We Are Unschoolers, Finally!! Part 2

Unschooling, child led learning, is on the chalkboard today, folks. As I stated in yesterday's post, we are embracing a more unschooled approach to learning in our home this year. Yesterday I covered what unschooling can be defined as, and I shared what my daughter is learning this year based on her choices. In 'Core' subjects. So today I'll get to the real fun stuff, non-core subjects, and how I keep track of what she does just for my own peace of mind and to figure out how to do a transcript if needed. :)
Here's our non-core unschooling:

Art: I'm an artist, therefore I have a big studio full of art supplies. The world is basically her oyster unless she wants to get into glassblowing or metal works and then sorry sister, you're out of luck. #wink We sat down and with Pinterest as our ideas guide she made a list of her interests: Yarning (bombing, crochet), weaving loom, nature weaving, Sketching: cities, buildings, perspective, point line drawings, Pottery (make pottery wheel), Screen printing, Encaustic wax painting, Jewelry, soldering, Paper mache', Embroidery: constellations, feathers, people, eyes, Dolls, Scarfs. Out of anything, Felting, Fabric rugs, Wood art, Street art. So far we've worked on a few and done some new things. She's practiced perspective drawing, pointillism drawing/painting, watercolor, splatter painting (think Pollac and the corner of my kitchen is covered ceiling to baseboard in trash bags because this is her splatter zone.) She veered off plan and worked on a Loki costume for Halloween out of duct tape, made a corset out of cardboard, duct tape and metal for the 'bones'. She has begun covering shipping boxes in white paper to start decorating them as a city. What we don't know how to do, we google, youtube or Pinterest it. The internet has everything, seriously.

Music: She wanted to continue with the classes we did last year since she likes the instruments and has friends there, so she's in advanced guitar, advanced band and marching band. She also has made a list of songs she wants to learn on her guitar (Queen songs, hymns, Hobbit chant, Frozen songs, etc). She uses the PS3 2014 Rocksmith game which teaches you step by step how to play guitar. She has made a list of songs to learn on the piano and I've schedule her to meet with a friend to brush up on notes and chords. (Hello Dolly, Star Wars theme, Frozen songs, Led Zeppelin, Hymns).
Foreign Language: she's continuing with the class she took last year and doing Spanish 2. She wanted to be with her friends there too. It's now held twice a week in our small living room, 10 students and teacher.

PE: This is where we get a bit interesting. She asked if she could learn to 'swashbuckling pirate sword fight'. I figured this was like fencing, so she is now in a class twice a week for about 1 1/2 hrs each day. Hard work, great instruction. She is also taking archery instruction for 2 hrs each week. Sometimes we ride bikes or walk and she learns new exercises on Wii Fit Plus. Occasionally she'll take a yoga class with grandma.
Bible: We attend church weekly for 2 1/2 hrs, she also attends a small group and another class for 2 1/2 hrs a week. We are learning weekly bible verses, she's reading a bible chapter a day (according to what Sonlight History has her reading) and we're working our way through the Catechism although I'm counting that under History for now. She also has a devotional she gets to couple times a week.
Life Skills: A very important lesson to learn. How to care for a house, a car, a bank account. Things we will get to eventually. For now, she requested to learn about international cooking and baking so she sat and schedule what cuisine we'll learn about each month. This month is Indian food but we've been so busy we haven't done much with it. I'll work on that.
*** Her interests are varied and heady but I think we can fit them all in.
I used to keep detailed daily and monthly records but this year we're in a calendar. It works for me. This is what it looks like and how. I tally hours:

It does seem like a lot if you look at our whole list of things to accomplish but she is enjoying herself, and she picked 98% of it. I'm not running myself ragged hollering at her to get her work done, or study for that test, etc. We're enjoying each other much more. She has the option to put something aside if it's not what she wants to do at this time and I just try to keep up and make sure the car is filled with gas. Ahhh, unschooling.

Posted with Love from Contessa

We Are Unschoolers, Finally!

Well, this year we took a further giant step, towards unschooling. This textbook oriented mama is nervous and there are some decidedly anti-unschooling things we're doing (mostly for my benefit) but it was most all child-led decisions. I'm excited and terrified these decisions will result in my child living with me forever! Lol

Dd, my last child at home, has entered a 10th grade of learning. We've had a few long discussions about what she wants to be/do and how she is going to get there. Granted, those decisions change often; the culinary school in England idea had been put on the back burner. And I was so looking forward to moving to England with her! Ha She is wanting to go to art school. But because of some classes she's involved in at church, her heart is also leading her towards working with children; being either an art teacher or a children's pastor. Neither occupation I'd wish on anyone. So trying, so committed, so fraught with hardships and politics sometimes. But God knows right where he wants to use her for his glory and we just need to pray and facilitate.

