Dewey School

I don't know anything else about John Dewey, but I found this quote by him:

Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results.

I like that. Bookwork makes Raccoon crazy. At this point, he thinks he won't learn to read. He compares himself to me, not realizing that he is learning just like his peers. I wonder if he'd find watching other kids fail to be encouraging. But the sitting is killing us both. He slouches, chews on his shirt, holds his pencil wrong, and falls off his chair, all to avoid writing. He hates repetition. Today was impossible until I told him we'd do a tea bag rocket. Then all the fidgets were gone and he was 100% attentive.

I know he needs a "doing" school, I just don't know how to get us there.

I think the only thing we learned today is that our tea bags are a single square so we cannot unfold them like the instructions say to do. Ours never took off, but we watched a youtube video to see what was supposed to happen. My kids didn't care though, they just liked that we burned something.

Settling In

We have a good routine going and I'm happy with what we're getting done. I love the freedom that homeschooling gives us.

We're going to our local school for PE and recess.

Exploring our neighborhood, we found a playground behind the community soccer field, a new road, and a pond (we're hoping for frogs!).

We're doing a seed experiment to see what plants need to sprout and grow. The variables are water and dirt.

Backpacks out of icecream cone boxes. Raccoon wanted a quiver so Maddie got one too.

Playing scientist on his bed with water and food coloring.

Mailing our Flat Traveler to PA as part of Education Possible's exchange.

Kitty's $4 shopping cart is her new favorite toy.

Board game school with Mancala and Rummikub.

Our Week

A little of what we've been up to.

Solar cards, tornados, and spider eggs

My mom found some light-sensitive paper, so we had a blast today making designs with odd objects from around the house. The directions suggested 1-3 minutes in the sun or "until the paper turns almost white." Turns out that in our tropical sun, it was more like 20 seconds. Our first ones were overexposed, but Raccoon is more about process than product, so he didn't care. My favorite was the design he did with rocks and their shadows.

My mom also found a nifty little device that screws on to create a "tornado in a bottle." Since our theme for the week is weather, it was a perfect fit. Raccoon and I tried to do this experiment a few months ago, but taping two bottles together is leaky and the hole was not small enough to produce the desired effect. This little device was so easy and effective, I highly recommend it. All I did was fill one bottle 2/3 full, screw on both bottles, swirl the water a little and voila! Tornado!

We also got to see our local firefighters putting out a blaze in a neighbor's yard.

Painting rocks is Raccoon's newest hobby. We've caught every visible spider in our yard and several of our neighbor's as well, so we're taking a break while we wait for our four egg sacs to hatch. One sac is going on two months and no spiderlings yet. We've also had some good discussion about extinction due to over-hunting, and raising animals in captivity. We currently have four spider pets in jars on our counter. Did you know that they can lay egg sacs months apart, apparently without refertilization? I can find out very little online about spider eggs but we have certainly learned a lot firsthand.

Living Overseas

Sometimes reading other homeschool blogs is good for me, and sometimes it's not. I see all the things available in metropolitan areas - libraries, clubs, sports, gyms, coops, museums, etc. - and I want that for my children. I get activity and supply envy. I wonder if we are making the right choice. This is why blog reading can be bad for me.

On the other hand, another mom wrote about poetry for kids and I thought, "I could do that with Raccoon." I love ideas.

This is the root of my fear, that I'm not a good teacher because I'm not doing that or that or that.

We may not be able to do all those things, but we do have a high-speed internet connection by God's grace. And a rainforest within driving distance. And a second language.

I am frequently scanning the horizon, but where my feet are standing is pretty nice too if I remember to look down every now and then. There is much to learn everywhere.

And I mentally shake myself. He's in K, he doesn't need everything to happen this year, good grief. I tell myself to stop worrying and being ridiculous. All I need is a little laugh at myself and to lighten up.

So I think I will continue choosing not to look and to keep marching to our drum. But every now and then, the unknown horizon still calls my name.

Routines and Rhythms

Celosia School - Year E (Kindergarten)

Neither Raccoon nor I are morning people. Kitty and my husband, the King, wake up with a smile and chatter, Raccoon and I do not.

6 to 8 am    Somewhere in here all four of us eventually wake up. Kitty likes to go outside first thing and Raccoon watches some Netflix until he's civil.

8 to 9 am    Valiant attempts at breakfast which neither one of my children eat well.

9 to 11 am   School happens at some point between these hours. I break Raccoon's day into two blocks. During one we read his history lesson (currently from a children's almanac published in 1942) and do pages in his two workbooks. Then in the second block we do hands-on activities from our science kits or outdoors. Some days both blocks happen during this time, other days we split things into am/pm and occasionally evening work as well. Kitty joins us, plays by herself, or is off with Daddy, depending on the day.

11 am    Lunch (Since neither one does much for breakfast, we do an early lunch which they generally eat well)

noon to 1 pm   Free play (I eat lunch)

1 to 3 pm   Naptime for Kitty, iPad time for Raccoon, and free time for me if my husband is home. If not, Raccoon and I do something together.

Our afternoons vary a lot. Sometimes we take a walk, go into town, visit the neighbors, do messy stuff, etc. It depends on how much and what we accomplished in the morning. There is a snack somewhere in here as well. We are mostly outside and do educational stuff mixed in with everything else.

6 to 7 pm    Supper

7 to 8 pm    Family play, often with the King

8 pm    Bedtime for Kitty, free time for me and the King, movie time for Raccoon

9 pm    Bedtime for Raccoon

10 pm   Bedtime for me (although several times a week I stay up until midnight, just enjoying the quiet, I am an introvert)


Looking at this, part of me thinks "I should be doing more!" but another part of me says "Free and happy, good enough!" so this is probably how things will stay for the next few months at least. Our core subjects are language, science, math, and history with art, music, social studies, etc roaming through.

In order to fulfill 180 days of school, our target for when we actually have to report that we are homeschooling, Raccoon needs to do 5 days of school per week for most of the fall/winter. So my plan is that MWF we will do our core subjects, T will be coop day (he's going to attend our local school in Spanish while my husband is there teaching English), and Th will be special project or book day. In the spring we will switch to a four day week, which I'm sure will be a welcome break as the rainy season lets up and we start to spend more time outside again. With our year-round schedule, this puts us done in May with June completely off and a soft start in July for first grade (if he's reading, if not I might just call Year D Kindergarten again and keep matching each subject to his interest and ability level).

Our Week in Pictures