A "Typical" Week in Our Homeschool, Opossum's and All

I use the word "typical" very tongue-in-cheek because there really is no such thing in our lives. My childrens' education is extremely important to me but I have never been the type of person to stick to rigid, uncompromising schedules. I've always admired mothers whose children wake up at the same time each day, are meticulously groomed and ready for school by 9, take a nap at 1 and are in bed by 8 (sheesh, do people like that REALLY exist?). I don't even pretend to be able to achieve that in my home. I rely heavily on God's grace, love and strength to guide me.

Fortunately, AmblesideOnline provides a yearly schedule for my organizationally handicapped self. I break that down into a manageable weekly schedule with all subjects included, then dd11 and I condense it further into a daily schedule. Ds5 is not doing anything formal yet, he's too busy being a "rescue ranger" and drawing incessantly (on everything that doesn't move, I might add). We use our schedule as a guide but the beautiful thing about homeschooling is that nothing is set in stone and flexibility is a requirement! Stuff happens.

If friends ask us to spend a play day in town and attend the Discovery Center, we can. If it's a beautiful day and we choose to go on a nature hike and study the different kinds of wildflowers that grown on our hillsides, we do. If there is a particularly interesting field trip planned by the homeschoolers in our area, we take advantage of that. If grandma or grandpa want to spend the day with the children, who am I to deny them that pleasure? And if it's just a yukky, cold, rainy day and we want to stay in our pajamas, have read aloud story-time and drink hot cocoa, we will!

Regardless of how our days pan out, by the end of the week dd knows that everything must be completed. If we chose to take a day off school during the week, this may mean that she needs to do 2 days of school in one, during which she will do one day in the morning, take a break, and complete another day's assignments as "homework" (it's all home work, isn't it?). 3 years ago I never thought I would say this but now I am impressed at her motivation to finish her assignments. She is forming valuable lifeskills such as: independence, perseverence, and problem solving. We have the "last day of school" marked on the calendar and that also helps us stick to our goals. I still get the occasional "Ah mom, do I HAVE to do school today?", but we are learning to turn the phone off, delay trips to the store, and stay on-task. It's as big a challenge for me as the kids!

I feel like I need to define some things before listing our schedule. Charlotte Mason's principles are paramount in our homeschool and some of the terms found in her methods might be unfamiliar. (To learn more about Charlotte Mason and AmblesideOnline, got to www.amblesideonline.org). The children read from whole, living books (versus textbooks, which only give part of the story) and then do a narration, which means to tell back what they have just read. Of course, younger children must be read to but they will easily and readily tell back the story without even knowing they are narrating! According to Karen Andreola, who has studied Charlotte Mason extensively and republished her original homeschooling series, "...narration takes the place of questionnaires and multiple choice tests, it enables the child to bring all the faculties of mind into play. The child learns to call on the vocabulary and descriptive power of good writers as he tells his own version of the story."

Copywork combined with oral narration are the first steps in teaching a child how to write. Dd copies passages from great writers, poetry and the Bible, thereby mimicking the work of the greatest authors of all time. The child sees proper grammar and spelling as they are copying and Charlotte Mason felt that nothing more formal was needed in the younger years in those areas.

History readings are journaled into a "century book", which consists of a timeline marked with dates from creation to contemporary times. This allows dd to visualize and conceptualize the events that were going on in the world at any given time. She is able to "see" that while Ben Franklin was living in France working for the colonist's independence, Napoleon Buonaparte was born and Mozart was giving concerts in Italy.

Nature study is an important part of our days. We learn about science, biology (lots of "ologies", in fact) and God. First and foremost the children are aware that all things were created by God and what better way to become closer to Him than by studying His creation? Nature study doesn't have to be planned and calculated, it can be as simple as sitting and staring out the window observing the birds at the feeders, or lying on your back in the meadow, taking in the sights and smells and watching the bees as they buzz from flower to flower. Children will learn from observation and each observation stimulates interesting question and answer periods. The children don't even know they are learning but they will remember the things into which they, themselves have pursued more in-depth knowledge.

