Updated Classroom Arrangement

I added a new bookcase yesterday and was able to better organize our classroom. As always, it's a work in progress. The last major project will be painting the walls next summer and getting Z a different chair. 

This is Z's credenza, holding most of the books he uses on a daily basis. Under the credenza, I've organized our science supplies and some larger art supplies.

This is our newest corner. The top shelves will get painted white eventually. The trunk holds art supplies. The dog's chair is on the left, my desk is on the right.

Below is my computer desk and the books above are my reference and writing books. The new bookcase is the one holding the printer.

Below is Z's desk. The shelf holds reference books and literature.

This is my workspace. The bookshelves on the right hold most of my teacher's materials and my personal stuff.

A different view of the front wall.

During school, Z and I move our desks end to end, he's facing one way, I'm facing the other. It works well  in this smaller space. The desk is actually this Ashton Desk from Staples. We left it in two sections. The feet are padded, so the desk moves easily without scratching the floor.

All of the wall shelves were either freebies or bought at garage sales or thrift stores and painted white. This was an economical solution and allows me to rearrange the floor space if needed.

The red curtains (which are actually tableclothes) are temporary for the winter.

The Aesthetics of Homeschooling

We are fortunate, we have an entire room devoted to education in our house. It's the second bedroom, technically, but Z took the dormer room (which is the biggest, coolest room). By the time I get done with how I truly want to decorate it, it will be lined with bookshelves. Technically, one could lock themselves in this room for several years and learn all you need to know about certain subjects.

Value?

But what is the value of the education? Education doesn't depend upon a well laid out room. Education, in a way, doesn't even depend upon making sure you have the best tools to do the job. Education depends upon the craving of the student to learn, the passion of the teacher, and how they share knowledge. The Greeks had Socratic discussion, modern students have smart boards and Ipads. I'm all for technology, we're a techno geek family for sure. Right now I have a 50 ft Ethernet cable running under my desk and all the way upstairs because our wireless router is being wonky. Z had to hook up the cable last night. A new router is on the list for this week.

Yet, aside from our use of technology in everyday life, we don't use a lot of it in the classroom. Some of our classes have an online video component, one is an online self-paced class. The bulk of his education comes from books and dialogue. You want to have a discussion on the absurdity of the English language? Z is your man.

Creating perspective? 

So does the appearance of education matter? It creates an impression, provides perspective. Some people think homeschooled students are all eager, vivid learners who love coming to school. *cough*choke*sputter* Until recently Z was not a fan of school. He's not a fan of morning, that's for sure. But someday he will look back and reflect upon his educational experience. I hope he sees that his parents cared about his education, that they valued him and his burgeoning brain enough. Not that you have to homeschool to do that, we just happen to see it as the best path for this child. If we had more children the decision would have been made based upon the individual. As it sits, Z agrees about homeschooling. Good, because I'm not a morning person either. 

Aesthetics? 

Does it matter that our classroom is cozy? Not really. Does it help my mindset? Yes. Would it matter we did school under a bridge? I hope not. If that is all we had, that's what we would use. Many years ago some friends shared this quote:

Start where you are

Use what you have

Do what you can 

Homeschooling doesn't demand that you rush to your nearest IKEA and set up 40 Billy Bookcases before you begin. You don't have to have a shiny new expensive history curriculum, or a laptop, or even Amazon Prime *gasp!*. You have to have a student, a metaphorical machete to wind your way through the jungle of education, and some idea where the forest may lead you. Don't get bogged down in the details. The best item in your classroom, where ever that may be, is the look of revelation on your child's face when they finally understand something. 

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.

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.

Homeschool Tracker: Using what you own

I'll admit it, I'm not organized, at least not in the classroom. I have books stacked, books in the basement, books elsewhere (long story...), and books on shelves. Much of what we're doing for next year involves using what I already own, it's like a mantra, Check your shelves first!


Part of that is checking the digital shelves too. I have an old laptop, a new laptop (with nothing on it), and a dead netbook. My files and software are everywhere, stashed on a hard drive, USB drive, dead drive...One quirk of my personality is forms, I love forms and software that can create forms. Donnayoung.org is one of my favorite sites.

I needed something to help me organize our week. I don't like hand writing it and I wanted something that would save the schedule from week-to-week. Enter Homeschool Tracker. I've had it on my old laptop for years. I put it on the netbook just before its sudden death. I already have it on my new computer. However, I'm not using it the way you're supposed to. I needed the flexibility to change an assignment, we schedule over the week, not the day. So in spirit of many homeschooling parents, I tweaked.

