem.

Ball Factory

When I asked my adult kids to tell me some of their favorite activities, my oldest boy didn't even have to think about it. “BALL FACTORY!”

I was having problems getting my kids to understand the concepts of place value, carrying and borrowing. (Sorry, I'm old school - not sure what the new math terms are.)

So I told my kids to imagine the big balls that they sell at Wal-Mart. We were going to pretend we work in a factory where they are made. Ten of these balls will fit into a great big box and 10 boxes fit into a truck. Our job is to pack the boxes and the trucks.

Then we draw our factory.

I make the columns with the balls, boxes, and trucks and then put the numbers we want to add on the left-hand side. I tell them we have been working in the factory for the last three days and we need to see how many balls we have made.

First, we draw the balls (the numbers in the ones column). Once we have all the balls drawn, we X out and circle groups of 10 to put in boxes in the box column. Once we've filled all the boxes that we can, we count the number of balls that are leftover and put that number in the ones column in the answer. Then we count the number of boxes that we filled and put that number above the tens column.

Then we draw the boxes (the numbers in the tens column). We count the boxes to see if we can make any trucks. If we can, we X them out, circle them, and put them in a truck. We count any boxes we have leftover and put that number in the tens column. Then we put the number of trucks in the hundreds column.

When they are able to add three four-digit numbers this way, I add in a three-digit number or two and a warehouse column. Once we've got 10 or more trucks ready to go, we drive those puppies right over to the warehouse and fill it up!

To teach subtraction, I tell the kids we have an order from a store! We need to gather up the balls that they need so we can fill the order. We start with the ones. If we don't have enough individual balls to fill the order, then we need to empty a box. We cross out a box and then draw 10 balls over in the ball column. Then we circle the balls we need to fill the order and write the number we have left in the ones column of our problem. We cross out the number we have in the tens column of our original number of balls and write the number of boxes we have left above it. Then we move on to the boxes and do the same thing.

Some kids catch on to the ball factory quickly and get bored with doing all that drawing, opting to do the calculations with just the numbers in a few weeks. Others take longer, and still, others just really love drawing the balls, boxes, trucks, and warehouses. I let them continue playing in the factory as long as they want to, but I do encourage the artists to do some problems without the aid of the factory :)

Negative Numbers

I have found that negative numbers are best introduced using money.

For negative numbers, just give them situations where they borrow and pay back money. Have them write down the amount they have as positive numbers and the amount owed as a negative number. Examples:

You were at a toy show and found an awesome tractor that you don't have at home. You only brought $3 but it costs $8. You ask your dad if you can borrow the rest. How much will you need?

3 – 8 = -5 answer $5 (negative means you have borrowed it)

You were out window shopping with your friends and saw a really pretty dress on sale for only $13. You didn't have any money with you, but Georgia had $3 and Trisha had $10, so they gave you their money until you got home and could pay them back from the $20 you had in your piggy bank. How much money will you have left?

-3 + -10 + 20 =

-13 + 20 = 7 Answer - $7

Bowling Math

Write the numerals 1- 10 on either old toilet paper tubes or paper cups. Set them up in a triangle as you would bowling pins. Have the players try to knock them down by rolling a ball at them. Then have them combine the numbers they knocked down to form the biggest number they can. Write it down. Include the commas and have them read the number. If they didn’t knock all of them down, they get a chance to knock the rest down before their turn is over. Again, have them arrange the numerals to make the biggest number they can. Add the two numbers together. This is the score for that round. Play three rounds. Add each score to the previous score. At the end of three rounds, whoever has the highest score wins.

Language Arts

8 Steps to Reading

It's not all that hard to teach your child to read. Dick and Jane basic readers can be fun, but they really aren't needed. Throughout most of American history, the only book most children ever had access to was a Bible. And they learned to read.

Our society makes learning to read hard because we push our kids to read before they are ready. To be able to read well, there is a nerve between the eye and the brain that needs to mature. If it isn't developed enough, teaching a child to read is very difficult and very frustrating. The normal time for this nerve to develop is between the ages of four and twelve. If a child is potty-trained at eighteen months we are happy, but if she doesn't get it down until she is three or four, it's not really a big deal. We recognize that each child develops differently in this area and no one can tell the difference when they are thirty. We actually handicap many of our kids by insisting that they read before they are ready.

