Dishes, Cats, Volunteers, and Islam

Lu really only has one established "chore"- dish-washing. Breakfast and dinner. If he cooks, we swap and I do the dishes (which sucks), although he does usually make yummier meals than I do (because he puts a pound of butter in just about everything he makes).

He does the breakfast dishes right before we start our homeschool day. And he feeds the cats. It's an important quiet time to get him grounded before tackling math or spelling. 

Speaking of cats,  

Lu has been learning ASL (American Sign Language) 

and today I turned around and saw this during his lesson:

That's Monkey. She's our very weird cat.

Happy International Volunteer Day! Cha and I both run projects that host volunteers at our center (which is also our home). Lu has grown up around hundreds (really, hundreds) of super awesome twenty-something-year-olds who are into permaculture, peace education, social justice, sustainable farming, eco-living, social arts, and a bunch of other cool stuff. So THANK YOU to all those wonderful people who have been a part of our work and family. Lu has also benefited greatly from the friendships and examples.

Here's Lu in the volunteer kitchen, 

making pancakes with all the gang:

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We've been exploring the rich and fascinating world of Islam.

 Lu made a poster:

 And we watched some excellent documentaries:

History Channel's - Inside Islam

BBC's - Science in Islam

PBS's - Islam, Empire of Faith

We also drew Islamic tessellations with this tutorial 

It got pretty complicated.

Lu chose green.

I chose red.

We both agree that it was an AWESOME activity.

We didn't even notice that 2 hours had gone by.

And we had a gorgeous morning at the lake this week.

I can't believe it's already December!

India, Hinduism and Buddhism

Our studies on Ancient India were fascinating, and so colorful!

 We learned all about Hinduism,

a religion with over 300 million deities!

Lu takes graphic notes as we read,

and then combines them into a final poster.

As we learned about the Mauryan Empire and Asoka,

we  also learned about Buddhism.

We watched BBC's 6-part The Story of India,

and we did a jump in time and researched the life of Gandhi.

Finally, Lu created a timeline of one thousand years,

through the collapse of the Gupta Empire.

Lu was quite taken with the story of Prince Siddhartha and the idea of enlightenment. One evening, he took the yoga mat into his room, lit a candle and an incense stick, and proceeded to meditate in the cross-legged with elaborate hand position of the Buddha, whose google image he was sitting in front of on his i-pad. It was cute, and weird, and funny all at the same time.

Intermittent Schooling, Anatomy, and Christianity

Project activities start up again next Monday (we run an art school downstairs, seven months a year for about 70 kids), which means that our homeschool load will lessen significantly with Lu participating four half-days weekly of dance, arts&crafts, circus arts, theater, and singing. 

Our school year is divided up between light homeschool months with project activities, and heavier homeschool months without. 

Given that we take a month and a half off for homeschool vacation time, I have 3.5 months a year to teach new concepts and really sink our teeth into researching and Unit Studies.

Lu's been helping make an educational board game for the project. It's a life-size Chutes & Ladders (or Snakes & Ladders) type game, so the participants move and stand directly on the board.

 

I've been worried that we won't have another "project-free" month until September/October, and have been cramming stuff into our schedule to get it all in before the chaos begins. 

I imagine there are lots of homeschoolers who break their year up like this for different reasons like travel, seasonal work, short-term projects, farming, touring...

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We've been using this Awesome Anatomy Site.

Respiratory System

Circulatory System

 Excretory System

 As part of our unit on Ancient Rome,

we studied the life of Jesus Christ

and the history of Christianity.

It was pretty intense.

We read from our book about religions,

and Lu took graphic notes along the way.

We also watched National Geographic's "Jesus, the Man"

We had a heavy conversation about capital punishment, and Lu wanted to know what types still exist around the world today. I didn't want him to see photos of stonings and hangings, so I did the research alone and then answered his questions. I could see a spectrum of feelings come over his face - confusion, fear, horror, pain, sadness, and then rage. "How could they do those terrible things?" and "If they had to kill them, couldn't they have done it painlessly at least?"

And of course there were questions about what I - mama - thought about everything they say about Jesus. "Could it be true that he came back from the dead?" and "Do you believe that an angel really talked to Jesus' mom?"

I want him to know the story behind the beliefs of the 30-something percent of the people sharing the planet with him, and not just my version of it. I try to be unbiased, and precede any personal beliefs with, "This is what I have a tendency towards believing, but it doesn't mean it's a truth...". Nevertheless, he's quick as a whip to question and even scoff at certain parts of the story that are incompatible with what he already believes about the physical world through his exposure to science.

So we also talked about respect, and appreciating the beauty in all the different religions, even if we don't agree with them. I do also try to cultivate a distrust of scientific dogma.

Lu made a final poster today.

 

 And then flopped down with a big TGIF sigh.

 

It's been a long week.

