"So, what are you using for curriculum?"
You hear that? It's the sound of 6 inch nails being mercilessly scraped down the length of a 40 ft, 1000 year old chalk board.
(Don't ask me why the chalkboard is 1000 years old. My imagination wanted it to be so and who am I to stand in the way of an ancient fictitious writing surface and it's elemental desires?)
I know people mean well, I do, but I just can't stand that question right now. It makes me feel somehow challenged and undercut, like if I don't answer appropriately then I'm obviously not sufficiently equipped to teach my children. I'm not sure if there IS an appropriate way to satiate one's curiosity concerning this subject without arousing my defensive instincts. ... Nope can't think of any, but if something comes to me in my sleep I'll probably roll over intending to jot it in my bedside journal and then forget about it as I unsuccessfully muster the will to open my eyes, turn on the light, lift the pen, find a blank page, move the pen in synch with my sleep addled thoughts, and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I wouldn't hold your breath for a speedy resolution on this one.
I have yet to figure out an answer to this curriculum inquiry that doesn't result in either blank stares of incomprehension from it's orator or lengthy opinions that I distinctly remember not asking for. Perhaps when I have a few years of homeschooling under my belt I won't be wound so tight about defending our decisions, but for now it is my reality, and the only thing I'm really interested in asking for is understanding.
I've spent many many hours studying and praying about and talking through (Matt's such a trooper) the different curriculum and teaching styles, and I find it very challenging to explain in a short concise manner how I arrived at our current course of scholastic trajectory. So please excuse me if I appear to be dodging this particular question in polite conversation circles...because I am. It's easier that way, and right now anything that can be done easier will be done as such.
The best I can do for you, my blogging friends and family, is tell you that we are not using a specific curriculum, but are employing an eclectic mix of web and humor based math, classic literature based English and writing using comprehension and copywork tools, kitchen cabinet based science, the arts learned from various and sundry sources, and "let them be kids" Phy Ed. We plan on doing the basics every day; math, reading and writing, and once per week we'll do art, bible, music and science. I intend on keeping things as low key as possible because we want to continue fostering a love of learning and not a dread of useless and uninteresting information for testing purposes. Right now we're only planning on "doing schoolwork" 4 days a week, Monday - Thursday, year round, and I'm hoping to keep it at a maximum of 3 hours per day, very Charlotte Mason-esque, and yes I'm confident that this will be enough time for them to learn what they need to know for this year because so much more is understood and retained with one on one instruction vs a full classroom dynamic.
If you know me much AT ALL it should really come as no surprise that I have,
a. decided to homeschool my children and
b. chosen to follow a more eclectic curriculum path.
Is anyone really all that surprised? I mean really? A crowd follower is one title that I don't believe I've ever been labeled with. Ever.
English is one thing that I am actually really really excited about because the kids will be working their way through the Robinson Curriculum reading list . After supper tonight I sat down with Bre's first book (after google came up with a big ol' goose egg on the topic) and began working on comprehension questions and copywork selections. Here's what it'll look like; she'll read 1 chapter per day and then demonstrate her grasp of the material by answering a few questions about the content. Then she'll practice writing, spelling and grammar by copying in her best work the selection of a couple pertinent sentences from the days story. The book she'll be starting out with is The Tale of Jolly Robin (it's FREE on Kindle), and I can't wait for her to read it! It's such a charming, delightful and well written story, and I know she'll really enjoy it. In this post I'm sharing the first 5 chapters of questions and copy work I did for this book in case anyone else is looking for something like this to go along with the Robinson Curriculum like I was. It's kind of a Robinson/Charlotte Mason curriculum mash up, and I hope to post more as I work my way through this entire book and the others to come, so stay tuned!
(Don't ask me why the chalkboard is 1000 years old. My imagination wanted it to be so and who am I to stand in the way of an ancient fictitious writing surface and it's elemental desires?)
I know people mean well, I do, but I just can't stand that question right now. It makes me feel somehow challenged and undercut, like if I don't answer appropriately then I'm obviously not sufficiently equipped to teach my children. I'm not sure if there IS an appropriate way to satiate one's curiosity concerning this subject without arousing my defensive instincts. ... Nope can't think of any, but if something comes to me in my sleep I'll probably roll over intending to jot it in my bedside journal and then forget about it as I unsuccessfully muster the will to open my eyes, turn on the light, lift the pen, find a blank page, move the pen in synch with my sleep addled thoughts, and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I wouldn't hold your breath for a speedy resolution on this one.
I have yet to figure out an answer to this curriculum inquiry that doesn't result in either blank stares of incomprehension from it's orator or lengthy opinions that I distinctly remember not asking for. Perhaps when I have a few years of homeschooling under my belt I won't be wound so tight about defending our decisions, but for now it is my reality, and the only thing I'm really interested in asking for is understanding.
I've spent many many hours studying and praying about and talking through (Matt's such a trooper) the different curriculum and teaching styles, and I find it very challenging to explain in a short concise manner how I arrived at our current course of scholastic trajectory. So please excuse me if I appear to be dodging this particular question in polite conversation circles...because I am. It's easier that way, and right now anything that can be done easier will be done as such.
The best I can do for you, my blogging friends and family, is tell you that we are not using a specific curriculum, but are employing an eclectic mix of web and humor based math, classic literature based English and writing using comprehension and copywork tools, kitchen cabinet based science, the arts learned from various and sundry sources, and "let them be kids" Phy Ed. We plan on doing the basics every day; math, reading and writing, and once per week we'll do art, bible, music and science. I intend on keeping things as low key as possible because we want to continue fostering a love of learning and not a dread of useless and uninteresting information for testing purposes. Right now we're only planning on "doing schoolwork" 4 days a week, Monday - Thursday, year round, and I'm hoping to keep it at a maximum of 3 hours per day, very Charlotte Mason-esque, and yes I'm confident that this will be enough time for them to learn what they need to know for this year because so much more is understood and retained with one on one instruction vs a full classroom dynamic.
If you know me much AT ALL it should really come as no surprise that I have,
a. decided to homeschool my children and
b. chosen to follow a more eclectic curriculum path.
Is anyone really all that surprised? I mean really? A crowd follower is one title that I don't believe I've ever been labeled with. Ever.
English is one thing that I am actually really really excited about because the kids will be working their way through the Robinson Curriculum reading list . After supper tonight I sat down with Bre's first book (after google came up with a big ol' goose egg on the topic) and began working on comprehension questions and copywork selections. Here's what it'll look like; she'll read 1 chapter per day and then demonstrate her grasp of the material by answering a few questions about the content. Then she'll practice writing, spelling and grammar by copying in her best work the selection of a couple pertinent sentences from the days story. The book she'll be starting out with is The Tale of Jolly Robin (it's FREE on Kindle), and I can't wait for her to read it! It's such a charming, delightful and well written story, and I know she'll really enjoy it. In this post I'm sharing the first 5 chapters of questions and copy work I did for this book in case anyone else is looking for something like this to go along with the Robinson Curriculum like I was. It's kind of a Robinson/Charlotte Mason curriculum mash up, and I hope to post more as I work my way through this entire book and the others to come, so stay tuned!
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