As I wrote earlier this week, we freaky southerners are getting ready to start school, and that includes me and my homeschooler.
Some of you homeschool all year round, and I admit that at the beginning of this summer we were Going to Do Math and Handwriting! Every Day!
Didn’t happen.
Mostly because of travel and other adventures, I suppose. We started reviewing Beast Academy 4D in early July, but only in a scattered way.
The kid reads constantly, however, and did continue piano over the summer in a fairly intense way (sporadic lessons, but the repertoire – Bach’s Invention 13, Joplin’s “Elite Syncopations” and a movement of Mozart’s Sonata in C, K. 545 – has been challenging), so that’s been plenty.
But mostly for my own sake, I’m going to lay out the thoughts I’m having for the coming school year, and invite you all to tell me (and us) what you are doing:
Reminder: Kid is 10, almost 11, 5th grade.
Note: I want to be more unschoolish here than we end up being. I probably should just give up the pretense. This year, I am adding more formal science and history components for his sake, in this sense: I know that when he sits for an hour reading the non-fiction science and history books we check out of the library, when we watch videos on the same, when we do science experiments with what we have on hand –I know that when we do all of that, he is learning, and learning plenty, but he is starting to worry, especially since one of his friends has transferred from the old Catholic school he attended to one of the higher-pressure elite independent private schools around. Spending some time with textbooks every day is going to help him feel more secure that education is happening.
Also: I love homeschooling, but I will straight up say that if there were a Classical academy around here (that wasn’t operated from a Reformed Christian perspective) – he’d be there. And he’d love it.
Schoolish stuff:
- Continue with cursive. Use Writing Our Catholic Faith.
- Start keyboarding. We have a couple of programs hanging around – we’ll use one of those.
- Religion: Faith and Life, grade 5.
- History: Catholic textbook series, From Sea to Shining Sea.
- Science: Biology for the Logic Stage
- Latin: Latin for Children
- Math: Beast Academy 4D, then 5A-B when they are released over the course of the year. In between he will be doing Khan Academy and various other resources, including books by Zaccaro.
- Geography: Mapping the World with Art
- English: Writing and Rhetoric
- Always have a “novel mom assigns” going for discussion besides his normal reading. And every day, if things seemed rushed and too school-ish, there’s 30 minutes to an hour of “draw, play music that isn’t part of your lesson assignment, read something that isn’t part your leisure or assigned reading..or just go outside.”
So..I guess we can kiss that whole “unschooler” pretense goodbye, eh?
Except … I will cling to some semblance of that identity by emphasizing that if the kid sees something outside or in that draws his attention…he’s free to pursue it. And if we read something or watch something that leads down a rabbit hole…we follow it.
Also, “school” occupies no more than three hours a day – no more. And that includes video-watching time, which is super important – videos from the Kids Should See This, and other places…
FYI, note the absence of spelling. He’s a good speller, and so it’s really not necessary. We haven’t done “spelling” with him since the first year of homeschooling.
Outside of home, structured stuff:
- Troops of St. George, which is starting in our area
- Basketball, when that starts.
- Science Center Class (once a month) – probably. I waited too long to register, so he’s first on the waiting list…#mybad
- Boxing (weekly)
- A 6-week zoo class in being a “Junior Zoo Vet” – he’s super excited about this one.
- Not sure about art – he has enjoyed the classes in the past, but is saying he doesn’t want to start up again right now, which is fine.
- Piano.
Much more as it pops up – there are local outdoorsy homeschool meetups constantly and all over the place. Fun stuff over the next few months in Atlanta, at the High Museum, History Center & Shakespeare Tavern, as well as up in Huntsville at the Space and Rocket Center – we’ll think about those for the winter or spring.
What are we changing, besides being more structured with history and science “spines?” Nothing, really.
What about you folks????
“Mapping the World with Art” looks really interesting. Is this your first time using it? In the past we have used Modern Curriculum Press Maps, Charts and Graphs.
We started on it last year, and really liked it. I wouldn’t recommend it for younger than 10 (unless you have a capable artist) It takes a steady hand and focus.
How easy would it be to use “Mapping the World with Art” in a class setting, if you didn’t have an actual art classroom?
Oh, it’s just drawing. Pencil and paper is all you need.
I would like to be less unschoolerish than we end up being every year. However, I have realized that I am my best self and do my best work when I have outside accountability, so I’m tossing around the idea of a boxed curriculum — just as I do every year. Not sure how that that decision will swing.
For math, we’re continuing with Khan. The kids like it and seem to be learning from it, so go with what you know.
The girls like drawing and do a lot of it on their own. I don’t think we’ll do anything very formal there.
English: I’ve changed plans and resources every year, it feels like. Last year I bought a few Warriner’s and worked through those. The girls think they’re dry, and I agree, but for teaching the nuts and bolts they are good resources. I do have a sentence diagramming workbook I’m thinking of for my older one (13, 8th grade.)
Latin: we did well last year with Memoria Press’s book until it came time for serious memorization, and then we all fell down. I tried the new Teaching Company Classical Latin course and enjoyed it, but again: memorization troubles. This year, I don’t know. We may just let it ride.
History: We were working through the various timelines of What your X-Grader needs to know, but Eleanor has aged out of the series. Brendan had some ideas for a history structure this year, but we need to finalize those.
Piano: we’ve kept up lessons during the summer, and the kids enjoy our new teacher, so I feel confident there.
