Hang Out with This Homeschool Mom of 8 ║ School Week 3 │ ACE Curriculum

This week we're trying ways to help with focus and cooperation. We end the week with a field trip to the Fish Hathcery.
We have 6 school age children and 2 little ones. We've used ACE (School of Tomorrow) curriculum since our 9th grade son started preschool.
www.andreamills.tv
Week 2: • Hang Out with This Hom...
Tom Greek: • Why and How you Should...
Full Field Trip: • Field Trip to the Fish...

[@rebekahcarley941]

The part at 20 minutes with Sophia saying "I'm a zombie rawr rawr"! Ugh, my heart! TOO CUTE

[@courtascot]

Solomons smile is sooo cute

[@mercedesvillaruz7097]

courtenay scott has t

[@PotawatomiProud]

This is how life is supposed to be, children so happy and love to watch them play outside, great

[@Nurse-eo1fn]

Hey, Andrea. I'm 22 and I don't have any kids, but I stumbled upon your videos and I just love how patient you with all of them. You are definitely the kind of mom I want to be one day!

[@Raialari]

I was impatiently waiting for this video to come the entire weekend XD I am so happy it's an hour long. I feel so spoiled.

[@jojoply]

I do believe Claudia is going to learn everything Solomon is. So precious.

[@sheilas1283]

This was so fascinating. I'm a retired teacher and full of admiration for your patience! Asher cracks me up the way he stares at the camera like that! Sophia is extremely cute. All your kids are such characters.

[@coffeeandcraftinmama6054]

LOVE the video, Andrea! All your kiddos make me laugh out loud, at some point! We just did that science PACE, last year, (with the pickle and whatnot), so that was fun to watch Judah! I really like the idea of a "school bell" and hope that continues to work for you all. Great ideas, all around!

[@rca22]

I really love the peek into your homeschool weeks. Asher and my daughter are both in the same grade and feel the same about lemon juice...lol I sure wish I could borrow him for his encouragement for her like he does his brother. Mom can try but it is not as fun as a friend/sibling.

[@Pomegrape]

My elementary school bell sounded like that! Also, I'm in my second year if highschool and we just finished acids and bases, wow

[@juliehill320]

I’m rewatching this video and Claudia so little and precious.

[@Naamy19X9]

Will watch this over 4 days- 1st 15 minutes done!

[@amandawatson5944]

Well done Solomon for getting 5 100%. Maybe try, if there's more than one task on his page, putting a piece of paper over the tasks he's not doing so he doesn't get distracted by them

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

The first English test of Kindergarten is always like that. We go over the fact that we're only looking at things over the green line and even point out which ones we're talking about and then they want to draw the line from the wrong Abbie Antelope anyway! I think it happened with every one of my kids. :) (After the first time, Solomon was just being Solomon and doing it wrong on purpose.) From now on it should be fine.

[@dragonflyneb]

Fun teaching and ideas.

[@watchingmisskel4156]

I love that you include little moments of the kids being weird little kids.

[@jasminmcmullan7963]

andrea luv your plan

[@ladydrell83]

I LOVE these videos! I love looking into someone else's homeschool life to see how things work. There's so much that we can all learn from one another. That Asher is a character! He has such a wonderful personality. All of your kids do. I can see a little of you and your husband in each one of them. And Sophia is growing up so fast! When I first started watching your videos it seems like she was so much smaller, and now she's such a big girl!!! Question about the school bell because, knowing me, I probably just didn't understand: So is it a device that works via the computer or is it a program for the computer? I'd love to learn more about it. I'm definitely interested in getting one of those.

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

It's a program that works on the computer. We set it up on Tom's computer and it plays through the other computers through the network. I'm not exactly sure how it works. I might have to get Tom to do a video explaining how to set it up.

[@elygale2001]

I don't think organized and relaxed are in conflict with each other or opposites. I think organization can really help people feel relaxed, both organized time and space. I did the best in school when my days were structured and organized the most and that include lots of outside time in between inside time.

