How About Some School Around Here??

12:38 AM - Mar. 13, 2006 - Add to the Wildness

Ah, yes! The blog!! No, I didn't really forget. Thanks to those who emailed/commented on the slightly long absence. Life is settling out now. Here's a funny from my chicky-babes:

Silly Stuff With Girlies

Squirrelly Girlie: "Any food that’s not good for ya, doesn’t stay in your body."

Banana Brain: "Now, I wouldn’t go that far."

Squirrelly Girlie: "Not till we go outside."

Mom thinks to herself: Not that kind of going far....

We have kicked the girls out. Of their bedroom, that is. The boys are subsisting on a VSB (Very Small Bedroom, not to be confused with VBS – Vacation Bible School), and so can the girls.

Banana Brain has been thrilled with the new bunk bed, which was offered to us by a Christian friend before he even knew we were looking for one. Ain’t God cool? Anyhow, Banana Brain is thrilled to have the bottom double bed, and Squirrelly Girlie is equally happy to be aloft.

Here is the Very Lilac Coloured bedroom-turned-homeschool room:

We have desks. (Some kids don't like desks, but mine do. It's one of very few things they don't have to share with a sibling.) We have a big chalkboard. We have a sunny window. But most importantly – we have shelvage!! Yeah baby!!

We also have a very loosely-structured day that allows the kids to choose their tasks and try to get through them all for the day. On the white-board is a list of their subjects and an initial for each child. They can check off their subjects each day once they're done. They get strongly reminded if I catch them goofing off, but basically they can choose their topic of the moment, at the moment they choose.

Having switched to a math curriculum that’s workbook-based, along with a well-structured conversational French curriculum, the rest is done with "resources." Don’tcha love resources?? I think "resources" should be spelled with a capital R. And have stars and shiny stickers all around it whenever it's used, at least by a homeschool parent.

Anyway. We’ve got a colourful, entertaining book covering each of the Canadian provinces and territories, and the kids are doing a daily journal-type thing to cover their Canada studies. We’ve also got a bit of Canadian history from an old textbook. (I love comparing yesterday’s worldview and propaganda with today’s, don’t you?) I’ve also got a mapping book I need to start on with them.

Language Arts is a subject that I don’t like to teach separate from everything else. I like to use everything else to teach Language Arts, because LA is the fundamental gateway to accessing learning. So they have their chapter books to read, and handwriting and typing practice. Other than that, everything is done in and through other subjects. We do comprehension through journaling on history. We do critical thinking/inductive reasoning skills through evaluating things in stories we read or in the media. In short, we talk about stuff.

For Science, the kids have been enjoying journaling on a different animal each day. I didn’t tell them to do this. The Hickasaurus (so named by his father for the funky way his front teeth first came in) just starting doing it for fun. They do have a science curriculum which is focussed on natural systems and how we use the earth. I’m not too worried, though. They are so into learning that I know they’ve taught themselves more from having access to quality books than any public school student – and it’s retained information, not chew-up-for-class-and-spit-out-for-tests.

Music is done with parts singing – they’ve spontaneously gotten up to three parts by ear – and brass instruments. There’s a little piano in there too, but nothing formal. We’ll get there.

The parts singing has been learned from listening to a lot of children’s tapes with kids’ choirs, and also gospel bluegrass. You may hate mountain music, but if you look up Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver’s gospel bluegrass, you’ll find it very clean, crisp and not nearly so yowly as traditional Appalachian. (Note: if you’re not into a heavy beat, Quicksilver is good that way too. All acoustic, and very talented at it.) Nothing against mountain music, here. High lonesome is a style all its own, and it has unique qualities to commend it.

Oh, yeah. Phys. Ed. Let’s see – cross-country skiing, dance classes, lots of sledding, and right now I’m being requisitioned for snow-fort building. Yes, I know... Being a homeschool mom is so difficult and trying. However do I do it???

See y’all.

Its so fun to see how another homeschooler plans out their days.

Thanks for sharing. It sounds like you do a great job at educating (as opposed to schooling at home) your children. :-)

I am very jealous of your snow. We lived in Alaska for the last 3.5 years before moving to central California and we are missing cross-country skiing, snow forts and snowball fights. Fun!!

tbrowne - 10:28 PM - Mar. 13, 2006

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