I recall the day the kids were out walking in the woods with their friend. I heard them saying "Mom, come quick!". I met them down by the pond and dd had by the tail the biggest opossum I had ever seen. It wasn't moving a muscle. They set it down in the yard which had the dogs in a frenzy so I told the kids to put them in the house, then we sat back, quiet as churchmice, and watched. The opossum continued to pretend as if rigor mortis had already set in for about 5 minutes. Then, when it was sure the coast was clear, it slowly opened it's eyes. It waited a bit longer then stretched out its body slowly. When it sensed that danger was no longer imminent, it scurried off into the woods as fast as it's ugly, short body could manage. This prompted a discussion about marsupials and animal defenses, but ended abruptly when dh (you know, Mr. Safety) found out what was going on and interrupted to herd the children inside to wash their hands. I suppose someone has to be sensible!

Ok, I promised a sample schedule so here goes:

Monday

Bible-Old Testament
Singapore Math
Read passages and narrate from:
History-This Country of Ours
What Everyone Should Know About the 20th Century
Science-Fairy-land of Science
Science Biography-George Washington Carver
History Biography-Carry a Big Stick, The Uncommon Heroism of Teddy Roosevelt
History Tales-Trial & Triumph (church History)
Character study-Plutarch ((read aloud with mom)
Copywork: Poetry
Composer Study (we use Beautiful Feet's guide: The History of Classical Music)
Piano-practice

Tuesday

Bible-New Testament
Singapore Math
Read passages and narrate from:
History-Abraham Lincoln's World
What Everyone Should Know About the 20th Century
Geography-Book of Marvels
Literature-Kim
Natural History-Wild Animals I have Known
Poetry: John Greenleaf Whittier
Copywork-The Bible
Piano-practice

Wednesday (our light day)

Bible-Psalms
Folksong: English Country Garden
Artist Study/appreciation
Physics Lab In the Home-Observation/Experiments
Nature Study-we use "The Handbook of Nature Study" by Comstock, among others
Latin-Latina Christiana
Spanish

Thursday

Bible-Old Testament
Singapore Math
Read passages and narrate from:
History-This Country of Ours
Abraham Lincoln's World
Geography-Book of Marvels
Science-Fairy-land of Science
Composer study
Piano-lesson
Shakespeare-Winter's Tale(read-aloud with mom)
Copywork-Math Facts
Grammar (one of dd and my favorite subjects-we use Easy Grammar)

Friday

Bible-New Testament
Scripture recitation
Singapore Math
Read passages and narrate from:
History-This Country of Ours
History Biography-Carry a Big Stick, The Uncommon Heroism of Teddy Roosevelt
Science-Christian Liberty Nature Reader
Geography-The Book of Marvels
Literature-Kim
Dictation
Copywork-literature
Piano-practice

This is our current schedule and some of the books we are reading change each term (12-week period). Books are read slowly, taken in small bites so as to be able to ruminate over and recall what has been read, as opposed to the way I devour a book in 3 days; ask me a week later to tell you details about a story and I couldn't do it. It may appear as though this is a heavy schedule and it can be, but the lessons are short and we strive to have most of the work done by lunchtime.

Classical music and Hymns are played throughout the day in our home and artist prints are displayed to observe for 2 weeks at a time, during which the children are asked to make occasional observations about the prints. Dd gets keyboarding practice while doing written narrations. Geography study is complemented by locating the places we read about on the globe and doing mapwork. Dd is learning to sew and she cooks and bakes alongside me every day. Often, the children will work on handicrafts or artwork while I'm reading aloud to them. Daily chores are required and an allowance is given to both children so that they can learn the value of money and how to save for the things they desire. We become involved in service projects as often as possible and that will be integrated into both children's weekly routine as they become older.

There you have it, now I better get busy--wouldn't want to get off schedule!