Week 3 – Schoolroom Shire

We’ve made it to Week 3 and I’m so thankful to have you on this journey. If you are a mom who has only recently stumbled upon this course, welcome! Join us by visiting our  course introduction here and previous weeks of the course here and here.

I first came across the delightful phrase “schoolroom shire” in the classic primer from the 1870’s called Grammar-land. I’ve j’adored the Tolkien-esque moniker ever since. This week we will concentrate on two parts of our homeschools: where we educate and the curriculum we use to educate.

Setting Up Our Shires For Success

Last week when we focused on the home maintenance and the superficial cleaning of our homeschool areas. This week we will dig a little deeper into arranging those spaces to be as user-friendly during the newborn days as possible. These are some steps that I’ve found helpful:

• Organize your schoolroom shire so that materials are easily accessible and you can easily find that you need.

• Go ahead and physically babyproof this area. For us this just means keeping safe things in baby’s reach and placing questionable items higher up.

• Gather the daily supplies you will need for baby while doing lessons. If I get up for a diaper or wipes then my little hobbits immediately scatter in search of a snack. Try to think of everything you could possibly need. Some of the staples in my basket are feeding supplies, diapers, wipes, and extra clothes.

• Make a spot for baby to play and have toys available. We have a quilt or bouncer and later on an exersaucer as baby grows.

Determining Your Homeschool’s Essential Functional Level

With new baby, we scale our daily school requirements back to the basics or to what I call an Essential Functional Level. In our family that includes the Morning Liturgy we do year round, Read Alouds, Math, Reading, and Penmanship. Reading aloud fills a lot of the gaps until we gradually add back in everything else. It also has given our family some of its sweetest memories with all the kids snuggled up with the new baby as they listen. When my daughter was born last year, we read The Chronicles of Narnia and The Green Ember Series. This summer we started The Little Britches Series. Other good options are The All Of A Kind Family Series, The Little House Series, and The Five Little Peppers Series. What series would you recommend for postpartum? 

To help you work out the Essential Functional Level for your homeschool I have provided 3 worksheets below. These are also useful for delegation if your husband or someone else will be providing help with teaching while you recover. Included are:

• A Daily School Agenda Worksheet to be used for the whole family

• A Daily School Agenda Worksheet to be used for each individual student

• A Weekly School Agenda Worksheet to be used for each individual student

 

Have you joined our private Facebook group for this course yet? If you would like one-on-one troubleshooting help for specific questions our group is the place to be! You may join this group via the pop-up above or by emailing me through this site’s contact page. You are also invited to follow along and share your progress on Instagram using #babyproofyourhomeschool. I’m excited to get a glimpse of your journey! 

Blessings until next Wednesday,

3 Worksheets for Week 3:

(just click on the photo to download)