Kathleen Desmarais

Sorry I haven’t posted lately. 5 months since my last post! That’s really bad.

Pandia Press Update – Chemistry (1) is finished! Well, almost, it’s finished as far as the writer and myself are concerned. It is in the hands of the editor. And then the printer. It is scheduled to be ready in March (the eBook hopefully in Feb). It is an extraordinary book! It turned out so much better than I envisioned. I know you will LOVE it! You can view a sample online now at www.pandiapress.com . (Part of the Try It Before You Buy It offer.)

Speaking of which, you can now try out all Pandia Press courses before you buy. The first several lessons of each course are available as eBooks at Pandia Press. Hopefully this will answer a lot of questions. It seems the sample lessons that we had online were just not enough. So now you can go ahead and start a course. If it works, great! Just purchase the rest.

Modern Times (2) is almost done. I have several families reviewing the course. I plan to have it available in March as well. (The eBook may be sooner.) After that, I will focus on writing the very much requested Teacher Guides for level 2. The teacher guides will contain tests, suggested answers, and much more. I think they will be a nice addition (although not completely necessary) to the level 2 books.

Let’s see, what else… Oh! R.E.A.L. Science is now called R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey (RSO) to further delineate from similar-sounding courses. (That’s all I will say about that, although I wish I could say more.) And I have a writer for a high school American history course.

Physics (1) and Biology (2) are well under way. So is an art history course. And I am currently reviewing several submissions for a literature-based language arts program. Hopefully I will secure a writer for that soon.

The Desmarais Family – Still “victims” of the current economy and our new house is on perpetual hold. Small amounts of tinkering going on but nothing substantial. 

My oldest daughter has the fashion bug. This is something that both thrills me and saddens me. Sarah is a smart girl. She is an extraordinary writer and can read classic literature like it’s Dr. Seuss. But she wants nothing to do with academics. (Confession time here. Yes, the daughter of a classical education Mom is not academic, (sigh) you can only lead a horse to water.) She wants to be a fashion designer, and a runway model! This has been her dream since she was 5. So, finally I conceded. And it turns out she just might be successful at it. The model agencies were very smitten with her and she had her first photo shoot last weekend. Here is my picture of her, I will post some professional ones when we get them.

I am really happy about one aspect of this though. Sarah has a level of confidence that I could only dream of having at 15. Like her, I was tall at a young age (started at 5′8″ and was 5′10″ before high school was over). I was HORRIFIED by my height in school. It was not a good thing to be taller than most all my classmates, especially the boys. It is the reason I still struggle with poor posture, the product of 4 years trying to look shorter than I was. But because Sarah is homeschooled, she has never had to feel that negativity. And since she is wanting to be model, she was THRILLED when she finally reached 5′8″ and her shoe size jumped to 9!

Another unexpected benefit of homeschooling!

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We start school tomorrow in my house. This is my favorite time of the school year! the beginning. I get all excited gathering materials (especially art materials–I love new paints, markers, pencils, crisp white paper). The anticipation of the school year really gets me gitty. I have all the school books neatly stacked with the spines still stiff and new schedules posted on the fridge. I think about all we are going to learn, all the neat field trips we will take, my darlings sitting around the table filling their minds with great things. (Hey, a Mom can dream.) Ahhh! I take a moment to enjoy it…….

Because I know in about 4 days it will be all out the window–pencils broken, marker set down to three, can’t find the scissors, can’t find my math book, I really hate this writing course, this schedule is not working for me, do I really have to read this? And we will settle down into something more realistic. But it’s all good. It rarely goes the way I plan it but my kids always end up learning and have a great time.

This year we will be taking a trip up the east coast to visit Williamsburg, Washington DC, Gettysburg, Philadelphia, Lancaster CO., and NYC. I have been planning this trip for two years to coincide with our study of early American history. I remember taking this trip myself when I was a kid and really enjoying it. What a great opportunity we homeschoolers have to experience history this way. It’s not just about text books, but really seeing where it all happened. I am especially looking forward to the reenactments at Williamsburg.

We just finished our last science co-op class today! That has been great fun. Our group dwindled a bit from about 12 families down to 6 core families. The smaller group has been much better. (I highly recommend it.) Today we ended with making the Plant Parts Salad and had a pizza and pool party to celebrate.

With Pandia Press, I am still hard at work formatting Chemistry (1) and writing Modern Times (2). With MT2 I have recently spent weeks trying to write a series of lessons about socialism, communism, fascism, and Animal Farm. OMG – try doing an internet search for socialism or communism. It’s really difficult to find straightforward, unbiased, history information. You end up getting sites like Marxist teens, communists unite, score with the socialists.(OK, I made all of those up, but it was something like that.) Wow! I didn’t realize how many groups out there actually think Karl Marx and Lenin had a good idea that could work here in America. I guess they have never heard of Stalin or China. So now you know how I feel about it, I’m a Capitalist girl. But I try very hard not to let that show in the course. I actually think communism is a good idea on very small scale. I mean, I would love to live with a group of families, sharing resources, community garden, watching my kids for me, sharing chores, everybody equal, sharing property rights, nobody getting ahead . . . wait, how would that work? Maybe it’s not a good idea AT ALL.

