Then we have B. It seems as though he constantly feels I'm forcing him to do things. He whines that I force him to do math, that I force him to do reading (although when left to his own devices he will go through 6 chapter books in a week). We have tried switching curriculum. I have tried letting him do more math online, manipulatives for subjects, board games, etc. And yet, there is still this 8 year old boy slinking around like a slug when the day begins. He slides from place to place slowly leaving a trail of whine slime behind him.
Last week I decided to just let both kids be. We've done this experiment before and truthfully it didn't go that well. I know many people unschool and their kids flourish in the environment and the magic happens. We didn't have that response. I had two whiny people complaining that they were bored and fighting all day long. Either way, I decided it was time for another go.
The week was interesting. It is so hard for me to let go and let them just do whatever they want all day and call it school. I came from public school. I am very type A and I do what I'm told. I have always been that way. During our week there were a lot of Lego and Kinex projects that were built, a lot of super hero fights, lots of coloring and art projects and many, many puzzles. B read 8 chapter books, smaller ones like Geronimo Stilton and Captain Underpants. What did surprise me is that the kids asked to go out and play in the snow. It snowed toward the end of the week and it was sticky, heavy and beautiful. The kids usually whine and moan when I tell them to go out and get some fresh air. I assume they inherited their dislike of being cold from me. While we all love the beauty of winter, we just don't fully enjoy the temperature.
Can you see B in the woods?
Usually our days are so full and we are so busy we don't have time to step back much. Since we were looser this week, I was able to do a bit more cooking with Z. We decided to make a batch of pancakes for lunch one day and realized we were out of the almond flour that we needed to make them. After some internet searching with Z we found out that we could try sunflower seed flour. So, off we ran to grind the seeds and make the flour. Halfway through cooking our pancakes we realized that they were all turning green as they cooled! Scared to eat them, we ran back to the computer to research was was happening. That turned into a short lesson on acids and bases and chemical reactions, namely what happens to sunflower products and the chlorogenic acid in them when they meet up with baking soda. (Our pancakes are covered in mashed up strawberries)
Our week included a few more things that, while we do them every week, we simply had more time to stop and explore our world. We stopped off at the organic grocery store in the next town while shopping and had great discussions on organic vs non organic. What pesticides are, what their purpose is and why we try not to consume them. While we've had abbreviated conversations about this topic before, we were able to delve into it further and the kids asked to do a quick internet search about what items have the most pesticides and such. Since B adores apples he picked the biggest he could find, I think he did a good job. Oh, and see how Z is wearing an odd dress? That's her vampire costume from Halloween 2 years ago. It seems lately she has very specific ideas on fashion and how certain things need to be worn certain days. You would NOT believe how many older ladies came up to her and told her that her dress was beautiful. She shyly commented "thank you" and made sure to give me a look that seemed to say, "See Mom, this dress really is for every occasion."
Last week was also when I decided to finally get Nova's birthday photos done. The kids helped me make a few of the items that I used in the shoot, and while I was working on the harder projects they both decided to start writing books! Um, for real?!? I can't EVER get them to do their typing and they don't ever want to write. This was probably one of the coolest parts of this week. The other was B started to explore stop animation and made a few really cool videos.
Lastly, B is feeling very into planets lately and decided he wanted to finally do his planet model that he's had sitting around. To be perfectly honest, it's hard to fit all the cool stuff we have sitting around here in the day, especially since we aren't learning about planets in science right now. We are currently on life science, not astronomy. B took it upon himself to look up information on which planet was which, organize them by their size, paint them based upon the real pictures and set up his model. In the end his project looked much different than on the box and so I'm glad he took the time to research it and do it right. Funny though, would he have taken that much time if he had already had a full day of school behind him?
So after this week was over how do I feel now? Well, I feel it was one experiment that was a slight success. The kids worked on a lot of art, B & Z built a lot of projects, we had many impromptu learning lessons about various topics, and the kids voluntarily did seek out information and learn things that otherwise they would have complained about.
On the other hand, at the end of the week, neither one of them wanted to check out a lick of math, Z regressed in her reading by a lesson or two, and the actual amount of "learning time" was way less than I would have liked.
For now the kids and I have talked and we have agreed to try a hybrid. I will schedule less of their day and we will make sure to cover the basics. Reading, math, handwriting, spelling, grammar. The other subjects we have great curricula and at any time the kids can ask and we can pick it up and do it. So I fill their work towers with things I feel they must do and things that they can choose to do. If they don't like those choices and something else is pulling them in that direction, they are free to go do it. We decided to give this a go for a bit, and if it seems like their free time is frittered away we will reassess. The kids are excited about this option. So far this week B is excelling and Z is lost. I foresee the future looking like more direction for her and a continuing light touch with B. I will always continue to be amazed at how different every person learns and the differing needs of the individual. Prior to this homeschool journey I just never knew how important individualized learning was.
No comments:
Post a Comment