Read to your child every day. Don't get all uptight if he doesn't seem interested in reading. If you wait, it will be much easier. When he expresses an interest, follow these eight steps, and he will be reading in no time.

1st step - When reading to your child, always follow along with your finger.

2nd step - Show your child what a capital A looks like. Have your child find another one on that page. If that is too hard, narrow it down to a line or maybe even a word. When he can identify an A, work on identifying the lower case a. Then do B, b, C, c, etc. until he is familiar with the entire alphabet. Play lots of games to help identify letters too.

3rd step - Tell your child what the letter "b" sounds like. Use the letter sound instead of the name and ask her to find that letter. Continue until your child knows all the consonants and short and long vowel sounds.

4th step - Work on diphthongs. "The ch says 'ch.' Can you find the letters that say "ch"?

5th step - Work on 2- or 3-letter sight words. Show your child the word "is." Can he find another "is?"

6th step - Explain basic vowel rules. If it is a vowel-consonant-vowel, the letter sounds like its name. If it is followed by 2 consonants it has a "short" sound. Show her some examples. Ask your child to find other examples. Continue until she can find examples when you ask for each sound.

7th step - Have your child sound out words. Help him whenever he forgets, but make sure he really tires before you tell him what the word is. If your child is reluctant or seems frustrated, have him sound out one word in every sentence with you reading the rest until he is more comfortable. Until your child demonstrates comprehension, always go back and read what they have sounded out.

8th step - Once your child is reading full sentences, stop her frequently and ask questions about what was just read.

Be sure to praise your child heartily every step of the way!

That Says – Your Own Homemade Phonics Game

Several years ago, I looked into buying “Hooked on Phonics,” but letting go of two-hundred plus bucks was way more than I was comfortable with. I decided to come up with a game myself and by involving the kids in the creation of the game, they catch on just that much easier.

Instructions for creating the game:

Use a phonics web site like this http://www.phonicsontheweb.com/letter-sounds.php to find a list of letters and sounds. Start with the letters from your child's name. This is a great way to get them interested. If your child has letters that combine to make another sound like th or eigh, go ahead and use them, but don't separate them.

Cut index cards in half, width-wise. Print “THAT SAYS” on one side of each card. On the other side put one of the letters at the top of two cards. Leave a space for a picture and put a word that starts with that sound at the bottom. Make sure the word is something that your child can draw or take a picture of. Then, have your child draw that picture in the middle of the cards. You can also find pictures in magazines or take pictures with a digital camera and paste them in.

Repeat this process until you have twenty cards for your beginner deck. You will add to this deck later, but let your child become very familiar with these first. When you see that he/she has mastered these, add two or three more sounds at a time. If the deck gets to large, remove some of the older sounds and rotate a different older sound into the deck each time you play so they don't forget them.

There are three different games that can be played with these cards.

I like to start out with a simple memory match game. Put all the cards face down on the table. The first player turns over a card and reads it like this: “This is the k that says “k” (making the k sound) like in kayak.” (It is important for the children to say this out loud and not just look for matching cards. The idea is for them to learn the sounds. That can't happen if they don't say the sounds out loud.) Then the player turns over another card and reads it the same way. If it is not a match, the cards are turned over and the second player gets a turn. Continue taking turns until all cards have been matched. This game can be played as a solitaire game while Mom is listening as she cooks dinner or hems a garment.

The next game is a Go Fish type game. Deal 5 to 7 cards to each player. Put the rest face down in a “draw” pile. The first player looks over his/her cards and tries to make a match. If there is a match, the matching cards are to be “read” as in the memory game and put on the table. If there isn't any match, the player “fishes” for a matching card by asking another player, “Do you have … and then “reads” the card he/she is looking for. If the other player doesn't have the match, a card must be drawn from the pile. If the card from the pile matches one in his/her hand, the player “reads” the match and places the cards on the table. If the player runs out of cards, he/she must draw one more and wait until the next turn to ask about it. All the players take turns until the deck runs out. The player with the most matches wins.

