A typical day at Mapleview Academy looks like this.

(Isn’t that pretentious!? I found an idea online that said to choose what you see out our window to name your homeschool. So I see our maple tree!)

I get up before 8 so that I have time to shower and read my Bible before James wakes up.

He usually gets out of bed somewhere around 8.

We take our time getting ready for the day. Sometimes we start school early, sometimes later.

We read a Bible passage from this list. The selections are at the end of the article.

For the first term, we read through John MacArthur’s A Faith to Grow On.

I really enjoyed this book and how it explained theology and doctrine in a child friendly way. We will probably read through it again another year.

After Bible reading, I help James memorize his verses for AWANA.

We sing our hymn of the month. This month, we just started Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee. James recognized the tune from his book about Beethoven. I heard him humming it quite a bit today.

Some months, the hymn is pretty easy to learn. Others are more difficult. We worked on When I Survey the Wondrous Cross for March and April.

Then we read poetry. This year, I’m using Ambleside’s monthly anthology of poems.

We’re memorizing Rain by Robert Louis Stevenson right now. I just read it once or twice each day. My goal is to memorize a total of 3 by next fall.

Then we read some books from the library or from our shelf. Today we read a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale.

Some days we read quite a pile of books. I also use this time to read our chapter book. Currently we’re reading Treasure Island.

Most days, we read snuggled together on the couch. Yesterday afternoon, we sat outside at the patio table and read in the sunshine.

Then James practices reading out loud. Today, he read from The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter. I’m working on moving him away from easy readers into reading real books.

We are keeping a never ending reading list this year. It’s just another notebook.

He has pages to record the books he reads or we read together. I have pages to record my reading. We decorated the front of it with photos of Daddy reading to James.

Of course the first term, phonics lessons were a large portion of our mornings. He also learned to write his letters and numbers during his phonics lessons.

Now that he knows how to form the letters, I have him write things in our notebooks, write letters to friends, or copy Bible verses. Daddy chooses these and sends them home for James to copy.

In January, we started Primer level Math U See. He’s 2 lessons away from finishing the book. I knew going into it that Primer level is an introduction and may be fairly easy for him. I decided to go ahead and start there anyway. He’s enjoyed it and I enjoy the solid way this program teaches math.

After math, we try to squeeze in some fun things. This includes outdoor time, art, doing puzzles, having tea ,playing a game, a science project, computer time, nature study, or just being a boy.

Each of these things isn’t crammed into each day. I just try to make sure that he’s getting all of those things in on a fairly regular basis.

We also study a composer each term. This term is Wagner. We learn a little bit about the composer and add his information to our Music notebook. I check out the selections from the library.

We simply listen to the CD’s in the car, or as background music during the day.

I also follow Ambleside’s artist selections. I save the images to my computer and have them developed as a photo.

James adds them to our artist notebook. (A three ring binder with photo page protectors.)

When we’re ready to change the image we’re studying, he chooses one from the current artist. We look at it together then he gives it to me.

Without looking, he tells me what he remembers and then puts it on the fridge. We see it all the time until we change to another image.

The only other thing I do for art study, is use the image we’re currently studying as the desktop background on the computer.

Sometimes, we see if the library has a book about our artist and we read a little bit.

I try to get Spanish in. I need to work harder on doing this all the time.

This summer, we are still going to work on school. I have found that we are simply living a lifestyle of learning. I can’t imagine stopping for 3 months.

I have chosen to do this for a few reasons:

• Time–since I’m single parenting and running a business I’m tired. Some times life is crazy. So if we need to take a day or two off we will. Working on school during the summer will enable me this luxury.
• Lightening the load–we can get a start on Year 1 and put some wiggle room in our schedule for the school year.
• Time for new things–I plan to work on Apologia science over the summer. James will also start piano lessons. We plan to take trips to museums, pick strawberries, play at the park, and mini golf. He will have a wonderful summer, we just won’t leave learning behind.

Summer Goals:

• I’m planning to get a timeline notebook set up before the fall. I’d like to have it ready to go so we can make good use of it next year.
• Use our nature notebooks more.
• Study birds–we just purchased 2 feeders tonight. We’re looking forward to having more birds around to identify.
• Find a good compass and learn about direction
• Establish piano lessons as a habit
• Keep reading excellent books.
• Plant a few flowers and a sunflower house.

If schooling through the summer doesn’t work out so well for us, then next year we won’t.That’s the beauty of homeschooling. We can do what works for us.

Our first school year of homeschooling has been delightful. I’m so excited to watch James learn and grow. He’s definitely thriving.

I am so thankful that the Lord enabled me to follow this desire of our heart. I know that these opportunities for quiet times and togetherness have greatly nourished both of our hurting souls.

Lee is blessed as well. He knows that we are pursuing the goals we had as a family. Long before prison ever entered into our picture, we planned to homeschool our children.

My employees cover the mornings at the store. Monday we have the entire day off. Tuesday through Thursday, we go in at 1:00. Friday we work all day.

We’re able to get a lot done in our four mornings a week.

Sometimes on Friday, I take things for James to work on. We usually have time to read or play a game at some point in the day. I don’t worry about it. He’s progressing wonderfully.

I think that I’m sharing this with you to show you that it can be done by a single parent. Not for pats on my back, but to thank the Lord for his goodness to us.

Filed under: Homeschooling, Parenting Alone | 10 Thoughts Shared »