For This Day
August 2016, Vol.4 Issu.2
It has revolutionized how I feel towards crunch day. This is how we did it.
Pictured: Mandi and Jerrod Gerth
Office Hours:
or what changed crunch day by Mandi Gerth
Remember how your college professors had posted office hours outside their office doors? You might stop by, but if the door was closed you knew when you could get help…during office hours. It’s genius, really. And oh, so very elementary. They were available to provide the help you needed, but it was scheduled. Making an application of that concept to crunch days was a light bulb moment for me.
The night before, I make myself prepare for our home day. I cannot go into my home days without evening preparation and expect them to run smoothly, no matter how good at this I think I am. Nope. Instead, I look through assignment sheets and connect assignments and familiarize myself with what everyone needs to complete. I make a list of their assignments in the order I want them to complete them. I put on the list when they should take breaks. It’s a simple to-do list with check boxes. It’s not high tech and it requires 10-15 minutes. I have learned by studying my children which subjects are hardest for them. Which need to be done early in the day, which ones flow best before or after a break. I help them learn this about themselves by making this list for them. My goal is by sixth grade, they are making this list for themselves, without my help, because they have learned by example how to order their day.
I set up stations around our homeschool table for my two young girls. It has their manipulative and flash cards laid out. It has any games or tools we will be using to reinforce phonics or math concepts. They can come into the room and see what their day looks like. It’s a “to-do” list for a nonreader. Again, I have carefully arranged this table with an order in mind. Heavy subject, light subject, break up the handwriting so their hands don’t get too tired, etc. I have learned to pay attention to what works for them and what doesn’t and I set the table accordingly. I also committed myself to the idea that our mornings needed to start with scripture and prayer. I put together a brief and loose list of things to do together in the morning, called it “devotions” and asked that everyone join me for them. Lest you think this is too high a calling for you, devotions are simple in our home. We sing. We read scripture. We pray. We leave devotions with our hearts orientated toward God. After devotions, the older three boys work independently on their to-do lists. They are not allowed to come find me and ask questions. They are not allowed to interrupt me when I am working with their sisters. They have a clear list of what is expected of them. If they are struggling, they move on to the next problem or next subject on their list. Because the boys know they will get office hours with me later in the day, they can move through their to do list and make notes of things they need to discuss with
me during office hours. There may even be things we specifically decide before crunch day begins that will be saved for office hours, like going through a literature comprehension guide together, or editing a paper. All corrections are reviewed and handed back during office hours. This way I can make sure they understand why they got a problem wrong and we can do extra practice together if needed, or rewatch a math video together. While the older students work independently, I teach the little girls. We work our way around the table, station by station. Everything they need to learn with me or from me is completed in this time. And because I have done all the prep the night before, we move quickly from station to station. I don’t have to walk away from the table to find something I have forgotten and break our momentum. I can keep their attention because we are moving through their work and we take large muscle movement breaks to do a finger play or get down on the floor and put blocks into piles of ten. All of this continues until lunch. One of my older boys will make lunch for the kids. Usually, it’s cans of SpaghettiOs or boxes of mac and cheese or turkey sandwiches. It is supposed to be easy, fast and quick to clean up. Lunch is a good break for all, but it doesn’t derail the day. I will use lunch time to correct papers from the morning. I sit in a separate room to eat my lunch and I concentrate on getting through corrections and checking email and CDA Connect to see if anything has been sent or posted that pertains to our work that day.
After lunch has been cleaned up, I begin office hours. Who goes first, second and third will change depending upon whose day is light or heavy. But all of them know they will get an hour to an hour and a half of my time in the afternoon. See the application? Scheduled, predictable, one on one time with their home teacher, just like you had with your college professor. Having this structure to our home days has made such a huge difference for me. I am no longer stressed about getting it all done, or about making sure no one is flying under the radar and not getting the help they need. It has freed me up to focus my undivided attention on each of my children at a specific time during the day, so I am not bouncing around like a ping pong ball. While this works for us, I am by no means trying to prescribe what your home days should look like. You may have children at different stages or you may be trying to squeeze in nap time for toddlers or nursing a baby. I offer this as an encouragement to find a structure to your home days that works for you and your children. The structure really has provided a lot of freedom. I know that we will get through the day. I know that I won’t have to reinvent something every Tuesday to “just get it done.” The structure of office hours has freed me up to see my children as people and not assignment sheets arranged by grade level. I tweak and manage the structure of our day, not my children. Not anymore. As we bring our children up through this model of education, we are working with them toward achieving independence. We want them to be self-motivated, focused, and responsible for their work. But this doesn’t happen overnight. It is a process. Implementing office hours and introducing structure to our crunch days has been a part of that process.
Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Family Resources Moms in Prayer M/W Contact: Leah Clark T/TH Contact: Michelle Collins P2P - mentoring new families Contact: Jacque Younger for grade specific contacts Straight Talk Contact: Donna Rector Idea Exchange Contact: Jacque Younger Connections Day - September 6th (Conference Day and Workshops) Check calendar and upcoming emails for additional information on these resources and events.