photo by L-T-L
It has gotten to that time of year when I have a hard time keeping my mind focused on this school year. With less than 20 days left, I’m antsy. My mind is already firmly fixed on what we will be doing next school year. Well, on that and on having some summer vacation.
I have been thinking a lot lately about what I had envisioned for our homeschool when I pulled our boys out of public school almost two years ago. What we have been doing doesn’t bear a strong resemblance to what I thought we would be doing.
I pictured something more along the lines of a liberal arts focus. I imagined us studying artists, reading poetry, doing nature studies, and doing things like music lessons and learning French. Fast forward two years and I will admit that we have never taken the time to do an artist study, the only poetry we’ve read is the occasional Shel Silverstein, and we felt pressured to try Spanish instead and so we spent this year muddling through Rosetta Stone, which just wasn’t the right fit for us. On the up side, I can say that this year, we did start both of our boys in music lessons.
So, how did my vision turn into seat work with work books? It would be nice if I had the solution to give you, just in case you see yourself in what I have said thus far. I don’t have that solution though. I have been caught up in worrying about the kids being at the same level as their public school counterparts, and so we focus on standards and scope and sequence.
I have worried that if we take the time on things like poetry or French or artist studies, then I’m not using our time properly. I have committed to myself that this is foolish logic.
So, as I start looking forward to next school year, I’m praying for the strength to make our homeschool look more like my vision before we started. It won’t be exactly the same, as I have learned more about my kids and about myself since then. But, I want to make it a whole lot more like my vision than it is now. And, I hope to share some of my struggles (and hopefully triumphs!) with you as we move through next school year.
What would you change about the way you school currently? Are you doing what you envisioned you’d be doing? Is there something that you want to strive for next year?
Angie can be found writing at Many Little Blessings. She is also the founder of The Homeschool Classroom and Catholic Mothers Online.
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My changes would be similar to the ones you are hoping for. I’m also having a hard time focusing in these last few days. We will continue to do math and phonics through the summer and I’m hoping to use those days, also, as an entry into more unstructured learning. Perhaps we’ll get ‘used to’ it and really be able to ‘live it’ better when the fall comes.
Dawn Farias´s last blog ..People Don’t Poop In Their Christmas Cards
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Well, we are finishing our first year of HS and it has been a blast! Of course, I wanted to spend more time on “extra” topics but as you stated….have to get the three “Rs” in. I have been in planning mode these last few weeks and since we are starting first grade, I want to be a little more organized with our time. I like Jolanthe’s (Homeschool Creations) method of breaking up the year into 6 week segments. I think this will help us tremendously because I feel like we may not finish a topic we got into and jump to the next thing. I want to be more thorough in that aspect. Also, planning 6 week segments will help my DH as he shares in teaching with me. Now, we have enjoyed doing a variety of science experiments and my DH is really great about outdoor exploration…he’s taking our son on a camping trip in a few weeks and he said he plans on counting in some school time…love that man!
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I am so glad you posted this! We are coming down to the wire ourselves. We all need to break from school work. This school year I wanted to focus on improving language arts for both of my schoolers. And it was very successful! Next year I am trying to decide if I should ditch our packaged curriculum we use (and still really like but it is very workbook, meet this criteria oriented) OR should we spend our year away from a packaged curriculum and focus on enjoying less subjects with deeper learning. In addition to my rising 5th & 3rd graders, I will be incorporating a kindergartner/1st grade in some subjects and have 2 little ones under him.
Anyway – I would LOVE to get some input from fellow homeschoolers on the notion of stepping away from a packaged curriculum and using more of a unit study or interest led curriculum (but not unschooling) Or does anyone have experience doing both? Using a package and fulfilling those requirements while expanding certain subjects with more fun interest-led supplement materials?
Kelly´s last blog ..On Being "THAT" Family
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I’m still figuring it out. We started with a virtual charter school in our state for kindergarten and the first 2 months of this school year. I left them for another virtual school that allowed us to pick and choose the subjects we wanted and then did our own stuff. For next year with 3 kids who will be schooling I think I just want to figure out how to homeschool three kids and without using the virtual school.
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This is also our second year with homeschool. I am like you, I thought we would do more of these exciting things. I found it has been a challenge to just get through the core stuff sometimes! The first year, I was set on compiling everything myself. I almost burned out just in the planning. This year we purchased our math, reading, grammar and history curriculum and I supplemented those and pulled together our science stuff. It was a welcomed change! We also added piano lessons, which my daughter loves. I no longer feel so much pressure to add something more than listening to classical music while we work.
While I admire those people who can do it all– including the artist, music and nature studies– I know that our classical family can’t. We will stick with field trips and the occasional library book to add these things in. And you know what? That is ok with me :)
We are switching to a year-round school schedule this year so we aren’t wrapping up any time soon!
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