As a homeschool family, we accomplished bunches this year. Kids learned, I learned and we mostly had fun doing it. And. I find I'm wanting more room for me.
Everyday I think about all the things I'd like to post on this blog - I love to write, I get so much out of needing to clarify my thoughts on a given subject and I so much enjoy sharing what I'm learning with others.
Deeper explorations into Neufeld material are calling me, and I'd like the time to study it more next year without having to sneak in 30 minutes here and there.
My life brims over with lovely people with whom I long to have long talks over several cups of tea. Plus, every afternoon presents a new opportunity to take a nap. I hate to miss out on a good nap.
All this to say I'm playing with the idea of doing homeschool very differently next year - not unschooling, that's too far outside my comfort zone and desires for our kids. But something that creates more flow, that allows/requires the kids and I to sit next to each other and do our own "work" whatever that is.
Just an experiment - maybe from September to December - just to see what unfolds. Serious mixed feelings means I'm super excited about the idea and completely terrified at the same time. Part of my concerns stem from never having seen "this" done before (not really quite knowing what "this" is makes it all more worrisome) - I know what total unschooling looks like, I know what very structured lesson time looks like. It's the in between that escapes me.
I can imagine in a few years this could work easily. When Rosie is reading easily and is fired up about all those workbooks she's always fingering, also sporting a little more prefrontal cortex. Already, Theo already can probably pull off working fairly independently next to me most days. Somehow managing and supporting the two of them, and standing between the bickering, seems to take up most of my time. I know they will mature with time and at some point my fantasy day will be probably be an easy reality. The problem is that I don't want to wait a couple of years - I want it now.
Let me know if you have any bright ideas. In the meantime, I'll be noodling over various ideas as I fuss over the new cucumber starts outside.
2 comments:
I was homeschooled K-1, 3-12. Now I am 25 with a 2 year old that we are likely going to be homeschooling when the time comes.
Anyway we did a vast mixture of homeschooling styles growing up. Often we mixed it up based on the subject and what the local homeschool offerings were. We did co-op/class day/college style (depending on age and location) with other homeschoolers, we did more unschooling in some subjects, and others via DVD, others on the computer and still others in a more plod through the book style.
All that to say that I suggest when thinking about styles remember that you can change it up on subject as well. Perhaps one year of "unschooling" science and the next is more "textbook based."
Thanks. It is good to remember to think about how in different subjects, too. The local homeschool convention promises a talk on unit studies. That's something we haven't explored. And of course, there ARE a million awesome DVDs the kids could watch for an hour while I write.
Part of my "problem" is that all this learning is so cool and fun *I* want to be a part of it, too.
Guess I can have anything I want, but not everything I want.
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