As I sat down (and got up, multiple times, over multiple days) to do some planning for the school year ahead, I realized how much the past two years have been growth years for me. The 2014-2015 school year was a year in which I grew tremendously as a parent and in my own self-confidence. Maybe that was age-related (mine and/or the kids'), but I think it was predominantly also situational growth; growth due to experiences we were part of. 2015-2016 was the year of growth in my acceptance of, confidence, and comfort with my eclectic style of homeschooling. I will still say we are Waldorf-inspired, because it is Steiner's overview of child development and appropriate matter for age/stage that most resonates, but the nitty gritty of our homeschool life is a messy mix of Waldorf, Brave Writer, maybe a little Charlotte Mason, and some interest-inspired learning.
My children may not know what the average 8 and 11 year olds know, but...my kids aren't average.
Who my children and where they are in their own personal development play heavily into how I plan, why I choose (or skip) what I do, and definitely, how we homeschool.
Here is how I plan! That post is a really helpful background to this post and may help make sense of it!
We continue to school through a charter school, which we all love. The school has a resource center, which we use heavily, but I do supplement with materials that resonate with me that our charter doesn't provide. The charter does offer 2 sessions of classes per school year and there are activities and some field trips as well. In addition, we will continue with our homeschool 4-H club. While I don't yet know what other projects may be offered that one or both kiddos will be interested in, I will be co-leading a Fiber Arts project and will be solo leading (my first time!) a parks Junior Ranger project. The kids are excited about these and are helping me plan, which is very validating. Enthusiasm about their education is a primary goal!
My outline for each child for the coming year are below. This outline follows goal-setting for each of them and myself, comes alongside a list of resources I may access for each topic and a thought-through but simple 'map' of what our weekly and daily groove (rhythm and flow) might look like. I still plan with my overview labeled by month, but I shift as we go, because, well, life happens. This means, something might take a little longer, shorter, or may not happen when I originally think it might. I keep my planning broad and get deeper just before bringing the lesson to my kids and each "block" ties in all the subjects (that we report to our charter) in some way, as much as possible. In addition, despite my being mindful of developmentally appropriate material, I do try and tie lessons for each child together, because we spend our days learning together and I want our family to be cohesive.
I have a number of resources to pull from this year. Through used buy/sell lists, discounts, slow building of our home library, the public library, and loans from our charter resource center, there are more materials I want to reach for than I can realistically use. It is time to purge again, just to keep me realistic!
My Lala Bug (rising grade 6) is below.
August: Finishing up Ancient Greece we have been lightly doing during the summer and tying that into the Olympics. Also, a block on How People Grow and Change.
September: Math (review, strengthening, and getting in a rhythm of working on this together every day) and her first Physics block, which will cover light, sound, heat, and color in a basic, exploratory way.
October: Geology. This will be a very exploratory and hands-on block, bringing in some history, and a review of some biomes lessons we did previously. I am super excited about this block, because this is an interesting topic to me. (One of my favorite classes at university was a course in the geology of national parks.) We have some really appropriate field trips planned and we live in a state with a number of different types of rocks, rock formations, plate movement, earthquakes, volcanic history, and more. (This will also tie in nicely with her brother's October lessons, below.)
November: I want to discuss the elections and government on an appropriate level. Also, we will make a start to Business Math - strengthening decimal use, percentages, and more. Lala Bug has expressed an interest in making and her little brother is a budding entrepreneur. She is a little more hesitant, so this may be a place where the two can work together to support one another. Look out family and friends...she'll likely be starting her own business in time for the holidays. (Did you meet Stan yet?)
December: Geometry. I know...more math, but I am intending on this block actually being a bit lighter and as much about the art of math, because December is a full month of celebrations for us. I believe she will really enjoy the very artistic approach to math that this month will bring.
January: World Geography and Shakespeare. We have done layers of world geography for years, because of books we read and with the travels of the kids Flat Friends (paper doll version of themselves with photos of their faces for the heads, which we send to friends or which travel with family to various places around the globe). As a result, we may focus more on European geography, because that is where so much history study is for her this year; Greece, England (Shakespeare), and later, Rome. As for Shakespeare, our charter offers an intense class and performance opportunity for the middle schoolers and Lala Bug wants to participate this year!
February: Physics II - simple machines and magnetism. More playful fun! More Shakespeare.
