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0:02
Hello, you're listening to Call the Homeschool episode #274 our Homeschool plan for 2024 to 2025.
Hello and welcome back.
I'm excited for this episode to really help you with your homeschool year.
0:18
Have you started yet?
Do wait like me till September to really jump into the full schedule.
We homeschool full year with a really light summer schedule and we usually take off the last few weeks of August before we dive into our full schedule In September.
0:36
The Sunday before we kick off our home school, we do a special dinner and my father, my father, my husband gives father's blessings to all of the kids for the school year.
And so that is really fun tradition we do to kind of kick off our year.
0:53
I know some people have done fun things where they do a theme for the year and we tried it but it kind of would pitter out.
So we only tried it the one year.
We never did it again.
But anyways, any fun things that you do?
We usually do a first day of school fairy that brings all their supplies and has everything wrapped up.
1:09
So just some fun things that we doing, but we are getting ready for our 2024-2025 year and I wanted to do a whole podcast over it because I know that this is helpful for other people to give you ideas and to just kind of get a sneak peek in the Thomas household of what we're doing.
1:28
So all of this is subject to change.
This is the plan for the year.
But as many of you know, life rarely happens exactly what you had planned or exactly what you were thinking.
So I love to just have a very general plan and do our best and then adapt as needed.
1:45
So this is what it is planned for right now.
This is a very interesting year for me because this I will only have three kids living at home.
That feels so weird.
And I know that's what some of you have and you're like 3 feels crazy, but I've had, I mean, I have seven kids, right?
2:03
So I've had so many people living here for so long.
I haven't had three kids at home, only three kids at home in over 18 years.
So it feels really normal for me to have a big amount of people.
So I'm learning to adapt to a shrinking family.
2:18
Kind of interesting, but I thought I'd kind of start with a quick recap of my kids and what they're doing now.
So all my kids were homeschooled.
My oldest wanted to do a year of private school of kindergarten, and it was homeschooled the rest of the time.
But I just want to give you a recap to show you what they're doing with their life just because they were homeschooled.
2:37
But I know some people worry just because somebody was homeschooled, like how will you ever live a normal life?
So I'm just going to do a quick recap, recap with my big kids.
So my oldest one is working.
He tried a couple semesters of college and he just did not love it.
It is not a good fit for him.
2:53
He has a really good job and he really enjoys it.
So he's going to just continue to do that.
He'd really like to buy his own home.
So something that he is working towards.
One thing that I love about this kid is that he's out there trying new things.
So he did try a couple semesters of college and realized I don't love this, but he's out there also trying new things.
3:12
He's current thing he's been trying is boxing and I love that he knows that he can just try things that there wasn't a cut off time at like, well, at 18 you could have tried things up until 18, but now you're an adult and you can't.
And I love that.
3:27
He was like, I wanted to learn how to box, so I signed up for a boxing program.
It's really great exercise.
He's so but he's like, I'm so sore.
I can barely move.
Like his little brother is obsessed with him.
And so whenever he comes over, he's jumping all over him.
He's like, oh, it hurts so bad.
3:45
So he's adorable.
So he's just out there working really hard, boxing.
He has his friends, right, just out there doing some fun things like that.
And I just like my favorite thing, I don't know my favorite, but something I love about him is that he realizes he can learn a skill at any age.
So way to go, you kid.
4:02
My second kid is the one that got married this summer and he has opened a gym.
And to be completely biased, he's a really, really great coach.
But the other people there think so too.
So it's not just me.
He is finishing up getting certified with nutrition and because he loves to help people with the nutrition aspect as well as the physical aspect, he even made a really cute little nutrition workbook for kids.
4:26
It's on my website.
You can go check that out.
My next daughter is still serving a mission for our church in the Houston area and she loves it.
She is speaking Spanish and she is in heaven.
My husband has always loved the Latin culture, so it's something my kids have grown up with.
4:42
My husband used to only speak Spanish to them.
My sister in law's Dominican whenever, like just any Latino person, my husband's right there with them talking with them.
We've had so many fun people bring us food because my husband will go talk to anybody.
So we've got to try a bunch of food.
4:59
So she loves to being in that Latin culture there in the Houston area.
So she loves that.
She will get home in March, which will be super fun, and then we'll get her only for a few months and then she'll be heading to India to teach English for a semester.
So she's always off on great adventures.
5:17
My next son, who was on the podcast in May, he is leaving to go serve a mission in El Salvador, and he starts in October.
So I get him home for a few more months before he leaves and he is just going to be working until he goes.
So that means I just have my three kids left at home and the three kids that I am homeschooling.
5:38
My daughter is 16 and at one point she thought about graduating a year early like her two older siblings did.