For those who are thinking about unschooling, let me put a few myths to rest. Unschooling doesn't mean letting your child run nilly willy through the forest, naked and dirty. Unless that is what you're okay with! It doesn't mean they spend every waking hour in front of a computer or tv, vegged out on Judge Judy and My Little Pony reruns. For each family it will look different but for the most part, unschooling means the opposite of real school. At least to me, hence the 'un' attached.

Wikipedia defines it as, 'An educational method and philosophy that rejects compulsory school as a primary means for learning. Unschoolers learn through their natural life experiences including play, household responsibilities, personal interests and curiosity, internships and work experience, travel, books, elective classes, family, mentors and social interaction. Unschooling encourages exploration of activities initiated by the children themselves, believing that the more personal learning is, the more meaningful, well understood and therefore useful it is to the child. While courses make occasionally be taken, unschooling questions the usefulness of standard curricula, conventional grading methods, and other features of traditional schooling and maximizing the education of each unique child.'

I was afraid of the unschool 'label' until I read this definition and a whole pile of unschooling books (I'll make a list of my favorites to share.) This is so us! She is doing things she wants, she's also taking classes she wants and we're doing some things together as well. This year has been much more relaxed. Okay, for this hermit mama who likes to stay home, it's been a bit of an adjustment since a lot of her interests take us out of the house. But I'm dealing. ;)

This is what unschooling looks like for us. And I'll tell you some about each thing and I'll group them according to traditional subjects:

Language: Dd is writing a book. Hoping to edit in spring and see about publishing. She is also working her way through a few Analogies logic books which I requested because it will help her on the PSAT/ACT/SAT, whichever she decides to take. She gathers new words from 'Word of the Day' app, Webster dictionary and what she's reading at the time. She tries to use the new words in her writing. She researches new things like analogies, metaphors, gerunds and uses in her writing. We play scrabble.

Reading: She is rereading the Lightning Thief series (there's 2 sets), is currently elbow deep in Les Miserables' and on the pile of 'to read' are Robinson Crusoe, The Outlaws of Sherwood, Jane Eyre, The Pickwick Papers and Count of Monte Cristo to name a few. I'm sure The Hobbit will reappear in December to get her ready for the final installment movie. 'No Fear' Shakespeare books are also favs.

Math: Here is her only requirement from me. I asked her to study to take the PSAT/ACT/SAT sometime this year. Just in case she does want to go to college sometime, she needs a testing score to shut the colleges up. She agreed and studies a few times weekly on Kahn Academy and in an SAT book. If she ever wants more formal study, I've already purchased and have waiting the Saxon Advance Math set.

Science: Her only want for science was to 'blow things up'. I told her that's Chemistry and before we use our kit to blow things up we might want to go through the book to make sure we don't blow US up. So 3x a week we read through the Apologia Chemistry book, discussing what we read and doing any problems out loud. If she can answer all my questions, we call it good. I don't test. We're enjoying that. So far she's too lazy to get the chemistry kit out and figure it out so this might be all we do. I may arrange a tour of some Chemistry lab in the area or visit a Chem lecture/lab class at a local college one day. She talks sometimes about going to school to do pyrotechnics which I told her is engineering and she will need to brush up on Science and Math. It's in the back of her mind, back burner dream for right now. We also got chicks this year, yes we finally did. So chicken learning and care is high on our science priority list. Pretty soon getting them and the coop ready for winter will be our next task.

Social Studies/History: This subject is a mixed bag and we're still formulating. I count most any volunteer work for the community under social studies. She volunteers at the Ronald McDonald house twice a month for 4 hours each time with her grandma, cooking, baking, organizing, helping in the office, gardening. She also volunteers in the children's department at church twice a month 1 1/2 hrs each time, teaching the lessons. She does volunteer at the Harvesters garden (they provide food for those who have little) downtown twice a a month with grandma and they learn what's what from a Master Gardener, so that drops under Science in my opinion. We also started Sonlight's 'History of the Christian Church' curriculum which covers all of history really. She loves history so she agreed to this. The biblical portion had 4-5 books she was having to read out of each day and it got overwhelming so we're only doing a couple at a time right now. We're reading through Westminster Shorter Catechism 3x a week, really defining what we believe. She's also reading More Than A Carpenter right now. She requested to study up on Ancient Greece and Rome so we got a few books from the library but Great Courses also has a college lecture series called 'Classical Archeology of Ancient Greece and Rome' which she is watching. She loves it. In fact she draws or drags out her playmobil while she listens.

*** As you can see, this is specifically tailored to my un-high schooler. It will look different for everyone. My post is getting mucho long so I'll share our 'non-core' subjects in the next post. Unschoolers unite!

Posted with Love from Contessa

Finding My Way...

(Pic taken by my mom working in Alaska this summer.)

I'm pulled in many directions these days with our homeschooling. We haven't even started the school year and I'm already questioning my decisions.  