[@CookieCrumbFun]

We watched this together over breakfast. My children enjoy seeing how other children do homeschool. i loved the challege you gave them when you had them imagine the work being done & the other things. did it help motivate them?

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Yes, it was a good day that day. I like to have times where we do things like that; I know I enjoy being inspired to think differently sometimes and I think the kids do to.

[@kelseyamos8398]

Can you do a home church routine? Id really love to see how you guys run a home church (What each child does during this time, what you both do during this time, how you do and teach to the younger ones etc)

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

I'll keep this in mind. Thank you, Kelsey!

[@deana6633]

Never mind saw the ending with your rewards.

[@heathermicola3894]

I wonder if you just printed off a tree and then laminated it that you could apply the stickers daily and then easily remove them from the plastic.

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

I was thinking of doing a name badge that clips to the shirt because it would be easy to peel stickers off. It turns out I really like having the stickers on their bodies instead of on the wall somewhere because it's much more convenient (therefore likely to happen) when I can just take it immediately rather than walking somewhere. I thought a laminated tree pinned to their shirt might work. Then I thought I could just print a little picture and put it in the name badge. Maybe I'll climb up and get the badges down from the shelf and do that this morning!

[@pamelaaverrett5848]

Hi Andrea! Your sweet personality really shines through on your videos. I don't home school, but I do have a largish family. Any tips for ladies with all littles? 6,5,5 and 1 are my kids ages. I love teaching and doing activities with the kids, but it seem the baby gets into everything!!

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Some of my kids haven't been too into things, but some of them have been very busy! I found that using the highchair to keep them up out of things was really helpful. I give them toys or tape paper to the tray and give them crayons. If they fussed, I'd encourage them to keep "working" a little bit longer. Over time it helped increase their attention span so it was easier for them to play quietly near us instead of being naughty. I don't know if that is a useful idea for you, but maybe it would help!

[@pamelaaverrett5848]

Andrea Mills thanks! Yes, i will try, thank you for sharing.

[@sandrakane4226]

What book were you using for the science experiments? Also where did you get the chart or how did you make the chart where you keep track of who gets 100? thank you.

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

The science experiment was part of Judah's Science PACE (we use ACE Curriculum.) I made the chart, but I made a PDF version you can print yourself. Somehow it's missing one line, but I figured better a missing line than no track at all! :) Here's a link: www.andreamills.tv/home-school

[@TheBonnieberry]

Momma,you have the patience of Job...

[@calebhodgins6488]

Y'all are wearing coats and here in Mississippi we are still wearing shorts and sandals and it is November! I am not a fan of cold!

[@rachelbrain]

Cutest zombie ever lol XD

[@haileylockhart7505]

How do you deal with the bathroom situation

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

I'm hoping to talk about grooming/bathroom routines before the end of the month.

[@heathermicola3894]

I love your videos, I'm thinking of trying out ACE for next year for kindergarten and 2nd grade. Do you by chance know how much it cost for per child for lower elementary?

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Kindergarten and 1st grade are more expensive than other years because you have to buy teacher manuals. I think the kit for Kindergarten is about $350 from ACE. Most of the kit is reusable so in the future you'd have to buy just the PACEs for about $100-$125 per child to do Kindergarten again. ($125 per year is about average for all grades.) In 2nd grade you can still score your child's work yourself if you wanted to, but you can also start buying score keys which are reusable. They get less expensive in the older grades, but up through 3rd grade they are about the same as PACEs. I always buy score keys for our oldest son as he gets to a new grade, but then all the kids after him use the same ones. I've bought Kindergarten and 1st Grade manuals on e-bay, so you might check there, too. I've got 6 children in school and we spent about $900 on ACE curriculum this year, which was PACEs for each of them and score keys for Thomas.

