About School

It's that time of year again. That crisp, fresh, Autumn air is sneaking in our windows at night and leaving us all feeling that Apple Season is just around the corner. And it is!

It's also that time of year, when everyone, everywhere, regardless of how little or how much they know us, feel compelled to ask my children what grade they will be in and if they are excited for school to start. Ha! I find it so very weird that people (a generalization, i know) can't find anything else more interesting to ask my very interesting kids about. And yet....I found myself asking a child of a friend those very questions! It's so ingrained in our culture isn't it?

Anyway...I'm almost always super impressed with how my boys answer those kinds of questions. I was happy with how well the boys did at their physicals yesterday, interacting with their doctor while I did my best to sit back and let them speak for themselves. (harder than it should be perhaps? but I think I did alright) I was so glad that the doctor was respectful and kind about our educational choices and she encouraged the boys to keep up the good work. (whatever that means!)

And today as I was pondering all kinds of things I'd like to write to you all about......I decided to fill you in on what our learning at home will perhaps look like this Fall. (I'll post the cucumber recipe tomorrow debbie, I promise!)

Our days of learning look a little like this. We wake up and make a lovely breakfast, drink tea, and discuss what we'd each like to do "today" in a world that allows any thing you want at all! And then we talk about what our little family needs to accomplish that day....like any errands, or laundry, or walking the dog, etc. And then we decide together what the day will look like. We have a loosey-goosey schedule. If we are home for the day and it's not a baking day then we have table learning activities in the morning. Mostly math, handwriting, and art projects. I try to do a one on one lesson with Cricket for reading at this time too. Badger does most of his things independently, his choice, and I supplement everything he does with lots of reading. He is constantly asking for books about this or that and reads throughout the day. We do history/bible and science kind of randomly for now. Science is mostly outside nature study and baking/cooking, with an occasional experiment or taking out the microscope.

During lunch I read aloud to them from the novel we are reading. Don't ask me how I pick these out. I just find things. Ha.

And in the afternoons we play. And build. And play. And talk. And drink more tea. And bake. And play. And the whole time we are learning and growing. It's quite nice. On good days, I even have time to put the laundry away and tend to other chores that are always waiting for me. But they do wait, and slowly I believe I am learning how to do a better job of balancing my job as housekeeper and my role as mother/teacher.

The only thing I'm not sure about for now.....as we start this year....is how to keep little Hen from needing me every single second of his day. He's such a crazy little monkey. Today, I realized he had snuck off while I was knitting. It was so quiet, I knew it couldn't be good. This is how I found him. Surrounded by markers with all the caps off. A big smile on his face.

A little budding artist.