Homeschool these days

It seems at the beginning of each new school year I tell myself, "I'm going to do it right this year", I order all the necessary supplies, create spread sheets to dictate our time and tasks and even create a complex system of rewards.  I am usually pleased how it works for the first week but have found that the rigidity of a schedule often compresses me, it creates more work than what is needed and has led to more frustration than discovery.

My vision of homeschool is one where we can inspire our children with the joy of life long learning, to take that joy and apply it in practical ways.  Specific mechanics (reading, writing, math) are introduced along side projects (and sometimes even distractions).  There is so much to do and so much already happening here on the farm that there is no shortage of opportunities to learn.  

After morning chores the younger children gather for what we call "fun school".  Basically it is an activity they can do on their own while I nurse the baby, check email, make phone calls or whatever else calls my attention.  Usually Peter directs this and being 8 years old he has the gift and ability of keeping things fresh for the younger crowd.  He has organized a stuffed animal zoo with tickets, animal plaques, a real kettle corn stand and even set up a gift shop with stickers.  In addition, they set up a dinosaur park in the sandbox, made maps to hidden pirate treasures, had bike races and played kick ball and hide and seek in the garden.  Here they are building lego castles on the front porch.  Some mornings are smoother than others and there is always a need for constant cleaning up with this age group.  

Meanwhile the time has come to outsource some schooling for the older boys.  I am not in a position to challenge them in the ways they are now ready to be challenged.  Last year James took a few online courses through Williamsburg academy and we were very pleased.  This year he begged to take almost a full load, he is taking biology, personal leadership, writing and Euclidean geometry, and it is challenging him.  Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes it is not, but if all was well all the time we would be robbed of some of the most important lessons life has to offer.  

James is a natural scholar, his online classes are his "fun" and is more quick to do his chores when there is "more important" stuff like studying to do.  That said James does get tired of the screen and relishes the time where he can balance it out playing with his brothers outside.  

William is participating in the first year of Williamsburg intermediate academy.  This has been a good fit for him because it is project based.  The lectures are not nearly as long as the high school courses James is taking and there is much more flexibility with the assignments. He enjoys connecting with new friends online and has integrated much of our farm work into the weekly leadership projects.  When he's had too much time in front of the screen I'll find him laying under the beech tree or spending time with the animals.

We all have need to recuperate in nature.  Just last week I set the laundry, dishes and cooking aside and we dragged Paul away from his desk to play football in the hay field and hunt for firewood in the woods.  It was a perfect autumn day.

 

Our property stretches an acre into these woods but we rarely go back there.  It was a treat to be together in such a quiet secluded place.

Maryanna gasped when she discovered how black the soil was, she said it smelled so sweet and wished we could bring some to our garden.

She played in the stream and said being in nature makes her so happy that she can't help but sing, she wonders about living in nature, if it's magic, and if we'd be more loving to each other if we were always  surrounded by nature.



Maryanna took her shoes off because........"I like to feel the living dirt, it is so soft and I feel it go up my legs and into my heart".  It was in that moment that she became my teacher.  And becoming a student myself is a gift of homeschool.





 

The younger ones carried home a collection of treasures, in Clara's purse I found moss, sticks, feathers and a milkweed pod.  Henry brought his scissors to help Daddy cut some more hay.

The children do their best to keep a record of our homeschool days.



And in case you can't read it on my face, I am exhausted.  My life is overflowing, sometimes I wonder if I am the luckiest woman in the world and sometimes I wonder if I am completely out of my mind.  Day by day I'm taking it, homeschool, farming and the great responsibility I have in raising our family.  I am grateful for the opportunity to record a small portion of our days here because children grow as quickly as seasons change.