But I, I didn't like that means you were to be graduating this year.
This would be your junior year.
And so she was thinking about graduating this year.
5:54
And my heart was like, what?
Like, I can't have all these kids leave at one time.
And so luckily she's decided to slow down so she can have a couple extra, I guess one extra year with mock trial and speech and debate.
And so I'm so glad that she's decided to slow down.
So I get her around a little bit right now.
6:11
I'm trying to think when this comes out, but while I'm recording this, she's in Mongolia and I'm so excited to hear about it.
They actually, it's a digital free so nobody has any phone or any device.
And I thought, Oh my gosh, I'm dying to just text her and talk to her and see how she's doing.
6:26
So she's amazing.
But anyways, I'm grateful that she'll be here for at least a couple more years while I'll get her home.
She's completely independent in her education.
She is in her second year of Southern New Hampshire University.
She attends seminary twice a week.
6:43
She is in speech and debate, which she absolutely loves.
She is in a class, and then she's also the teacher's aide for a few other classes.
She's in mock trial, which is her most favorite thing, and she puts a lot of work into mock trial.
She is.
So speech and debate and mock trial are both through the Independent Education program.
7:03
And so she is on their student council for the year.
She has a job and works a couple days a week.
So she, she's planned her whole year and what works for her.
I, I feel her on a level because she loves a lot of things and wants to do a lot of things.
7:18
And then she has to cut things back like, oh, but they're all good things.
And I thought, I get that so much.
So she she's been fine tuning her schedule so she has a good pro, a good rhythm for what she's going to do in the fall that will allow her time to live and be with friends still and still get an amazing education.
7:38
Let's see.
So then we moved to my 13 year old and he would be in 8th grade in regular government school.
He said he is still down to do group subjects with us but doesn't want to read aloud anymore so he will still be participating with the group subjects.
7:54
Which I'm so glad because one of my kids by 8th grade was completely independent.
Most of them it's like 9th or 10th.
So at least I get at least this year, hopefully next year where he's doing group stuff with us.
I just really like being with my kids and so I'm so excited that they're so independent, but I always have to do some self coaching when as they leave and do their own thing and be on their own journey.
8:18
I give him all his books to read and any curriculum he is using.
And that's just what's in our last.
My lesson plans that I create is what he's doing, but he I check in with him Monday through Thursday.
We still do minute with mom with each other and go over everything he's reading.
8:33
So he reports to me on his books.
I check his math, just anything like that, that we still meet together four times a week to check in on that.
But he now will have more stuff out of the house as well.
So he will be joining seminary with his sister.
So we'll go to that twice a week.
8:49
He will be in speech and debate again and he'll actually be his sister will be his TA.
So that'll be fun and great for me because she'll give him a ride home.
So that works out really nice for me.
And his sister got him to sign up for mock trial.
I don't know if you remember last year and I talked about that she tricked her older brother to do mock trial so she could get a ride.
9:10
But now she has her license and so she's like, I will take him to everything don't even worry.
Like I just love it so much I want him to do it.
So in order to do mock trial, he had to not do the Co-op that I really loved last semester.
And so she luckily she tutored a neighbor girl this summer in mock trial so she had him join as well and he really liked it.
9:31
So I think it'll be a great fit but something new for him so he'll have those different things outside of the house.
Plus he loves sports, so he signed up for flag football for the fall.
He'll do basketball later and then baseball as well.
Then finally is my cute little bonus baby who's not really a baby anymore, but he'll always be my baby.
9:51
He is 7 and he would be in second grade and he does pretty much everything with me.
He is starting to do some of his stuff alone.
And it's interesting.
When I had everybody home, but like second, third grade, I was like, what can you do on your own?
And now we're it's just kind of him and me.
10:08
I'm like, don't do it with me.
But he's still like that.
Independence is still bred in him, and so he's wanting to start doing more things on his own.
So he's kind of doing some of the stuff on his own.
But obviously we'll do our group subjects together and then we still do a bunch together.
And I check his work of any of the workbooks that he does on his own.
10:28
I still got to do read aloud with him and just make him nice and fun and easy books for him.
They we'll be studying about France in for the Lesson plan.
So we'll be doing the little Prince.
And then he one of the things I was worried about with him was that he'll be by himself for a while because the big kids are out doing their own thing.
10:52
So I actually will be joining a Co-op again for him, but I wasn't ready to like be fully committed with the hardcore Co-op.
So the cute Co-op my son was in that was a 12 plus teens only I threw out the idea to the Co-op of like hey what if we had an 8 to an 11 year old class to help them build friendships and to get ready for the teen classes and my salesmanship skills won them over and we are doing that.
11:18
He is 7 but he does not act like a 7 year old.