Drama: we’ve spent all summer working on a show. And since this is an Area of Interest for me, it tends to come up a lot in discussions of acting in movies. We’ve had fun with Shakespeare scenes in past years, and I think we’ll keep up with that.
Reading: something I read aloud, something they’re assigned. I don’t have a book list yet; I always seem to make this up as we go. I read the daily Mass readings aloud each weekday, and we discuss them and read a meditation.
Religion: I’m teaching religion class for 6th and 7th graders again this year, so all the big kids are enrolled at church. I have a confirmand and a communicant this year. Confirmand will be using the Chosen series, which I’ve seen and liked. The Communicant will need to combine religious instruction and reading instruction so he can follow the missal.
Writing: this is a subject that we’ve had trouble with this past year, in terms of regular structured practice, and it shows in the child for whom grammar and writing don’t seem to flow as naturally as it does for the others. The others need practice with various forms of writing, especially non-fiction.
The thread in this comment seems to be that I’m still working on planning this year…
I have read your blog now for several years & May I tell you that you often inspire my own homeschooling process. I use set on texts & am also enrolled in mother of divine grace. So I get the text v. Homeschool. You seem to keep a lovely edge of the razor balance b/n both outlooks. Thanks for sharing your sources. We often use them. To rabbit trails & textbook tingles!
This will be my last official year as a full-time homeschooling mom. Our youngest is entering her senior year of high school. K-12, do or die, Deo Volente–and we’re almost there!
What I would do differently if I could start over is be WAY more unschoolish about some things and WAY more “resource heavy” on others. By that I mean that I would allow for a much more natural exploration of all the humanities but take advantage of web classes or even IRL classes for math and science. Most of that stuff wasn’t even available when we started, though, so we muddled through and made it (and my most math-resistant daughter took both college calculus and college trig so far to get her associate’s degree and has also taken some programming classes–which, to be fair, she didn’t like, but she has gotten through them with determination and perseverance).
Our path to college has been the local community college for an associate’s first, and that has been working well both financially and as a “transition from life-long homeschooling to this weird thing called college.” My oldest, who got her associate’s this past spring, isn’t quite sure what to do next, but since she started college at 17 and is now only 19 I’m telling her to take a year, work, save money, and figure out what she wants to get a BA in rather than just jump to the next level with no clear path. Our second girl, on the other hand, wants to go from the community college to a specific state school for a graphic arts degree and has wanted to be an artist since she was quite young. If homeschooling teaches you anything it is that kids are not the same. :)
So I’m actually more relaxed about my last year of homeschooling in many ways than I thought I would be, in part because I know what we need to do for this specific college where our youngest will also start, but in part because I know that the things that lead to college success are the same things that lead to success as homeschoolers: good time management skills, creativity, independence, flexibility, openness to new ideas, the discovery of one’s own talents and abilities and how best to use them to achieve one’s goals, etc. With that in mind I’m sort of encouraging our youngest daughter to relax and enjoy her senior year, and within the usual categories of lit/math/science/history/etc. to pick and choose things she’s interested in learning. For instance, we have both a marine biology course and a physics course here from her older sisters’ school days, and knowing that she’s already done three years of high school science I can tell her that the college won’t really care which of these two she does (unless, of course, her goal is to study the hard sciences, but I can tell you right now that it isn’t.). So I’m advising her to look over both courses and decide which would be the more interesting to her–neither of them is a total cakewalk, but one of them definitely involves less math. :)
If I could do 5th grade over, I’d be more un-schoolish. At least in history, and I wouldn’t fuss as much about spelling and grammar (although the grammar has served people well).
As it is, my youngest is entering sophomore year in high school.
Now that I’m resigned to the fact that Very Prestigious Colleges/Universities (including my alma mater, so don’t think legacy matters) do not like homeschoolers, I’m actually happy. Next-to-youngest is off to Very Religious College that has reasonable track record for math/science (he wants to double major in math and physics). He’s happy, I’m happy. Do I get a twinge when I hear about his friends who do NOT have a better track record but DO have a school… are in other places? Yeah. But then I think about all the learning he did in high school, and the way he grew up, and I’m happy. He says it will motivate him to keep working hard and doing well. And Texas is a lot closer than Micronesia, which is where he spent the last two years.
So… that sophomore. I wish I had a good solution for history. I don’t. We’re used to Saxon math, and plan to keep it up for one more year (Advanced Mathematics). Then we’ll probably turn to the local community college. English is a class I teach, right now about eight kids. This year it’s Greeks, Romans, and Dante, so that will be fun for me (if not for him). Science is physics online from Derek Owen in Atlanta – can’t recommend him enough! French, I’ve got covered. Mandarin, I’m still looking. Religion, Didache series plus whatever I can pull together with others.
Social life comes in the form of Chinese Martial Arts and music. Lots of music, four groups for sure and maybe five, because Trombone is very popular, and my son gets to go where Trombone goes. If you have a musical kid, I cannot say enough good about low brass. Horn took my very sociable next-to-youngest lots of places (he’s out at the moment with five other Horn friends from high school). Trombone is doing more or less the same for my much less sociable youngest. Who needs to be around other kids, so music does that for him. I also highly recommend Tuba. Piano is the love of my daughter, and she wouldn’t trade it for anything, but Piano is a loner…
Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing what pops up on the radar this year. You never know… another computer course might come along.
And good luck to all of you!