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Hello welcome to Called the Homeschool episode #285 Homeschool 2 Point O and November Lesson Plans.
You are here with Meg Thomas, your homeschool coach and guide.
Welcome to the last week of November.
0:17
This has been a wild ride for me this month.
October has been a little crazy as we are getting my son ready to leave on his mission.
Currently right now as I'm recording this, it's he's about to start.
But like as this episode comes out, he will have started his home mission training center.
0:37
And so I've been feeling all the feels this month.
Super proud of my boy and excited for him and the new things that's going to be happening in his life.
So much heartache.
Also of the complete culture change of her family and only having three kids at home.
0:56
So I've been feeling all of it to everything in between.
And I'm super grateful for all the tools I have to help me to not completely fall apart because some days I kind of wanted to.
But being an intentional mom friends is not for the faint of heart.
Because it is so awesome and so hard when they leave because you love them so, so stinking much.
1:20
But the awesome thing is that they want to come back right when you've been an intentional mom and they go into adult years.
I love that my big kids come back, my adult children come back.
So there are lots of bonuses of having that connection with them and I wouldn't have it any other way.
So anyways, dealing with all of those fun emotions coming up.
1:38
This is the last call for no you'll November.
It starts this Friday.
So if you haven't signed up yet, head on over to coachmegthomas.com and sign up.
I've been coaching a lot of moms this month and one of my clients has been working on being less reactive.
And I asked her what changes she saw in her kids as she was working on herself.
1:54
And she laughed and she said, well, then they've been less reactive.
So your kids follow your example so much.
And this is such an awesome opportunity to help help your home.
So go and sign up.
That will be starting soon.
All right, let's dive into today's topic.
2:10
So instead of just doing the lesson plans, what I thought I would start doing is doing a little homeschool tip and then adding the lesson plans on the end so that everybody the tip could be just for everybody that you can use.
And if you don't use my lesson plans and you can just end the podcast episode right there.
2:26
If you do use the lesson plans or you just like the ideas and then go do what you want to do Fantastic.
Keep listening.
So I wanted to.
So we're going to 1st dive into homeschool 2 point O.
And this episode is inspired by by my beautiful, wonderful friend Kate.
2:44
I haven't known Kate for a long time.
I don't know exactly how long.
I was guessing maybe 8:00-ish years, maybe more.
And I met Kate at a Co-op and I was lucky enough to have my son in her class.
She was teaching a Wild Kratts class to the little kids and it was amazing.
3:00
They had creature power suits, learned so many fun things about animals.
That's just kind of what Kate did.
But when she was teaching a Co-op class, I loved having my kid in her class because I knew she was going to give it her all.
Eventually Kate left that Co-op and started another one.
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She did something else in in between, but then her she got teens and so now she's started another Co-op and it's the one that my son is participating in and it is once again awesome.
But the other night I was with Kate and a bunch of her friends and somebody asked her about her home school and she was describing it like, I think this is amazing.
3:37
Everybody's like, wow, that's so amazing.
And it got me thinking of what an intentional homeschooler she is and it shows.
I love the stuff that she is doing and she is super inspiring and it got me thinking about those who are ready for the next level of homeschooling.
3:55
So if you are beginning homeschooling, it's probably best to go nice and slow.
Structured learning doesn't need to be very long, as your family is adjusting to being together every day and learning how to run your house, your yard, and what it looks like just to be with each other all day long, right?
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But after that is working and running and you have a flow, what's next?
I used to follow some people on Instagram that promoted doing very little school each week.
And the idea that sounded really lovely, right, of where homeschool doesn't need to take over your life and you can do it in so many hours a week.
4:32
And it's, it's just really simple, right?
And it was interesting because the particular people I was following eventually quit homeschooling, not just one of them, but multiple accounts had to stop that, had to switch their account because they weren't homeschooling anymore because it wasn't working for their kids.
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And what I noticed is that when you have younger children, that is awesome because there is a lot of time for play there, a lot of time to do other different things.
But when they you start getting teenagers and you want to homeschool long term, you have to do something different.
5:12
Why?
Because as kids grow, they need more and they need more of a challenge.
They need homeschool 2 point O.
What is homeschool 2 point O?
Well, it's taking your homeschool to the next level.
It's making your homeschool, like my friend Kate's or whatever, your version of a very intentional model.
5:32
Now this doesn't even mean that you have to teach more subjects if you're not able to, but you need to think about maybe bringing somebody in or joining some classes to give your kids a challenge.
Having a structured learning day that only lasts an hour is really great for younger kids.
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But what is a teen supposed to do with the rest of their day?
Little kids will play, do make believe, take a nap, right?
And they're totally fine.
But a teen is ready for more.
Now, I like to individualize this as much as humanly possible, so I was going to share what my teens are doing just to give you an idea.