I only own the free version. I looked at the plus version, which would be nice, but between the free version and forms from DonnaYoung, I'll be able to create what I need.

If you number the subjects they'll print in numerical order, once you change the assignment report to subject. I set the start date as Monday, end date as Friday. I put the assignments in the Notes section. I also have a last section, Z's schedule where I put an ideal schedule in the directions. I leave little blanks after the assignment so I can check it off or mark the time.

I was able to input and print seven weeks of assignments in a long morning. It looks nice, Z can see how much needs to be done each week. I have space to write. I plan on using this system next year as well. I'm not sure how we'll schedule our days, but we will use HST.

Here's a sample of our schedule. 

Hopefully this will be helpful to someone, at least take a peek into those dark corners of your computer. Dust off the cobwebs, open a few ancient PDFs, you never know what you might find. 

Gi Suilon

Gi Suilon is Elvish for I greet thee (informal). Last week, as a result of my two day conference, we started each school day with what I call Gi Suilon time.

But what about the conference you say? It was not as productive as I had hoped. I made some progress in organizing next year, wrapping up details of previous weeks, looking ahead to the finishing of this year, but it all felt scattered. As it turns out I was getting sick. Friday afternoon I laid down for a nap, and woke up coughing. I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. It turned into a bronchial thing that only Benadryl, Ibuprofen, and sleep could cure. Sadly, I was unable to travel a real Rivendell, where Elrond would have had me better in a day. I was down for a week. The elephant is gone, and I'm still working on my stamina. If the Gi Suilon time is the only thing to come out of my little parent-teacher conference, however, it's all good.

Historically Z and I have started school with read-aloud time. We're not morning people and it gives us time to acclimate to each other. We've had brief conversation before starting, but nothing scheduled or organized. Gi Suilon time is open-ended. Last week, due to my illness, it was mostly about me giving Z his assignments for the day. This week we've had good discussions. One day we just went through some of the goofy things that have been posted on facebook recently. We've talked about a current event, today we are reading an article in an educational magazine. I hope to keep using the "winging it" approach and find something new each day to discuss. How long do we discuss? Generally about fifteen to twenty minutes.

I know many of these things we talk to our children about already. Why bring these casual commentaries to the classroom? For one, I can keep the focus on school, I can pull something educational out of the topic at hand. Plus it is a great to peer inside the inner workings of Z's mind, always an interesting place.  

We're into our third term of school for the year. I can see the end of eighth grade in sight, but we have a lot yet to discover, a lot yet to learn, and hopefully some fun along the way.

2012 Spring Conference: Riding forth from Edoras

February. A month of winter snows or not, as is the case this year. But February still holds some shadow for homeschoolers. It's a short month, heading towards spring, momentum being built after December holidays. As a parent I have my eyes toward next year already, my mind on where we need to finish this year. So for the last three years we take a break in February. Our current schedule has us doing six weeks on, one week off. This is our week off.

For two of these days I'm having a conference. In years past it has felt very scholarly and intellectual to have my own conference. This year I feel like a Rider of the Mark defending my territory against hostile Orcs. I am armed and ready. I feel these days hold more importance. Don't know if that is true, but it feels that way. My planning is taking us into high school this fall. I am excited about high school, Z is excited about a few subjects. We also have a few long weeks ahead of us before we can call this year done. I feel I am preparing for a long journey, one I want to go on, but one I know will hold pitfalls and perils.

This week I have a few books to preview, a few lecture series to preview, some self-education to get out of the way, and I must organize the classroom. Our setup does not allow me to have all my books out, so I'm banishing some to the living room, some to the basement, and organizing the rest. I'm hoping the streamlining will get us to the end of the year.

So I ride forth in my quest to keep the intruders of mayhem, chaos, discord, and confusion out of my lands. I am armed, and I am ready.

Where have you gone?

Simon and Garfunkel in my head now, where have you gone?

Been busy, typical excuse, right? Dealing with Stress, Worry, and Anguish. Part of the other family of drawves, the  ones Snow White missed visiting, they're still talking about it btw. The family finishes out with Pity, Remorse, Regret, and Woe. They don't sing HiHo, HiHo, they sing Oh,no, Oh, no.  Okay, I'm partially kidding. But not about the drawves, they mumble in the forest from time-to-time.

School, oh yeah, school. This is a been a great year, really. We've already finished two subjects, Discovery of Deduction (from Classical Academic Press), and Harmony Fine Arts Medieval/Renaissance Art History.