I’ll let you all know how our first few weeks of school, our trip, and the communists turn out.

Kathleen

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Lately, it has been getting harder and harder to juggle my time between family and business. Some days I am so scattered I don’t think I accomplish a thing. My time is so stretched between kids, business, and housekeeping that it seems like none of it gets done. And now our house is on the market so it has to be kept clean ALL THE TIME! Ugh! I think my kids are out to get me sometimes (paranoia is setting in). Every time I try to get on the computer the baby crawls onto my lab. She has even learned sabotage! She reaches up under my desk and hits the keys on my keyboard. (So if you ever see “#i&m?987nu” in one of my posts, you know how it happened.) The older kids sneak out of the house when they know my attention is on the computer and I find myself yelling a lot lately. “If I have to say ‘no’ to you more than once, it wastes my time. I only have time to say ‘no’ once!” I actually said that to my son the other day. I am not even sure what I meant by that.

It’s just that it’s hard for me to focus on more than one thing at a time. I can’t think and talk (or yell as the case may be) at the same time. When I sit down at the computer, I need to be able to stay there for at least an hour. Shoot, it takes me 15 minutes just to open programs and figure out where I left off. But it seems like these days my computer time comes in short spurts–5 mins. here, 15 mins. there. The start-stop of my day is the most frustrating part.

But when I take a deep breath and focus on priorities, I realize that the kids are my most important job. I really need to be there, at the table, when they doing there school work. I need to sit down with my baby on the floor and PLAY with her. It’s not enough to just be in the house with my kids and keep them safe. So lately I have been staying up to the wee hours of the morning to get work done and spending my days focused on the kids. At least that has been my goal each day. But the long hours wear on you and you walk around like a zombie from the sleep deprivation and do things like put dinner in the oven but forget to turn it on.

This is the challenge of home schooling when you have a home business. There is no time when you get to solely focus on one thing for any decent amount of time. You have to be willing and able to multi-task and deal with multiple interruptions. I am going to be examining this problem of juggling HS and HB more in depth. Many of the old strategies that use to work for me no longer seem to be helping. As working / home schooling moms we must be able to adapt to every new situation. For me it has been the addition of another child who has a particularity strong curiosity and little awareness of danger (and climbs like a monkey) and changes in our home situation (building a new house and selling the current one). Any seemingly small change can create havic and send you back to drawing board trying to figure it all out again.

I will be posting my journey through this temporary chaotic situation (and I am sure it is temporary), sharing any new strategies I employ. I welcome others to post how they handle (or struggle to handle) juggling HS and HB. Maybe we can learn from each other.

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I am in the process of evaluating the marketability of e-books and if Pandia Press publications should be offered as e-books through electronic downloads. These would be offered along side print copies with customers having a choice–hard copy or e-book. Electronic downloads offer several advantages for customers and for publishers.

For customers:

1. No waiting. Instantly receive your book and use it right away.
2. E-books are interactive with live links, bookmarks, and text anchors.
3. Worksheets and maps can be easily printed from your desktop. If your child makes a mistake, no problem just print another one.
4. E-books are generally less expensive and come with no shipping costs.

For publishers:

1. E-books are easily edited. Error corrections don’t have to wait for the next print run.
2. Paper and money saved with less printing (hey, that’s one for the environment too).
3. Higher profit margins due to less cost of production.
4. Affiliate programs.
5. No trips to the post office (always a good thing).
6. No “lost” packages.

There are a few disadvantages:

1. No hard copy to hold and pages to flip through (unless you print it).
2. Customer will have to print worksheets and maps.
3. Reading off a computer screen can be tiresome.
4. E-books are easily pirated and shared illegally with others.

I am also considering offering a seperate Homeschool Tracker file along with each e-book. Homeschool Tracker is popular homeschool scheduling software.

Let your opinion be heard! Please help me with this decision. Do you want to see e-books of History Odyssey and R.E.A.L. Science? Please participate in the poll found in the sidebar.

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Every day I receive emails from customers wondering when the next R.E.A.L. Science book is going to be released. (Actually if I had a dollar for each time I hear this question, I could retire now. O.K., maybe not a dollar, but five would probably do it, I would like to retire well.) The truth is that I don’t have an answer to that question right now. Nobody wishes for another book more than me. But I have not been able to lower my standards or risk my company just to get another book out there. I have spoken to literally hundreds of writers in the last 3 years. I have come close, awfully close, to publishing another book. But something always seems to happen to the writer–serious illness, time conflicts, lack of family support, financial situations, contract disputes, substandard material, etc. You see, it turns out that writers have lives too. Who knew? I have had writers just seem to drop off the face of the earth. (Secretly I think the project drove them insane, but I don’t have the insurance to cover their mental health.) I have had writers who would be great for the program but were unwilling to sign a contract (which is suicide for a publisher). Writing a R.E.A.L. Science book is a REAL commitment. Bad pun, but seriously, it is an enormous undertaking. And I am VERY PICKY. I am not willing to settle for mediocre or biased writing. Home schoolers have enough obstacles to overcome, they need really good curriculum written by a writer that understands and has enough wit to keep their children interested. Don’t you think?

