Term Studies Board

 

I got this idea to paint a cork board black and rotate school-related topics from  Mt. Hope Chronicles. I use ours specifically for our Term Studies (selected from, but not following the calendar of Ambleside Online). It hangs in our kitchen or slides behind the school closet when company comes. (Don't want them to know we're learning about art for heavens sake!)

 

This has done the following for us:

 

1. For the chill'ns: it gives a visual reference point or "place to put new information" as we talk about these people and their contributions. All those new floaty bits of info have a place to alight.

 

2. For school: it reminds me who/what we are on for this term as it slips from my head easily without the daily/weekly schedule other subjects have.

 

3. For me: it gives a constructive distraction when lunch turns into a zoo.

 " ...Besides writing lovely little poems, and modeling for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Christina Rossetti also worked as a prostitute...Ah! Excuse me, I misread. Worked with prostitutes-- in a reformitive nature I'm sure..." 

 

 

 

So on here I stapled a list of this term's people:
Composer: Aaron Copland
Artist: Winslow Homer
Poet: Christina Rossetti
and Shakespear is a permenant fixture

I also have a calendar for Y0 to mark off the days we remember to read our scriptures with a sticker (don't judge me, we're back on the wagon again), a clear plastic page with artwork by Homer to switch out weekly, and a list of the people as well as our month's Hymn and Folksong so I won't forget.

The February Freakout- it's tradition

Is it going to stay warm or get cold?
Am I ruining my kids lives for homeschooling or should I keep at it?
Am I normal or going insane?

It's February.
It's the crux of the school year.
Rumors in the roost have it that it's the worst time of year when mother-in-laws (who used to be school teachers) visit, best time for bubble-baths to be taken mid-school day, and mostly likely time for home school mothers everywhere to freak out as they compare their immaculate September spreadsheets to lacking mid-year realism.

We've been homeschooling four years now, and I've noticed this pattern in myself, and-thankfully-honest others around me commiserate. I thought that this year would be a piece of cake with not  being pregnant, juggling a public school schedule for siblings, or having a baby under 1, but it's not been. I had heard somewhere that 3 years is what it takes to really make a difference somewhere. That teachers need about that time to really be competent in their classroom. But, my materials are new to me every year for my oldest, I am adding new students every 2 years, and these students aren't staying the same developmentally--it's always changing! Some things get easier, but it's not the same every year. I needed to not be so hard on myself. So if this feeling is predictable--is it normal?

For myself, I am drawing a conclusion: YES.

First, a few reasons why this happens in February so we can not just blame ourselves:

• The excitement of the new school year is gone--as is the delight of the holiday season.
• The weather is blah and unpredictable here, and air quality terrible. Field trips have tapered a bit, and we're just inside a lot.
• It's the middle of the year and we feel like there is so much more for us to do yet.
• We compare our kids to others in different situations, with different goals and priorities.

The way I've come to terms with this is:

• I am going to start school earlier in anticipation of unpredictable days during the year.
• I'm going to just enjoy what we are doing instead of checking off a list and 'catching up'
• Even when we have visitors we are going to do some school each day (reading, writing, math)
• I'm going to recognize more often that teaching good habits, exposing to inspiring material, and offering a variety of experiences will outweigh  x test score by the time my student finds their area to focus on. It's just an entirely different approach.
• I am also turning over more ownership of their learning, to the student. More here.

I think that this mid-school year insecurity is natural and healthy. Our students are about 6 months older than when we were beginning the school year and we see what they are capable of now-generally more. We see that what we started in September with gusto and dropped is really missed.

It is a great point to question what we need to change and more realistically see what we can still accomplish. I thought that my Y4 student should have been able to do all her work independently by now. But if I had seen the whole year as a transition and training for her to work on her own, it would have made me much more understanding and practical in my approach. But I can see it on the horizon now--and it's a beautiful glimmer in the bleak February days...