We discovered a great fit for our writing program, Writing with Skill. We started with a free sample from Peace Hill Press, finished the seven weeks, and plan on continuing with it is as soon as I order the books.

We started on our study of Japanese with Irasshai, which is awesome!  We're going to have a few changes in the lineup, which I will discuss once they are in place.

I also readily planning 2012-2013 year. It will be high school, I have some reading ahead to do. We're going back to ancient history and spending most of our time on Greece & Egypt. We're moving ahead to Geometry, or backward as the two texts I'm considering are from 1965 and 1985. We might even delve into some Euclid if we have time. (bites fingernails, has a small panic attack, "Time, who has time?!")

Our block schedule is working out well. My biggest concerns are the weekly rotating classes. I'm not sure how I'm to deal with that quite yet. The session classes are going well. I plan on scheduling in a similar fashion next year, probably a Fall, Winter, and Spring term.

As this year passes into memory, I'm excited for the progress we've made. I also look forward to the new year and promise that it brings.

Planning 201: Retreat and Regroup

The planning is driving me crazy!!!

Just when I thought I had it all figured out, I opened my mouth. I found a link that discusses the one college class at a time. Oh my! Z would love this, I thought. I mentioned it to him. He was excited, about an academic thing. "That would be a cool way to learn," says he. 

What did I get myself into? 

 This is either a bright idea stirring in my head or my subconscious telling me to keep my mouth shut in the future. 

Anyway, I look at our schedule. I know Z is not yet old enough, focused enough to handle one class at a time, not for four to five hours a day. So..... (hear my brain whirring?)

I decide we COULD do some classes in that manner. In fact, that sounds like a cool idea! Less subjects per day, same information covered in a year. Yes, I start to like this idea. So....

I spent the last two days figuring out how to make it work. I was almost out of printer ink already, I thought my binders/planners were complete. OF COURSE NOT!!!

This is how our new schedule is going to look:

These classes will be done all year, but we will rotate weeks:

• Latin (odd weeks)
• Math (even weeks)
• English writing & Mechanics (odd weeks)
• Literature (even weeks)

We may cover less Latin in this manner, we'll spend more time each day in math, yet it will work with what I have planned. 

 Our yearly schedule is approximately six weeks on, one week off. We'll have six total sessions of school. These subject will be done in pairs, five times per week, allowing two sessions each for completion.

Session 1 & 2: 

• Art History
• Formal Logic 

Session 3 & 4

• Japanese
• History

Session 5 & 6

• ICT (Information, Communication, & Technology)
• Philosophy

We'll continue with read-alouds and assigned reading throughout the year. Z will also be pursuing computer programming studies throughout the year. 

This allows me to pull out philosophy and art history, which I had integrated in logic and history, and allow more emphasis on them. I've also tried to pair an easier subject with a harder one. Philosophy and ICT were purposely put at the end, in case this whole thing crashes and burns. It won't be the end of the world if we miss a little bit of those subjects. 

I also think this is a more realistic plan as far as how Z and I operate in the classroom. We'll still have time for rabbit holes. In fact my cover for my teacher's folder in a folder from movie Alice in Wonderland. I also added this quote from the book as it reflects how I feel some..okay, most of the time. 

"Do you think I've gone round the bend?"

"I'm afraid so. You're mad, bonkers, completely off your head. But I'll you a secret. All the best people are." 

Planning 102: The Art of War aka Lesson Planning

If I get creative later today, I'll post some photos of my organization, my planning, THE plan. But the gist of it is, I'm almost there. 


I finished course descriptions and lesson planning yesterday. Before you get too excited, realize I WILL change those plans during the year. I tweak, I'm flexible. We get behind in one subject and ahead in others. 


I was just looking for a pithy quote to add, about knowing yourself, knowing your limitations, but this one seems more fitting. 

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” -Sun Tzu (The Art of War)


Yes, I'm laughing, that's a better quote for lesson planning. Winning first, then the war. 


Because I know I'll tweak, planning and printing out the entire year of schedule has never worked for me. By week three we'd be off schedule and my somewhat anal mind would be bent out of shape because the schedule was off. We'd be grumpy at school, I'd be thinking about those pieces of paper more than my student. 