So why am I telling you this? Well, maybe so you will stop asking! Just kidding. I want you to know that I understand–I want it too and I will continue to search high and low for the perfect people and I will not stop until I have found those people even if it is the last thing I do as a publisher. This is my burden and a torch I gladly carry (okay, enough Chariots of Fire). We (the homeschooling community) need good, unbiased, no agenda, REAL science more than any other program. It is the thing we are most lacking. And I know why–GOOD WRITERS ARE HARD TO COME BY. But they are out there–hey, maybe it’s you! Call me!

The good news is that I have had recent contact with a few writers who look very, very promising. I am confident that there will be another book soon. Which one and when? Well, I need to keep some secrets! Stay tuned!

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Last week my family took a much needed day off and went to Epcot in Orlando for “Homeschool Days.” On this day every year Disney offers a reduced rate to home schoolers and provides a short educational program (meeting employees of Epcot from different countries). We arrived too late for the educational part, but we had a great (and educational) time anyway. The park is a lot less crowded this time of the year so there were little lines (thank goodness because it was COLD). I love Epoct! It is my favorite of all the Disney parks. There are no great roller coasters. (Except the evil ride called Mission Space on which people have died and I will not let me kids go on no matter how hard they beg, and beg they did.) The rides are all pretty lame, but Grace (1) could ride on just about every one of them, I love the country exhibits, the great food, the beautiful gardens, and the fireworks are fabulous. My favorite part was seeing the new exhibit at the China pavillion. They had artifacts from the Qin Dynasty and small scale replicas of the Terracotta warriors. Shi Huangdi, the great Qin Dynasty ruler, was buried with 8000 life-size terracotta warriors. Each warrior had a weapon and all their faces and facial expressions were different! I can’t even image how they managed to do this. There must have been people who worked on these most of their lives, waiting for the emperor to die (he ruled for 20 years). Chris is studying ancient China in Ancients (level two), so I guess this would be a field trip for him.

Charlie (7) really enjoyed the Norway exhibit and the Viking ride. This was my favorite ride when I was a kid, so it was quite nostalgic that he enjoyed it as well. It is still the same–your boat feeling like it’s really going over the falls, trolls, Vikings, offshore oil drilling, and all–I just love it!

Why don’t we take more time for days like this?

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Fifty Years of Math 1957 – 2007

1. Teaching Math In 1950s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit ?

2. Teaching Math In 1960s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

3. Teaching Math In 1970s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?

4. Teaching Math In 1980s

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Math In 1990s

A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers, and if you feel like crying, it’s ok. )

6. Teaching Math In 2007

Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho

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Happy 2008! Now is a great time to try some changes to your daily routine in order that you can have more time for your home business, home school, and family. I’ll admit that I am not the most organized person in the world. But having juggled home school with home business for several years now, I have developed a few tricks to help things run more smoothly. The most important lesson I have learned is to let the little things go. I am reminded of the book Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff … and It’s All Small Stuff. Just the title itself holds a lot of wisdom for me. Many of the “techniques” I use to help save time and organize have to do with letting go of some housework and grooming and many are controversial, I realize. But I believe we do so many things on autopilot, doing them just because our mother did them, and her mother before her. At some point, a long time ago, someone said “this is how we should do it” and people have been doing it that way ever since and hardly questioning why or if it is necessary. So read the following tips with an open mind and try a few out. If you do, you may find yourself with a lot of extra hours each day that can be devoted to your children or your business.

