The Flops and Flutters and Plans Oh my...

The Flops

Well we did a lot less reading this year.

Story of the World and it's appendages probably works well for children who like to do everything in a neat row. Or children who like coloring pages. My children do not. We spent all year trudging through SOTW and it's activity guide and really missing out on the reading we love. We do have outside classes and I did take a full-quarter this winter. But, there just wasn't enough to keep us afloat. It's not like we enjoyed it either. I said TRUDGING.

The Flutters

I want to finish up Volume 1 by the end of the summer. We have the Volume one audio and we have been listening to that during the week in very small bites. I figured I could get the boys through it faster and at least cover the information. SUPRISE, SUPRISE, SUPRISE!!! The boys enjoy it a lot more and are retaining an amazing amount of information. Jim Weiss is a gem of a speaker. Now we have free time to read other books and fill out History Scribe pages. My boys seem to prefer these since they take some imagination and I had just enough paypal to buy a set. I love that the set includes a Native American set. I wanted to start doing some American History but really had no idea what to do for Native Americans. The sets include Maps so we can fill those out when we see locations in our readings. They filled out at least 20 maps this year and each has a river or maybe an arrow. I want to be able to glance at the very least 2 or 3 maps and see what they learned that year.

The Little Plans

I'm going back to letting the children listen and read and follow tangents. It just works better that way. I do plan on using an Ambleside inspired outline for our year. We will see how that works. I have a very small budget this year so I'll be using the library and online sources. I might purchase a level or two of Math U See for my oldest as it seems to be all he is willing to use.

Reading

Books I've decided to use will be made into reading list on good reads and kept track of in my sidelines. Hopefully I can convince the boys to write reviews of books they read.

Getting Ready for a New Year

Yes, here I am. I found an awesome new background at SuckMyLolly.com. This will be the first year I'm "teaching"...leading...marching on together...with all three boys this year. We actually made it through a whole year last year. No one decided to go back to public school & the Warrior (our youngest) is not going to Kindergarten!!!!!

I think I'll keep this blog just for learning adventures this year. I still have my wordpress blog...so perhaps I'll keep that for my own personal opinions.

Fairness, lazyness, homeschool updates...

I've tried here and there to be part of the weekly update crowd. I sometimes lurk on blogs where Moms show pictures of all their children have accomplished. A fun way to keep relatives up to date. A fun way to have proof for the school board perhaps. I don't know. It's enjoyable to take a peek and then at some point I feel....discouraged. Some weeks we could fill a post with pictures and laughs. But, often our days are filled with just living. Spurts of "real" education happen. We have worksheets that are filled in for Math. Journals where handwriting is practiced.

Many of us moms are in awe of these orderly families. Our blogs are often overlooked. Our children have too much free time and not enough proof to be interesting. While those other children are conquering Ancient History in exactly 180 days just in time for summer break...my children are savoring Aesop's Fables. I worry about it sometimes. More often when I read those blogs. And, I feel a little lost. Because I'm often stuck in between two homeschooling worlds.

How can I be an unschooler whilst my children have curriculum (and they don't always delight in using it)? How can I be a classical homeschooler when my children are the ones who asked for it and I lack a schedule that keeps us plunging through in exactly 4 year cycles. Am I lazy? Is it fair that my children get to enjoy this leisurely education?