Posted in School
I had a difficult time filling out the November attendance form for my 7-year-old. Really we didn't do ANY formal homeschool, though I know she was learning along the way anyway. Here's what she's done in November (that I can remember): read several Asterix comics (historical, about the Roman Empire, lots of Latin references), read lots of library books (Nancy Drew, Beverly Cleary, American Girls, and way too many others to list, about 5 chapter books/week), learned how to measure the perimeter of our living room using non-standard units of measure (i.e. how many kids long and wide?), read several Thanksgiving books independently and listened to me read a couple, did several Thanksgiving worksheets, daily Community Bible Study homework and weekly CBS and Awana club meetings, swimming lessons 2x/week, lots of independent arts/crafts.
She tends to resist formal school, and I haven't taken the time and energy to pull together much of anything for her recently. It was clear she needed a break from Switched-on-Schoolhouse, so I gave in and let her unschool for November. But it left me wondering if this was enough. I feel like I've done next to nothing to contribute to her intellectual development in the past month, and I'm at a loss as to what I should do for her this month or after the new babies arrive.
Deep down, I guess I know she's learning plenty, but I feel like I'm not doing a whole lot to contribute, not that she wants much in the way of my contribution. On the other hand, when we worked through some Christmas word problems today, I realized that she has complete mastery of all the addition and subtraction facts (which we haven't worked on in forever), and that she has a great understanding of how multiplication works (she even remembered some of the multiplication facts she's learned months ago). We started with the 3rd grade problems, which seemed perfect for her. With guidance she was able to figure out some more complex problems. The 2nd grade and 1st grade ones were quite easy. She was quite interested in the link between the 12 days of Christmas and Pascal's triangle as well.
I also discovered today that she thinks worksheets are for little kids - she's beyond them! She didn't mind doing these "fun activities" with me at the computer, utilizing the calculator when necessary for some of the harder problems. I guess that's just part of her learning style.
I also discovered today that she thinks worksheets are for little kids - she's beyond them! She didn't mind doing these "fun activities" with me at the computer, utilizing the calculator when necessary for some of the harder problems. I guess that's just part of her learning style.
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