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.

Improv Show, Being Present, and Dancing Paprika

Last weekend, Lu was in an Improv Theater dinner show with his improv crew. They worked hard to put a lovely show together which included a three-course meal served by the actors.

Lu did some hooping.

And the improv skits were funny.

Improv is a great way for kids to practice quick/clever response,

develop verbal agility, and build confidence in general.

Lu also debuted his song: "Face to Face"

It was a wonderful evening.

 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Our year starts in January, 

and this was our second week back from break.

This year, we're not quite sure what grade we're in.

Last year we were in 5th grade, but we didn't quite get to everything. See, I spread myself a little too thin, taking on more work (dance classes), and leaving Lu to try to do the work on his own. I thought that the independence and responsibility would be good for him, but it was too much. Math skills and handwriting suffered the most. So we need some time to catch up in these areas - not catch up to some standard, but to where Lu would be if it hadn't been for my absence. Also, because I was so busy running around between assigning assignments to Lu (that I didn't even have time to check), and working, I was Stressy. All. The. Time. 

And that is not how I want to be.

So, we're calling it 5th/6th for now, because we'll be doing 5th grade math and 6th grade language arts. But really, all the rest of it (history, science, geography...) is pretty... gradeless, as in who knows what grade this would be taught in at a regular school.

And I am not taking on any work until the afternoons, so that I can have all my focus on being a present and good-humored learning partner for Lu again.

Guitar lesson via YouTube tutorial.

 We do math in Spanish from Mon-Thurs

 Here Lu is learning about the Mayan numeration system.

 On Fridays, we do math in English with Arithmetricks.

Lu LOVES this book. Yay!

He reads a chapter or two,

and then explains the tricks to me.

In this week's science experiment,

Lu made paprika dance!

In History, we're reading about feudalism, castles, lords, vassals, and knights, and Lu's interest in history is returning having been briefly lost during the collapse of Ancient Rome.

 

In Geography, Lu learned about

the Scandinavian Countries, the Lower Countries,

and the British Isles.

We have a collection of mythology books from around the world that I like to keep handy. They get used a lot. Whenever we start learning about new places, people, cultures... we pull out one of our books and read a myth or legend from that place or culture. This week Lu read several Norse myths.

Not only does Lu love them, 

but they connect us to something essential and magical 

about those places and cultures.

 This week, Lu made Arroz con Chorizo,

from his Colombian cook book.

 Accompanied by diced zucchini, garlic, and onion curry.

It was really delicious!

 

 (not the best pic, sorry, but I had to show it cause it was so YUM)

 

And Strawberry Mousse for dessert!

 

2014... Back to a Schedule

After a lot of experimenting with minute-by-minute schedules to NO schedules last year, we're going back to using a schedule this year. It's not written in stone, and it can accommodate and adapt, but it seems that both Lu and I work better having an idea of what we're doing.

So, at the end of last year, we sat down together and talked about what our learning priorities are. 

Together, we agreed that these should be regular activities:

Music

Every morning, after breakfast and washing up, Lu will have time to practice his guitar-playing and singing. Sometimes he plays in the kitchen, and sometimes he comes up to my office so that I can sing along. On Saturdays, he'll also be taking shared lessons with another homeschooler.

Geography

Twice a week, Lu will continue to learn where things are in the world, with our favorite Geography Site and with our Children's Atlas.

,

Math

We'll be doing math in Spanish this year with this workbook. It's based on the Guatemalan public education curriculum, to get Lu ready for a test he might need to take in a year or two. Just this week, we went over mathematical sets, Venn diagrams, and cartesian product. 

Lu will also work with this book:

 

And, of course,

we'll keep working with Khan Academy

 Science

We plan to get through half of our "Great Scientists"

book this year - from Aristotle to Charles Darwin.

 Then we'll move on to Evolution.

Once a week,

Lu will try out different science experiments with this book:

This week, he made a wind-powered winch.

Cooking

Lu asked for lots of cooking time.

He'll be making dinner on Mondays, 

researching new recipes on Tuesdays,

and baking on Fridays.

 History 

We'll be learning about Ancient America,

Medieval Europe, and Asia in the Middle Ages.

Then we'll zoom in on Guatemalan history.

Reading and Language Arts

This year, Lu's starting out with Rudyard Kipling's

"Just-So-Stories".

He reads a story in the evening,

and retells it to me the next day, for retention,

and story-telling skill.

I don't have a huge reading list for him this year,

but I'd like him to read these two Roald Dahl books:

For Spanish we'll be using a Guatemalan Language Arts workbook, and spelling worksheets for English. Most of our writing will be done in our history notebook. Lu will also continue taking private lessons in Kakchikel - the local Mayan language of our town, working on his typing, and learning ASL (American Sign Language).

Physical Education

Mondays - Hiking

Tuesdays - Circuit Training

Wednesdays - Swimming and Dance

Thursdays - Circus Arts 

and Team-building games (with other kids)

Friday - Basketball (with a friend)

And that's the plan!