We are after-schoolers. What does that mean? My school-going kid homeschools after school. Why? Because, in my personal opinion, there are gaps in the content of learning at the public school. What is the basis? Based on our homeschool experience, curriculum picks, and content exposure, I determine the benchmark for my family. I will write a more detailed blog post on this topic.
Why After-schooling?
After-schooling is not uncommon. Many parents believe that teaching their kids at home will enable them to get the one-on-one attention they need (and not necessarily recieve in school). In addition, it allows their child to perform better if not thrive at school and gives them the confidence they need in the classroom. Finally, if your kid can learn fast, it will boost them into advanced classes in school.
To the parent reading this post, if you are wondering if this is for you, I’m here to tell you that after-schooling is a personal choice you make. It is a blessing to be involved in your child’s education. I know that I am better informed about what our children should be learning and are capable of learning. This matters because we know that there are gaps in the public schools, but we can step up and be involved in our children’s lives because it is an investment in their future.
But don’t feel pressured to do it either. You need to do what you can within your own ability, time, commitment, etc. Set some goals for your child with regard to their learning and education and then determine if this is a right fit for you.
After-School Line-Up
I would love to do a ton more with my child, but after a year of doing this, I have had to readjust my expectations and reprioritize what is necessary. I will write a whole post about how to afterschool in more detail. This article is to share what we currently do. My intent is to stick with the core foundational subjects – Language Arts and Math at this point. Below is a list of programs we currently use. My 8-year-old is in Second Grace, however, we are at Third Grade level at home based on her progression of learning from last year’s homeschooling. She is also advanced in math and reading at school so many of these align well with where she needs support at home.
SINGAPORE MATH
Singapore Math is our go-to math curriculum. We have used it from the start of our homeschooling days, and it is a robust, rigorous, high-quality, well-written math program. I have a Math page, as well as several posts about SM. You can click on the links below to read more.
We are currently starting 3B. We have been much slower in getting through this program, and it is because this year has been a learning experience for us in getting the right rhythm of homeschooling. I have had to readjust how I approach this program and share more in another post. We currently follow the textbook and then complete the workbook. Once we finish a chapter, we try to get to the tests.
Our goal is to complete Level 3B so we can start Level 4 in the summer.
WRITING WITH EASE
I love this program, and so does my child. There is undoubtedly a big difference from levels 2 to 3. The literature is richer, and your child is expected to read and write. I have chosen to use this program for reading and vocabulary practice only instead of writing and reading comprehension. My child reads the passages and underlines new and unfamiliar words; we then learn to decode and look up the definition for meaning. Because the text is a little advanced, it exposes my child to unknown words and allows me to teach her to use decoding strategies.
We have no goal here except to keep working through it till we finish up level 3.
ALL ABOUT SPELLING
We are currently at Level 4 of All About Spelling. This is a program I will see through till the end. Even though my kid knows a lot of the phonograms taught, this program also teaches spelling rules, strategies, the reasoning for spellings, and rule-breakers. You can read the full article on why we need to explicitly teach spelling.
Our goal is to complete this level in the next seven weeks so we can start the next level in the summer.
MICHAEL CLAY THOMPSON (MCT) -LANGUAGE ARTS
This is another favorite curriculum of mine. We are currently working through the Town Series. We completed Grammar Town earlier in the year and started Caesar’s English. However, we are switching around and will be working through Paragraph Town first, as this is an area my kid needs instruction.
Our goal is to complete Paragraph Town before the summer begins so we can then switch to Caesar’s English (Latin stems and vocabulary) .
IEW
IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) curriculum is our core writing program. We have started Ancient History-based writing, and we love it so far. It feels like it is better structured, and the content is informative, given we cannot learn history at this moment.
We have no goal except to keep working on one lesson a week. We typically do this on Saturday.
HOMESCHOOL SPANISH ACADEMY
Homeschool Spanish Academy is our second language program and is simply amazing. We do one lesson a week. These lessons are 25 minutes and offer just the right amount of instruction. My kid has come a long way in learning Spanish.
If you are ever interested in trying out a free class, you can use this link.
SAMPLE WEEK
Guys, this is plenty, but there is so much more I would love to do. I am sharing a sample week. The learning portion doesn’t take the entire evening, and my kid gets plenty of playtime, TV time, and other activities.
Monday – Singapore Math
Tuesday – All About Spelling
Wednesday – Singapore Math + Spanish
Thursday – Writing with Ease
Friday – Singapore Math
Saturday – IEW
Conclusion
I hope this helped you understand what an afterschool program looks like at home. Watch out for a more detailed article on how to afterschool, lessons we learned in our first year, and lots more.
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