The last game is a rummy type game for advanced players. The deck should consist of at least 50 cards for this game, with 2 or 3 extra cards for each vowel. Deal 7 cards to each player. On each turn, the player tries to create a word from his/her hand. If there is any question about the spelling of a word, have a dictionary handy to look it up. If the player cannot make a word, he/she must draw 2 cards from the pile and discard one. If the discard pile has more than 2 cards, the player may choose to pick up the pile. He/she does not have to pick up the entire pile, but must pick up all the cards on top of the card he/she chooses to start from. When one player is out of cards, the game stops. Each player counts his/her words and adds that number to the total number of cards he/she has on the table, then subtracts the number of cards he/she is still holding. The person with the highest score wins that round. If you desire to play more than one round, set a winning score to work for and keep a running tab for each player. Scoring this game is a great way to practice adding, subtracting, and negative numbers too!

Journal

The only way to learn to write is to do it. Journaling is one of the best ways to do this. I start out by taking dictation of my children's stories when they are very young and letting them draw pictures about what they have written. As they get big enough to write themselves, we make homemade illustrated books.

Around 3rd or 4th grade we set a goal of writing a certain number of words each day about anything. They can still illustrate if they want to, but it isn't required. The number of words depends on the child's ability and increases as the child gains skill. At first, I don't correct mistakes at all to encourage writing, but as the child becomes proficient in spelling, handwriting, and mechanics, I correct the work.

Aside from the minimum number of words I just have a couple of rules. One is that you can write about anything you want to, but if you ask me for a topic, you have to write about that. The other is for older children only. If they make "x" number of mistakes, they have to rewrite it.

Copy Work

Artists learn to create masterpieces by copying the work of accomplished artists. Writing is an art form. One really good way for children to learn to write is by having them copy from books. We do this every day and combine it with our handwriting practice.

At first, I have the kids copy one sentence a day. They are instructed to use their best handwriting. I will be checking it for well-formed letters, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. I start with a fairly high level of mistakes that are allowed before they need to redo it, but quickly bring it down to two mistakes once they are familiar with the process. As they get better at it, I increase the amount of writing to one or two paragraphs, but I try to keep the time the kids spend on this down to 10 or 15 minutes at the most.

We vary the types of writing year by year. One year we might copy out of a novel, the next out of a science textbook, the next it will be poetry, and the next newspapers, etc. I'm not a big fan of textbooks, but since I'm such a big advocate of hands-on science, my kids sometimes can't recognize science words like “cell” or “atom.” Using textbooks for copy work gets them familiar with the written form of these words.

On Spelling

For several years I tried to teach my children how to spell. Every year I would get a new “curriculum” and follow it precisely, but nothing worked.

Finally came up with my own...

1st day: Find 2 words they don't know how to spell. Have them write
those words 7 times. A good source of spelling words is the lists of most commonly used English words you can get on the internet. You can also use words they misspelled in their own writing.
2nd day: Test to see if they know yesterday's words, if they do, add 2
more. If they know one, find another word and have them write that and the
one they missed 7 times.

Keep adding to the list until there are 20 words, then let your child scratch out the oldest words while always keeping 20 words on the list. Do not start a new list. Just keep this one going. This way the child has to keep a word in his memory for two to three weeks instead of memorizing for the test on Friday (which tends to be forgotten by Friday evening).

If they are having a bad day, I limit the number of words they have to
write to the first two that they missed. Seems too simple to be true, but it
works!

Throw in a spelling rule now and then as needed.

Use the same method to build vocabulary words by adding the requirement that the word is used in a sentence.

Math facts can be easily learned using this method as well.

Fun games like Scrabble and encouraging your child to use the computer to write, e-mail and chat are great ways for your children to reinforce what they learn in their daily drills. Teach them how to use the spell-check and watch with amazement as they pick it up!

Vocabulary Concentration

This concentration style game can be used in just about any area from simple vocabulary building to science or history or math. Take the glossary from any textbook and read the words to your children. Make two index cards for each word they don't know, one with the word and the other with the definition.

We also number each card with the same number on matching cards just in case we forget which word goes with which definition. This also helps if we want to add new words. We just throw out the lowest numbers. In this way, the deck doesn't get unmanageable.