• Have a theme for each day of the week. For example- Monday laundry day, Tuesday errand day, Wednesday cleaning day, etc. Having a focus for each day forces you to plan and helps to streamline your week.
• Start online banking. In 2007, this was the single best time saver I adopted. Bill paying use to take me half a day every week and a whole day at the beginning of every month. Now I literally complete paying bills in minutes, usual about 15. That’s 4 hours saved each week!
• Skip pajamas. Put your kids to bed in the clothes they will wear in the morning. If they just took a bath and put on clean comfortable clothes, what is wrong with this? I don’t buy PJs. I think the money is better spent on other pieces of clothing. I usually send my kids to bed in at least the shirt and underclothes for the next day (pants can be slipped on in the AM). When my kids wake-up, they are dressed for the day!
• Don’t fold laundry. Let’s face it, folding the clothes is what takes the longest. Cutting out folding will save you untold hours each week. This was a big time saver ah-ha idea after the birth of our 4th baby and the laundry mountain was up to my chin. This is what I do–each member of the family has his/her own small laundry basket. After washing and drying the clothes, I sort the clean clothes into these baskets. (I just place them in there, no folding.) Then each person takes the basket into his/her room. The kids can either pull clean clothes out of their baskets each day or fold their clothes and put them away themselves. Personally, I like my clothes folded so I fold mine and the baby’s. But it doesn’t matter to me if the rest decide not to fold (I am not embarrassed by wrinkled clothes.) (Disclaimer–this is actually not my original idea. I heard about it or read it somewhere a long time ago. I can’t remember where but I will give credit to the source if I discover it.)
• Teach your older children to do their own laundry.When my kids reach 13, I no longer wash or dry their clothes (or fold, see above). Each 13+ child is given a dirty clothes hamper and a lesson in how to wash clothes. They must wait until they have a full load before running the washing machine (or ask to share a load with me). I recommend that they do laundry once a week, but it is up to them. And yes, there have been times when they have had nothing to wear, but that is part of learning responsibility.
• Don’t insist on baths every night. Now I know some extended family members that would faint at this suggestion. I even know people who will wake their kid up (like after a long drive home) and make him take a bath. All I have to say is–why? Don’t get me wrong, hygiene is very important to me, and I don’t like my kids to stink. But if they have not been sweating or playing in the dirt, then they are probably not dirty enough to warrant an all over scrub with soap. I do make them wash their feet, face, hands, and teeth before bed every night. Cutting out the whole bath time routine every single night saves us loads of time (and makes for a much less stressful evening). During the winter months, I make them bathe about three time a week. They bathe more in the summer. (Now, if I could only figure out how to stop my 14 y.o. daughter from taking 2 showers a day!)
• Eat breakfast for dinner. Breakfast is generally quicker to fix and can be a time saver on nights when you can use an extra hour and too. (And the kids think it’s great fun to eat pancakes for dinner.)
• Stop eating fast food. Wait a minute, fast food is suppose to be, well…fast. Doesn’t that save time? I don’t think so and here’s why– fast food can give you that icky, food coma feeling. I don’t know about you, but when I feel bad I am not very productive. Also fast food (and all eating out) is EXPENSIVE. If you eat out enough, you will have to work harder or longer to make extra money for all of the “fast” food you are eating, and that is not saving time. Every once in a long while we will eat fast food. In a pinch, it’s okay. But by limiting it to only a few times a year, my kids think it is a special treat.
• Kid-clean your house. IOW, let your kids clean the house. You will have to let go of high expectations, but this does save time and teaches responsibility. I have my kids do all parts of house cleaning depending on their ages including vacuuming, dusting, mopping, sweeping, yard work, and bathrooms. And my three oldest kids clean the kitchen (all of it) every night after dinner.
• Don’t make your kids do all the practice exercises. One of the great things about home schooling is that you can eliminate busy work. If your child gets the concept, move on!
• Try block scheduling with home school. See my post about block scheduling–it is a great time saver.
• Allow only one extra activity per child. You can spend your whole day toting kids from one activity to another. My kids are allowed only one outside activity each year, and whenever possible I combine activities. For example, both of my boys are taking the same karate class this year.
• Teach your kids how to fix meals. Generally, I only “cook” dinner. My kids (5 and over) know how to fix a bowl of cereal and a sandwich (and clean up too).
• Stop shopping! Shopping drains your time and finances. Plan to shop only once a week. Make a list and stick to it. If at all possible, don’t bring your kids or only bring one. Shopping will go much quicker and you will buy much less.
• Turn off the TV! The biggest time waster.
• Have two “quick cleans” everyday. Set the timer for 5 mins. or play a song. During this time have your kids run around and pick up everything in sight. My kids actually think this is a game.
• Grow your hair long so you can put it up in the morning. I love short hair, but it really shows bed head in the morning. Longer hair looks presentable with a quick pony tail or bun.
• Shave your legs only 1x a week (or not at all if you can stand it) during the winter. Really, under your pants, who’s going to know?
• Cook once, serve twice. For example, cook twice the needed spaghetti sauce for pizza the next day.
• Pull out the crockpot in the morning. A huge time saver for the evenings.
• Let your kids work out their own disagreements. A good idea on so many levels. I intervene only if things get violent.
• Limit your email time and web surfing to 15 minutes a day each. Really, set a timer if you need to. The computer is a time sucker and not all emails have to be answered immediately.

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This time of the year, when I pay our property taxes, I always have to fight the urge to scream! This year I am paying over $2100 in the form of property taxes directly to the public school systems in two different counties. And that’s just the property taxes. In Florida, school systems also get a share of sales tax, impact fees when building a new house, and of course the lottery. (By contrast, we are only paying $11 for parks and less than $500 for emergency services.) I really resent paying all this money to the school system. All I can think about is what I could do with that $2100 for my own kids this year. People who do not have school-age kids, or those who pay for private school might get equally aggravated. I do not buy the argument that public education is everyone’s burden! I believe that if you brought a child into this world, then you are responsible for that child’s education, not everyone else who dares to own property. And why is it the property owners who bare this burden? Is there a punishment for owning property–You must then make sure everyone gets an education, even if it is a bad one?

There is so much waste in school systems. IMO schools get way more money than they need. The system in Florida is so top heavy and full of bureaucracy and waste. For example, I operate an umbrella school in Florida in which a few homeschooling families are enrolled. We do not have a school building; each family teaches their own children, in their homes. But in our state, umbrella schools are considered private schools just like a traditional brick and mortar school. So I get all of the mail that any school in FL receives. About 10 times a year I receive a huge box that has been overnighted to me, like it is some big emergency, that is full of about 50 full color, very expensive posters that I am suppose to hang up on the walls of my “school” and several hundred color brochures to pass out to my “students.” I can’t even image what the cost of these packages must be. I have called, emailed, and written the school system begging them to stop sending me these boxes, but to no avail.

