Ramblings...

Four, on a good day that is the number of subjects we attempt to cover.  That’s with me combining writing with their language arts/reading work.  To be honest…I hate it!  Think about it, how truly effective is it to try and cram so much into one day?  Even with the freedom homeschooling affords us, it still feels like we are rushing to keep up with our lesson plans.  If we spend more time on math then we are a bit behind on science/history in relationship to what is planned out.  While sure it’s not really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things because we can just school during a day that was normally planned as an off day, but who really wants to give up their off days?  I sure don’t!  I look forward to those days where I have no errands to run, no playdates or field trips, no lessons to deal with; just me, myself, and reruns of my favorite shows. 

One thing I despised about my public school experience was the way we bounced from subject to subject.  One minute you are knee deep in a novel during English class, the next you are trying not to fall asleep while you stare at your textbook listening to the teacher drag on about the Revolutionary War.  Part of the reason I was so passionate about homeschooling T.B.M. had to do with wanting to avoid what I view as the short comings of public education; and then I went and planned our day just like what I spent 12 years hating, what the frick frack was I thinking?!

I've mulled over the decision to go to one subject a day for a while now, awhile meaning about two to three years, I kept telling myself it was a crazy idea.  My biggest concern was that they would forget what we covered during the week with such a big gap between their lessons in any given subject, but then I thought, if I plan just right then, hopefully, they won’t.  Multiple subjects a day is draining for us, school becomes a checklist of assignments to complete instead of the full immersion experience that I'm aiming for. 

So I’m doing away with a schedule that involves trying to squeeze multiple subjects in one day and replacing it with the following schedule:

Mathematical Mondays (Math)

Test Tube Tuesdays (Science)

Wordy Wednesdays (Language Arts)

Time Traveling Thursdays (History)

Foundation Fridays (Life skills, Etiquette, character/virtue study, etc.)

Does this mean there will be no reading work at all on Mondays?  No, there will still be daily reading; it will just be more relaxed because the actual reading lessons will be on Wednesday.  Math will also be worked in as well; on Wednesdays we’ll do a few word problems that tie into the math objective of that week, while giving the boys a chance to hone their reading skills.  There will also be math and reading on Tuesdays during our science work, and plenty of reading for history.  My goal is to weave various subjects into the day, but keeping the main focus on the that day's subject.  So on Test Tube Tuesdays if we do chemistry experiments we will use a bit of math, followed by reading and history when we learn about an important chemist, and teaching proper lab/safety information ties into our foundation work since I consider lab/safety knowledge an important life skill to learn. 

Next week will be the start of our one subject a day learning, I’m a bit nervous, but also extremely excited since I've wanted to make this move for a while now.  It seems far more practical and I think it will ensure the level of subject mastery that we are striving for.  Plus, it will be fun to spend all day fully immersed in one subject!  Oh the projects we’ll create!

How do you organize your day? Do you focus on one subject, multiple subjects, or something else entirely?    

Copyright(c) 2012 Rayven Holmes

Aside, from adding Stormaggedon to The Bringers of Mayhem, we are also preparing to move after the New Year, and of course homeschooling through all of it.  I've been mulling over a few directions to take our schooling in hopes of producing better results and a happier learning experience for the boys.  I've also been dreaming of a homeschool room that our next house will allow us to have, as well as ORGANIZING!!  Yes, I’m addicting to organizing. 

There is plenty I need (want) to blog about before this year is out!  So while I lay the foundation for those posts, Stormaggedon commands all you peasants to watch these videos.  If you don't get it, you will after the videos. If you do get it, I award you 10 awesome geek points! 

Copyright(c)2012 Rayven Holmes

There is a new Carnival of Homeschooling over at Homeschool Atheist Momma!  It’s the first time I’ve shared a post for Carnival of Homeschooling, so head over and see what was shared by everyone.  

Copyright(c)2012 Ravyen Holmes

A few days ago I overheard a conversation while at one of T.B.M.’s extra activities.  It was between three girls, two of which attend public school and one who is homeschooled, the homeschooled girl is roughly 2-3 years younger than the other two girls.  One of the girls started the conversation by telling the girls what grade she was in and then asking the other girls their grades, the other public school girl told her grade and then turning away from the girl who is homeschooled goes –in a very condescending tone-“She’s homeschooled, so she doesn’t have a grade”.  At this point the homeschooled girl attempted to explain to them that it depends on the subject, like with many homeschoolers, but the girls just spoke over here never listening to what she was saying.  Then they started in “Well why are you homeschooled?”  “Do you even want to be homeschooled”.  The girl tried to once again explain what they do in her home and her mother’s reasons for choosing home education, she NEVER once said she didn't want to be homeschooled, in fact she was attempting to speak on the positives and getting repeatedly interrupted.  

Eventually the girl said that they just didn't understand and walked off to regroup her thoughts, my heart sank for her.  Not only because these girls weren't listening to her, but because a lot of it seemed very orchestrated.  I've watched her mother have to try to explain their reasons to others at this same place before and the things these young girls were saying seemed like they came right out of the mouths of the other women who had ganged up on the homeschooled girl’s mother before. 