Finding Our Flow

One of the things I've come to love most about homeschooling my child, is that we get to change things up however we want, whenever we need to. We can listen to ourselves and to each other, and flow with the situations that life brings forth, as we figure out how to best fulfill our needs and wants, and how to achieve our general well-being.

One thing that was very much lacking for ME last year was my own physical exercise time. And I really needed it. Another thing lacking was "Sanity Time" for both of us. We both have... strong opinions. We spend pretty much all day together. We are fire and water. And we have the ability to drive each other CRAZY if we don't get some Sanity Time.

Being more aware of this, with our now two years of experience, we've started 5th grade with a flow that seems to be working very well for us.

Sanity Time 1:

I wake up at 6am to get my first 40-min workout in (mostly interval training). Lu usually gets himself up before I'm done, and gets himself ready for the day. We make breakfast and eat together. Lu washes the dishes, while I get my coffee break - a very important time for me to review my plan for the day.

1st Period:

We start with some singing, which also usually involves some dancing. Our repertory includes 60's rock, 80's pop, reggae, soul, trova, and salsa. Ideally, we start at 8:00 and go for 30 minutes, to really wake us up and get our blood pumping. Starting our day singing gets us in a good mood.

Then we cuddle up for a read-aloud. Right now we're reading about magicians, and later on in the year, we'll be reading more mythology from around the world.

Sanity Time 2: 

After reading, it's time for writing. 

The assignment is "a few sentences",  

but Lu usually ends up with a paragraph or two.

This also counts as Sanity Time

because it is something he does independently,

while I can check emails or make another coffee.

When he's done,

he reads me what he wrote, and edits along the way.

Then, we do a second edit together.

By now, it's around 9:15 - 

and we're 75 minutes into our school morning.

2nd Period: 

Time for Math.

Our math sessions usually last an hour. Lu works on his own for the review/practice part of it, and then we work on new concepts together. When the work is easier and we finish sooner, we use the rest of the time for online math games.

Sanity Time 3: We both start getting antsy toward the end of Math - 10am-ish. We've been schooling for two hours, and it is most definitely time for a break. For me, it's time for my second workout (something more dancey / cardio). I can't tell you what a difference this has made. I'm more relaxed, more patient, and more creative when I get my mid-morning sweat and stretch. 

For Lu, break time is for pretty much whatever he feels like doing - like going to pick a basket of oranges at our neighbor's house, making yogurt with the yogurt maker his grandmother recently gave us, or working on his clubhouse.

 freshly picked oranges

 making yogurt

 putting down the floor of the clubhouse

At 11am we reconvene.

3rd Period:

Our first mid-morning class will change through the year.

We will learn about religions of the world, 

famous scientists and evolution.

We read, take notes, draw cartoons,

and make posters about what we're learning.

This year, there is a new emphasis on written

and graphic note-taking.

4th Period:

The second mid-morning class alternates between

Physics twice a week, 

and Geography and Typing twice a week.

We're really enjoying the Eureka Physics videos.

Again, lots of note-taking and poster-making

 (weird extended arm pic to get us both in - 

but this is what our Physics class looks like)

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It's around noon now, and time to make lunch!

Lu wants to be a chef, among other things,

and is always more than happy to help out in the kitchen.

Here he's making his famous salad dressing with

raspberry vinegar and mustard (but the rest is secret...shhh).

 (notice the smiley face tomato and cucumber salad)

Sanity Time 4:

After lunch, we each take an hour to do our own thing.

Lu gets some screen time during this time,

which means permission to get on his email,

or use a design program.

I pretty much do the same, but with coffee :)

5th Period:

At around 2pm, we get back together for 

History three times a week,

and Art twice a week.

These are longer classes. Sometimes up to two hours.

6th and Last Period:

At around 4pm, it's time to wrap things up and get some Khan math practice for about 20 minutes.

At 5:30pm Lu comes back in, after playing outside for about an hour, for chapter-book reading. Right now he's reading the Narnia series, Prince Caspian, and he plans to read all the books this year.

Then it's time for dinner-making, shower-taking, eating, and hanging out with Cha who's back from work. We might watch an episode of something together, or Lu might watch something on his own with dessert, before washing the dinner dishes and getting ready for bed.

So, as you can see, we had six class periods, and four Sanity Times. Almost one for one, and it is well worth it. I can't go for more than two activities without a break, so how should I expect a child to?

Our "school day" runs from 8am-4:30pm, which is a long school day by normal standards, but we have lots of breathing space in between, and that's what works best for us. 

And that is pretty much our day for now. In February things will change when our art school starts up again, taking four half-days a week of our schedule. Our year will vary between the two: one month just us, two months with art school activities and lots of socialization with other kids. 

So, flow. 

It's important to feel it out and find the one that feels right.

And really, I don't know anymore, if we adapt our homeschool to life, or if we adapt life to our homeschool... but it has to fit, like the perfect pair of jeans - not too loose, not too tight.

Just right.