When Homeschool Is BORING

During my first year of homeschooling I realized that it was easy to get stuck in a rut sometimes. The monotony of worksheets and table work was boring. If school is boring for you it’s boring the children too. And the whole idea,for me, is to offer them something different than what traditional school does. So I created a schedule that is consistent yet varied enough to keep it interesting.

We homeschool 4 days a week, Monday-Thursday. Friday is preparation day for the Shabbat. But truth be told we never stop teaching them and anytime there is a learning opportunity we try to explore it.

I break our weekdays up by subject as follows:

Monday- Language or Skills lab

Tuesday- Science

Wednesday- Reading/ Writing/ Library

Thursday- Art and music

Everyone still has their daily assignments to complete but that work is typically centered around the theme or subject for that day.

Monday is referred to as “Hebrew Monday” because our children are learning Hebrew. So we focus on incorporating as many Hebrew vocabulary words as possible into our everyday speech. The children complete their Rosetta Stone Hebrew Lesson and we also play games. We have a colorful area rug where we do a ring toss and whatever color they land on, they have to tell me the color in Hebrew. I play too!

I may switch up on a Monday and do a skills lab in addition to our language lesson. Skills labs encompass any life skill; cooking, cleaning, tying shoes, etc. They like cooking because it is interactive and they get to eat whatever we make. Like these 7up biscuits we baked!

Our messy lab table

Umm…so worth the mess. Delicious!

Tuesday is a Science day so in addition to regular work we usually do some sort of experiment. This past year we learned about tornados, the body, states of matter and things like that. I think this is their favorite day. They get to see chemical reactions, do taste tests and other hands on stuff. Here are a few pics of our Science days.

This taste test was a hit. They were mostly excited to taste “sweet” which was chocolate.

Wednesday we focus on Reading and Writing. This is usually the opportunity for a weekly library visit to get some new books and to get outside of our same environment. This seems to be the least exciting day, for my oldest at least. If I can find a way to offset his lack of enthusiasm it helps. Like a trip to the park after library for instance. I’ve been letting our writing assignments evolve organically by making it a family activity. We all contribute  based on our skill level and expertise. My 6 year old uses his vivid imagination to come up with a story. My 8 year old son writes it. Mom, me, illustrates it and my 5 year old daughter colors it.  Be advised this can take all day. There are snacks, lunch and bathroom breaks in between. But it’s worth it and they are engaged which is most important. And at the end we have a wonderful project that we all contributed to.

The cover for The Dragon Can Breathe Fire.The story of Mick, Jick and their friend Jack the dragon. This was a lot of fun!

For the reading element, if we aren’t doing the library, I like to do animated read alouds. This sometimes involves a prop (we have a storytime owl hand puppet) but usually not because it tends to be a distraction.

Thursday is reserved for art and music. I have a background in the fine arts but if you don’t Pinterest and YouTube are your friends. We like to paint but I often use those resources to get ideas for projects that go beyond my know-how. The kids love art days too. It’s more relaxing for them I think.  I do have them follow step by step instructions if necessary but every so often they can just create which is important too.

This was a landscape of a sunset we did. I love painting sunsets.

I tried playing music while we create art but everyone had different sensory tolerances so I don’t do that anymore. As they get older we can try that again.

Music is its own separate thing for now. I am not a musician and I can’t sing. So I defer to YouTube to assist in music history. I found a few great videos on the history of jazz. The thing I like most is that often I am learning with my children. There is a sense of wonder and discovery for me too even at (hand over mouth muffling my age) years old.

Friday’s are reserved for Shabbat prep. So that’s our Exciting homeschool week in a nutshell. I can shuffle days as needed when we have field trips or some other life experience that deserves our attention. If you found this article helpful or otherwise please leave comments below.

Stay tuned for Taking Your Show On The Road: Homeschooling on the go.