Depending on the ages of the players, work up a deck of about 10 to 20 words. Put the cards on a table face down and play "concentration" or "memory." When two cards are matched the player must read the word and the definition out loud and then use the word in a sentence before he can claim the match.

Social Studies

Social Studies involves a wide circle of cool stuff you can study with an infinite number of ways you can learn. If it's got to do with history, culture or geography, it's Social Studies!

A girl who is interested in fashion can draw, collect pictures, or make clothing from different cultures or eras.

A boy who is interested in war can draw battle plans from famous battles and watch a myriad of documentaries on TV.

You can read books, have puppet shows, get into re-enacting, draw pictures, make dioramas, write papers, read historical fiction and compare it with things that were actually going on in that time period, make timelines, create lap books and scrapbooks, watch Anamaniacs or Rocky and Bullwinkle and then look up the history they were talking about on the Internet, go on field trips, play games from other countries or time periods, study artists and the things that influenced them go on a trip and have your kids read the maps … The list goes on and on!

You can also bring every other subject area into your work. Social Studies is basically life and life involves science, math, reading, writing, PE, art, and music. Go ahead! Double count these activities in your records!

Science

We love hands-on around here! Go on nature walks. Get science experiment books from the library or subscribe to one of the myriads of free online kid’s science experiment sites. Keep a science journal. Have your kids draw or post pictures about what they are observing or doing. Encourage them to take notes and write about what they are learning. Make dioramas, mobiles, charts. collect rocks, bugs, and leaves. Oh, there's so much fun stuff to do!

You can also learn a lot about science by watching TV. We have a quiet time around here where any child who is here is required to sit down and watch Sid the Science Kid. The little ones fall asleep and the older ones learn! We also love the Magic School Bus. Many families with older children watch shows like Myth-Busters and CSI and then investigate things that sparked their kid's interest.

Don't feel like you have to cover it all. That's just impossible. There is too much to know. If your child is fascinated with rocks, let him have at it! He will get a basic understanding of other disciplines in science through your daily life. Just talk about germs when he's washing his hands and levers when you are using a wheelbarrow. (That's biology and physics!)

Mostly, remember, just have fun!

How do you do PE without a bunch of kids? Not hard! Do your children ride bikes? Climb trees? Play tag? Then they are doing PE. Just observe and write it down. Children in regular schools are tied to a desk all day so the system that ties them down has to structure in exercise. Go roller skating or sledding - dance, playing on the monkey bars, swimming, Little League – it all counts!

When my kids were young, we burned wood for heat. The whole family would go out. Even when they were very little, they could pick up sticks and put them in the truck. It was a work out for all of us and I counted it for PE. Shoveling snow, raking leaves – You can count anything that works up a sweat! :)

Health

Schools separate this one out from life too. The artificial structure forces them to, but you don't have to. Just talk about the importance of washing your hands, eating right, bathing, and brushing your teeth. If you don't live on a farm, you'll probably have to teach your kids about sex and reproduction. (Mine were breeding animals and helping them give birth from a very early age.) Doctor visits are a great place to teach health! Explore the charts and brochures at the doctor's office. And when your kids are old enough, encourage them to explore WebMD, herbal medicine, acupuncture, or chiropractic. There are lots of TV shows that teach about health too! Just write down what you do from day-to-day.

Life Skills or Home Ec

There are a whole lot of kids out there who have this HUGE gap in their education. With the push to have children in school more and more hours because of parents who work full-time and more, most kids have no opportunity to learn this vital part of their education. Have your kids help clean, cook, do laundry, and at least some simple sewing. Everyone should know how to do the dishes, wash their clothes, and sew on a button. Teach them and document it as part of your educational strategy.

Art

So are you thinking like a homeschooler yet? Art is simple. You know all those crafts you are doing in Social Studies and Science? Count them for art too. Does your child go to Sunday school or Scouts? The crafts they do there are Art. Holiday or seasonal crafts? - Art. Does your teen enjoy creating graphics on the computer? – Art. Sandcastles at the beach? - Art. Puppet skits, role-playing or Community Theater? - Art .

