Homeschooling Schedule

I have tried many different ways of homeschooling--tutors, a highly structured computer based curriculum, and a more eclectic approach with curriculum drawn from many different sources. This next year, I am going with the more eclectic approach. The basis of our curriculum will be www.amblesideonline.org. This is a list of recommended studies based on the Charlotte Mason method of learning. Charlotte Mason, one of my personal heroines, was a 19th century educator who believed that children should be exposed to grand ideals and what she termed, "Living Books". Living Books are "whole books" as opposed to textbooks that take snippets of information here and there. She also believed in plenty of free time out in nature. There should be exposure to great artists and musicians, great literature, a thorough study of history, and continuing religious education. Based on this model, this is our tentative schedule.

Opening
(Prayer/Scripture/Pledge/Creed/Song/Weather/Business/Etc.)

Copy Work/Penmanship (MTWF)

Morning Walk (MTWF)

Language Arts/Literature (MTWF)

Math (MTWF)

History (MTW)

Science (MW)

Spanish (MTWF)

Latin (MTWF)

Artist/Composer Study (M)

Poetry Journals (M)

Art (T)

Piano Lessons (M) Piano Practice (TWRF)

Nature Study (T)

Music Appreciation--(Hymns and Folksongs) (W)

Handicrafts (R)

Free Reading (MTWRF)

Scouting (W)

Religion (F)

Culinary Class (T)

Physical Education
(Dance/Fencing/Kung Fu/Gymnastics/Horseback Riding/Soccer)

What pleases me about this plan is it's breadth as well as it's depth. We will run with this schedule and tweak it where necessary. Yea, Fuller School!!!!

Homeschooling 2011-2012

I believe that this next year we are going to homeschool. I always try to keep an open mind on education, and I truly believe that parents have to make the best decision on how to educate their children based on their families' needs at the current time. For us, that means that at different times we have accessed the public education system. At other times we have home schooled our children. We have had positive experiences under both systems.

I have growing concerns about the time constraints placed on children. It seems like so much time is spent riding the bus, at school itself, and then on homework and extracurricular activities. I have to wonder--when do children just get to be children? Even playtime seems to be so structured now--instead of sending the kids outside to just "play", many parents form "play groups". I don't have anything against playgroups, I just hope that the children have plenty of unstructured time to just "BE". A.A. Milne, the author of the charming, "Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh", wrote,

"What I like doing best is Nothing."

"How do you do Nothing," asked Pooh after he had wondered for a long time.

"Well, it's when people call out at you just as you're going off to do it, 'What are you going to do, Christopher Robin?' and you say, 'Oh, Nothing,' and then you go and do it.

This is what childhood is all about. The ability to thrive in different, varied situations often has as its basis the foundation of a safe, imaginative childhood. I am not advocating letting children grow up carelessly, without ever having responsibilities. What I am advocating is a childhood full of free time spent exploring God's world, tempered with regular responsibilities (making beds, cleaning living areas, setting the table for meals, etc.) Free play, regular responsibilities, an accepting, secure home full of love, and regular studies of the sacred as well as the secular provide the idyllic childhood every child deserves.