Random Cool Stuff My 8th Grader Does

Drawing stuff:

Lu's really getting into his dot-work.

Some of the designs are inspired by 

THIS AWESOME BOOK

we're reading this year.

It's all about seeing geometry in everything.

Here he learned how to make Borromean Rings -

Guitar stuff:

The guitar is a big part of Lu's life. 

He plays every day. Draws guitars. 

Sells baked goods to save up and buy more guitars.  

His room is full of guitars. 

He's a little guitar crazy :)

Ed has been Lu's guitar teacher for 3 years now.

Computer stuff:

 

 And here is Lu doing something very complicated with his computer. 

Installing or rebooting or hard-driving or something like that. 

I would tell you more, but I understand no-thing about it.

 

So, besides the Portuguese explorers, and the linear inequalities, and the ionic bonds we've been studying, there's also all this cool stuff that sometimes isn't even on the schedule. It's the magical stuff that happens when there's time to explore and listen to what calls you. 

I love seeing Lu find and follow these interests.

Creating Beautiful Days

We just had a fantastic first week of our new school year.

After a nice, long 6-week break, 

we have started our new homeschool routine. 

See how dark it is outside?

We're starting our day at 5:30am!

First things first, Lu takes Tinich (4mo chihuahua) outside for her morning pee, cleans her puppy pen, makes his bed, tidies his room, has breakfast, washes the breakfast dishes, and brushes his teeth.

At 7:30am our schedule begins.

Some days we start with cuddly read-alouds.

Right now we're reading stories and legends

from Latin America.

 

Other days we start with some outdoor exercise.

I recently put a desk on this porch and turned it into

a second classroom.

It's nice to be outside, in a different space.

 Tinich likes it too :)

Monday is Hike Day

We climb 30 minutes up the mountain behind us

to a magical little spot we love.

And then come back down with this view.

Wednesdays are Lake Day,

and we head down for some swimming

and poetry-reading.

We've also been reading about Renaissance painters.

Our nifty book came with these playing cards - 

Go Fish, Memory, Who Painted This? 

I don't usually link to stuff that isn't free,

but this book was really worth it.

So, if you're interested...

Renaissance Art Card Game and Book

Cell Games is a great site!

Lu's been learning all about cell structure

and how all the parts work.

He can tell you a thing or two about mitochondria

and the Golgi apparatus. 

(And mom's like: Wuzzat??!)

 

Guitar is an every day thing.

Twice or even three times a day, more like.

Right now I can hear him rockin'

the James Bond theme song. lol

 Lu wants to be a chef, so cooking is a big part of homeschool.

He cooks dinner twice a week, and bakes a dessert on Fridays.

(woo-hoo, it's Friday!!!)

He does his own recipe researching,

so it's always a surprise.

Grilled Marinated Eggplant:

Bacon Potato Fritatta 

with Tomato Salad and Anchovy dressing:

And I can smell the chocolate creation in the oven

as I type this... yummmm....

We're running our afterschool art program 

on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

This is our 13th year going!

We had 25 kids come on the first day.

Fun, fun, fun!!!

Lu's reading "Quest of Heroes".

I'd rather he read from books than from the screen, 

but he found it free online and is very much enjoying it.

And when we zoom in... look who's there!

And when she's not sleeping,

she loves playing with Floki <3

My number one objective this year is to enjoy my son as much as possible. This is our fifth year homeschooling and now I truly understand that there is more than enough time to learn the math and the spelling, and that it is much more important to learn to enjoy life, find authentic motivation, take care of yourself physically and emotionally, show your love to others through actions, and fill your days with things you love doing. 

We'll likely get more academically ambitious in high school, 

which is just around the corner. 

But for now, it's all about creating beautiful days.

From School at Home to (pretty) Relaxed and (very) Eclectic

Recently, with some other homeschool mama friends,

(and not just any homeschool mama friends, but the ones who listen and share the real stuff, and make you feel a little more normal and a little less worried about how you're educating your child/ren. When you homeschool, you NEED a group of friends like this. It's essential. I'm SO grateful for my supportive circle of awesome mamas) 

anyway,

we were talking about how much time to put in each day.

Now, we all have different homeschooling methods, but to some degree, we all think about this. How much time on academics? How much free time? How much screen time? How much exercise? How much time 'should' we dedicate to all the different parts of our childrens' learning?

So, I've been thinking about this all week, and realizing how much we've changed and how much I've learned...

See, when Lu and I started homeschooling, he was 8 years old and officially in the third grade. But we had ALL this time to catch up on from the years he went to school, and especially from the last two years, during which he spent six hours a day at school. We were hungry for time together. We NEEDED time together, a lot of time. 

And it showed in our schedule. 

That first year, 

we averaged eight hours a day!
of planned homeschool activities.

And we loved it!

It was new and exciting. Lu loved the pace at which we were learning, and I loved the planning and organizing of my child's education. 

I wanted to get everything "right". Not only was I spending eight hours doing the actual "schooling" with Lu, but I was also using all my spare time to educate myself and prepare "classes".

We felt very "scholarly". It was kind of like we were "playing school". 

If I was taking my son out of school, 

then we had to be "better" than school. 

I had to prove that I could do this.

As time went on, we got used to being homeschoolers, and schoolwork just became a natural part of our day. I learned that I can't plan EVERYTHING, and that there's little point in looking at high school textbooks now when there will still be plenty of them around when we actually GET to high school. And that we probably won't even use text books anyway. And that unplanned spaces are essential to finding passions. 

And that learning happens ALL the time.

With those unplanned spaces, Lu learned that he loves cooking and 60's rock. And that there are a million cool things to do with his dad's tools. And that if he has an interest, we can follow it.