You got it? Go for it!

Music

Of course, voice and music lessons are music education, but there is so much more! Singing hymns at church, putting on a CD at home, going to a concert, studying about the life of a musician, exploring different music styles, and rhythm games are all music education. Have fun and write it down!

✜ chapter 7 ✜

HIGH SCHOOL

In the education myths portion of this book, I talked a little about high school, college, and the military. But how do you go about making sure your kids have the right documentation they need to navigate life?

Start by considering where your child would like to go in life. Do they have a career goal that will require college? Do they want to go into the military? Start a business? Learn a trade? Career goals and interests will shape your child's high school career.

Look at your local school's credit requirements for graduation, your state's requirements, and the requirements of any schools or programs or military careers your child is interested in. Tailor your curriculum to meet those requirements. If your children don't have clear ideas about what they want to do in life, it's a good idea to require a career exploration class in their first year of high school.

High schools generally require about 200 hours of class/homework for each credit hour, but you don't have to. A great deal of time is wasted in a traditional school. It is likely that your child will be able to learn just as much in 100 or 150 hours. You decide based on your child's ability. For some subjects, you might not even have a time requirement. If your kid wants to work through a textbook, let him. When he gets through with it, call it a credit hour no matter how much time it takes.

Many high schools allow students to dual enroll. This is a practice in which high school students taking college classes are allowed to count their college classes for both college and high school credit. You can do this too. People generally learn quite a bit more in the typical college class so, count 1.5 high school credits for every college credit they earn.

In most states, homeschoolers can issue valid diplomas, just like public schools. Check with your state's home school organizations to get the details.

The following is what I came up with for my basic high school requirements several years ago. I actually only taught 3 high school students, and I tweaked it for each one depending on where they wanted to go after high school. You can do the same. For the most part, I let the kids design their own curriculum unless they wanted help. Each day we would have 15 – 30 minutes of one-on-one conference time in which we would go over their records and plan their activities. I reserved the right to veto any activities that I didn't think would look good on their mastery lists, but for the most part, I encouraged them to be independent learners.

Teach your kids to track their time on a spreadsheet. Encourage them to do projects, have a small business, and do community work. Take lots of pictures. And if your child is working with someone outside your family, have her ask for a letter of recommendation from her boss or the leaders of the activity. All these things look good on a resume or college application.

ISAAC HILLS HOME LEARNING CENTER

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

COURSE CREDIT HOURS

Bible..........................................................................................4

English......................................................................................3

Mathematics..............................................................................2

Science......................................................................................2

Drivers Ed.................................................................................1/2

Health........................................................................................1/4

Computer Literacy.....................................................................1/4

Fine Arts...................................................................................1/2

American History......................................................................1

World History............................................................................1

U.S. Government.......................................................................1/4

World Government....................................................................1/4

Job Training ..............................................................................2

Home Economics........................................................................1

PE.....................1/2 credit for each physical year spent in high school

Electives................................................................................... 5

Total Credits for Graduation..................................23+ PE

( 1 credit hour = 200 hours actual work)

Student Attendance Requirements

Three Year Students: 1600 hrs/yr. - 45 hrs/wk

Four Year Students: 1200 hrs/yr. - 35 hrs/wk

Five Year Students: 960 hrs/yr. - 30 hrs/wk

CLASS REQUIREMENTS

At Isaac Hills, high school students are encouraged to actively participate in designing their own course work. Below are the minimum requirements for course work.

BIBLE

Read or listen to entire Bible at least once before graduating.

Show proficiency in using Strong’s Concordance.

MATH

Must be able to add, subtract, multiply, divide, and do all these with fractions fluently.

Must be able to count back change accurately.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Read at least 200 wpm with 80% comprehension.

Papers must have less than 5 mechanical errors/ 100 words.

Demonstrate proficiency in dictionary skills.

Type 25 wpm with 80% accuracy.

Use a word processor and e-mail program without help.

SOCIAL STUDIES & SCIENCE CLASSES

Must include: reading, reports, Internet research, memory work, teaching, projects, and 1 research paper per credit hour.