March: Roman History, wrap-up of Shakespeare
April: Math again - review and more geometry. Our charter also has testing at this time.
May: Wrap-up and review. I didn't leave enough time for this last year, so I am leaving plenty this year.
In addition to the list above, we will be doing lots of nature study and exploration, poetry tea times, gardening, lots of read-aloud and quiet reading, language arts copy work, free writes, typing, and spelling practice, 4-H projects, and classes with our charter school. She will also do physical education; soccer and/or dance. We also have a weekly library day and she has a weekly occupational therapy session.
In addition to numerous books on individual subjects, I have the following Waldorf guides; Waldorf Essentials grade 6, Christopherus Rough Guide for grade 6, Path of Discovery for grade 6, and Making Math Meaningful for Middle School and for grades 1-5. I also have materials from a couple of popular Waldorf sites/groups for both kids. I love the Christopherus Rough Guide! It is the perfect amount of guidance and material for me at this point. I will be referencing it along the way, just for reminders and ideas. I have never owned a Path of Discovery guide before, but it looks helpful. I will likely reach for it for physics and business math. Also for physics, Playful Learning has some lovely activities and ideas online. I will likely reach for Waldorf Essentials for geometry and always for general coaching support. For general math, Lala Bug circulates interest between Life of Fred, Khan Academy, and Beast Academy. I will also be using the Key To... math series of workbooks with Lala Bug and I am leaning towards using Making Math Meaningful to help me with a scope and sequence for math for both kids. I will be using ideas from Brave Writer's The Writer's Jungle, their website, and possibly some one-off issues of the Brave' Writer's Arrow series for language arts (writing, spelling, grammar). I really love the Brave Writer online community, as well. For science, both kids have been enjoying Mystery Science and an older books series, Destinations in Science. In January, both kids will participate in Journey North's Mystery Class. For Ancient Rome, I will be using a mix of library books (David Macaulay!) and interactive activities (food, architecture, arts). I always have a consideration of the 5 senses! I am brushing up on my rusty Italian, because this girl of mine loves languages and wants to learn Italian and go to Italy.
Got your attention with those cookies, didn't I? They are this recipe. Yum! Perfect with my tea while planning.
My Little Brown Mouse (rising grade 3) is below.
August: To tie in with his sister, but age appropriate, we'll look at healthy bodies, the Olympics, and do some form drawing.
September: Math (review of place value, four processes, and time). Lots of games! Starting this month, and sprinkled through the year, I will be bringing stories from Jewish history and tying these into Jewish celebrations.
October: House building and weather. (These tie into the Jewish holidays happening in October and Lala Bug's studies for Geology.)
November: Jewish history stories and possibly supporting a mini family business (to tie in with his sister's November lessons).
December: Math (calendaring) and lots of holidays and celebrations
January: Geography and local exploring. (This will be age appropriate but tie in with his sister's lessons.)
February: Math (measurement)
March: Farming (planting a garden, talking about pollinators, visiting a local farm monthly through the year, and more)
April: Native Tales and, unfortunately, Little Brown Mouse will have his first experience with testing.
May: Wrap-up and review
In addition to the list above, we will be doing lots of nature study and exploration, poetry tea time, gardening, lots of read-aloud and quiet reading, language arts copy work, free writes, cursive, and spelling practice, 4-H projects, and classes with our charter school. He will also do physical education, such as soccer, we have a weekly library day, and he has a weekly ukulele lesson.
In addition to numerous books on individual subjects, I have the following Waldorf guides; Waldorf Essentials grade 3, Christopherus grade 3, Oak Meadow grade 3. Honestly, none of the three is likely to be my spine, although I have skimmed or read all of them. I will likely refer to the Christopherus Curriculum Overview for Homeschoolers throughout the year, as well their guides Living Languages and from Nature Stories to Natural Science. This year, Little Brown Mouse will have a lot of hands-on work with gardening, building, and exploring, into which I can bring all of the subjects we need to cover. (There are too many books to list, but Farmer Boy, A Pioneer Sampler, Back to Basics, and A Farm Through Time all come to mind!) I want to be more consistent with math for him. It seems to come naturally, but I would like to play more with it with him and like the series Nimble with Numbers, Family Math, Math in the Garden, and Games for Math. I have Making Math Meaningful grades 1-5 to help me with a scope and sequence. I will be using ideas from Brave Writer's The Writer's Jungle, their website, and their program, The Wand, for language arts (reading/phonics, writing, spelling, grammar). For science, both kids have been enjoying Mystery Science and Little Brown Mouse loves experiments. For ancient Jewish stories, I have books by Malka Drucker, Jakob Streit, and Sydney Taylor, and we plan to organize a number of Jewish celebrations.
