First week back 2015

The end of our first week back to our homeschooling routine has drawn to a close.

There was a lot of anticipation in the air when we began early Monday morning, with Maestro making his way, solo, into the city for his first day doing his radio course at RTI (Melbourne).  He returned home that evening happy, although a little weary from travel.  The lectures are just as he'd hoped, with their first minor assessment on interviewing done on Tuesday.  So long as he's learning and enjoying a challenge, we're happy for him.  He's already been looking ahead and preparing his notes for next week.

Our routine at home has been somewhat relaxed, especially on the days when Maestro is away studying at his course.  Mariposa and I have enjoyed sitting and discussing, and getting out to do some gardening.  Our plan is to work on the books mostly in the mornings, finishing by 2pm at the latest.  Except for Wednesday, that's been working well so far.

And what are we using for curriculum?  Well, Mariposa is now 13.  We've completed Sonlight through to Eastern Hemisphere, so if we follow that schedule we'd be doing World History again. But there's a twist ... I'm following ideas from Ambleside Online also.  Ambleside Online offer a curriculum outline for free, with books carefully selected to follow the methods of Charlotte Mason.  Where possible, books are available to view online for free.  I'm attracted to what's on offer here because of Mariposa's creative style of learning. The quantity of books are fewer, lessons shorter but still extending thought with the application of constant review, and subjects such as handwriting, grammar and writing composition are still kept in context rather than isolated for their own sake.

So, we're beginning ancient world history, using the final term of AO6 as our reading guide.  This means we have as our spine this term Augustus Caesar's World by Foster (also as per Sonlight 6) and Story of the Romans by Guerber.

Using notebooks for copywork and narrations through all the subjects isn't completely new to us, but now we'll being doing this daily.  We've started off by copying out a couple of poems and a few lines of Shakespeare, then narrations about our history and science readings.  A new nature journal is also taking shape as little treasures are brought back home after a walk around the neighbourhood.

There are some other elements I haven't formally introduced to our routine yet, such as a composer study.  I do have Mendelssohn in mind, especially as we've begun looking at Midsummer Night's Dream. My library will come to my aid in finding more information on him over the next week, I hope, as I've found my written material on him here is limited.

My goal for next week is to have sampled together a better outline of what our week looks like and then make up a better schedule which I can share.  At the moment, it's printed lists from Ambleside Online and pencilled notes I'm taking as we go.

Encouragement into a new year - Charlotte Mason Companion

How are you finding your motivation to start another year of homeschooling your children?  Having time to catch up with family during holidays, or giving the home some renovation attention, is time well spent and a refreshing change from the regular routine. I still needed to have something to ponder during the day, so I decided to pull some books off the shelf and begin reviewing again.

A new habit I'm establishing is my morning reading time.  The house is quiet; my mind is just coming into gear. Quietly I go into the kitchen to brew a cup of tea, then I sit and read for up to 30 minutes. After that, Papa is ready to enjoy breakfast with me before heading to work and I start the daily routine with the children.  I'm really amazed at how the whole tone of my day has picked up again since starting this. That little bit of 'brain exercise' first thing has helped the conversation time flow from the outset.

So, what am I reading?  I have two books on the go at the moment: Devotions from Genesis and Charlotte Mason Companion. The latter I have read a couple of times before, but I wanted to review it again as I know my children's learning greatly benefits from this gentle style of teaching, indeed, of parenting.

Karen has truly embraced a warm style of writing, sharing encouraging words with gentleness and wisdom. Through her work, here, she's teaching me about her application of motherhood.

During my first reading of this book, I remember feeling very humbled. Here was another layer of learning I needed to take on. My children were young and there were times of boundary pushing, along with questioning and curiosity. While I knew this was coming, experiencing this was quite another matter, because a parent isn't always as well prepared with HOW one will exchange words and attitudes until confronted with the issue. There were wonderful days, and some not-so-wonderful ones also.  We were all learning and I found the early chapters in this book very encouraging.  Now, as I'm reading through this book yet again, I'm remembering the little conversations I had with my younger children and finding I'm fascinated at how much we've all grown individually.

Still, there are other lessons which weren't taken quite so to heart earlier on. Sometimes they are of interest, but not so valid to the current situation that I didn't ponder on those words quite so much.  Here's an example for you. Mariposa has been diligently working very hard at her spelling. Her issue with reading (mild dyslexia) meant we needed to take the reading requirements down into shorter time periods.  Now at age 13, Mariposa has improved remarkably, but I found myself always worrying about her spelling.  Here's what I found in chapter 22 "The Servant Spelling":

Mother reminded herself, however, "Spelling is just a servant to higher and more important matters, so I dare not worry over it, only tailor it more to my student's specific needs." 

... If your students, age twelve and up, struggle with spelling, they are not alone.  This can be the age when teachers' faces flush to look upon a rough draft full of spelling errors.  They may think, "Surely he should be able to spell by now." The truth is that many students still have a way to go.  Spelling ability follows reading ability. For some it may follow at a greater distance, but it does follow.

Sigh of relief! It will follow.

I'm a little over half way through this book now, with notebook now nearby at the same time to jot down ideas as they come to mind. The next few weeks will start seeing our plans emerging for another adventurous year of learning.

Until next time,

Catherine