While other parents are busy trying to find the right shoes, uniform in the correct size and are sewing on name label after name label our back to school preparations are very different. That is down to the fact that our children do not attend school.
The best part of this morning has been spent tying up the last school year. Our family finished all workbooks about a week after the schools shut for summer. We haven’t yet decided what date we will pick up the pencils and open the workbooks again. It’ll be September some time. Maybe the first week or perhaps not until the second.
So far today we’ve made copies of the last school year’s record cards which keep track of the tests the children have taken over the last 12 months. We’ve sorted out the workbooks we have and the ones we need. I have yet to get online and start the order off. Indeed, we need to prepare for Cait moving up to the next level, which requires Mike and I to take tests for the curriculum we have chosen to use. This isn’t a prerequisite for homeschooling in the UK, I hasten to add. It is purely to maximise our use and understanding of the curriculum. You don’t even need a curriculum here in the UK. In fact, you don’t even need a paper trail or workbooks of any sort.
Next month, Sid will be joining us for lessons too. He will be starting the workbooks that the older children have and will have to set his goals and so, as with any child going up to the next year in school, he’s excited about it. Long may his enthusiasm last… hopefully.
The filing cabinet needs sorting out ready for the new year, the stationery needs topping up and new cartridges need to be put in the printer. When the new books arrive they need to be checked off and allocated then put away in the right folders until needed.
People ask how I manage to homeschool during the year but of the whole homeschooling year, August is my busiest time. Once all the preparation has been done and everything is in place, the rest is gravy!
I know this post is almost a year old, but I just found your site. All I can say is…you speak the truth! lol We are an American home schooling family, and we spend our summers researching curricula and books, making lists, shopping and comparing prices, sorting last years papers, boxing up older papers for storage, etc., etc. We only have two children, so it’s mind boggling to me how you do it with your (beautiful) large family. Hope you all have a wonderful upcoming school year!