An inspirational and informational RU-vid Channel all about homeschooling. Each week, Amanda, a certified teacher turned homeschool mom will answer questions, cover topics and share ideas on how to homeschool your kids and love it!
Hi! I have been reading mixed things about the letter of intent sent to school board for kids having never been in school. Some websites say that it’s required while other sources say it’s not. Has this changed?
I am German and I have a child that doesn’t want to learn German despite the fact that half of her extended family lives in Germany and we all have German American dual citizenship. I just don’t make it optional. We follow a curriculum for children for German as a second language from a German publisher. My American charter school pays for the curriculum. This is our 3rd year homeschooling and I am gradually getting less push back.
I'm completely finished purchasing and wrapping everything. I like to have it done, done and done because I hate leaving things for the last minute. Plus, I don't like the stress.
I have a plan and have been getting together all my Christmas and Thanksgiving unit studies, crafts, etc..I love preparing 😂 I don’t always follow through with it all cause I seem to plan too much to get it all done
Hahaha! We always plan too much during the holidays! We usually ease up in December but I did pick a novel study based on the book A Boy Called Christmas.
I love when I find my people 😂 Love the planning! I usually start shopping in September but this year I had one gift already purchased in early August and my entire shopping list either already ordered or planned out exactly what I’m getting by mid-September.
I go into my library account and can put in future hold dates on Christmas books. I have a saved list in my profile that streamlines finding the titles. I set my dates for mid November while everyone else is focused on Thanksgiving
Love it, Amanda! I’m glad I’m not the only one already buying Christmas presents! 🤣 I started in July. As for content suggestions….my daughter watches some of your videos too and she’d love to see a new DITL video. She loves seeing what other homeschool kids are up to (including books/games/toys they love right now). 😊 We love your channel! ❤ Keep up the great work!
Another tip for getting "Oh no 99" in a very affordable way is you can use a deck of cards. Perhaps it would be a more advanced option because you have to remember what each card does - I can't remember specifically but it's like 2 is +/-2 you decide, King is straight to 99, queen is 0, A is +1 or +11, Jack is +/-10 and then the rest of the numbers just add that amount, so there is a good amount of strategy (like using a king if you have lots of cards that will help you and your opponent(s) might not). The card game is just called 99 if you want to look up the rules because I've not played it in about 15yrs but my grandparents used to love getting me to play it for my maths skills. This might also be a handy tip if you're going away and can only take a limited number of games, a pack of cards would be a substitute and there is so much you can do with cards :)
I have totally played this version before as a kid! It's acutally a great option to make the game a little harder since you can make the royal cards whatever you want them to be (+10, +15, etc)
I don't know how I came across your channel. But I'm kind of having a hard time with your homeschool curriculum. I am sure you left off a bunch of things, but you say you outsource PE by jiujitsu. That in no way compares to what my kids get from PE at their school. My kids all do a sport, and a lot of those things, in addition to going to public school.
Actually, according to the Ontario curriculum, students are required to have 20 minutes of Phys Ed a day. Which works out to 1 hour and 40 minutes a week. So 2 hours of jiu jitsu actually covers that. But that's not all the phys Ed my kids get, that's just the structured time. At co-op they do a variety of sports or activities as it changes every week. They also have 1-3 hours of free time outdoors almost every day. They also have seasonal activities like swimming, soccer, skating. So they do get way more physical activity. It's just nice to have a physical activity in their schedule so they get the direct instruction on a sport every week (I'm a choir director, so sports aren't my strong suit) And as a former teacher, I can also add that those 20 minutes daily, include a lot of things including seated health classes, dance and drama instruction, the time to get to and from the gym and the set up for that class. It's also one of the first subjects skipped if students are behind or misbehaving.
I also was public schooled as a kid and often my PE wasn’t even physically active. We did the mile once or twice a year and we occasionally played games. I also played sports and was in colorguard. PE in public school is really just ensuring the not athletic child also moves some. I think jujitsu is a great sport and definitely gets kids active. Homeschooling is just different from public school in general so things look different. My son is in kindergarten and he’s like any other boy, VERY active! lol. He gets in trouble less by being able to move more often. I know even from being a very active child myself and how much I got in trouble for not sitting still that my son would be in a lot more trouble if he was asked to sit at desks for longer periods of time with a recess and PE a few times a week. Since you did find this channel, I hope maybe some things pop up and some questions can be answered like they were for me before I even was interested in homeschooling myself!
Maybe that was true a long time ago, it's not true any more. PE at my public school where I work is mandatory, and the teacher covers so much. Doing two hours of jui jitsu a week is great, but I think you'd be surprised at the level of instruction the kids are getting. It's also being exposed to so many things.
