Episode Transcript
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(00:03):
It's that time that
I told you in my updateI needed to get to, and that is planning
and prepping for the start
of the calendar year for 2025.
Welcome back to Making Everyday Magic.
My name is Shanna and if you are new herewe are homeschooling family of four.
(00:23):
We are halfway through our eighth yearof homeschooling for the 2024
2025 school year.
I have a current seventh graderand a current
third grader, so
this video is going to be
explaining my planningand prepping process
for getting us back on trackfor the rest of the school year.
(00:47):
So here we go.
Guys, before we goany further, please scroll down.
Hit that big red subscribe
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As always,
you can find me right on downin the comments
or over on Instagramat Making Everyday Magic.
A full disclosure my children are sitting
(01:08):
right there playing video games,
which means that there will be sudden,excruciating outbursts of sounds.
No one is being beaten up exceptmaybe the ghosts in Luigi's Mansion.
So just so you know, if you hearscreaming, they're playing video games.
Okay, so we are currently on our winter
(01:30):
break from our school life.
We areramping up and going wild and crazy.
Our personal lives, our real life,the rest of life is a little bit bananas
right now.
As it has been for quite some time.
And because of that, we have needed
(01:50):
to exercise our flexibility
and allow grace
to come into our homeschool plan.
If you have been here
for any amount of time, you guys know thatI plan out our school year,
in like July, and almost always
it goes fasteror exactly to plan and things go that way.
(02:14):
This year,
I feel like has been the yearthat has taught me
is a very important lessonwhen it comes to homeschool,
and that is to give yourself grace
to focus on the joyful flexibilitythat homeschool allows you
when the rest of life gets crazy.
We've had just a lot of things this year.
(02:36):
If you watched my mid-year update,you know that I felt like I described it
as other.
There's been a lot of other nessin our homeschool in our lives this year.
Not good,not bad, not great, but not lot of other.
And because of that,it just has been different.
It hasn't gone to plan.It hasn't been on track.
However,I would like to go into the upcoming
(02:58):
calendar year because we're halfwaythrough the school year.
With a fresh perspectiveand just a handle on the things.
Now, if you guys know,from my planning process,
what I will do is I will plan out our yearaccounting for breaks.
We want to take time off, yada, yada.
I will get a physical number of weeks.
That is neededbased on our curriculum pieces.
(03:20):
And then I will floof it outwith a couple of weeks so we can take it
easy.
Yeah, just give us a little fudgy timeand then we just divide
number of pages or number of lessonsor number of chapters by number of weeks.
And then we just do the thing.
And I don't do a lot of weekly planningor monthly planning or any of that.
And I and I don't think I've ever done ityear planning
(03:41):
beyond just cleaning out the cabinetsand reorganizing.
So this is now, welcome. But
what I'm going to do
right nowis I basically have done the same thing,
because this is the system that I knowworks for me.
So I went ahead.
I'm not taking you a longlook at this paper.
I, I went and I dug through the binsand I opened every book that we're using,
(04:05):
and I opened every program and everythingand said, okay, we are here.
There are this many total.
And so I'm just doing the math again.Okay.
So in a lot of this,
I'm gonna break it down for where we areand where we need to be.
Now, I have gotten out my calendar thatI use at the beginning of the year, and,
(04:25):
I can already tell youthere's not enough weeks
in this to do it slowly or casually.
So we are going to be quite aggressivein our pursuit of making things happen.
Now, there's a few important factorsto to put in here.
Our lives have been crazy.
Our house was, under constructionat the beginning of our school year.
Things have been wild.
(04:45):
My big kid has had a lot of commitments.It's just.
It's just been nuts.
And so it is. Okay.
It is okay that it didn't go to plan.
It is okay that we're going to goa little longer to make.
It is okay if we just do
what needs to be donein a manageable and palatable bite.
I will not be killing anyoneto force this to happen in a time frame
(05:08):
that I want it to happen,okay, there is no amount of me
that is going to make people miserablein the pursuit of getting back on track.
I will, however, develop a planand then hope it goes that way.
And I'll do my best to make itgo that way,
because that is what works for me.
But no one will sufferin the pursuit of these goals, okay?
I don't want you thinking thatI am going to turn into a crazy tyrant.
(05:29):
That will not happenbecause then everyone hates everybody.
Everyone hates homeschooland that is not the life I want.
So I already know.
I can tellyou we've got some big things coming up
at the beginning of the yearthat is going to just require
a bit more flexibility and grace.
And that's okay.
