Posted in Homeschooling
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So with this extremely relaxed method of educating my children, how do I hold myself accountable?
I sat down, reviewed my goals for the children, and made myself a mental checklist. Each day, I want the children to:
1. do gross motor work (physical activity) 2. do fine motor work (handwriting or embroidery or beads) 3. be read to 4. look at/read books independently 5. do some sort of consumer or household math 6. do some sort of critical thinking or strategizing (not necessarily daily) 7. do something creative (usually involving crayons, markers, tape, staples, paper and glue) 8. listen to music 9. cover some form of science (playing with bugs counts) 10. cover some form of social studies
Of course, many of these overlap. Applying this checklist to the sample day posted as "So what do the children and I do all day?" we find that all the areas were covered. They often dance to music (physical activity), and making their magazines required writing and drawing (fine motor work) and was also a creative endeavor. The math game required strategizing. Plus, Rachel and I did a lot of math at the fabric store. And even more over dinner table when we talked about her entrepreneurial project. Dh had her use felt to sew a case for his safety glasses - at one end it flips over to close the case. She is now making 6 or 8 that he is selling to his co-workers for $2 each (for 12c worth of felt each). We talked a lot about business record-keeping, advertising (business name and product name), the concept of 'added value,' and giving back to the community from your profits. Plus science and social studies/history come up. Our Spiritual beliefs also come up regularly, and we have a great story bible that they love for me to read, plus easier bibles to look at/read independently. To me that's adequate education for this stage of life.
More recently, I picked back up with Sonlight Core K and Science K. We are NOT following the IG (instructor's guide). I made a single sheet listing every book. For those in which only certain pages are read, I listed those page numbers. When it's time to read to the girls, I strategically choose from what we 'still need to do.' I've also left space to add in the titles of all the other books we read or listen to on tape/CD.
Finally, I've added back in a requirement to complete one math lesson each day. I did NOT make this requirement because I think they need more math. I made this a requirement because I found that they need a bit more structure in their day. As a matter of fact, we do some pretty complicated (for their ages) math verbally as things come up. Rachel has mastered money and nearly mastered time. Rebecca is working on money, and can add, subtract and multiply (with manipulatives). The children also get some great math concepts from watching Cyberchase (on PBS). To my amazement, they not only understand it, but retain it and apply it. |
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