So this is how I plan: 

• Decide which subjects to do (this usually takes about six months of waffling, I'm already working on plans for the 2012-2013 year) Our scheduled subjects for 2011-2012 are:
• Latin I
• English
• Literature
• Math
• Introduction to formal logic and philosophy
• History, Science, & Humanities
• Computer Science
• Japanese I
• Decide which books, curriculum to use for each subject (see above comment, also applies here)
• Plan school schedule. Next year we are doing about six weeks on, one week off. We'll have six sessions of school for a total of thirty-six weeks. 
• Schedule out lessons for the year. I use a semester planner from Donnayoung.org for some subjects, others I use a table designed word document. 
• For subjects that are open and go, like Latin, I write what chapter/section/lesson to do for each week. This helps me be accountable to our planned timetable
• For subjects that require merging several books together, such as history, I spend time reading and sorting books before I write up loose lesson plans (I'll make this the subject of another post, to show how to merge several books)
• Start to assemble teacher's planner. (I'll post pictures later) I've included the following sections:
• Calendars - yearly and monthly. I also include a height chart to gauge his physical growth over the year.
• Weekly - I print off weekly lessons one to two weeks at a time. 
• Syllabi - Yes, I write these for every class. I consider it practice for high school, and a time to think about what we are really trying to do with these classes.
• Schedules - this is the weekly schedule. We generally tweak three to five times during the year.
• Reading/Media List - a place to keep track of what we read, what we watch.
• Grading, Evaluations, Hours - we are required by the state to keep track of hours. We're also returning to formal grading this year. I have an evaluation form that I plan to use after each session. 
• Extra curricular Notes, Misc - I've put in some encouraging notes from some of the moms that amaze me. Plus notes on any extra things we do. 
• Assemble student's planner - Z's planner has most of the same things mine does, except the grading, evaluation, and hours. I'll give him a summary at the end of each session. 
• Plan my learning ahead (I've been working on this for a while) This year I have a lot of learning and reading ahead to do. I've broken down each class into what we will cover each session. I'm trying to get my studying done in a few subjects before we start school. I've been working on algebra this week. Having it written down, broken into six week segments, is most helpful. I don't feel so rushed
• Make sure all books for the current year are shelved. Make sure all readers and reference books are shelved. 
• Set up binders/folders for each subject for student and teacher. (I'll explain this in another post as well - that's where I'll talk about my pro-click binder :grin:)
• Make sure Z's desk is cleaned off and ready to go (So not there yet)

I enjoy planning, I'm a planner by nature. Some of this year's has challenged me. We still have some things in transition phase. I'm looking forward to getting back to school, there's so much to learn, so much to do. 

Planning 101: The Preparation

I am sometimes asked, "How do you plan your subjects?" Today I thought I'd give a tutorial on the preparation stages of planning, you know the preparing to plan stage. This, of course, comes after you've researched, ordered, and received the majority of your material for the following year, but we're not talking about that today (not until my counseling appointment anyway). So, leaving the chaos of choice behind we forge ahead in our preparation to plan.

What's the first thing you need? Well, YOU, of course. It's best to start early in the morning, when teen boys are still relishing the sleeping in stage of summer vacation.

Some of us could use more sleep too. But you can't plan while sleeping. Technically you can, I guess. I know I'm not alone in the I-dreamed-about-homeschooling-last-night. 

I recommend large quantities of your favorite morning beverage, MORNING beverage people!

Grab yourself a stack of books, preferably ones you plan on using next year. If you're very astute you'll notice the book The Discovery of Time on top of the stack. It's on my to-be-read list. I seriously doubt I'll find more time while reading, but that would be nice. 

You'll need a stack of papers too. See the paper with a tear? That one has been cat approved, that's what we say when the cat decides to rip through a piece of paper. That is my proposed schedule for the fall. Currently I'm wondering how it the world we'll make it work.

For today I have two choices, I can grin and make it work (Tim Gunn is echoing in my head now). 

OR

I can be like the dog and pull the curtain over my head and gaze out the window. 

For now, I'm going to get more coffee. Stayed tuned for more tutorials in Planning 101, the actually planning. 

Classroom Summer 2011

I haven't done pictures of our new classroom because it's been such a mess. It still is. However, we have a tad more organization. Yesterday I arranged the desks and one bookcase. It's a shell of organization. 

Both desks will get painted white soon! We're out of school for the summer, by fall Z won't have to contend with my stuff on his desk. Hopefully. 

My corner is still a mess. I still have two large bookcases in storage, which will replace the mess in my corner . Z's short bookcase will also be replaced with the tall , nice bookcase. 

This was formally my desk. I like it, but it wasn't big enough once we moved. In our previous home we used the dining room table for school and the small desk was sufficient. My new desk is much larger. 