On the one hand, do I focus on a more enjoyable school year? I've been reading up on Charlotte Mason. Love her idea of short bursts of learning, 30 minute increments per subject. I'm afraid that it won't be enough. I appreciate the concept though because I've seen many a time that the child is still blankly staring at her papers, drawing doodles in the margins because she has lost focus. But I'm worried about the content. Sure, I can do math in 30 mins. But we won't get a lesson done. Do I stretch out a lesson over several days? We won't get near the end of a book if we do that. Just so many problems with this approach, not that the hour long approach to math was working though. What to do, what to do?

Last year we used majority Sonlight. I love their programs. Probably too rigid for us but I may slip some of that into this year's planning if I can. The books alone are always a great start.

I hate the way dd is counting down the days to school and a big sad face is drawn on her calender for the day. That makes ME sad that she is already hating a year we haven't even started. It has so much potential to be a phenomenal year. I always start out pretty good but when we start to get behind I get more rigorous with the schedule, the hours of pushing the subjects so we can get it all in and I become the fun-sucker. It's ridiculous. I don't want to be the hated homeschool mom.

Another issue we are constantly addressing is the attitude. No, I was not blessed with a quiet subservient child who loves to be good and follow orders. I'm sure that's genetic, if you were to ask my mother. I never like to go with the flow. I like to do things MY way so I can't fault the child for being so like mom. But sometimes we border on the disrespectful and then I get upset. I'd rather not even get to that point. But how to get a child to respect the process of homeschool and that mom is also teacher and that things just have to be done sometimes? You can't bonk respect into a person... This is probably why I'm always worrying that the schooling is not 'fun' enough. In my brain I think if its fun, she will WANT to do everything, even math! This is a pipe dream, I know. I'd love to find a few lessons on teaching respect and responsibility that actually work. I've read some on it but none of things they suggested seemed a long term effect. She is a good helpful child, don't get me wrong. But she has her moments.

Boy is this a rambling post! Just wrapping my head around this year's school year. I always head into it with determination, resolve, a happy attitude but this year is different. (I think I have an attitude problem of my own! lol) I waited too late to plan, I've been sick for weeks and this set me back considerably. Now I'm rushing.  I need to pray, that should help me focus...

to be continued...

Changes

It's amazing how one little thing can change your view, your goals, your feelings. I moved the bookcase in the living room from one corner to another. No big deal. It was behind the big chair in our room and was mostly filled with art books of mine that need to go to my studio. In another corner, in an old large plastic milk crate (florescent orange and doesn't match the room) were our library books, overflowing. Being homeschoolers, we have never had just a few books out of the library. In fact, last week we only had 35 checked out and I was proud of that fact, even told the kids a few times. Now, we're back up to 95 after a nice long library visit.

ANYWAY, after coming home with 5+ bags of books and plopping them and me down on the couch, I stared at my bookshelf. I looked at the hutch in the other more accessible corner... and got the idea to switch them. We never get into the hutch unless we run out of candles. Usually during a storm. Why didn't I think of this switch before? I don't know. So, after some hard work and hauling books, and then neatly placing our library books on the shelf, we have this! Accessible books! Off my floor! And the unsightly milk crate is heading downstairs.


The little one loves the book corner. She brought out a rug from her room, her cup chair and the bed tray and now has her reading area. I have my books all lined up and it reminds me what I have and I am more eager to read them. I love it! It will be so nice during the school year when we have even MORE books out from the library!

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I've been reading up on unschooling, and Sonlight and other things this week. I mentioned before how my children think I've sucked all the fun out of school and the little one even asked to 'take off a year from school.' Imagine my shock. I've come to realize she doesn't really mean that. This week I asked for more specifics, what she wants to do, versus what she hates. Hates worksheets, textbooks, writing. I never knew about the writing part. But she doesn't consider when she writes poetry or stories on her own, as 'writing'. Just when I have her do something as 'school'. She wants to read, play games, do lots of science stuff/experiments and cooking, art, piano.

Now I know you shouldn't coddle the children, but I don't want them to HATE school either. I'm looking into a more relaxed homeschooling for the little one (the teen has her schedule of college classes and simple textbooks all ready.) I think I'm formulating a plan. We'll read a lot (hence, the researching of Sonlight for history and reading.) I thought for math I'd make up a list of topics I want her to cover in the year and then provide opportunities for that learning. Whether through board games (Smath, Tri-onimos, XTable WAR, Number Quest, etc.) or through games we make up, cooking, field trips, math books (Divide and Ride, Alice in Numberland, Body Math, Grapes of Math), building things, lego playing, etc... I want to try anyway. Science will be reading, experiments (something she requests a lot of) and field trips. I don't know if this is considered unschooling or not but I'm getting close. On spelling and grammar, I had Wordly Wise for spelling, but its workbook. Not sure how to do these topics without instruction. I think I have a few games (Scrabble, Upwords, etc...)

Any suggestions would be great appreciated.