6:06
And mine is actually very different than my friend Kate.
Hers is so fun, but so that's why like any model, but just where you are being a little bit more intentional with giving them a little bit more of a challenge.
And if you're like, my team won't do any of these things, then first we need to go to connection.
6:23
And we also need to make sure that they don't have something like video games that they can just check out on or they can just get on YouTube because of course they're going to pick that over doing something challenging, right?
Another thing is also to be inspiring to them and doing the hard things yourself as an example.
So I'm going to give you just some ideas with my kids of what my current teens are doing, maybe what our version of homeschool 2 point O looks like right now.
6:47
Now this has changed every year.
So when I had everybody living at home, it was completely different.
I didn't have the financial capacity right to put so many kids in classes.
But now that I just have two teens, I have some more flexibility, right?
So ours is completely different from when everybody was living at home to just the three people living at home.
7:08
And so just this is just to give you some ideas of what the homeschool 2 point O could look like.
So my 16 year old is completely independent in her homeschool journey.
She is on her second year of working on her associates and she said it takes her about 5 to 7 hours a week to work on that.
7:25
She goes to work just one day a week, but it is a full 8 hour shift she attends and then is ATA for speech and date a debate for one full day.
She's in mock trial and that girl loves mock trial so her class is only a few hours once a week.
But she puts in a lot of time with different calls and the thing she's watching old trials and the thing she's writing.
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So she puts in a lot of time for effort and effort into mock trial.
She also attends seminary and then she still has time to have a life.
So that is her homeschool 2.0.
She is really like oh I loved it when she just found what she loved with speech and debate and mock try.
8:03
It was so awesome to just see her take off, right?
And so that those are the things that are really challenging her.
If you Remember Me talking about it, she went to Mongolia this last summer.
So she was working really hard to pay for the trip because we do have our kids pay for things like that.
8:18
I'm not saying it's the best way.
I just, it works for us and I just see that it helps my kids to take ownership and more responsibility.
So I really like that.
She's debating about whether or not doing another one next year, but she knows how much work it takes to pay for those so she's trying to decide if she has the bandwidth for that.
8:35
But so that is her homeschool 2 point O.
So now I have my 13 year old and he is mostly independent.
He also attends seminary with his sister.
He has just one speech in debate class and a mock trial and he doesn't put in as much work as she does.
He likes it, but he does it does not do a lot of extra with that, I guess I should say.
8:56
He also has a homeschool PE class that he does twice a week and he is involved in flag football and just playing sports with friends and all all those normal things that some boys like to do.
Let's see, he then does school with me in the morning, so we just do a minute with mom together.
9:15
So I still assign all of his school and then I check everything the next day.
So today's Wednesday, right?
So that means when I meet with him in the morning time that I'm checking his work from yesterday and he's doing the rest of it by himself.
So he is also thinking that he'll probably start college next year because he's ready for more of a challenge.
9:34
And that's what his homeschool 2 point O is now.
Homeschool 2 Point O doesn't have to be all outside classes.
It can also be things you just do as a family a little bit extra, right?
It can be harder books or harder curriculum, something that just challenge the challenges them, not something that breaks them or crumbles them because it's so challenging, but challenging in ways that they like it.
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So if you have a kid who loves math, like let's do some harder math.
But if you have a kid who hates math and loves art, then like let's do some challenging art.
Let's really push yourself with somewhere you love.
It can also be with some handicrafts.
Life skills.
You can make quilts together, learn how to sew.
10:10
You can build together.
Last year my 13 year old and I built a chicken coop.
It was terrible.
And so my 17 year old, my son who was 17 at the time, had to come and fix it for us and he did an awesome job.
Things you can do You can take care of animals, grow a garden, redo a bathroom, serve in the community, have your kids get a job, all of those things to just take your homeschool to that next level of making it really engaging and exciting so that your kids want to keep homeschooling.
10:41
Homeschooling 2 point O is really some of that secret sauce that as they get older, I have found the way to keep a child, a teen homeschooling longer is to make it challenging and make sure they have social stuff, right.
So if that is some extracurricular classes, some whatever event stuff where they can be involved with other kids.
11:01
But I found if they can have some good homeschool friends and some challenging classes that they are like, yes, this is amazing because I get to pick my schedule and I get to be in charge and it it's pretty awesome.
So if your homeschool is functioning and your kids know the rhythm and the routine of your home, it may be time to start becoming homeschool 2 point O and really letting your kids thrive.
11:23
Now, just so you know, my George, who's 7, just as homeschool one point O, right?
He's seven years old.
He doesn't need all of these extra hard things.
We are still working on the basics of showering and brushing our teeth and doing our laundry and how to do chores.
11:39
And so we're still doing so many of the basics that our school time, our structured learning time is about an hour.