So if this doesn't go exactly to plan,or there may be some things
where it's like,we need to pick up the pace
and we'll do a couple lessons of thema week, and that is okay.
(05:52):
There's something for example,
you guys know, we started with atotally different math program
and we've been blowing and going,but we're not halfway through it.
And that's okay.
We are moving along at a pacethat is sustainable.
Thankfully,
somethingelse, Texas history I hadn't planned out.
I was thinking it would go like,
you know, maybe like one semesteror one and a half semester.
(06:14):
And honestly, we deep dove
the original peoples of Texas so hardand I'm so thankful we did.
It has been a wonderful
learning experience, even for myself,who went through Texas history
multiple times, who has lived hereand enjoys all of these things.
But I will.
I'm not sad that we went slowly.
(06:36):
I'm not sad that we wallowedin the wonderful information
that is available to us to deepen
our understanding and appreciateour learning quite a bit more.
So I am not sad about that.
Now, according to my calendar planI have about 17
weeks is what I had originally plannedfor the spring semester,
(06:57):
and that's just not going to happen.
For example, I'mgoing to start with our group subjects.
So our group subjects Dinos 100.
When we completedseven of four modules of 12.
So we were on pace chemistry.
We have at 21 lessons left,
but we are through chapter four of six.
So if we continue to do them two a weekI think we're fine.
(07:17):
Totally on par.
Our film study, we have 11 sections left
and we've been splitting our sectionsinto, taking two weeks per section.
So I don't think that we're goingto be able to keep up that page.
But if we do, it's fine. It's a fun thing.
So I'm going to evaluate it with my kidsand see what they want to do.
If they want to pack it into,you know, one full section a week.
(07:42):
And maybe we start the weekwith watching them,
maybe like watch the movie on the weekend,
or we just leavethe movie toward the weekend.
We'll we'll see.
But I don't want itto drive on indefinitely.
They quite enjoy it,
so I don't think they'd have any problemramping up the speed of that one.
Texas history.
Okay, so if I'm using freefine Texas history, we are only two.
(08:03):
Like we still have ten sections left oflike 13 because again, we went slow. You.
So we are only to early settlers.
However, I will say thatI feel like there's a lot more information
that is readily available and understood.
Like I feel like
Texas history is better representedfrom this point forward.
(08:24):
So I think it will go just as fastor beat is easily covered.
Because there wasn't a lot of focuson what we've already done.
So I believe that this will be kind ofon par.
I'm just going to mix and trustto going the pace.
That makes sense, because it is notanything that we need to check the box
on or finish before, for example,going into summer
(08:48):
or carrying it over into next year,if that is what makes sense.
This one I am really feeling out
and we are living and teachingand homeschooling it very organically.
So however it happens, that'show it happens and that is good for me.
Tech essentials tech essentialswe are going slower than I expected.
Kind of dry.
(09:09):
So we're doinglike one little less than a week.
So we are only by their measure 23%through this program.
So I think that I will evaluatewith the kids
and see if they want to double up on ita week or see how they want to progress
with this program, specifically,because it is a little bit dry.
(09:30):
So I'm going to evaluate themand see how they want to move forward.
But I think it's valuable.So it's like a weird we'll see.
We'll see what they want to do okay.
Let's go to third grade.
So my third grader is actually the onewho is mostly on track, which is awesome.
So for her math,she is going to start lesson 17 of 30.
So she is perfectly on track for spelling.
(09:51):
She's on lesson 23 of 38 again,perfectly on track.
Michael Klay Thompsonwe are reading the mud trilogy,
but she has completedGrammar Island and Sentence Island.
She's working one sentence a day.If they all get done, great.
If not, I don't care.
That's not a thing that I measure.It's just one a day.
Which does apply to things also likehandwriting and things like that.
(10:12):
So we are through chapter six or we're onto chapter six of ten for the vocabulary.
So again, perfectly on par.
And then there will be eight
weeks of poetry,which we will also pick up
as soon as we finishreading our my trilogy.
So she just write where she should be.
Geography page 61 of 132.
Again, spot on.
And that's just a page a tie.
(10:32):
So a couple more pagesif she wants to, or we'll pick it up.
Speed it up a little if we want to.
But it's not a thing where I'm like, oh,it must be done.
I'm not even worried about it.
Same thing with handwritingfor her cursive handwriting.
She's on page 58 at 158.
However, a lot of those pagesare just various exercises of writing.
You know, addressing a letter in cursive,like things
like that, thingsthat I'm not going to say don't matter,
(10:55):
but I'm going to sayare not going to dictate
when we finish the school yearfor handwriting.
