This is the End, my Friend

Hah! You thought it was the end of the world!Not close, thankfully. It is almost the end of the school year. It's time for reflecting back and planning ahead. Z and I watched the original Godzilla move, Gojira, last night. That might well sum up our year, a large unexpected monster attempted to scare us. Instead, like the Godzilla movies, we will persevere. I grew up watching badly dubbed Godzilla movies. I had no clue there were 28 Japanese Godzilla movies. Here's the list from that ever trusted and reliable source, Wikipedia. (tongue-in-cheek) Z has now stated he wants to watch all of them, in chronological order. We added a few to the Netflix queue already. A monster summer awaits.

What hit me about that is that even though it's been an "interesting" academic year, Z is excited about more. We made it though literally four of our Japanese lessons before our "monster" came. Even so, I was able to pick up a few Japanese phrases in our movie last night. Our version was sub-titled, not dubbed.

I stayed up late last night planning history and science for next year. Since I'm piecing together my own program, it will take some time. But it's exciting. Oh, by the way, I've changed my mind on a few things since I posted my "final" list. Murphy's Law I guess. Just as soon as you say you're done..Anyway, some of the changes are good, some are related to budget cuts. Budget cuts at Wakefield Academy that is. It will all work out in the end, and I'll post those changes soon. Not right now though, because it's 3 a.m., gotta love insomnia it's so persistent.

For the last week of school, we're covering some last minute skills. We're also trying to shove some more content into the schedule with moderate success. Hopefully our monster season is over. I do NOT want a sequel of last year, thank you very much, but Godzilla awaits on the Netflix queue. It's sure to be a monster (in a good way) summer.

Pondering Shakespeare

Okay, I know this isn't really Shakespeare, but he played Shakespeare. Maybe I'm still bitter about the cancellation of Flash Forward, or maybe I'm enjoying his wonderful new portrayal of Merlin. But this post isn't about Joseph Fiennes, it's about Shakespeare and, in a way, Merlin.

I've been pondering classical education lately. The deeper we get into this journey, the more enlightened I feel. *I'm* having fun learning new things, reading new books, and taking this journey with my son. I was writing up some assignments for next week. Two of them are doing a memory test on a Dickinson poem, one is starting to study a Shakespearean sonnet. Would my decidedly average student be doing that in a public school? Probably not. They'd probably be more worried about his inability to spell well, or suggesting he is somehow strange because he has outbursts of random non-related facts during algebra. 

At this level we aren't doing intense study of Shakespeare. We're exposing, we're learning to enjoy it. We spent two week studying one sonnet earlier this year, we rewrote it, we memorized it, we had fun with it.  That is what I am enjoying about classical education, the exposure. By the time he starts to study the deeper works of literature in high school, he'll be familiar with many of the stories or the authors. He'll know WHO Shakespeare was. He'll understand Greek mythology before reading a full translation of Homer. He'll have a base understanding of the Roman Empire before we read The Aeneid. Hopefully, we'll get to Le'Morte D'Arthur at least in portions. By then he will be well versed in the history and basics of the legend. . 

This summer I've decided there are two books we have to read. One is Aristotle for Everybody by Adler. I fully plan on many rabbit trails as we discuss whether a chair is truly a chair. My other idea is reading Dante's Divine Comedy for Young People.  I'm considering making this a book we read while visiting our local state park. Grab a blanket, a bottle of water, and get ready for Dante in the park! Probably not the same draw you'd get from Shakespeare in the park. Should make our little walks in the woods more interesting, "Z which circle of hell do you think this hill represents?" Why Dante and Aristotle over the summer? Because they are foundational to what we will be studying next year, Renaissance times and formal logic. Will that be his only study of Aristotle and Dante? No. We'll study them bother down the road. 

Yet, my son is decidedly average, academic wise. He balks about reading and writing. He's probably ahead in the critical thinking skills, but that's genetics not training. Should I hold off on these and other classics because he can't spout off his multiplications tables without some real thinking? No. It's exposure, it's appreciation. I believe you must learn to appreciate something before you can dissect it and analyze it. I know I'm learning a lot, and I look forward to those deeper discussions with my son. For now we'll have fun rewriting sonnets. I can't wait to see what we come up with next week. 

Four Weeks Left

.....she said with a thud as her head hit the table. This has been some year of schooling. We're both ready to be done, but we have some more boxes to check, items to finish before I feel comfortable calling it a year.

I'm sure as I start reflecting back on this year I'll see the progress we made. I AM looking forward to fall. I AM looking forward to getting out and hiking more this summer. I AM looking forward, that's the best part. I have a clearer picture of where we need to be at the end of next year, and the path to get there.

Our new schoolroom feels cozy and comfortable. I really could live in this room. The dog has found her spot, the cat his. Z and I have our own sides of the classroom. When I don't have the middle desk piled with my stuff he has a nice big desk to work on.

I've picked colors for our new room. They all stem from the wonderful red chair that will fit perfectly into this room once we get it out of storage. A deep red, apple & celery green, mocha brown walls, expresso colored bookcases, and white trim with a main white desk. I'm getting hungry just posting that.

This summer will be a time to not only regroup our classroom, but ourselves as well. But for now we have four more weeks and we shall persevere.