The Unschooling Experiment: Day 1

Three weeks in to our homeschool adventure, I realized that what I was doing was not working. I did lessons plans, but was only getting a few things done. One reason is a lack of time to prepare materials, but I felt like there was a bigger problem. Neither Raccoon nor I really wanted to do some of the things on the list and at the end of the week I felt like a failure because we had done so little of what I had planned. This week, I decided to change course and instead write down what we did afterwards.

I am going to focus on three areas: language, math, and science. For now, this means learning the letters of the alphabet (names, writing, and sounds), number concepts, and following our science book which Raccoon is enjoying. Today we played with a four pan balance, wrote letters in the dirt on our daily walk, and then played with alphabet fridge magnets in a rice sensory bin (that was Kitty's activity but Raccoon joined in). We did several other things as well, and when I looked at the list at the end of the day, I felt successful. It was fun for all of us, and it flowed much more naturally as part of our day.

Since this is our trial year (technically Raccoon misses the kindergarten cutoff this fall but I think he's ready), my hope is that Raccoon will learn to read, count, and have fun.

Let the Games Begin!

We have officially started homeschooling as of this week. March 18 was our first day, odd perhaps but why not? That's what homeschooling is about - right? - freedom.

Celosia School Year D Week 1 (March 17-21)                    3 weeks on, 1 week off (make-up)



MONDAY             TUESDAY             WEDNESDAY      THURSDAY

Language	Math	Science	Music	Physical Activity	Alternate Activity	Art
Read Diary of a Worm, pick something he wants to record	Number sheets with noodles, rocks, household items	Scientific Salad Dressing p. 16 1) Oil w/garlic 2) Vinegar w/herb	Review instruments p. 6-11 CYHI #1	Monday 10 -11 am Recess at school	Read about Scat and Tracks	Take pictures for diary (him, cat, dog)
Diary of a cat entry, Raising Rock Stars	Add one, subtract one with cars, candy, marbles, money	Solvent or Solute? p. 17 1) water w/sugar 2) water w/sand 3) water w/salt 4 water w/rocks	CYHI #3	Gymbo Thurs 3 - 4 pm	Make a scat and tracks book with labels, Caleb trace first letters	Take photos of scat and tracks
Diary of a dog entry, Raising Rock Stars	Math book activity	Perfume Chemistry p. 19 1) Alcohol and cinnamon 2) Alcohol and orange peel 3) Alcohol and rose petals	CYHI #2	Trampoline, Soccer, and Running		Gymbo Thurs 6-7 pm

Books:

Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
Super Science Concoctions by Jill Frankel Hauser 
Can You Hear It? (for music/art appreciation)

That's the plan and we're about halfway through. We got off to a slower start since he was sick on Monday.

Year D... and Year A?

I may think up a catchier title since I'm no longer calling it Tot School... but this will do for now. This is probably going to be a boring post to everyone except me. The short version is that I'm trying to keep things organized between my son and my daughter so that hopefully I can reuse some of my homeschooling ideas from him to her (I can hear you laughing, I know, I know, as my mom would say, "the best laid plans of mice and men..." but maybe there will be a little overlap? Let me have my moment of peaceful dreaming please.) I think best out loud and I this blog is mostly for my own record keeping anyway, so here goes.

Raccoon is doing preschool stuff and Ducky (her blog name used to be Robin but I'm changing it to fit more with her personality) is in baby school, which means chewing on things and creeping around at this point. Since Raccoon is going to preschool twice a week, I haven't done any lesson plans for him and we've just enjoyed things as they've come. A picture post will hopefully be coming soon. Our lives are currently utter chaos as we live in the middle of a messy remodel project, but I am hoping, praying, that life will return to something more ordered in December... maybe January.

Okay, so into the nitty gritty.

Here in Celosia, planned learning starts around one, so Year D is Raccoon's fourth year and I'm going to call what Ducky does "Baby School" until she graduates to "Tot School" next fall (although I may link up sooner if I feel like what she's doing matches up) and Raccoon will start Year E, which will roughly correspond to traditional kindergarten for him. She is already trying to copy what we do, at nine months old, grabbing a pen or paintbrush and trying to scribble on paper (she loves it when I grab the end of the pen so she can actually scribble with her fist on the lower part). So I'm guessing, I know it's far out, but that she's going to be ready for some kindergarten things the school year that she is 4-turning-5.

Raccoon's birthday falls nicely for his Year to correspond with the U.S. school year, but Ducky's birthday is at the beginning of the calendar year, so I have to decide if I'm going to do her Years by age or try to match them to a school year. I just need a system I can keep straight! I'm sure this is tediously boring to everyone else, but it's the kind of thing I love - making up peculiar systems.

                 Raccoon                     Ducky
Year A      1      2010*                  turning 1    2013             baby school
Year B       2     2011                    turning 2    2014             Tot School
Year C       3     2012                    turning 3    2015             Tot School
Year D       4     2013                    turning 4    2016             Preschool
Year E       5      2014                   turning 5    2017^            Kindergarten
Year F       6      2015
Year G      7       2016
Year H      8       2017^

*Each Year starts in September (or October if we do a soft start to school after summer projects)
^Next planned furlough to U.S., summer through Christmas perhaps

Okay, so that makes this Year A for Ducky, which is what I needed to figure out, or if not then I was thinking of doing a year of "baby school" for her before I called it anything else. Then she'll move into Year B in September, 2014, at 19 months until 27 months. The things I wrote down for my son's Year B were actually towards the end of his Year, so I think I'll be able to crossover some ideas and activities by that point. And if she's more of a I'd-like-to-do-free-play-on-my-own kind of girl, hallelujah! Ha ha. But I suspect she's going to want to "do school" like her brother. We'll see. (Hello future self, reading this post, how are things going for you? Drop me a note and let me know how close my guess was.)

I originally was going to start on my picture post of things we've done so far this Year, but I couldn't get past the title. Hopefully a little thinking ahead will serve me well later. How I love making plans... :)