I don’t think it would be too difficult to determine which property owners have kids in the public school system. These are the families who should be paying this tax. At the very, very least, I should be able to deduct from my taxes the cost of materials I buy educating my own children. It only seems fair, since I am paying for my neighbors’ children’s education. I think that those who pay for private education for their children should also be able to write off tuition costs.

Oops! I think my Libertarianism is showing!

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Yesterday I posted an entry advocating block scheduling for homeschool. While I still believe it to be a good option for homeschool, I am aware that block scheduling has its opponents. Block scheduling has been tried in public schools with varying degrees of success. It has become popular in public schools in Canada and the United States (especially in Virgina, North Carolina, and Colorado). Testing of public school children has indicated mixed results with regards to the success of block scheduling. But as with most things, comparing the home school environment to the public school environment is synonymous with apples to oranges. I hesitate to take any reviews of public school block scheduling to heart, whether positive or negative. The environments and circumstances are just too different. Take, for example, some of the reasons public schools try block scheduling–less time in the hallways means less opportunity for kids to get in trouble, less papers for teachers to grade, and fewer behavior problems means fewer detentions. While this is great for public schools, it hardly correlates to the home environment. Listen to this criticism of block scheduling in public schools:

My experience is that when motivated students are hungry for knowledge and are being fed by a motivated teacher, a class could continue for hours and still be effective. But the realities of public education make this an unrealistic scenario. Typical students already have difficulty maintaining interest over a 50-minute class. — Jeff Lindsay

So, in other words, public school students have already lost a love of learning so why would they want their classes to be longer? Get in and get out is much more appealing! In my experience home schooled students like to learn and the opportunity to spend all day delving into a subject without interruption can be very rewarding and effective. While I have not engaged in standardized testing studies of the effectiveness of block scheduling (don’t get me started on my opinion of testing); I know my kids still remember a great deal of information from subjects we blocked over a year ago.

Also the type of block scheduling used in public schools is quite different than the schedule I proposed for homeschooling. The type of block scheduling used in public schools is generally called “accelerated scheduling” or “4×4 blocking.” With this schedule students study 4 blocks at a time with four 90 min. classes each day. Then there is the “alternative block schedule” or “A/B blocking” in which students study six to eight blocks at a time, alternating days with three to four blocks studied on one day and the others studied the next day, alternating each day. Personally, I think this is still too many subjects and contradicts the benefits of block scheduling. And a 90 min. period is not long enough to get fully immersed in a subject and participate in major projects. I suggest only one or two blocks be studied at a time. Also in public school blocking, no subject is exempt from blocking. Math, foreign language, and even music are blocked. The president of Saxon math had this to say about blocking:

The concept of “block scheduling” or “flex scheduling” has recently come into vogue and is being implemented in [public] schools throughout the country. Many Saxon users now face the challenge of implementing the Saxon program within a block schedule… Saxon Publishers does not advocate the use of block scheduling. If you are considering whether to implement block scheduling, we suggest you do not. We believe that children learn most effectively when they are exposed to concepts in small, easily understandable pieces called increments and when new concepts and skills are reviewed continuously. Dr. Frank Y. H. Wang, President of Saxon Publishers

In my proposal I suggest that there are courses, such as math , foreign language, and music, that are not conducive to block scheduling. These subjects require consistant drilling for better retention. Retention of other subjects, however, is improved when students take a real interest. Block scheduling allows the time for students to develop that interest.

While I have not always used a strict block schedule with my kids, I usually use some form of it every year. And for those times when our family life is busier than normal, we use block scheduling with surprising success.

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Block scheduling is something I have turned to many times throughout the last several years of homeschooling my children. I find it has been a huge time saver during those times when I have had confusing or complicated circumstances going on in my family–like the birth of a new baby, moving, or starting a new business. And I have been pleasantly surprised to find that there are other advantages to block scheduling than just ease of scheduling and saving time. I find that my children really enjoy blocks and experience better retention of material and more enthusiasm for learning.

Block scheduling is far from a typical school schedule, in fact it is quite contrary to what most of us experienced in our school settings when we were young. Typical school schedules involve students studying several subjects in a day and in a week. A student may study math, English, history, science, foreign language, and several other subjects all in one day or at least by the end of the week. With block scheduling students focus on one main subject for several weeks, or even months, until the course is complete. Then they move onto the next block subject. For example, a student may begin her school year with a language arts block in which she will spend 6 weeks completing a writing course. Then she might begin a science block where she will spend 12 weeks completing a biology course. The block subject is the main subject and it is studied everyday of “school” for several hours. Sometimes a student may be studying two block subjects at one time. For example, a writing course and driver’s ed. The rest of the time each day is spent studying the subject or subjects that are not blocked. (See the list below for subjects that should not be blocked.)