So now that we're more or less in 6th grade, we do three hours of academics and at least one hour of exercise and art, plus some light/fun reading before dinner. 

This is the time it takes to do the work that we have decided, as a learning team, is important to have as a base - math, science, and history. Those are the subjects we dedicate the most time to. Language arts, geography, typing, and some others are regularly done, but in short 20-minute sessions, and not every day.

Even though we don't spend the hours and hours doing the grammar, vocabulary, and spelling worksheets that we used to do - Lu's writing is fine because he reads a lot.

Even though we didn't stick to the very excellent math program we worked with for two years, because it was fastidious and dense, Lu's math development is on track, because he enjoys it now.

Even though we don't follow a particular science program, Lu's science knowledge is vast because we pull from all kinds of resources and watch loads of awesome documentaries.

This is the pile of "paperwork" that Lu did this week in school, but it's just a small part of what we did. The rest happened outdoors, in the dance studio, in the workshop, in the garden, in the kitchen, at the karaoke party we went to, at the lake, at yoga class, at the market where we have lunch on Tuesdays, at the restaurant we go to on Saturdays to eat pie and play ping-pong, during our weekly potluck with the neighbors, when we watch a documentary with lunch, or when we play Scrabble.

I don't regret having spent all that time on academics our first year. We were happy and we learned A LOT. But every year since, we've relaxed more and more in regards to schedules, grade levels, tests (what? tests? what are those?) and curriculum.

Here's a "Language Arts" assignment that Lu came up with.

I know that he wants to learn how the world works. I trust that he feels responsible for his education. And I trust myself enough to follow what we feel is right for us.

If you're just starting your homeschool journey, PLEASE don't worry about 'how' you're doing it. Try different things, or stick to one thing, or change your mind every five minutes.

Be extra organized or be a messy confusion.

Be a "School at Home-er" or a "Radical Unschooler".

It doesn't matter.

AS LONG AS EVERYONE IS HAPPY most of the time,
you're probably doing just fine.

Designing Our Days

One of the things I love most about homeschooling is being able to design our days according to what we want and/or need to do. Our schedule is different each day to fit in all the different stuff we have chosen together - develop skills, gain knowledge, exercise, enjoy nature, cook, make music, dance, walk our dogs... These are the things that make us happy, and that we want to make sure to do.

Lu got absolutely into the guitar last year.

Even though it is only on our schedule from 8-8:30am every morning, guitar practice happens all throughout the day. He even has the guitar near when we're watching a movie, so he can play whenever we pause for bathroom or snack breaks. He also has a private lesson with a teacher each week.

 

Math is daily at our house. Sometimes even twice a day.

Lu sometimes sits down to do two hours of math and not even notice.

But that's not every day. Some days 30 minutes is too much.

Science is officially 3 times weekly,

but we often end up watching science videos 

and documentaries during breaks or with lunch. 

Lu is always up for doing experiments, he'll do them just for fun.

History is pretty much daily, between reading and watching documentaries, we do something history related almost every day. This is my favorite subject and Lu enjoys it most of the time, except when he has to write a lot. This definitely isn't a year of enthusiastic writing, but that's okay. He's written a lot in past years, so I'm not pushing and just hoping that he will find his own writing inspiration in his own time.

Wednesdays are lake days.

We try to make it each week, after all, that's why we live here.

 Slowly but surely, Lu's clubhouse is moving forward.

Whenever there's a chance,

 Lu will go bang in some nails or sand some boards.

 

 Cooking, like music, has a place on the schedule,

but also happens all the time, throughout the week.

Jewelry-making has taken a backseat

to cooking and guitar, so it's not on the schedule,

but occasionally happens when Lu's in the mood.

Geography happens twice a week.

This year's focus is on regions and landmarks.

Language arts is not one of Lu's favorites, and I have come to accept and respect this. We still do a little English spelling and some Spanish grammar, but it's very minimal. I used to insist on more, but I'd rather he used the extra time for what he's truly passionate about.

Lu specifically asked for basketball this year, so every Friday morning, at 7am (before the public school's P.E. classes take over the court) Lu goes to play for an hour, and comes back sweaty-faced and red-cheeked. I should go take some pictures of him playing one of these days, but this is sacred empty-house coffee time for mama :)

 

  On Thursday afternoons 30 other kids come to our house/center for arts classes.

 And since the volunteer teachers live on site with us,

Lu often has the chance to get some one-on-one with them.

As Lu gets older, my role shifts more and more from working side-by-side with him, to making sure we have lots of interesting resources, organizing our subject matter so that it fits in the year, and trying to put it all together in a way that flows nicely for us, in a flexible schedule that molds itself to our needs.

When it all comes together, we finish a day satisfied with having completed the work we'd planned on doing AND having time for art, exercise, hobbies, research, new interests, exploration, naps, outings... This is a perfect day.

I feel that this year we've really whittled down our academic plans to what is important for him to learn for the life he desires. This gives us much more time for all the other stuff we want to do. And yes, I push for certain things (like spelling and grammar), but I do it with a strong argument, and it only goes if I can manage to convince Lu. If in the end he really doesn't want to do something, then he won't. He has his own reasons for studying science, math, and history. He has real interest for learning where things are in the world, who invented what and when, what black holes are, how dogs' brains work... If I force my own ideas about what is important to learn, I'm taking time away from him following his true interests.

So, maybe we won't be reading Shakespeare together in high school like I had envisioned, but there will be engineering, and culinary arts, and maybe a rock band, and a bunch of other stuff that I never envisioned because they weren't my interests. But I LOVE my son's interests, just because they're HIS. His very own. 

And when he is engaged in what he's doing, he glows. He shines. 

He is REALLY learning. And that is what it's all about.