Three Weeks Done, Obviously Time for a Schedule Modification

It wouldn't be Wakefield Academy if we didn't tweak the schedule. So, we are doing just that, as an experiment for this week. Z is a great kid and we've worked best with a daily schedule. This year we started with a modified block schedule. History and Philosophy are done before lunch, then it's block A on Monday and Wednesday, block B on Tuesday and Thursday, then block C on Friday. A few of the subjects were taking much longer than anticipated, okay not really longer than anticipated, but longer (said with the word longer stretched out loooooonnnnggeer).

Writing and math are those two subjects, no surprise there. When you take 90 minutes to two hours to finish one subject, it can be brain draining. The simple answer would be to limit the class time to one hour each, right? What about when we're in the groove and that extra 30 to 60 minutes will get it completed? I prefer to focus through, as long as he is focusing, and just get it done.

This week our schedule is modified in this manner. History/Great Books will be our first subject. It's an enjoyable way to start the day. Then the other subjects are scheduled individually. There are 2-4 days of assignments for each subject. He will be able to pick how they are finished. One subject must be done before lunch and all assignments must be completed by Friday afternoon.

I know many homeschoolers are able to hand assignments to their high schoolers and then check in once a day. Our school operates a little differently by choice and chance. Z does better when there is someone in the room, hence the classroom and not him working in his room. Besides he has too many distractions in his room. Many of our subjects are completed together or with me available for questions. We use a lot of discussion and dialogue, it gives our school the feel I think is important for his education.

In the case of a few classes, I am doing the work alongside him. We are learning Russian and Japanese together. For Japanese, we have an outlined program designed for high school students. There are videos, a text, and a workbook. I've also added some literature (in English for cultural studies), and a few supplemental books. The Russian is an harder book, one which I am breaking down into bite-sized pieces and adding pronunciation work from a few different websites.

I am ready to start my Monday, off we go.

Week Two: A Wild Week

Be careful or this may happen to your head too! All right, this was an intentional enlarging of the hair to see how fluffy it could be.

We made it through week two. I'll be honest, I'm tired. Z is not. I miss my afternoon naps, Z is actually getting up before noon.

It's no longer lingering near 100 degrees every day and that is good too.

I didn't have to tweak anything else this week. We did have one slow day, caused by insomnia in both of us the evening before. Overall the schedule is working well. Z is able to focus for longer this year (yea!). He's also been working on computer stuff (stuff being the technical term for the subject I am leaving to an unaided discovery method) this week. This weekend he's watching C++ tutorials on his own.

We spent time with the Mesopotamians in history, practiced our hiragana, and Russian alphabet. Z starting writing about Shakespeare (he'll finish that this upcoming week), and spent some time reading Bradbury's R is for Rocket. I started reading Bleach manga that Z read this summer.

I also ordered a Moleskine planner for Z. This will be his commonplace book for the year, which I will discuss next week. I also ordered another book for Z, which I'm taking him up on a big reading challenge. We'll see if he takes the bait. More on that later.

High School and Other Life Forms

News for the week: Curiosity lands on Mars, Mt. Tongariro, better known from the Lord of the Rings movies as Mt. Doom, erupts for the first time in 100 years, and we finished our first week of high school.

It went surprisingly well. We finished all assignments, and I only need to tweak two subjects, both of them victims of my over zealous planning nature. Vocabulary is a minor subject this year, Z has a good vocabulary naturally, so the lessons can't overwhelm the English credit. I think we'll cut the number of words in half for each week. It will work better for learning the skill I have in place, how to write on index cards and refer to them. He's actually writing without a fuss and his handwriting has improved despite our lack of written work over the summer.

Russian is another subject to tweak. We'll probably spend more time with the alphabet and taking more time with reading smaller words. I'm not sure how that will affect our speed, but this was always planned as a work-at-your-best-pace class. Plus, Z may end up helping me as much as I'm helping him. I won't say whether that was part of my diabolical plan all along. We spent 90 minutes on Russian yesterday and it wasn't as hard as I thought. We worked on the alphabet and writing out  little works and translating them.

The schedule is actually working out. Z has been up and ready to work on all days but one. Then we only started ten minutes late because he's had a hard time going to sleep the night before.

An interesting addition to the week has been his work on his programming, computer programming that is, and computer exploration. This is all done without mom, I'd just mess it up. It's his hobby and this week involved putting a Linux system on his laptop and troubleshooting the wireless on the HP laptop, apparently HP wireless doesn't like Linux. Thankfully it's his laptop. He was so excited he figured it all out last night and was probably up half the night dealing with the software. We don't have set bedtimes on Friday or Saturday. He's learning a lot of skills on his own and bringing that ability to troubleshoot to the classroom.

I will make a note about math. It was hard for him this week, but he worked without fussing (joy!), he did it mostly on his own, and he even wrote the dates on his assignments and showed his work. We've discussed the math required if he would want to major in computers in college. It's a ways off yet, but we discussed the importance of focusing now, so that he can be prepared. We'll see if he's up for the challenge.

It was a good week and that is a good thing.

Curiouser and Curiouser

It seems fitting that today we start high school. Another rover landed on Mars this morning, the perfect day for us to begin. When Z was little I used to tease that I would send him to Mars. His favorite question is why, he is intensely curious. So, Curiosity lands on Mars and we're going to land on our first day of high school. Yes, as a friend suggested, I do believe some Bradbury is in order for today. That wasn't on the schedule, but then that's how we roll in our school, make a schedule and then improvise on a whim. At least there is a schedule if we wind up lost.

We're also reading the story of Pandora's Jar. In the version I'm reading they translate the last thing left in the jar as anticipation (pauses for a Rocky Horror memory...). Anticipation can be good or bad. It is usually translated as hope, hope is well, so hopeful. I like hope, I use, but anticipation seems more fitting as we open this year. Anticipation relies somewhat on our choices, which is my point in reading that story today. This year will be what we make it. If we wind up on Mars on Day  One, that leaves a lot of room for exploration this year. I hope to make it so (groan, it's okay, I'm on my first cup of coffee).