Instead of having to redirect focus every hour or so onto another subject, blocking allows a student to become immersed in a subject. It is a more natural method of learning and is similar to the way we participate in hobbies or seminars. Blocking creates a sense of freedom of learning. Students have less to worry about with only one or two subjects each day, instead of four or five. Because they spend several hours each day studying the block subject, they have time to really learn the subject manner, exploring all aspects and going off on tangents and completing major projects. There is no rush to quickly finish-up and put away the books to get on to the next subject. Blocking creates a much more relaxed learning atmosphere that most students (and parents) find a refreshing change from the normal school routine.

Last year with the birth my baby, Grace, I used block scheduling with my oldest two children. Below is a copy of the schedule they followed for the year. For each course that I planned to block, I figured out how many weeks the course would take if studied five days a week. (Courses intended to take a year can be completed much quicker when studied as a block.) I spent a couple of weeks (before the baby was born) planning for the school year. I wrote block schedules for each child and gathered materials for the entire year. Each day they also studied math (a subject we did not block). I can hardly express the relief that block scheduling brought all of us. I was able to care for my new baby, publish three new courses with Pandia Press, keep my speaking engagements, and the kids had a great school year.

Our block schedule:

12 weeks – Science Block – R.E.A.L. Science Earth and Space plus they made science lap books and trips to the planetarium and Kennedy Space Center

4 weeks – Literature and Poetry Block – they each read 3 books and several poems and completed book reports (at the end of this block Grace was born)

(Here we took over a month off to enjoy our new baby and celebrate the holidays.)

4 weeks – Grammar and Writing Block – Sarah completed an online writing course with Brave Writer and Chris completed a grammar course.

14 weeks – History and Geography Block – History Odyssey, Middle Ages (2) – combines history with geography, literature, and writing. Included a field trip to Medieval Times restaurant and our local medieval fair.

4 weeks – Art History/ Art Appreciation – We studied the impressionists using several texts and a few museum visits.

Subjects that are conducive to block scheduling:

• Science – biology, chemistry, earth science, astronomy, physics, ecology, marine biology, tide pools and water ways, etc.
• History – all time periods and also US history, state history, etc.
• Geography
• Bible study
• Art – ceramics, painting, art appreciation, art history, etc.
• Economics
• Logic
• Consumer math
• Life skills – cooking, sewing, carpentry, etc.
• Writing course
• Grammar course
• Literature and poetry
• Handwriting – printing, cursive, calligraphy
• Business and investing
• Test prep – SAT, ACT, etc
• Driver’s Ed
• Speech / Rhetoric
• Community service project
• Computer skills – Excel, Powerpoint, internet, web site development, HTML, etc.
• Making books
• First aid /CPR
• Times tables / skip counting
• Agriculture
• Car maintenance and repair
• Animal care – horses, chicken embrology, 4-H project

There are a few subjects that should generally not be blocked. These subjects require daily and consistent drill for success. Subjects that should not be blocked:

• Math (except the supplemental math courses listed above)
• Music lessons
• Foreign language
• Phonics (with younger children, older children could block remedial phonics)

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Sarah (13) completed the Tudor Family Reunion worksheet found in History Odyssey, Middle Ages (2):

CONVERSATION AT A TUDOR FAMILY REUNION

Henry VII – I welcome you back to my humble home in hopes that you find your lodgings and company to your liking. May we come together as a family again and celebrate each other’s conversation.

Catherine of Aragon – Well, (clears throat) here we are. How abundant is my joy to see all of you (glares at Anna Boleyn). I expect you not to respect me as you should, but know that it was God’s will that my arrow of love that struck him first.

Anne Boleyn – My beautiful daughter (to Elizabeth) how tall and graceful you have become since we were parted. I do hope my former lover’s house hold had held you in highest esteem. May you one day rule mightily.

Catherine of Aragon – (jumping up) Witch! You speak of treason! How dare you assume that your scum of a girl will rule over my daughter of God!

Anne Boleyn – Magpie! Ugly filth!

Anne of Cleaves – Now, now ma’ dears, lets not fret. Your daughters are both sparking jewels in the royal crown of Tudor. They will both rule with an iron fist in their own good time.

Henry VIII – But over them shall rule my sole heir, Henry. Long live Henry!

Jane Seymour – (holding Henry’s hand) My king, fate tore us apart before true love could blossom. Why did we part so? Tell me that you love me still! My heart pounds for your affection, you sweet touch once more.

Henry VIII – My sweet maiden, we shall always have a knot of love that no one may sever.

Bloody Mary – My most royal Father, the joy of my heart, how can you speak to other women so when it was my Mother who struck your graces when you were a mere child. Why, your highness, did you throw away that love for this witch (points at Anna Boleyn)! She has lured you with spells and trickery, and then only provides you with a scrawny wisp of a thing. May your royal soul under God know where you have faltered.

Elizabeth I – My lovely Mothers and dear sister, may you stop your bickering and look to the goodness of this meeting. We are all here together to celebrate good food and company. If all that can come of this is spite and evil looks, then let us part our ways. I do wish that we may be a loving family, so a toast before you leave, to love and the royal house of Tudor!