And as he gets older, we'll add in a little bit more and as he gets more independent with his chores and with other things will slowly start transitioning into that two point O.
11:57
So that is for the first part.
And now let's dive into November's lesson plans.
So first of all, I love how many people are finding these lesson plans useful.
It actually helps me because I plan it obviously ahead of time and then my whole home school is planned for the next month.
12:16
So know that I'm doing the same thing you are doing and you can also go slower.
So if you want to say you're still working with Octobers and November's doesn't have to be November, I actually don't do anything with the holiday related so that you could do it during any time.
12:32
And eventually I'll probably get rid of the month's names because it's just like what I'm doing in November.
So I call it November's lesson plans.
So just making it more neutral lesson plans.
But so for November, let's see.
Oh, I did want to say, feel free to add or subtract anything on the list of my suggestions.
12:51
I don't always do everything on there.
Sometimes if there's a book activity and a movie, sometimes we or like little YouTube clip.
Sometimes we will just do the YouTube clip.
Sometimes just the book, sometimes just the activity, right?
Like totally mix it up.
Sometimes we do 2, sometimes we do all three.
Like whatever floats your boat and is best for you.
13:08
All right, so let's see, I've lost my song.
OK?
So last month in October, we learned about the Louisiana Purchase because the month before we had been talking about the French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte, right?
And then so understanding the Louisiana Purchase of understanding why in the world France was willing to depart with so much land, right?
13:30
And so that I love knowing why.
I love knowing why, I guess.
So I understand the Louisiana Purchase.
And then we went into Lewis and Clark in their expedition because the US basically doubled in size with a stroke of a pen and which is kind of cool.
I mean, there were people living here, but it's, it's nice that this wasn't some big, gross, big bloody war, right?
13:51
So then Lewis and Clark in their expedition.
So you have their adorable Newfoundland dog that was on the journey, Sacagawea different people that were on the journey.
You can read about lots of fun animals that they they learned about.
So we did North American animals for science.
So it was a lot of fun.
14:07
So this next month we're just continuing on in history and we're learning about the War of 1812.
And I feel like I know nothing.
I knew nothing.
I've been reading about it now, but I feel like I knew nothing about the War of 1812, that it's something just kind of talked about, like briefly mentioned.
But I have wanted to know more about this.
14:24
And I don't know why we just skip, like when we're learning American history that we go and the Revolution, right, Constitution, all of those things.
And then we go to early 1800s and then we skip all the way to the Civil War.
I was like, there's a lot that happened in that time, right?
14:41
So I wanted to know about what the War of 1812 was all about.
And so that's what this month's lesson plans are about.
So not surprisingly, there are not a lot of books about it.
So I really had to dig to find some great picture books to go with this month.
14:57
I also don't know why I forgot this or maybe I never even knew it, but the Star Spangled Banner poem by Francis Scott Key was written during this war.
I know we lots of times, maybe this is just me, but tie it with the Revolutionary War, but it was during the War of 1812 where it was written.
15:14
So some of that will be in there.
And that is awesome.
So maybe you already knew of that and you're like, oh Meg, you're so cute.
But that's why it's so fun with homeschooling.
They get to learn right there with my kids and, and maybe I did know it, but I know it now for sure.
And then I always do life skills.
15:31
So this one's our emotions.
And what a perfect time to go along with No Yell November because the only reason we yell is the reaction of reacting to our own emotion of anger, frustration, irritation, right?
So as we are working on our emotions and teaching their kids about theirs simultaneously, we are both learning to manage our own emotions and it will be a beautiful thing.
15:52
So life skills are emotions.
Some really great books and emotions about emotions and videos to help your kids in the game.
And then for the art.
So I thought it would be great to do some stuff from America and England because shocker, the two.
The War of 1812 was about South American poetry, but then English an English painter and English.
16:14
Oh, it is English poetry.
Yeah.
So I think it's English fairy tale.
Sorry.
So some English fairy tales, some American poetry and English painter write of just like loving people of that time.
Then science is going to be weather.
Because I thought that would be an interesting one to study about.
16:32
And I just think it's good to something good to know about, right.
Then there are always book suggestions for your teens in a bunch of different categories.
A life skills book, right.
So emotions, a book about a a biography, I believe it's no, I don't remember off the top of my head.
16:48
I want to say James Madison with because he was the president of the War of 1812.
So just different things with that, with the war understanding that and some I I'm spacing it in some classic literature.
Oh yes, some great literature book written by like an English classic author.
17:06
So those are awesome.
You can download the plans and sign up for No Yell in November.
They're right by each other right there on my site, www.coachmegthomas.com.
And let's all go and have an amazing November with no yelling and so much peace in your house.
17:23
Love you all and I hope you have a great week.
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