To give you an idea of how it works I'll tell you a little bit about a few of our days. Not every day is like this, some days we do tons and some days we don't. Some days we spend all day reading book and learn from the books, some days we spend all day at a filed trip, some days we spend all day cleaning because we are still earning to balance housework and learning. Even that is a learning experience!
These are a few entries from my homeschool journal;
January 9, 2015
"Today we talked about engineering. We drew detailed depictions of a house, then we built a replica with wooden blocks, and last we used a game called Minecraft to build the house. We talked about area, that led to a math dicscussion about how to find area and the area of different shapes. We talked about different types of building material and also terrain. Where would you want a house to be built. Glen wanted his on top of a mountain, Benjamin wanted his in a desert, and I wanted mine in a forest. We also talked about how to build a strong house and how to defend it if necessary.
For PE we built an obstacle course and ran, jumped, ducked, and weaved in and out of the obstacles. We did this in the morning and then again in the afternoon.
Glen is really interested in animals, especially birds so I found a man who runs a bird rescue who is going to have Glen be his apprentice. I will have to go with him until he is older, but it will be such a great opportunity to learn how to care for birds.
For science we talked about animals and how scientists classify them using characteristics such as size, color, and other features. We sorts beans and lintels and talked about how to classify and identify beans and lentils and other foods."
January 16, 2015
"Today for reading Glen read to me out of his poetry binder and an almanac. Benjamin also read to Elizabeth and Glen. We read some poetry by Emily Dickinson and discussed the differences between Emily Dickinson and Shel Silverstien. Language, humor, and rhyming.
For science we explored our senses and had tons of fun. We tried different textures, sights, sounds, foods, and smells. We also watched a documentary about an Allosourus and talked about animals that are like them.
For PE we practiced ninja skills, running, jumping, and balance. We made puffy paint for art, and also baked cookies, let's call that home economics. :) We also talked about chemistry and how salt effects the chemical reaction in baking."
January 19, 2015
"Today was Martin Luther King Jr. day and we talked about slavery, segregation, MLK Jr. and civil rights.
We went to the zoo and learned more about our favorite animals.
We talked about DNA and watched a little movie clip to learn more about DNA."
January 20, 2015
We did more work with 2 times tables. Glen has almost gotten all of them down and Benjamin is finally beginning to understand it too!
We talked more about DNA. We watched another short clip and drew our own animals, real or imaginary. We talked about their traits, habitat, predators, prey, if they were nocturnal or not, and what would make the ideal animal. We talked about Darwin, who he was, what he believed about evolution and survival of the fittest. We talked about how the Lord created the Earth and also us.
That led to a talk about what would happen if the Lord had not created any carnivorous animals. We talked about how everything has to be balanced. We watched that short clip about the wolves effecting the river in Yellow Stone National park and that led to a discussion about plant life, soil and erosion.
We watched a science clip about different gases and their density and that led to a discussion about water and what makes things float and the density of diverse objects.
Glen conducted a science experiment to find out what makes baking soda fizz when we set off our volcanoes. He filled a bowl with water and then added baking soda. Nothing. He decided it must be the food coloring that makes the fiz so he added some of that. Nothing. I asked him if he wanted to try some other things. Vinegar made it fiz. We talked about the acidity level of different things. He tried lemon juice for some fiz, and soy sauce and oil for no fiz. The oil floated to the top which led to another discussion about the density of liquids and gasses."
All of that today happened before lunch. It happened naturally. I made suggestion and if they were taken we did it, if not I let it go. Most of it they did on their own, like the science experiment by Glen. This is just who we are, we are students of life.
When I first started to homeschool I kind of felt panicked and guilty. How would my kids ever learn anything without the classroom and teacher? Then I reminded myself that I taught my kids just fine before they entered school. Glen was reading at a 3-4th grade level, knew addition, subtraction ,fractions, and the concept of positive and negative numbers. He knew TONS about animals and geography. My kids want to learn and I want to facilitate that learning. My job isn't to force then to learn, it's just to provide the opportunity to learn in an environment where it is encouraged. Glen told me a few days after we started homeschooling that he got in trouble in school for asking too many questions. I told him to ask as many as he wanted and to talk as much as he wants and from then on he took off!
Some days are discouraging and I feel anxious. I'm still inexperienced and trying to figure it all out, but I think it will be ok. We are too full of the love of learning to stop now. All of that learning happens without forcing it. I think every now and then I will need to use a little more guidance then others, but I see that the Lord was right all along. I don;t have anything to worry about when I do what he wants. He knows just what my family needs.