[@heathermicola3894]

Andrea Mills thank you so much for the information

[@drummerlovesbookworm9738]

If it all went perfectly....how long should it take each kid to finish their school day? Are they all the same? xoj

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

The younger kids can finish their work in 2-3 hours. Thomas is slow, as in everything always takes him a long time- choosing cereal takes him a long time!- so I expect him to finish in about 5 hours. It depends on our day what time that actually translates to. We're in week 5 right now and Asher, Judah and Eden have been done with school at around 10:00 am. Thomas has been done about 2:00-3:00. Justus has been done around 5:00. I bet you can figure out who is wasting their day! :) Justus is quite smart and could easily be the first one done if he'd just focus! (It takes me about an hour or a little more to do Solomon's work with him.)

[@Tanya_loudestgarden]

What is the school bell program called?

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

I'm catching up with questions and I see I never answered this one! Here's a link to the school bell software we have: ktims.com/

[@erunanne]

Justus and Eden look like twins. To me anyway :D

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

We've heard that a lot! They are 27 months apart which is the biggest gap we've had between babies. Eden and Solomon are actually closer in age than Eden and Justus, but I think Eden seems older than she is.

[@AjahDTradeProdigy]

Oh wow luv your backyard set up. We use ACE as well and one of my kids gets distracted very easily so the bell system and the timer work well for us as well. And it looks our kids are both working on Pace 1039 lol 😂

[@AjahDTradeProdigy]

Oh I mean 1038 Pace lol 😂

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

That's funny! I didn't think anything of it until Justus got out his new PACE today and it was 1039.

[@Annette70able]

Hello, I have a question: you have one part of homeschooling, that is character of the month, so far Asher :-), but that you also have the character traits (?), like being humble or selfless or tolerant. That I get, but could you kindly explain about character of the week? What is it and how do the kids get to be character of the week? I like the idea of both, but don't "get" the difference. Thank you very much, Annette

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Each week the kids rate themselves and each other on all of the character traits we talk about. (I think we have 7 of them on our list.) Whoever gets the most points total gets "Character of the Week." This year I decided to also highlight one particular character trait each week, so whoever gets the most points for that particular trait is "Most Selfless" (or whatever trait we're focusing on.) I also rate each child and I sometimes overrule the popular vote and give it to someone I think deserves it.

[@Annette70able]

Thank you!😀

[@KatFib]

It's such a nice video and I admire your great job. The only question I have is: isn't it too hard for the kids not to get distracted by the presence of the small children?? It seems so loud and distracting :-o

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Sometimes it gets noisy, but it's not a big deal. It's definitely noisier than the school room I was used to growing up. I went to a Christian school and the classrooms were super calm and quiet. I went to a public school classroom once to pick up something for someone and was shocked by how chaotic that classroom was. I'm sure it wasn't always that way, but it was that day. That's sort of how it is at our house. You're seeing about 10-15 minutes of each of our school days so it's a sampling of the day, but definitely not how it is the entire day. For one thing, Solomon and I are having school for about an hour which is the noisiest part of the school day, but the other kids are working for 3-4 hours when the little ones are napping or off playing somewhere. You're not seeing much of that part of the day because I am also off doing things elsewhere.

[@KatFib]

Andrea Mills Thank you very much for your answer and explanations, it is clearer now :-) Anyway, you are doing great and your children are awesome!!! I discovered your channel today and I will definitely watch more of your videos. Good luck! :-)

[@deana6633]

Do you have a reward/ punishment system for work that is accomplished? Such as if you do not complete this assignment by the bell you do not get to go outside to play.

[@mergt3386]

Deana lovellette Andrea has a whole video on her channel on the privilege system she uses :)

[@Trendywendy10]

what age are Sophia and Solomon? Sophia is so cute she seems like she wants to do Solomons work too, or at least she likes supervising ha!

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Solomon turned 4 in June and Sophia is 2. (Her birthday is in January.)

[@LizzieQueen18]

Oh wow my son is the same age as Solomon, he's 4 and his birthday is in June. There isn't really any way he could be ready for kindergarten this early, though. He's developmentally behind on his speech. Solomon is so smart!