So that is what I'm going to say.
Same thingwith thinking honestly for both girls.
Just a page a day. You get through it,you don't pick it up later.
It is not a thing that I stress about,sir, for my seventh grader.
And this is whereit gets a little bit kinkier
for math.
She is on lesson 9-5,so she I mean, technically
(11:17):
she has through of 18 chapters 18being like the final exam.
So she probably has a solid 18 weeks left,which isn't bad because like
if we finish school workand then the last week
she just as the final exam is math,I actually think that's pretty reasonable.
So I'm proud of us
for catching up and getting back on track,so I think it will be fine.
She also is back to doing mathjust for like just on our school days
(11:40):
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday for a littlewhile in an effort to kind of get going.
And she was just doing one less than a dayand then one less
a day, Monday through Friday.
So I might see if she wants to pick upwith that,
keeping that Monday through Friday pace.
But we'll see.
Michael Klay Thompson so this is where
I think Natalie didn't go to plan. It did.
And I'm really glad.
So we went aheadat the beginning of the year.
(12:01):
And we started the grammar voyage.
I want to say voyage level I get confusedstarted that straight off the bat,
and we went ahead and started the writinginstead of reading, writing
what we've done in the past
that I've done with the other levelsis the grammar, the writing,
and then the poetry instead, and thenvocabulary throughout, reading throughout.
(12:23):
Instead of doing that,we did grammar, vocabulary
readings, and the writing.
We started all at the beginning,
so I took it out of the mental and put itbecause it's so meaty
and it's so intense, and we've made itto the place where writing is for real.
From the time you're seeing this,
I think next week
I've got a whole thing about my philosophyon writing coming up with you.
(12:47):
I just.
Okay,don't let your pitchforks in. Come for me.
I got a whole thing about it anyway,
so I'm so glad we did it that way,because there's like four writing,
like chapters in the book, and the firstone is so long, so many, so much.
We took it at such a manageable pace
that she is finishing upher first of four point paper.
(13:08):
So I think that we will be okayin the long run,
because the second chapter of the writingshould take about four weeks.
The third chaptershould only be like a week,
and then the fourth chaptershould take like eight weeks.
If we are taking it one
author's essay at a time,which I think will be totally fine.
So I feel really,
really good with this piece of itand I'm very thankful that we did it.
I did just expect that we would be alittle bit further ahead than we are now.
(13:32):
Vocabulary.
She is on X,she has about seven weeks left.
With like the assessment pages at the end.
Spot on.
She had made all of her flashcardslike we're doing great poetry
with the poetry.
It should take eight chaptersand we will start that probably right
when we come back,
maybe take a couple weeks offbefore we kick that into high gear, maybe
(13:53):
get through the next writing chapterbefore we kick that one into high gear.
And then the only other big thing that ismeasurable for her is history Detective.
And she has completed lesson 33 of 74.
So again, we're pretty spot on.
Normally by about spring break,we are just like grasping at straws
to keep something to do.
That just won't be the case this year.
And that is. Oh, okay.So I feel really good.
(14:14):
I actually felt a lot betteras soon as I sat down with my
where we are,what the total is, than I expected.
So before I actually pulled everything out
and actually looked at it,I was like, okay, it's fine.
But now I genuinely feel like,okay, it's fine.
So that is where we are.
So this is my planningon prepping for 2025.
(14:34):
I feel better, okay.
So thank you for that.But this is where we are.
Where are we going to be?
And I will keep you posted on progressfor that mid-semester update.
So look for that.
See if we right of the ship,see if we got it under control.
I'll let you know.
So that's where we are okay guys,I hope that you found any of this
helpful, entertaining or informative.
(14:55):
If you did a please scroll down, hitthe big red subscribe
button, turn on the bell for notificationsand give this video a thumbs up.
As always, you can find me or I don't knowin the comments or over Instagram app
making everyday magic.
So I hope that you guys are where you feelyou should be with
starting the new semester.
I would love to hear are we on track?
Are we ahead?
Are we behind? Are we drowning?Are we swimming?
(15:16):
Are we awesome?Are we worrying like I was?
How are we?
Sometimes it is simply as easyas just getting the data.
So if you just get the data then you can
kind of remove some emotion out of itand you feel a little better.
And that is how I feel right now.
So I'm really glad that I did thisbecause going into next week is Christmas.
(15:38):
So going into from when I'm filming thisand going into that week,
I'm going to feel a lot better
knowing that we actually havea better handle on this than I expected.
So yeah.
Thanks guys. I hope this was helpful by.