Welcome to week two and we're already modifying. Ah, but this year I'm ahead of the game, I planned for modifications!! I knew it would happen. That's me staying just a mm ahead of the game.
I'm a planner by nature and have looked at many scenarios for our upcoming years (yes plural). I've been attracted to a modified block schedule for high school. My plan is to spread out the subjects into Blocks A, B, and C. A is Mon/Wed, B is Tues/Thurs, C is Friday. Will it work? I don't know.
I wasn't sure we would need it this year, but as it stands we're going to try it. In fourth grade I felt like we rushed through our day, revolving through subjects like an obstacle course. The end of the day felt like the end of a race, we were winded and worn. Fifth and sixth grade were better as we moved away from doing so much. Sadly, although I planned each subject well, this first week had some of the same rush to it and I could feel myself getting a little tense by the end of the day. Z is doing more written work this year and I feel like we need to allot more time for some subjects.
Block scheduling will allow us to savor our time. At least that's the plan. We will still get through all of our subjects as necessary. I'm only dropping one item, which was a stretch anyway. Latin Fairy Tales. We were going to loosely go through and translate them. However I see it will be too much of a leap for Z's abilities, too much work for me, and in the end would be busy work. We shall return to them later, like a year or two from now.
I'm also working on adding some chapter reviews for Latin Alive!. I think these will be good for his retention. My goal is that it will show him how to summarize a chapter in a text.
So that is our modifications for this week. We're going to give the new schedule at least two weeks and then re-evaluate.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
End of Week Won
No, it's not a typo. It's the end of the week and we have won. Week one anyway. Our read-aloud The Ch'i-lin Purse challenged my ability to pronounce Chinese names. Z finished his first book for the academic year.
Latin was tougher this year. We've moved from the Latin for Children series to Latin Alive. Having the DVD available for teaching is such a plus. I'm studying ahead and certainly appreciate being able to lean on Karen Moore's expertise.
Megawords and WWE are returning favorites from last spring. They felt familiar and right.
We have not started math yet so we'll see if LOF algebra is embraced as wholly as the other LOF books we've completed.
Asian Studies has been mostly about geography this week. Z has mapped and colored and is currently finished a report on India. Next week we get into reading on Ancient China.
Japanese has been a hit. Granted we only finished week one, but having video support is a necessity. I had already cautioned Z we would be learning Japanese together. I'm not sure if it's the language or the fact we're learning something together as to why we both enjoyed it so much.
Literature was the final subject we added in this week. We read Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, which tied into our Asian Studies well. I have to admit as we read about Nag my mind journeyed back to the morning I found a snake in the house. Thankfully it did not seem intent upon our doom.
Two things I discovered this week, the cat and dog are a big distraction. The dog was not happy I was using a stuffed wolf as a prop in our Latin fairy tale time. Astrum, yes my stuffed wolf has a name, was standing in for the magnus malus lupus (big bad wolf) in The Three Little Pigs story. My dog kept trying to pull the wolf off my lap while I read. Either she was jealous or she claims Astrum as her own as Astrum sits on a chair in our bedroom and Daytona sleeps on the ottoman of that chair each night.
The cat tried to sit on my computer mouse this week. He bit Z as Z was supposed to be writing and this morning he licked the last grape in my bowl. The domestic creatures may be banned from school next week. Maybe not.
I've already seen growth in ability and effort this week. I'd be giddy, except I'm tired.
Latin was tougher this year. We've moved from the Latin for Children series to Latin Alive. Having the DVD available for teaching is such a plus. I'm studying ahead and certainly appreciate being able to lean on Karen Moore's expertise.
Megawords and WWE are returning favorites from last spring. They felt familiar and right.
We have not started math yet so we'll see if LOF algebra is embraced as wholly as the other LOF books we've completed.
Asian Studies has been mostly about geography this week. Z has mapped and colored and is currently finished a report on India. Next week we get into reading on Ancient China.
Japanese has been a hit. Granted we only finished week one, but having video support is a necessity. I had already cautioned Z we would be learning Japanese together. I'm not sure if it's the language or the fact we're learning something together as to why we both enjoyed it so much.
Literature was the final subject we added in this week. We read Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, which tied into our Asian Studies well. I have to admit as we read about Nag my mind journeyed back to the morning I found a snake in the house. Thankfully it did not seem intent upon our doom.
Two things I discovered this week, the cat and dog are a big distraction. The dog was not happy I was using a stuffed wolf as a prop in our Latin fairy tale time. Astrum, yes my stuffed wolf has a name, was standing in for the magnus malus lupus (big bad wolf) in The Three Little Pigs story. My dog kept trying to pull the wolf off my lap while I read. Either she was jealous or she claims Astrum as her own as Astrum sits on a chair in our bedroom and Daytona sleeps on the ottoman of that chair each night.
The cat tried to sit on my computer mouse this week. He bit Z as Z was supposed to be writing and this morning he licked the last grape in my bowl. The domestic creatures may be banned from school next week. Maybe not.
I've already seen growth in ability and effort this week. I'd be giddy, except I'm tired.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Is it Time to Come to Class?
As we are at the end of our last week of vacation we're running into a bit of the above attitude. Hopefully I'll snap out of it by Monday morning. Honestly, Z has been great. He enjoyed an out-of-town work trip with dad and is prepared to start school.
This starts our seventh year of homeschooling and part of my hesitation is that I have the illusion of perfection in my head. I like the way I've scheduled classes, the vision in my head of Z sitting perfectly still to absorb the knowledge I will bestow on him this year. STOP SNICKERING!!! I KNOW it won't happen that way, I know.
Reality sits at our feet and sometimes on the table. We have a cat and a dog to add to our distractions. We have nature outside the door that pulls us away from time-to-time. We have that dreaded H word (hormones) that will show up at some unknown moment. It will make me crave chocolate as I might yell at Z. Z might fall asleep in class or eat all day as his body decides now is a great time for a growth spurt.
The reality also is that we will learn this year. I say "we" because I mean me too. Not like the "we" when your husband would announce "we are pregnant" (which I am NOT) and you'd wonder (with a touch of hostility) if there was some new medical technology that would allow him to experience back pain, swollen feet, and the need to pee every five minutes. Z and I will learn about each other this year. Z will learn academics and I am excited about how everything ties in together this year.
I am excited that there are some unknowns out there in our future. For now I have two more days to stamp my feet and cry out that I don't want to do school. Then Monday morning 10 a.m. we will start on our journey. I'll sit in the big comfy chair and start reading a book to Z. Read-aloud time is always our first subject. Then our adventure will begin, with the opening of a book, as many adventures do.
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