Going Integrated

I have been known to panic if I don't have a plan. That doesn't mean I'm going to stick to the plan, but there is comfort in knowing it's there. Planning for next year has been driving me loopy. Having to order in small batches is like pulling off a band-aid slowly.

My original plan, back some umpteen posts ago, was to use an Integrated science approach over the first three years of high school. After I figured out we'd need physics, chemistry, and biology materials all in the first year, I realized it didn't fit my budget. I thought I had exhausted my search on a truly integrated text, like one text, not three. In fact, I'm pretty sure 42 isn't simply to answer to life, the universe, and everything. It's probably the number of math and science texts I currently own. Want proof? Haha, a math funny. Sorry, still working on coffee.

Science 

Math

Granted, many of these books were bought at thrift stores or as reference or to be used later. After seeing all of these wonderful math and concepts separated out, we've decided to integrate both subjects. (throws up hands)

The science I'm still working on and will reveal in a future post. The math choice is Singapore's Discovering Mathematics. We're going back to 1A to solidify some shaky concepts and make sure algebra has a good base. Discovering Mathematics has four levels and the plan (she giggles while typing) is to complete the four levels in two and a half to three years by continuing math instruction over the summer (groans from the audience). At that point, he'll be ready for trig or pre-calc, I haven't researched exactly that will leave him in the sequence. This is currently about his interest level in math and higher level science. If that interest changes, we'll create an alternate plan. 

Z works better with an overall picture of a subject. We've use integrated before and it worked well. But moving to the high school level makes the whole integrated things so a tad scary and maybe not quite "normal" (why, oh why, do I even continue to try to be normal. It's never going to happen!). After spending some time with both the integrated math and science, I see it's not so bad. I think the key is finding the right text. We're almost there. 

Finding Balance in your Planning

I've been discussing balance with a friend this morning. I tend to think very symmetrically, so much on this, the same amount on the other side. It appeals to my aesthetics. But that isn't always balance. There are two sides to our brain and I've been doing some simple studying on left-brained versus right-brained thinking. Z is more right-brained than left, I land somewhere just to the right of center, and this has created some challenges in how he learns and how I teach. Notice I said challenges, not problems.

One challenge is that we tweak any pre-planned curriculum. Add his varied interests into that and we do better when I custom plan each subject. Now that sounds all snazzy, but it's not. It's not a huge amount of work most of the time, but it does that time, hence the need for balance. In many pre-packed plans, the entire curriculum is centered around history.

 When we started on our classical journey several years ago (after homeschooling for four years) we opted to use The Latin-Centered Curriculum as our focus. It revolutionized our homeschool. It freed up our schedule to not center around history, but Latin. I like history, but we tend to meander through it, get lost in a different direction, skip something, linger here. If our entire schooling were centered around history we'd be behind all the time. With a Latin center you focus on multum non multa and history falls from the focus. Well...we're not doing Latin anymore. We aren't studying the language that was part of the foundation of Western Civilization. So  what do we do????

Z, as I've said in previous posts, is developing his own unique interests. He's slid over to the Eastern Hemisphere and wants to study Japanese and Russian. Not what I had planned. Not the lingering and bathing in Ancient Western culture that I had planned for high school. In essence, we have lost our center and it is up to me to find a new one.

Not simply out of respect for what The Latin-Centered Curriculum (LCC) did for our school, but because of the multum non multa approach, we will keep LCC as our guide. We'll simply change the language, add some world focus in our history and literature, and find balance instead of symmetry.

Today I'm working on history plans, trying to figure how to balance our Great Books study with the rest of the learning that must take place. First, I need to make more coffee.

Veni, Vidi, Vici

We wrapped school today. Our final lesson with Literary Lessons from The Lord of the Rings, our last chapter reading Aristotle for Everybody, and organizing some papers. Z is now officially a high school student - insert long pause. This year has been good, productive and insightful. I am looking forward to fall. We start back August 6th. Z has grown about an inch in the last month, I wonder where he'll be by August?

As he transforms, we will be working on the classroom as well. So many things have changed this year and heading into fall. New subjects, letting go of others, and I can see how each step is bringing out the man that Z will become - insert another long pause - slight faint feeling as I type that.

Our classroom is going to transform, we already started with a rearrangement. We're painting and adding an inspirational print that will set the tone. We're also getting a new desk and chair for Z and, if budget allows, a matching desk for me.

I have a lot to do in this room this summer aside from the redecorating. My planning for fall is behind, I'm starting a ancient history/literature study, I'll be working online part-time, and I'm supposed to working on my novel writing. The above picture is probably what I'll see a lot of this summer, an empty chair. But only for a little while, we have some fun journeys outside of the room planned, wandering around and all that.