We can agree to disagree here. As a teacher, with a teacher husband, we know what the current reality of schooling is, the current expectations and what we're covering at home. Our kids are exposed to a variety of activities through co-ops, classes and activities at different points in the year. we cover health as a science unit and we get through as much as the public system, I assure you. The the truth is homeschooling looks ENTIRELY different system and doesn't look like school at all, and by design. We don't recreate school in our homes, we build something totally different, customized to our children's interests, skills, strengths and weaknesses. I'm happy with our system, our kids are happy and we're excited for what our kids will learn this year.
Ugh...it's so hard to find quality canadian geography and history curriculum. That's why I've started writing my own...I'm hoping to release it to the public before the new year!
In the US, we have schools specifically catered to hybrid programs. It's a shame the same doesn't exist in Ontario. We need to see more options to accommodate families of various circumstances. Thank you for your insight
With the brain quest books would you suggest we do a little bit from each subject a day. Or are we supposed to start from the beginning and just go straight through that way?
I would do at least 3 different sections a day. Otherwise you'd be doing all math and then all language and chances are your kid would be forgetting their math by the time they move on to the next level.
It is always interesting to see how other families plan for their homeschool. We have similarities (I also color code my planner), and differences (I plan a whole year's syllibus, and plan weekly from there adjusting as needed). Thank you for sharing your method.
I have a full year plan too. I like to start big (annual) and then narrow it down (monthly then weekly). And colour-coding is such a simple thing but it makes it so much more visually appealing and easier to read at a glance.
I loved this! Thank you so much for sharing your tips for real practical self care for us. I feel so inspired and supported by all your tips and will be working with them. I struggle with overwhelm/burnout as a homeschool mom. I noticed that the typical selfcare rituals recommended by others really weren’t really cutting it. It’s funny but I started making a detailed daily to-do list just like you talk about because it’s so true - when you have homeschooling kids it’s crazy how the day fills up and you have to be realistic about how much can be accomplished. Thank you 🙏🏽🤍
Thank you! This video helped me so much! Do you plan on strictly using this program going forward or do you plan to maybe even use it periodically? I’m slightly worried she might miss out on grammar lessons.
I def bought a whole years worth of curriculum right away, mainly due to funding purpose tho. Library programs, co-ops, and homeschool gymnastics is something that my kids are excited about!
The homeschool classes we're enrolled in: PE at a local gym, science (two science museums offer homeschool science classes K-8), and a CoOp. I second the quality, electric, pencil sharpener! Thank you, again for the great ideas and suggestions. =)
There is a company called Homeschool Languages that offers a French curriculum. Ive heard wonderful things about their Spanish curriculum. They have many other languages! We are considering it for when our daughter is 6-7yrs old.
I enjoy your videos. If you don’t mind me asking, how do juggle your homeschool time and then making it work financially. I work as a private therapist but would need to find a way to balance working and providing enough time for schooling. I have 3 boys - 9, 6 and 3. I’ve done homeschooling during COVID and lived in MB. We now live in NS and also cost of living is intense here compared to there. Anyhoo, I’m always curious how families make it work from an economic standpoint. Thanks!
Thank you! Honestly it's partially lifestyle choices for us (small house, cars rather than SUVs, strict budgets, etc) and also working on the side. Homeschooling takes a lot less time than public schooling. So my kids are done school and chores by lunch time, and then I work doing this and consulting in the afternoon. They do free time and independent projects while I work.
"There are other children in our Zoo!" We do the first day of school picture for the yearbook I put together every year, and we have a special breakfast, usually McD.
@@RaisingAtoZ I do it on Walgreens and work on it all year. Upload the pics and arrange things as the year goes on. It is always a joy in June to have the actual book I'd been working on for 12 months!
Science North is still open (closer to us) but yes that's so sad that the Ontario Science Centre closed. We did visit it a few times and enjoyed it. Hopefully it re-opens in it's new location sooner rather than later.
I’m confused so for homeschooled kids are they taking any tests at any point to get grades on a report card which they can use for university applications?
Almost every university or college has it's own set of homeschool criteria. It varies from having 12 Grade 12 classes from an accredited teacher, to portfolio work, to entrance exams like SATs. Or they can attend as mature students. While kids can get the high school diploma, there are also other options open to homeschoolers that don't require testing, report cards or even a diploma.
I ended up going the 6 units rather than the full year which is 9. Since I'm also going to start it with my younger one, I didn't want to rush her too much. And we had a few other books we wanted to read too.
I'm a big believer in helping kids learn about responsible technology and social media use. And for a lot of teens, that means having firm boundaries including no tech times (like at night).
Love all your recommendations! I've read all but Raising Critical Thinkers. It's next on the list. I also enjoyed The Read Aloud Handbook. I have a long and growing list of books to read aloud with my daughter. Also love many homeschooling podcasts and would be interested to hear your podcast recommendations.
