Couldn't resist!

In order to manage homeschooling this year while still working as a teacher two days a week I've traded child care services with two other friends who are also working. It's working out great. The kids are getting time with their friends, I don't have to stress about who's going to watch the kids and the kids get another adult for a teacher. On Thursdays, their 8 year old friend comes for the day and boy are we structured! These are pictures from our day. Luckily Mickey didn't have to go off to gymnastic! The kids did 6 hours of learning. Our friend's mom had sent his work along so he worked on that (mainly english and math) while I bounced back and forth between my two and helping him. It was especially good for my two to see what he was working on and he was able to read some of his compositions to them and share his ideas.

I got out an old desk I had. My unschooling friends are probably having convulsions right now! The desk was actually my dad's desk from grade school. It would be at least 70 years old. Mickey fell in love with it and she was pretty cute sitting in it.


In the afternoon we worked together on our Story of the World and our art lesson. While we may have very structured days, they don't all look like this! Trust me! We've had three field trips in three days and there was no in house learning but a lot of learning was still accomplished. I guess I am an eclectic homeschooler.

Homeschooling Styles

At our last General Meeting we had 5 members form a panel and talk about their homeschooling practices following a particular style. Represented were; Charlotte Mason, Unschooling, Waldorf, Curriculum Based and Eclectic. I think most people follow a combination of styles but it was nice to hear these speakers focus on one particular method. I took a few things away from this meeting:

1) Use more living books and try to cut out the "junk" books. Allow a few but limit them. I'm really noticing quality when it comes to finding early and advanced readers for Mason. The "junk" readers don't advance logically and use words which are inappropriate for the level.

2) Start a nature journal and get some good field guides. Utilize Handbook of Nature Study

3) Make outside/physical activity time a regular part of our day. We've gotten quite good at this but with winter approaching I want to make sure that we continue on!! It's too easy to hibernate!

4) Formal learning in the morning, field trips and extracurricular in the afternoon.

5) Being organized makes homeschooling easier.

6) Plan a character ed program. I've been wanting to do this for a while. Perhaps I'll choose 10 characteristics and we'll work on those.

7) Sources for copy work

8) Art is definitely a part of my program already but we're lacking in music this year. We'll incorporate a music study and appreciation on a monthly basis and aim to have music lessons in our schedule by next year.

9) Continue with my plan to start a Lifelong Project Timeline. It will not be in a book format as many of them are. Rather it will be accordion style so that it can easily fold out into a true line. I'll post more on this, hopefully in the near future!