This is just getting creative with the space. My nice Target bookcase is supporting the inexpensive bookcase from Walmart. Eventually Tigger is going to build custom designed bookcases for this area between the doors. It should be able to house a large majority of our books, hopefully. 

This house actually has two doors into it. The one we use opens into the small hallway. This one opens directly into the living room. It's great for moving furniture in and out, but we won't use it on a regular basis. Plus these doors are so great, they are original to the house. They're also a great frame for a custom designed bulletin board. One can never have too many white board surfaces :grin:. 

The bones are in place, I still need more bookcases, and it needs some final decorating touches. Once completed I want it to have a vintage around the world theme. I have most of the stuff I need to make that happen, it just happens to be in storage. *sigh* It's a process right? 

I love my floors, I love the wide white trim, and I love the mocha colored walls. This classroom is smaller than our previous one, but it's perfect. It's cozy, it's calm, and you can shut the door at the end of the day. 

For now I need to finish planning school for the fall. Taking pictures is more fun. 

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.

Finalized Plans for 2011-2012

Here's the finalized plans for next year. I'm excited that I'm done making decisions and now need to start scheduling and lesson planning. The scary mess of a plan is detailed up there on the pages. It's an interesting look into the curriculum planning of the average homeschooler.

Latin - Latin Alive, finish book 1 and start book 2

Mathematics - The Art of Problem Solving's Introduction to Number Theory. This will be mixed with the second half of Algebra I. Algebra I will be a combination of Life of Fred's Beginning Algebra and a 1965 Dolciani Structure and Method book 1. I was fortunate enough to acquire (thanks to a wonderful friend) a book as well as a solutions manual. I also have the 1975 edition, but it only has odd numbered answers.

Literature - Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings. I am excited to start this. In addition we will be reading the following books. Macbeth, The Tempest, Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Walking with Frodo, JRR Tolkien: A biography, The Letters of JRR Tolkien, and The Search for King Arthur (Day),

As part of the study we will also complete a few more chapters of The Art of Poetry (CAP), which I reviewed earlier in the year.

Composition/Mechanics - Roots of English (Memoria Press) mainly for vocabulary, to solidify his Latin. For writing instruction we will use Rulebook for Arguments, and The Lively Art of Writing, I will also be using these free resources: Write Guide Skill Sheets and Traditional English Sentence Style by Robert Einarsson. Our composition will also be influenced by Bravewriter and The Well-Trained Mind.

Logic/Philosophy -  Discovery of Deduction (CAP) will be our formal logic study. If time permits we will also read Sophie's World and through The Story of Philosophy. An lengthy study on the movie Inception is planned for the latter part of the year. This is still in production, but will include a study on dreams and illusions.

History/Humanities - We will cover the Renaissance, Reformation, and Elizabethan time periods. I found a wonderful resource to use as a spine A short history of Renaissance and Reformation Europe (Zophy) 2nd edition. For region centric studies we will be using the following books from the What Life was Like Series: At the Rebirth of Genius (Renaissance), In Europe's Golden Age (Reformation), and In the Realm of Elizabeth (Elizabethan).

Our Humanities focus will come from Harmony Fine Art's Medieval and Renaissance Logic Level study. We will also read about Great Scientist of the Middle Ages, Francis Bacon's Essays, Shakespearean sonnets, works of John Donne,  and a few literature selections from the era. More's Utopia and portions of Erasmus will top the list.

Science - By request of Z science this year will involve computer programming. Our in class studies will be led by this book on Information, Communication, and Technology (Hodder - IGCSE). For programming he will work with Alice and Invent with Python.  We will also read through Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. 

Japanese - Japanese will be restarted next fall. We attempted this year, but due to life we had to put it on hold. We will use the videos and textbooks from Irasshai. I'm excited to restart this program with Z.

We will doing hiking and camping this summer along with nature study. My plan is to create the habit of walking and hiking to carry the fitness over into next fall.

I have provided links to the majority of programs listed. When possible I have linked directly to the publisher. Many of these are smaller homeschool specific companies, which I like to support when possible. Many of the other items are available from the Elegant Lion bookstore link in the sidebar, which is linked to Amazon. Any items purchased through that link would be greatly appreciated and help generate a small commission for my use. 

It feels good to have a plan. Now the fun begins.

Spring Break 2011

We've been on spring break this week. It's been nice. Z went to his grandparents for a few days. He was supposed to help them in their yard; unfortunately it's rained most of the week.