[@MaggieCraft]

How do you deal with your kids as they reach the teenager years

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Could you give me more detail so I can make sure I answer your question appropriately?

[@courtascot]

Are any of your kids left handed ?

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Not so far. My mom was left-handed and Tom's grandma is left-handed, but apparently we haven't passed it on!

[@courtascot]

Just wondering because I thought I saw somebody using their left hand but must not have.

[@justicesmith1904]

Its always weird for me when I see a boy Justice. Lol I've only met one other person with my name and of course he was a boy. But then in high school there was a girl Justice, but she spelled it differently. Now at 21 in college I never meet anymore people with my name! Haha. Great video. What made you do homeschooling? If they wanted to go to public schools would you allow it?

[@SkinnyLikeAPanda]

If I move to Wyoming, will you guys adopt me? I'm too old to be legally adopted, but good gosh, you're my dream family, and I think we'd get along just great!

[@unicornsims7044]

It takes 66 days for the human brain to form a habit. I recommend a 10 week period for behavioral things like that slow work

[@aleksandrawajs9794]

Im just wondering, why are they all dressed the same? Also, why are girls always in dresses? When i was i kid, i hated dresses because it wasnt comfortable to play in it

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

We do always wear the same color as each other, but the girls aren't always in dresses. Here's a video about how the color thing happened: kzbin.info/aero/PLd2pt5YWp66Ch760uSSVwyh0FT2gjnADa

[@itsabondslife6724]

how did you get more subscribers? I'm really trying to grow my channel I only have 86 Atm

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

I haven't done anything in particular to get subscribers. I just decided to try to make the kind of videos I wanted to watch and do the best I could on them. I really started my channel last October. After 6 months, Just Sew Trish mentioned me on her channel and I had my first big jump in subscribers. I went from 60 to 120 overnight. I kept plugging away making videos and in July I had hit 500 subscribers. In late August, our boys' bedroom video started getting a lot of views and that's when I got a huge jump in subscribers. I got up to about 15,000 in just a couple of weeks. (That's also when I started getting loads of hate, which is a bummer, but I guess it goes with the territory!) Since then I've been making small, steady gains. At the very start of my channel I did the first 18 days or so of Tim Schmoyer's 30 Days to a Better KZbin Channel course. I really didn't know what I was doing, so it was helpful to get me pointed in the right direction. I'm not too concerned about growing my channel. I just want to be a help and encouragement which is why I've focused more on making videos than on analytics and all that stuff.

[@itsabondslife6724]

it's a cooking channel and I have been consistently making videos for 5 months and I am barely gaining any subscribers. I just dont know how to get my channel out there. I am also a homeschooler and would like to do videos on that too but I feel like it would be too much jumbled on one channel. anyways thank you for your response.

[@TheMillsFamilyVlog]

Well, you're doing better than I was at 5 months! In the beginning I decided that I wanted to put everything on one channel because my target audience is moms who want to have large families and there are so many things that are relevant to that so it all seemed to fit. I'm very surprised about how wide my community has grown and includes so many people I never would've dreamed would be interested in my videos. One more thing I thought of after my first response to you is that all along I've viewed my channel as a "store" and I needed to "stock my shelves" before anyone would be interested in coming in to shop. It's always been my goal to be as helpful as I can. Even if I don't have any one video that is awesome all by itself, I keep filling my channel with things I think my community will be interested in. Once it was stocked, people would happen across one of my videos and then stay around to browse my "wares". The other thing is that I tried to think of my own personality and what would make me like a channel. I'm a person who likes to get to know someone before I decide if their opinion matters to me, so I decided right away to start doing some vlogs so people could get to know our family and then decide if we are the kind of people that they want to listen to.

[@itsabondslife6724]

thank you for the advice I love your channel I watch every video!

[@jaliyahjaliyah9034]

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