It is important to make sure that you child’s school routine will mesh well with your family’s normal daily routine. Before you set up a daily school routine for your child, think about what your normal daily routine already looks like.  Examine your normal daily routine to figure out how much time you have available to homeschool your children. Then, work within this amount of time. For example, if you find that you have four hours of time free each day, then this is the amount of time that you will have to homeschool your children. It is also a good idea to maintain your regular daily tasks in your schedule to help structure your days, such as getting dressed in the morning, running errands on a specific day, or preparing meals at a certain time. Setting a time boundary is important when you are homeschooling because this will help to prevent you from working too long or starting too late. Try to set a daily start time and identify the days of the week that will be “school” days.  For example, you might decide to start school at 9am every day and end school at 3pm every day. Make sure that you make your kids aware of these start and end times, such as by posting them somewhere visible. It can be hard for kids to focus on one task for too long, so you might want to schedule tasks in 15 minute blocks. If your child ends up needing less time to complete a task, then that is fine. Just try to avoid scheduling tasks that might take more than 15 minutes to complete.  For example, you might schedule a short reading or a worksheet for one 15 minute block. However, scheduling an entire book chapter, or a packet of worksheets would be too much for 15 minutes. Including meal and break times on the schedule is also important to maintain structure in your child’s environment. Make sure that you include snack times, meal times, and other important breaks on the schedule. For example, you might schedule in a snack from 10 to 10:15am and then schedule lunch for 12:30 to 1:30pm. To ensure that your kids can always find out what tasks they should be working on at a given time, post the schedule somewhere that is easy for them to access, such as on the kitchen table or on the refrigerator. You might even want to take a few minutes each day to review the schedule with your kids and make sure that they know what tasks they will be working on and when they will be working on those tasks.
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One-sentence summary -- Keep your family’s regular routine in mind. Determine when school will begin and end. Schedule tasks in 15 minute blocks. Include meal and break times on the schedule. Put the schedule somewhere visible.


If you have a lot of land options, you can select the vegetables you want to grow and find the perfect spot. If you are limited with land, then the spot will determine what will grow there. Ideally, you should opt for a location that is sunny for at least six hours a day. Evaluate your options and select your crops accordingly. Your location in the world also determines the type of plants and/or vegetables you will grow. Look for plants that are ideal for your climate. Once you have chosen a spot, make sure it can be used. It would not be fun to have your freshly planted garden dug up by your county. Look to see if there are any buried utility lines underneath the area. There should be a phone number available to check for the location of utility lines in your area. If not, call your local government to ask for the location of the utility lines. You should also ask about irrigation lines. Once you have made sure the area can be used, mark off the exact location of the bed. Spend some time planning the exact dimensions of your garden bed. Consider how much you will be planting, and how much space the plants will need. Then, go to your local hardware store and purchase paint that is made specifically for painting lines on the ground. Use the paint to mark of the location of the garden bed. You can also use cans of spray chalk, but paint usually holds up better with moisture.
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One-sentence summary -- Select a sunny area. Check for buried utility lines. Mark off the area.


Put a tight-fitting lid on the saucepan and turn the burner down so the liquid bubbles gently. Cook the rice for 40 minutes without lifting the lid. If you lift the lid as the rice is cooking, steam will escape and the rice won't become tender.
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One-sentence summary -- Cover the pan and simmer the rice over medium-low for 40 minutes.


Technically, there is no set structure to a free verse poem, as there are no rules around meter or rhyme scheme. So, you have the freedom to express yourself in almost any way you can imagine. But, some poets argue that the lack of rules can actually be more difficult and challenging, or as the poet Robert Frost describes the difficulty of composing a free verse poem, it’s like “playing tennis without a net.” Though there are no rules for a free verse poem, it is still a form of artistic expression, so its important to create striking images and emotions that your reader can see and feel and to express yourself clearly. Though free verse may not have been Robert Frost’s preference, many other poets have used the openness of the form to their advantage and have approached free verse poetry in their own unique ways. It may be useful for you look at several examples more closely, including:  "After the Sea" by Walt Whitman  "Little Father" by Li-Young Lee  "Winter Poem" by Nikki Giovanni  "Fog" by Carl Sandberg  "in Just-" by e.e. cummings Read the examples out loud and consider how they are effective. Do they have a certain rhythm or meter, despite appearing free verse and not using rhyme? Do they create strong images through description, word choice, or a certain mood or tone?  Identify any metaphors or similes. Think about how they work effectively to reveal details or create images associated with the subject of the poem. Make note of any examples of alliteration, which is a literary device where the first sound in a series of words is the same. Alliteration is one way the poet can create a particular mood, feeling, or sound to the poem. For example, in Whitman’s poem "After the Storm", there are two instances of alliteration in the first line of the poem, “sea-ship” and “whistling winds”, which then set the tone for the rest of the poem. Identify any personification. Personification is a device that takes an inanimate object and describes it as though it were animate or alive. For example, in Sandberg’s "Fog", the fog is personified as having “little cat feet”, and in Giovanni’s "Winter Poem", the snowflake is personified as “happy” and the other snowflakes are addressed as “its cousins and brothers.” Consider if the poem breaks with the traditional form of a line poem, and how the poem’s form adds to the overall meaning or theme of the poem. For example, in e.e. cumming’s poem "in Just-", the breaking up of the lines so there is more space between certain words and the arrangement of certain words so they move down the page suggest a certain choppiness or shift downward in the poem.
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One-sentence summary --
Feel free to express yourself, but don’t forget you are still writing a poem. Look at several examples of effective free verse poetry. Analyze the examples.