(originally posted last Friday)

Well, it's Friday. That means unshcooling. This is the day we generally put the books away and learn on the fly (not an actual fly, unless one is handy).

Lessons on Friday include:

organizational management skills (sorting laundry & cleaning out from under beds)
business math (peanut butter cookie measurements - now that's real business!)
literary interpersonal skills (kids fussing over the LeapPad that has the good batteries in it - see yesterday's post about the battery charger)

In other words, we put the text books and workbooks away, and learn as we go. Usually. Not today though, because we've had 2 days like that this week, already. Something about Kev being off work in the middle of the week, tends to mess up our homeschooling schedule. So today we'll have the full compliment to get the day rolling.

We officially have 2 weeks of formal lessons left, for this school year. 10 days to go, and then it's learn on the fly for the summer. I was reading someone's blog yesterday (and I can't recall where I read this, so if it was you, reply and let me know - you really gave me alot to think about!) that one mother has mixed feelings about the end of the homeschooling school year. While she's looking forward to school being over, she's also discouraged about the lack of material covered for the year. I SO get that way as well.

Maybe it has to do with my hyper-organizationalness (I dont care if that's not a word, long as you know what it means, that's all that counts). When I purchase school books, the first thing I do is count pages, then divide by 36 weeks. This tells me how many pages have to be completed per day, to start that book the Monday after Labor Day, and finish it by mid-June. Why I force myself to be a slave to this schedule, is beyond me, but I do it every year.

As for individual assessment - it's another matter. While the kids have in fact finished (or come very close) some of their books, they're pretty far behind in others. The far-behinders are the subjects they've had struggles with, so we went slower, spent more time on them, and I made sure they mastered the skills in one section before we merrily rolled along to the next section. Part of my personal homeschooling philosophy is that for a child to really benefit from homeschooling, they must be afforded the luxury of time. As much time as they need where they struggle, and not too much time, where they've already excelled. This results in none of the kids doing across the boards grade/age level work, and that's fine. It's never made sense to me why public schools insist that EVERY 6 year old child, is doing (or should be doing) grade level 1 work, in every subject. Kids being as different as every snowflake, cannot all be lumped in together on every level, of every subject.

Jordan (7), Rachel (6) and Samuel (4) are all reading. They've all just begun (within the last few months) to really read. I mean really read, not just sound out words. Jordan turns 8 in September, so she's far behind where she "ought" to be according to most standards in reading, and Samuel turning 5 in September is miles ahead. Rachel is right where she ought to be - according to the "standard" (whatever that really means). The thing is, kids will not and cannot read, any earlier than they are ready for. You can flash-card and phonic until your blends fall off, but if that child's brain is not prepared to reason out what you're teaching, they simply will not get it, and will not read. With other kids, you teach one reading lesson and they soak it up like a sponge. Again, kids are like snowflakes. They're just larger, and usually messier.

I had planned for the summer months, to prepare weekly work-packets (that's Rachel's name for what they are - we're in huge trouble with her, she's a hyper-organizationalist just like me, it's spooky) for each of them. The plan was - for each day - 1 sheet for Math, and 1 sheet for a combo of reading, spelling and phonics. My reasoning for this is/was, kids have a tendency to forget so much of what they learned, over the summer. The other part of my reasoning was - I don't want them to just discard the last few pages in their workbooks, and just start the new ones in the fall.

Instead of doing that, however, I have a new plan. It includes the dollar store, COOL pencils, and liberty. I plan to pick up several work/activity books in each subject for them, and some really funky, colorful, fun pencils & colored pencils. When it's sunny - they'll be outside, that's a given. When it's rainy, that'll be time to get out the activity books. I'm going to call them "Fun Books". Then give them the liberty to use them as often as they like. In the fall, we'll either start up where we left off in this year's books, or we'll skip ahead to where they are, if they've learned past that point. I'm trying hard to make learning fun... doesn't that sound like an oxymoron?

Another plan for the summer, is the library. We were going to introduce the library this past school year, but the kids weren't reading and it seemed pointless. Now that they are reading however, I want them to discover the pot of gold at the end of the literary rainbow. It's been a long time for me, since I've even been to the library. We have so many books here (used bookstores, yard sales, donations, etc.) that I literally have not run out of things to read for several years. Their bookshelf however, has taken a beating, over the last few years. While they all love books, with each new toddler to come along, many of those books met the terrible twos, and ended up in the trash. Hopefully, as Ruth gets a little older, and those things happen less and less, we can beging rebuilding their library, right here at home. It will be a bonus when the library in town has their annual book sale.

In all the years homeschooling (and I'm no veteran yet, it's only been 6 years), by far, this has been the most successful year. I never taught Jessica to read, she already knew how when we pulled her out in 3rd grade. This year, I taught three kids to read - and while it was a huge struggle at times, it was also a success, and words cannot encompass the joy I have to see them take a book from the shelf, sit down and actually read it. My babies are reading! They are the biggest, smartest, coolest people in the world. Now if I could just get Jordan and Rachel to actually like math, and memorize their addition and subtraction tables, I'll be laughing. One more "given" this summer is the nightly audio tapes of addition and subtraction songs.

With Ruth turning 2 this summer, and getting better about not fussing while we're doing lessons, we'll be moving the school room back to the game room, instead of the kitchen. Which means moving some furniture & book cases, and hopefully finding a larger table at a yard sale this summer. Hopefully, Ruth will begin learning the same way Samuel did - by sitting in from time to time at the table with us, and by just being in the same room, while the girls learned the basics in letter sounds & numbers. Just by being in the same room, Samuel learned those things - and when it was time for him to start his own lessons, teaching him was a breeze.

So the school year winds down, and my plans for the summer, and next school year, are already in full swing. I have approximately 97 billion projects to tackle this summer, including painting Samuel's walls (when I'm done with the girl's room) and making more sundresses for the girls. They loved the ones I made last summer (my first ever attempt at sewing from a pattern) and they came out real nice - so they want more. Inbetween moving the school room and painting and sewing, gardening and playing piano, writing and photography... I should stay quite busy, all summer long. I'm looking forward to that kind of busy.

All of this, of course, Lord willing. I could end up in the hospital next week with some tropical disease contracted by a rogue banana, for all I know.

(Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.)

So... there's what's on my mind this sunny, end of May morning. If you have some great school/home/vacation/project ideas for your summer, why not share them in the comments section?

SDG