THE END.

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The following is my day on Monday, December 17th, 2007. I kept a pad with me all day, recording everything. People often ask me how I do it–home school, home business, 4 kids. Well this is how. This particular day happened to be more home school than home business but it was still a pretty typical day. (Unlike many businesses, the holidays are a slow time for education publishers. I plan to post another typical day during my busy time, like in April or August.) I tried to report everything here–the good, the bad, and the ugly. I hope it will help people see that although we are far from perfect, it isn’t so difficult to combine family with business (and home school too).

7:30 AM – I’m the first one up, Grace (1) is up two minutes later. I try to sneak Christmas presents in from the car but Sarah (13) wakes up and I have to ask her to shut her eyes. Charlie (6), who fell asleep on the couch last night, wakes up next. I start picking up from the night before (we went to bed without picking up- I hate that). Baby follows me around, undoing what I do. I remind Sarah that she did not sweep the kitchen floor last night and now she has extra to do this AM (last night was not a good one). Charlie asks his usual morning question “Can I turn on the T.V. ?” “No.” (He asks this every morning even though he is never allowed to watch TV in the AM.) I warm up my computer and start coffee. (I think I may be needing lots, so I make a whole pot.)

8 AM – I write a list of weekly goals as I do every Monday. My list for this week:

Personal/Home -

• Finish wrapping Christmas presents
• Pay bills
• Visit flooring store
• Plan Christmas dinner and guest list

Business -

• Complete Dreamweaver tutorial
• Get bids on printing Ancients (2)
• Complete set-up of blogs
• Touch base with writers
• Send Christmas cards to associates

I change the baby. The kids are all awake now. I start my morning pronouncement, “Do your morning routines!” Morning routines consists of various grooming tasks and household chores for the kids–get dressed, teeth, hair, feed animals, take out the trash, unload dishwasher, etc. I start fixing breakfast while finally drinking my coffee. The TV is on and I start to yell. I hate it when I yell and I vow that will be my only yelling for the day. Gracie scatters clean clothes around the house from the laundry basket. As I clean it up, Pete calls asking my opinion about problems with our new renter in our commercial building. I feed Gracie Cheerios and bananas as I sing to her the Cheerios song my sister-in-law made up (it’s now Grace’s favorite). Reprinted here with permission:

Cheerios and nanas, Cheerios and nanas,Cheerios and nanas, that’s how I start my day. Then I play and play and play and play. That’s all I have to say.”

Charlie starts asking his other usual question, “Can I build a fort?” “No, not now. Maybe after your school work is done.” Charlie starts arguing about breakfast, as usual. Charlie doesn’t want to eat anything. Charlie ends up drinking a glass of Green Goodness (a health drink made from pureed fruit and blue/green algae). I’m happy with that. Chris (12) finishes off leftovers from 2 nights ago while Sarah, Grace, and I eat eggs, toast, and uncured bacon.

Yikes it’s 8:45, 15 mins. till our scheduled school time.  I remind Charlie to feed the cat and Sarah starts sweeping the floor. I clean up from breakfast and change and dress the baby.

9 AM – While the kids wrap up their chores, I answer emails. Charlie starts on his math (he is learning subtraction). I stop emailing to help him. Chris starts on history. He borrows my computer to look up Henry VIII info. Sarah starts math, pre-algebra. I leave for a quick bathroom break. When I return Chris and Charlie are arguing.(Apparently Charlie got too close to Chris and breathed on him.) Disaster diverted (and the boys separated) we get back to school work. (I find that I have to stay close to the kids during school work or they will disappear, or start arguing.) Sarah finishes math and helps Charlie finish his math while I get up to finish cleaning the kitchen. Gracie dumps Charlie’s flashcards across the kitchen floor. I just leave them there for now. Both Chris and Sarah are working on Henry VIII Family Reunion worksheets now. Chris writes one sentence for each person; Sarah writes so much that she needs extra paper (typical). I tell Chris he needs to write at least 3 sentences for each Tudor family member. Charlie turns on Cirque du Soleil music in the living room and starts dancing around with Gracie.

10 AM – I pick up the flashcards and change the baby. Charlie, Chris, and I practice karate katas for our class tomorrow with baby underfoot. Charlie and I pretend to spar.

10:15 – I wash up and dress for the day. Charlie is finally hungry and eats cereal mixed with plain yogurt and fresh fruit.

10:30 Baby is playing nicely with her toy baskets so Charlie and I sit down for his reading lesson. He goes through his sight word flashcards and we play “Say It, Slap It.” (This is a game I made up for my very kinesthetic son. I lay out the flash cards and say a word and he slaps the card that matches, often quite hard, he loves it.) He copies a sentence and reads a short book and we call him “done with school for the day.”

(By the way, the whole time I am doing school work with the kids, my work phone is ringing. But I do not answer it. If I did I would lose all control of the school day. I let the machine do the work)

I pull some dog food out of Gracie’s mouth (she just loves the stuff).