Even though school is out, I'm still working on plans. We have six weeks left in this year (which I can't believe has gone so fast), and then onto eighth grade plans. My plans are almost finalized, the books are being ordered, and I've started planning the schedule.

I'm also going to posting some reviews of products we've used this year. As in life, stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

Necessity, a Snowstorm, and a Makeshift Bookcase

Today seemed like a good day for a snow day. Considering the ten plus inches of snow outside the door anyway. While Z helped Tigger shovel that glorious white stuff (read my sarcasm) I decided to work on classroom organization.

Most of our belongings are still in storage many miles away, I'm missing a few things. As you can see one of those categories is bookcases. This pictures represents the small portion of books I own that I've been using on a regular basis for school and myself.

Even the dog looks overwhelmed. I've had them all crunched in the corner, the books, not the dogs. The second photo is the natural state of my desk. Actually this is supposed to be Z's desk. I borrow it when we are not doing school. See the red thing on the chair. It's a robe. I wore it most of the day. This was one of those days I did not change out my pajamas.

I've been working on my minimalist mindset and decided that I would utilize what I already have to make a bookcase. No sense buying what I already own, even though it's in storage in another state (frustration does not translate well on a blog). It was an exercise, like a puzzle.

This is the finished product. It's totally temporary. The cardboard box on the bottom in the middle was left empty on purpose. It's the new hiding place for the cat. It was kind of fun, figuring out how to put all these boxes together.

The snow is piled high outside and tonight Z's desk is clear. Tomorrow we'll be back at school and hopefully I'll be more organized.

End of Two Week Schedule Experiment

If my son grows up to be a scientist he will have lots of experience in dealing with experiment variables. :sneer: Our two week, weekly schedule trial is over. Week one went exceptionally well. We didn't get everything done, but after a long school hiatus I wasn't truly surprised.

I've been slightly panicked about being behind, but after review of our schedule I realized we truly had only missed three weeks of regular school. I also had already planned to take off two weeks during the move, so technically we are only one week behind. Whew! I feel better.

Week two of our experiment did not go so well. The fact a giant snow storm blew through and cancelled every public school in a fifty miles radius for three days had nothing to do with our faltering. However, it eased the pain of a less than stellar week.

Monday started off good. I should have known that was a bad sign. By Monday afternoon I felt horrible. Crawl back in bed, horrible. Z finished his dad by doing independent work. Tuesday same thing, again after he spent an hour helping dad clear snow. I wrote him a list and crawled back into bed.

Wednesday and Thursday were a little better, but after school I crawled back into bed.

On Friday Z and I discussed our schedule. His observation was that it left him too much to do on Friday. Duh! Yes, the most intelligent reaction, but duh! We discussed which of these items he could have done on his own (gasp - did the world just fall out of space!?!) We talked about initiative and self-discipline. For a child with a very rich vocabulary I only received a vague acknowledgment that he understood those two words.

I have repeatedly told this child I will NOT be attending college with him, so he should learn some skills of his own. I know, it's a process. He's actually improving each and every week. We couldn't blame the snow this week. We could blame my being sick a little, we could blame his inexperience a little.

I've decided that next week we will continue the experiment. I'm toying with the idea of doing a Language (Latin, English, & Japanese) & history week rotated with a science, math, & logic week. We'll either get way ahead or it will crash and burn.

In reality, I've been pleased with Z's progress in spite of our chaotic winter. He's reading at a higher level, his reading speed has improved. He is reading in multiple subjects now with minimal complaining.

He typed two of his assignments this week. We discussed formatting of typed works and he made the corrections easily.

This week has definitely been about hibernation mode. My hair has been a mess. His is starting to curl at the ends. He's never had curly hair before. This morning he rolled out of bed and I told him we looked like we've been at survivor camp all week. He still gives me hugs every morning, first thing after plodding downstairs.

So much growth this year, in school and out. Each day is another step on our journey, I'm glad we're experiencing it together.

Monday has Never Looked So Good

*Irony: As soon as I hit submit I found the local schools have closed due to the snow. We used to have a rule that if public school had snow days, we took a snow day. Now since we lived in the south for the last few years that has only been a issue once, especially since it hadn't snowed that much in over a decade or two. Well, now...I'm inclined to do school anyway. Yes, I am a meanie today.

Maybe that's overstating a little since I just woke up. Maybe I'm not sure I like the more than one inch accumulation (that would be snow) outside the door. But it's Monday and I have hope.

