This is the time of year that all homeschool moms know too well- planning season! I know that some of us are more on top of things, and have long since laid out plans. Some of us might have been a bit worn out from finishing up the last year, and decided to take a well-deserved summer break. And others... well, the planning gets done some how! I have been able to put myself in all three groups over time.
This will be my third "official" year of homeschooling, as my oldest daughter Miss C is now a rising second grader, and Miss G is now officially kindergarten-aged! I have spent much of the summer thinking, reading, researching and praying about our new school year. Last year brought some significant challenges that I hope to write about on this blog, as well as many moments of joy. My hope is that this blog will be both encouraging and realistic, as I share some "highlights" of our homeschool experience, and also some of the challenges we face (in a way that is respectful to my children) and how we are working through them.
My homeschool philosophy is developing over time, through life experience, reading and knowing my children and their learning styles. I am most influenced by Charlotte Mason, a pioneering and inspirational educator who advocated a deep and broad education for all children, anchored by "living books" and much time outdoors and engaged in real and relevant activities. The "core curriculum" for my older daughter is Ambleside Online, which is a free online Charlotte Mason curriculum. For my younger daughter I will be drawing on the wonderful Five in a Row Curriculum, which is not explicitly "Charlotte Mason" but I find it compatible. I plan to write another post about some of our curriculum choices, so I won't elaborate too much right now!
I do have some other topics that I'd love to blog about, related to learning at home and beyond. Here is some of what I hope to write about here:
Arts and Crafts: Child-led art and handicrafts (learning to do real things) are an important part of our daily life. The girls love our well-stocked art cabinet and never stop surprising me with the projects they come up with and what they want to learn to do! I hope to share some of our favorite projects and activities... I can't promise true originality, but I can promise you that they had fun and it was messy.
Nature Walks/Exploring: Charlotte Mason encouraged parents and teachers to facilitate hours and hours of outdoor time for children. This is an ongoing challenge for me, as we cope with weather extremes and my motivation to get them outside. My goal is to have a weekly "outdoor hour" of nature study as well as regular walks and time outside- not just at playgrounds, but also in more natural environments for my children to explore. I would really like to feature different local parks and nature areas that we explore.
Life at home: One of the challenges of homeschooling is that your children are with you, at home, for many hours each week. This can be both a blessing and a challenge. I know I'm not the only homeschool mom trying to figure out how to keep the house running while also facilitating learning! Sometimes it's messy, sometimes it's crazy... but we are always working toward a cleaner, more pleasant home, and the girls are a big part of that.
Out & About: We are on the go quite a bit (too much my husband says!) and sometimes I'm not quite sure why. Maybe if I blog about some of our on-the-go adventures and field trips it will help me remember what we did last week... and also help me make sure we're making good choices about what we spend our time away from home doing!
Curriculum: I don't think you can have a homeschool blog without writing about curriculum, can you? I am sure I will write about our curriculum choices and what's working and what's not.
Planning and organization: Nuts and bolts... What are we going to do, how are we going to do it, and how will we keep track of it all? I have hopes to develop a portfolio for each of my girls this year.
That's not an exhaustive listing... but that's what's on my mind in terms of what I'd love to blog about. It will be interesting (to me, at least!) to see if I really end up writing about!
And just a little trip down memory lane for me... Miss G painting when she was a bit younger!