So anyways I will be teaching that class and it is loosely based off of Knights of Freedom where they will learn leadership skills, read a really good book.
So we'll be reading that together and just lots of fun.
So that is kind of what we'll be doing.
11:35
And he and I will be alone on Wednesday afternoon.
So I thought maybe that's when we go grocery shopping or he and I could go do go swimming, go to a museum, something.
He's been talking about doing a triathlon because everybody in our family has done a triathlon except him.
So I thought maybe that would be a fun time.
11:51
We could go swimming together.
So we've just kind of been throwing out different ideas on Fridays when the kids are all gone.
Again, that's when he's in his Co-op.
And so we can do that Co-op and then go participate in park days and things after the Co-op.
So just some ideas for him.
He also does kid fit.
12:07
That's with my son.
He has homeschool classes.
If you are in the Utah County area, come and check it out with us.
They're tons of fun.
So he has a bunch of little things like that that he can participate in.
So a more in depth look into her home school is to make sure you grab my September lesson plans because that goes through of everything that we are doing.
12:29
So we are studying France in September and that really is the driving like kind of the what's the word?
I'm looking for a theme to like bring in our artists.
We'll all be French or composers, French, even science.
12:45
We're going to the ocean, but Jacques Cousteau, right?
So all of these amazing things.
But each month I always work on a different life skill.
And for September, really focusing on the life skills of the basics that your kids know how to do high quality work of cleaning and their laundry, their room, different room in the house and have really cute books to go up with that to really help you set aside time of like, we are really diving in to help you learn the these skills.
13:11
So that just helps your home school so much.
The arts we have Degas is our painter.
We have French fairy tales, French, I'm trying to think of French music.
I'm going to say that wrong, Alouette.
Just different fun things with with French for the arts.
13:28
So it'll be a lot of fun.
And like I said, science is Jacques Cousteau and we'll be doing oceans and then history.
Now this is fun because I was thinking about how do I do something that is broad that could do younger kids and older kids.
So it is France.
And I wrote a cute little geography little workbook that you could kind of use as a CHEAT SHEET.
13:47
That's like, here's where France is, here's how many people live there, right?
Just some fun information.
So like if you just have little kids, you could just let them get to know France.
And I have some little videos you can watch about it and the Eiffel Tower and the Can can dance, right?
Some cute little things, even activities of making crepes or getting a baguette or whatever it is you like to do with that up to understanding the French Revolutionary War.
14:11
So obviously your three-year old probably doesn't need to understand the insurance and outs of the French Revolution, but older kids might be ready for that.
So that's where you get to decide where your kids are.
So if they're brand new, you may want to start with the basics of like this is France and this is amazing.
14:27
And here's where it is and all these great things up to maybe a kid understanding the the people were kind of tired and they revolted and they had this revolution up to an older teen that maybe is ready for something more like why the guillotine was invented during this time, right?
14:46
And what is it called?
Like, I mean, it was it was a pretty violent revolution.
And so just even understanding that.
And then we even go into Napoleon and how Napoleon was able to come in and what he did, right?
So just a lot of things.
So you can keep it super simple or if you're ready for more depth, you can, right.
15:04
So where I have, and then I have a book list for teens, younger teens and older teens.
So something that I'd be doing with my 7-7 year old, we would probably talk about the French Revolution 'cause he doesn't mind things like that.
And we would probably dive into the basics of it, the history of it, look up maybe some castles or different things with France up to my 13 year old where we he would be reading some of the books that I have that really understand the depth of it.
15:32
One of the books is Reign of Terror.
I want to say by GA Henty that he'll be reading is kind of a historical fiction of just kind of understanding how scary he was and how intense it was.
So just a lot of great books with that.
So that's why I love about it is that you can take it at a deep level and in the lesson plans, it has a beginning of a guide, a curriculum guide like the homeschool guide of basically how to build an amazing home school and building that foundation.
16:02
And then ideas for language arts, ideas for math, ideas for writing arts, all of those things.
And then actual lesson plans.
So 16 lesson plans for the month.
So you can go at your own speed, your own pace.
You can download those lesson plans at coachmegthomas.com or it's even in my Instagram bio.
16:22
So I am super excited for this year.
A lot of new changes for the Thomas family, but that is life because kids grow up just like they're supposed to do and super exciting changes, but changes nonetheless.
So that is kind of the general idea.
And each month we'll just be doing the lesson plans that I'm I'll be sharing with you.
16:40
So I'll go over those each month, but that's kind of what my kids are doing.
So I would love to hear back from you some ideas that you have for your school, some amazing things, maybe a trip you have planned that you're going to do.
So make sure you reach out to me, let me know.
I always love to hear from you.
Thank you friends and have an amazing week.
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