Last week we were back to a full schedule. We made it through all but the completion of two subjects. It was good because we don't even have all of our stuff. We have most of the school stuff but I'm missing my books and bookcases. Yes, I've actually needed to reference something several times and realized, with some angst, that they are not here.

But we completed a full week, with my desk in the corner of the new classroom, with a "new" desk for Z in the middle of the room and three plastic crates holding our needed books. Oh and two office chairs. Z asked when he was getting back his exercise ball he normally uses. Um, when we go get the rest of our stuff, babe.

This was our first full complete, solid week of school since the first week of November. I hesitate to admit that, we had a few weeks in between that resembled school, but barely. So now I feel like we're on pace to learn again. We're back to bed times and waking up earlier. We're back to "Can I have a break now" to "Did you brush your teeth?" to wonderful discussions delving into the mind of a thirteen year old.

We're testing a new schedule too. A weekly schedule instead of a daily schedule. It looks something like this:

Weekly Plan

Daily	MOnday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Memory
Read-aloud
Quiet RT
WWE (4x)
Weather Journal

After completion of daily assignments you should work 4-5 hours per day towards weekly assignements.

*working time does not include breaks or dawdling

Weekly	Input	Output	Notes
Latin	1 chapter	exercises, chapter review	4 hours
Math	5 lessons	written work	4-5 hours
English	Megawords, 5 pages	written work	2 hours
Literature	Follow syllabus*	discussion, written work	3 hours
Asian	Follow syllabus*	outlining, written questions, other	3 hours
Science	Archaeology, 6 pages	outling 3 separate	2 hours
	Other * variable	activities and experiments	2-3 hours
Logic	follow syllabus	discussion	1 hour
Philosophy	Aristotle for Everybody 1 chapter	read and discuss	1-2 hours
	Philosophy for Kids 1 chapter	read and discuss	1 hour
Japanese	1 lesson	workbook, video, oral practice	2-3 hours
Art	1 project from syllabus*		1-1.5 hours
PE	2-3x per week		1- 1.5 hours
	*syllabi are in binder	* will vary	Approx 27 hours

Z is required to complete the daily tasks daily and then we pick and choose from the weekly schedule. I give him some guidance. Okay, by Thursday of last week I told him what subjects we needed to get done to have a full week. It was a great last Monday though. We spent an hour in a philosophical discussion that rambled from topic to topic. I learned more about Z in the discussion that I think he learned from the book, but that's kind of the point. On Monday we bonded. Then Tuesday we started with the harder stuff, like algebra and Latin. It was a good Monday and I rarely have uttered those words.

So we're trying the weekly schedule again this week. There might come a day when I can give him a schedule like this and he'll manage his subjects well. ...*pause* Insert dream sequence where student lovingly, gracefully completes his studies. I hear Apollo in the background playing on the harp. I see smiles when it's math time...*scratch*end dream* back to reality. Okay, someday.

The Premiere Wakefield Academy Homeschool Conference

I started off the morning with some coffee from my favorite mug. Got to love the bee.

I had a great notebook, some cool writing implements, and I was good to go.

I started Day 1 with some bible reading. My bible is highlighted and notated throughout and I spent some time reading through Psalms. I settled on Psalms 103:15
"As for man his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field, the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more."

I smiled. Wait, you say, smiled? That's not the most uplifting verse. It reminded me of my favorite lines from The Iliad. Book 6 starting at line 146
"As in the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity. The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning. So one generation of men will grow while another dies."

I blogged about this passage last year. As we currently live in the midst of a forest, it touched me. Many leaves have fallen in our time here, many flowers blown away in the wind, yet there is always new growth. I was reminded that whether we are flowers or leave we are all scattered by the wind. If we have done our job (I'm thinking teaching here) part of us lives on. More flowers bloom, the fallen leaves nourish the ground and makes way for the new generation.

It was a beautiful way to start what was a great conference.

Next I spent some time reading through The Latin-Centered Curriculum, first and second editions. We have followed LCC for the last two years of schooling. I spent so much time reading the second edition I've had to tape the cover. Reading through them both again kindled the enthusiasm I have for classical education. Some of the pointers I received from my re-reading the first edition include to give Latin its due, then judge for yourself what is necessary and know how to adapt classical education, not change it.

Multum non multa has been our goal and I was reminded that means:

• A limited number of subjects taught in depth
• subjects are taught in relation to one another
• The core readings in English & history (classical, christian, and modern) consist of a few masterpieces studied slowly and in depth

Day 1 stretched out longer than I had thought as I listened to Susan Wise Bauer's lectures. I added a nap time into the schedule to allow my mind to absorb the information. I'd read and heard all these talks before, but with focused attention to them I discerned much more wisdom than before.