11 AM – Chris and Sarah read their Tudor Family Reunion sheets to me. They are hilarious! I will try to post them. Chris starts his math (fractions). Charlie gets to start working on his fort in the living room. I answer a few more emails with Gracie on my lap. (Typing is very slow one-handed.)

11:30 – Everyone looks settle for a few minutes so I pull out Modern Times (2) and try to write a lesson (Grace is “helping” Charlie with his fort). I am quickly interrupted by Pete who asks me to make a decision about the roof for the new house. What color tin do I want? Apparently there are a zillion choices. We try to get online to see the choices but the web site is so confusing we can’t find the color chart we need. Pete calls the company instead. I help Chris with his language arts program. I read the lesson regarding pronouns and antecedents to him. He seems to get the point, so I don’t make him do all the practice exercises. I do make him underline pronouns in a poem. I choose the plain tin for the roof, no color after all.

12 PM – We start lunch. Easy one today–leftover rigatoni.

12:30 – The kids are playing in Charlie’s fort so I sit down to finish the MT2 lesson (about the Plain Wars) and send emails to a few printers to get bids on Ancients 2.

1 PM – The weather has warmed-up, so even though we still have science to do, we all go outside. The three older kids play a make-believe game involving poison dart frogs and dinosaurs while Grace and I take a walk. We check out the garden to see if the frost zapped it. The mustard greens look good and we still have a few squash flowers blooming. We pick a few old corn cobs and go to visit and feed the cows and lambs in the pasture. Gracie pets the boarded horse.

2 PM – I nurse Gracie to sleep.

2:15 – With the baby asleep and kids still helping Pete, I have a quiet house! I spend five minutes straightening my desk (I can’t focus in clutter). I enjoy my 2nd cup of coffee and write another lesson for MT2. This one is a writing assignment for Tom Sawyer.

3 PM – Charlie comes in and I let him watch a PBS show while he eats cheese and crackers. The rest come in for snacks. I start mixing the pizza dough for dinner (Mondays are pizza and a movie night at our house). I return a phone call from this morning ( a charter school that wants to see sample materials). I finish the T.S. assignment. (I actually wrote two writing assignments for T.S., one on characterization and one a symbolism. Which one will I use? Maybe both.)

3:40 I call my Mom to ask her to check her local stores for a present that I can’t find here. I start where I left off with a CD tutorial of Dreamweaver (I am tired of depending on others to do web site work). The baby wakes up so I don’t get far. The neighbors call (home from school) to see if the kids can play. I say yes, outside. I get Gracie a snack of cheddar cheese and apple pieces. While she eats I drink a very large glass of water and Grace watches me do yoga (she thinks this is very funny).

4 PM – While the kids are still outside, I wrap presents (lots of fun with a 1 y.o.). I spend the first 10 mins. looking for the scotch tape. I end up using packing tape. I finish the presents (yeah! something is complete!) and baby needs changing.

4:30 – I get out Gracie’s stacking cups and the dolly that looks like Albert Einstein meets Don King (her favorite toys) and while she plays I fold laundry. First I have to dismantle Charlie’s fort a little to clear the couch. He has it all held together with massive amounts of scotch tape (that’s where the tape went). (By the way, I won’t clean up the fort for him, he will do that.)

I form the pizza dough and set it to rise then cut up the veggies. I call a couple of the kids to the house to point out their failure to complete a couple of their morning chores. A less than immediate response and I yell for the 2nd time today, drats!

5ish – Older kids have started a huge bonfire with the yard trash. Very nice on a cold day, so I go to join them for a few minutes.

5:30 – I call all of the kids in for picking-up time. I set the timer for 10 mins. and they run around like busy ants cleaning everything in sight (including Charlie’s fort).

5:45 – The boys put the toppings on the pizzas. They make them look like works of art! Pizzas go in the oven and I start yet another load of laundry. Kids set the table, feed animals, and other chores before dinner. (You may be getting the idea that I have a lot of laundry to do today. I usually only do one load a day, but I do not do laundry on the weekends. That is why Mondays are dubbed “Laundry Day.”)

6:15 – Dinner – Mom’s homemade wholewheat pizza is delicious and nutritious!

6:45 – Kids clean the kitchen while I finish straightening up the house (only because my in laws are coming in the AM).

7 PM – Movie time. We watch Bourne Identity

8:45 – Kids get ready for bed. I help Charlie with teeth and washing-up.

9 PM – Charlie goes to bed. Give Grace a bath, even though it may be a couple of hours before she goes down.

10 PM – Grace and Chris go to bed. Sarah watches the Food Network for 30 mins before going to bed while I start blogging (including this post). I will likely get to shower and bed by midnight and read for an hour before calling it a night.

This ended up being a pretty productive day, even though we never did get to science. As I read over the day, it seems a little hectic and busy. It did not feel that way. I am happy that the kids learned many new things, used their imaginations, played outside for a long time, (and nobody got hurt). I am happy I was able to write two lessons, get a few tasks started from my goal list, and only drank 2 cups of coffee. I would say the hardest part about my days are the constant interruptions and restarts. But all in all, I find days like this rewarding. Although mundane, I love being surrounded by my family all day and I wouldn’t change that, not even if it meant more productivity with my business.

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