Public school starts here on Monday. Many of my friend's kids are already in school. What is up with starting school in the middle of summer? Seriously. We're officially starting school the day after Labor Day, but I only say officially because aren't curious and creative kids always learning? So the "official" starting date simply means we start morning devotionals again, and have a more regular rhythm in our day. We do squeeze in more mom-lead learning too, but I try to stay out of their way and allow them time to pursue what they love and are interested in. The only formal schooling I do is to meet the requirements for the charter school who provides us $1600 per school year, per kid. We use that money for all extracurricular activities. It is a lot of money and it goes quickly.
Over the years I find myself moving more and more toward allowing my children to dictate their own learning. Tennie was completely independent last year. The only requirement was 4 hours of Khan Academy a week. This year we'll sit down and set some goals together. I do this mostly to encourage her to see her time from a larger perspective. Where does she want to be 10 years from now? What skills would she like to have? And what does that mean about her choices now? She is now at an age where she understands that some things are important to learn even if the interest isn't there. Getting her to commit to those things is still a work in progress! We also talk a lot about how God gives us special gifts, and when we discover we have a gift it is our responsibility to improve upon that gift. Usually we have gifts to fulfill our purposes in life. Tennie is natural with writing, languages and music. She wants to write all day long, and the other things take a little more encouragement to pursue. She'll take a writing class using Writing From Your Roots, and will continue with logic and Latin. This same group will have another class about Shakespeare, and Elizabethan times. She currently loves all things Middle Ages and mystical literature, and is deeply interested in Photoshop and photography.
Adele has been a learner at her own pace. This year I'm encouraging more independent learning, although she prefers to work with me. She'll do half Saxon Math and half Khan Academy, and we'll continue working on her basic skills of reading and writing. She's joining a creative writing class using the book Don't Forget to Write. This book is so much fun. I think it will be a good challenge for her to write in a peer group as this may encourage her to do something she doesn't currently love to do. She wants to learn French and to sew (both of which will come in handy as a fashion designer in Paris - her current dream).
Ceci will mostly use Saxon, with a day of Khan Academy. Since learning basic math facts is such a chore I'm following the advise of Geoff's sister Erica who is a phenomenal teacher. She said the students whose mom's have a facts app know them the best. Geoff found one called Mathris (I think) that is super fun. I have discouraged reading until now but she is interested so we'll start to build those skills. She'll also do the writing class with Adele, although I'll have her dictate her stories to me or on our ipad. This class (taught by Tennie's writing teacher these past years) will include Latin and logic. She loves for me to read to her so we'll read a lot together.
We plan to study American History in a loose fashion, mostly through documentary-type movies, and historical novels we'll read together in the evenings. We're hoping to visit Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. this Thanksgiving, and we want them to have a base knowledge. Because of Camp Whippoorwill last year they know a lot already. Thanks Mormor!
As for science, we always have Cobblestone Magazines around, and as a family I feel it is important for us to learn how to be good stewards of our planet, so we'll study water conservation, recycling and other forms of environmental responsibility this fall.
There it is...a little bit of scaffolding for the Fall. I'm learning to make a plan and then allow the year to take shape as it will. The girls have their own rhythms. They have good days and bad days. I'm trying to learn to follow their lead and acknowledge what we accomplish, even if it isn't what we set out to do. And most of all I want to see the greatness of each day...because it is there.
And while I'm planning and organizing the girl's are trying to keep their guinea pigs alive during these dog days of summer. It has been over 100 degrees for days !
Hanging out in the shade of the Liberty Tree