This is me at the beginning of day 2. A tad tired and sporting my "Educational Anarchist" t-shirt. Day 2 continued to be exciting as I listened to SWB's Literary Analysis lecture. Again, I got more out of it the second time around.

I spent some time pondering our schooling and what it will look like for the future years. I became re-excited about exploring two-track history and truly applying the multum non multa philosophy. I spent some time clearing and categorizing a few things in my head. Like how to keep LCC at the forefront, while utilizing some of the methods from The Well-Trained Mind, adding my own desires for Z's education, and saving time to explore his passions.

I did a lot of pondering while sitting in this chair with the back massager. I think all conferences, homeschool or otherwise, should be held while you sit in comfy chairs receiving a massage. I was fortunate that my biggest distractions were the cat coming to visit and the dog who wanted to share my chair. There are many benefits to holding your own conference, I highly recommend it.

• not missing any of the lecture if you take a potty break
• you can stop to research something right there, no waiting until you back home or to your hotel room. This is why my timing was way off.
  
• if you're inspired to grab another book from the shelf, it's right there. That happened twice as I tried to reference other source.
  
• build in nap time. I highly recommend it. Studies have shown that 30 minutes of lying prone can stimulate creativity. On day 1 I napped for 1.5 hours, not sure if that tripled the creativity, but it felt good.
• you only have to hear the lectures you want to hear.
• there is something about going through all the information in a shorter time frame. It held more resonance.
  

My initial time estimate was 10 hours, 45 minutes. It actually took 15 hours, 10 minutes, and that doesn't include the nap time. A worthy investment and now I'm planning one for other areas of my life, writing and personal.

Excuse Me While I Talk to Myself

Inspired by Jennefer at Smooth Stones Academy, I have opted to hold my own homeschool conference. Seems fitting as our school start date keeps getting pushed back, I'm ready to start, and no one else in the house wants to talk about school. Fine! I'll talk to myself. More likely I'll be reading and listening and organizing and drinking lots of coffee.

I have two fun-filled days planned with my books, my computer, my mp3 player, my red comfy chair, and a bonus of the portable back massage machine and massaging foot bath.

The conference is scheduled for Thursday and Friday of this week. I've even put together a certificate of completion I will hand myself at the end of the day Friday.

Here's my current schedule. I'm stretching myself with an actual schedule as I prefer to fly spontaneously through my organization. I think with coffee and chocolate I'll be okay.

2010 Wakefield Academy Homeschool Conference

Benefits:

• organize and gather final materials for first semester
• provide motivation and encouragement for teacher
• reiterate goals for Wakefield Academy
• relax and regroup before start of school

Materials provided:

• notepad with pens
• all necessary books
• coffee and water
• chocolate
• snacks and lunch
• back massager to be used while listening to downloads
• foot bath at end of day
• certificate of completion at end of conference

Schedule:
Session One

• open with prayer and readings from Bible
• read intro in The Latin-Centered Curriculum (1st and 2nd edition), plus pertinent chapters
• read through portions of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations
• Listen to SWB's Joys of Classical Education
• Organize the following subjects (Memory work, Algebra, Megawords)
• Break 20 minutes

Session Two

• organize allowed music for classroom
• listen to SWB's A Plan for Writing - elementary years
• listen to SWB's A Plan for Writing - middle grades
• organize the following subjects (Asian Studies, English, Art)
• Lunch Break (30 minutes)

Session Three

• Listen to SWB's Literary Analysis
  
• Read through TTC Socratic List
• organize the following subjects (Literature, Reading)
• Review and take notes from The Excellent 11 (Ron Clark)
• Read through Spring 2010 edition of The Classical Teacher
• build personal/team mission statement (www.franklincovey.com/msb)
• Create school plan for upcoming possible move
• Break (20 minutes)

Session Four

• Spend 30 minutes reading from Critical Lessons (Noddings)
• Organize the following subjects (Latin, Japanese, Logic)
• Practice Tai Chi DVD
• Create notes for family meeting (student and school notes)
• Open (for anything else I've forgotten)
• End with massaging foot bath (may have this out beforehand)

This should be a fun endeavor. I plan to be up and dressed and ready to go by 8:30 a.m., which should be a feat in itself. I doubt I'll be as chipper as Doris Day appears in the above photo...and I won't be in heels either.