HOME ECONOMICS

Must include: at least a one month cleaning project, demonstrate basic laundry ability, 5 grocery shopping trips, 20 meals cooked from scratch, 3 months of budget tracking and 3 months of balanced checkbook statements with at least 10 checks written per month.

Must include: group activities and a personalized workout routine.

✜ chapter 8 ✜

COLLEGE

More and more, homeschooling parents are rethinking traditional ideas about college. With student debt rising and unemployment among college graduates rampant, many are looking at other ways to prepare their children for life.

Our nation is starting to experience a severe shortage of skilled workers such as carpenters, mechanics, and plumbers. People working in these trades are already paid well and as this need continues to grow, the rates will rise. Trade schools or apprenticeships are an excellent option.

Other parents are opting to help their children start small businesses or they get into a small business as a family.

Did you know that many states do not actually require a college degree for many licenses such as nursing or physicians? All they actually require is that you pass their state board exams. So, it is possible to enter these professions without actually going to college. I have heard of a few doctors out there who will accept apprentices.

Today, with access to the Internet, you can learn just about anything you want to. Many respected colleges and universities have free online classes and many more offer paid online classes. Learning what you need to know or getting that degree no longer has to involve many years at a brick-and-mortar school and all the expenses that go with that.

I highly recommend that you and your teen check out http://www.uncollege.org/ . This site will help you re-educate your mind about what it takes to get where you want to go!

Epilogue (Updated 2020)✜

Homeschooling is hard, but then again, being a good parent is hard. Most homeschoolers are among the best parents out there. The desire to be a good parent is the driving force behind taking charge of your child’s education. It’s challenging, but in many circumstances is actually easier than a traditional school. The trick is to ditch the school mentality and do what works for your family.

There are no guarantees. I thought that if I homeschooled my kids, they would always embrace my values and never get themselves into trouble. That didn't happen, but I don’t regret our decision to homeschool one bit. My eldest’s need for sleep was affecting her ability to learn. Homeschooling kept her from falling way behind. My second child was a hyperactive genius. School would probably have required drugs to keep him in line. The youngest had special needs and would have felt as imprisoned in a regular school setting as his dad did. My kids appreciate the sacrifices we made to teach them at home. My only regrets are that I didn’t know anything about unschooling when we started and that I had to work so many hours away from home.

Each of my kids are living the life they dreamed of as kids. Mary Jo wanted to be a mom and she loved sewing. She is currently a stay at home mom and has a growing sewing business. https://www.etsy.com/shop/livilouandco Spence wanted to be a Marine and to build things. He just retired from the Marines with the rank of Gunny as a combat engineer. He has a great job lined up and has started a 3-D printing business. https://www.facebook.com/WaltsWoodworks3D/ Jesse loved driving big machinery, farming, and he wanted to be a fireman. He is currently a truck driver who has done a lot of farming and even served as a volunteer fireman for many years. How many kids do you know who grew up to do exactly what they dreamed of as kids?

Most of us have been indoctrinated to believe there is only one way to educate, but so many kids just don’t fit into the mold. I hope this little book has given you the courage and tools to break the mold and throw it away!

You are welcome to copy and use the blank forms provided in this book.

If you have questions, need encouragement or inspiration, please come see me at my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/almostunschooling/ I’ll do my best to help you! In any case, I would love to hear from you, just to find out how you are doing!

Have a wonderful adventure!

Appendix

Child Study

Name: Date:

Hour Activities Categories

6-7am
7-8am
8-9am
9-10am
10-11am
11-Noon
Noon-1pm
1-2pm
2-3pm
3-4pm
4-5pm
5-6pm
6-7pm
7-8pm
8-9pm
9-10pm

Categories can be but are not limited to: Bible, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, PE, Art, Music, Life Skills, Home EC, Drama and Music

Notes:

Daily Assignment Sheet #___

Name: Week Starting: Ending:

Activity	Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat















E - Points

NOTES:

Materials List

Name:

Dates Used	Item or Activity	Source	Used For

Long Term Time Tracking

Name: Start Date: End Date:

	Bible	Math	Science	Social Studies	Lang. Arts	PE	Music	Art
Starting Time

DA #:





Ending Time
YTD
Total Hours

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