The young girl eventually came back over and was content to just stand and wait until it was their time to take part, but the other girls weren’t finished.  Instead they started in “Well if your mom doesn’t think the schools are challenging enough she can just put you in the gifted class” and –this is the part that made me go WTF the most- “How is your parents able to even teach you?”.  How is?  How is?  Oh sweet grammar, she is really trying to promote public school and belittle homeschooling while using such horrible grammar?  They then tried to say things such as “Just talk to your mom about coming to real school, you know cause you don’t want to be homeschooled” and “Well if you come to regular school like us you will be able to meet more kids your age, which you really need to do.”  Seriously?  11 year olds really say that to one another?  My BS alarm was ringing-they had to of been prompted right?-, my blood was boiling, and yet I couldn’t speak. 

What would I say?  Well, I had a million and one things I wanted to say, but these are children-none of which included one of my children-.  Children, who clearly seemed to have been given an agenda, an orchestrated series of questions to ask and comments to make, which I found upsetting and sickening  I found myself wondering as T.B.M. and I got ready to go to the car if I should have said something, anything, to maybe make these young ladies think.  Would it have been worth it?  I’m sure the homeschooled girl would have appreciated it, but does that cross a line when it’s not your child?  Should we ensure that by a certain age they can defend homeschooling and our family’s choices?  Why do they even need to defend it?!  I think I was so floored that it was children saying it, I’ve heard adults make these comments millions of times-especially my own family-, but I’ve heard next to nothing from other children-especially of this caliber-.  The most I have directly heard was when General Disarray was asked one day which school he attended because, the boy who asked never sees him around school, he told the boy he was homeschooled, and the boy goes “Oh, well I wish we went to the same school so we could see each other more”.  I’m pretty sure this would have been the boy’s response no matter what, since we don’t live in the same school zone as him, and it’s an understandable response given their ages and how much fun they have when they are able to interact with each other. 

The exchange between the three girls though, has left a horrible taste in my mouth, and I wonder what would other homeschoolers do?  Would you sit and observe and internalize the interaction so you can better prepare your own children for similar interactions if they ever arise?  Would you speak up and tell the girls that every family has to make decisions for their family and sometimes these decisions aren’t the same as everyone else's, but these decisions are given a lot of thought.  And maybe if they are genuinely interested in learning about homeschooling they should either hush and listen to what the girl is saying or ask the girl’s mother why she made the choice she did?  Or would you do something else entirely? 

Should I be spending some time each day helping T.B.M. perfect a homeschooling elevator speech? 

Really what I want to know the most is WHY DO WE HAVE TO DEFEND THIS?!  Why do our CHILDREN have to defend this?!  I don’t see the kids at this activity who attend public or private school having to defend their parents choices for sending them to these institutions, but those of us who opt out of these institutions have to defend that decision, why the hell is that?! 

Why, why, why, why, WHY?!  

Copyright(c)2012 Rayven Holmes

Back in January I touched on our 2012-2013 plans and after ordering some of the needed items, viewing some of the materials a friend of mine had, and a long chat with The Spouse the decision was made to change up our plans.  Despite my original stance on using a “box” curriculum or “all-in-one” I had a change of heart, which is of course the beauty of homeschooling, you can change things as you see fit. 

While we have managed to get some work done this year, neither the spouse nor I ,are pleased with the current way things are progressing-there is a lack of structure we both feel is necessary in our homeschooling-and our home in general-.  I had gone back and forth for some time over using Oak Meadow, I did like the way the program looked, but didn’t really want to use an “all-in-one”.  After a long discussion with The Spouse –I’m talking about a conversation that went well into the early morning hours!- where we both expressed concerns, expectations, positives, and negatives of switching as well as our current hodgepodge of materials. 

We went through the Oak Meadow Grade K that I had purchased from a friend and decided that while we like the material it was too easy for Professor Chaos so I purchased the Grade 1 for him and we will be starting that as soon as it arrives.  For General Disarray we decided to skip fourth grade because he already knows a great deal of the material Grade 4 covers and what we haven’t covered Oak Meadow covers as review in the start of the year, so we are going directly to Grade 5. 

We won’t be using it as a complete “all-in-one” because we prefer Saxon Math and find it to be a bit more advanced/challenging than Oak Meadow.  We’ll use the Oak Meadow provided Math for the first three grades and then switch to the Saxon 5/4 math and go forth from there.  We’ll also be supplementing our science and history work as well for more in depth study. 

As for our yearly game plan, General Disarray will start his Oak Meadow work this upcoming week, since the program is broken down into 36 weeks we’ll finish up right before Christmas-no planned breaks- and then take off from our regular schooling until we get settled at our next duty station.  We’ll do some light work to ensure material learned isn’t lost during the 2 - 2 ½ month break.  For Professor Chaos we’ll be using Hooked on Phonics, Explode the Code, and a series of math workbooks until his Oak Meadow work arrives and then we’ll use Hooked on Phonics in combination with Oak Meadow.  

We won’t finish up Professor Chaos’ work before the Christmas break, so we’ll do a light version of it starting after the holidays- at the same time we are starting the light work for General Disarray- that will put Professor Chaos finishing up around the time we are settled at our next duty station.  Once we are all settled in we’ll stop the light work and take a good solid two weeks off to relax, adjust, and prep for the new school year. 

That’s our school plan and I’m looking forward to seeing how the school year unfolds.  There are also going to be changes to our daily schedule as well, but that is for another blog post.  After I’ve got some much needed sleep.  

Copyright(c)2012 Rayven Holmes