I am excited for the year ahead and all these topics of interest. I admit, I do worry a little about what we are not doing (more intense music, a foreign language, etc.), but I hope these will come in time, with maturity. As for planning, I am already on to pondering over what I want our weeks and days to feel like in the midst of all this doing and learning!
Thanks for sharing your plans, Nicola. We are currently doing 6th Downunder, and it wasn't until I looked at your plans that I thought, wow, what a lot of science we are doing this year. Like you we are waiting until 7th to do Middle Ages and are leaving Rome until towards the end of our year. We got behind in 5th so also had to add Ancient Greece - just the history, we managed to do the mythology bit - and a geography block to this year, so it's kind of a blend of 5th and 6th really. I'm starting to think I'm going to stop talking about grades and just think in terms of "What shall we do this year?". I'm still following the general order of Waldorf but trying to find ways to relax around it a bit more. We did geology as our first block this year and we loved it! Never thought we'd find rocks so fascinating but it was definitely one of our favourite blocks ever. Hope your start goes well. It's exciting to begin all fresh again. And I think it's a really good point to reflect on what you want your days to feel like because, when all is said and done, that's what's the most important thing. So thanks for the reminder about that.
ReplyDeleteYes! There is a lot of history and science. Medieval History and the Middle Ages I may cover lightly over next summer. Astronomy I intentionally put off and want to cover it with explorers next year. We are doing a 5th/6th blend and I am the same! When I blogged some time ago, I realized, in my ideal world, I would drop the use of grades and focus on stage. It is why I mention meeting them where they are. Since we school through a charter and people know to recognize grade level, I continue to use it. Are grade levels the same in Australia? I know they are not in the UK. I am so excited for Geology! Thanks for sharing how your year is shaping up. Did you begin in January?
DeleteWe started back in February - we have the Christmas period and the whole of January off for summer break. I think my 12 year old would be in grade 7 if he went to public school in Australia and it would be his first year of high school! If he went to the Waldorf school he would be in class 7 this year but he has a spring birthday and I suspect they would have given him a "golden year" of kindergarten and he'd be in 6th. And even though what we're doing at home is mostly classed as sixth grade I think it's far richer than what I remember doing at his age in public school. I agree, focus on stage not grade, and I think even that can be different for individual children too. Not all 11 year olds (for example) will be at the same stage of development. I often wonder if homeschooled children follow a different developmental timetable to their schooled peers. But even schooled children show a wide range, particularly during puberty. It's such an incredible opportunity to homeschool and fit what you do around your child instead of trying to get them to fit around the curriculum.
DeleteYes! I absolutely agree with what you say about children varying in their development, even within their age range. I have observed that my kids' friends who are in mainstream schools tend to seem older than their homeschooled peers.
DeleteI've noticed that too. My son has remained imaginative and playful for longer than almost all the children we know his age, and schooled children often seem so serious and withdrawn - much more like adults! I remember seeing this years ago and being blown away by the differences. Of course she is talking about parenting style not schooling per se, but I suspect many homeschoolers choose home over school because of their parenting style:
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Wish there was a way to ask Steiner if/how he would adapt the curriculum to suit the homeschooled child!
I think Steiner's baseline was from a home perspective (tutoring) and he modified to have Waldorf meet the government requirements. Jean Miller of Waldorf Inspired Learning does a nice job talking about Waldorf at home versus school and Julie Bogart of Brave Writer does a nice job of talking about learning at home (regardless of homeschool philosophy) verus school at home. Thanks for the link. Do YOU blog?! I would love to read it if so!
DeleteYes, I had read that he made compromises but I don't know the details. Would love to learn more about what his "ideal curriculum" was exactly. I seem to think that's how handwork came about, because he felt the 2 hour main lesson was enough and didn't want the children doing more academic work, but don't quote me on that! I have asked a couple of questions about it in groups, i.e. if anyone knows if the ideal curriculum is written down anywhere but I've never had an answer and I haven't found any details in my reading or google searching. I'm curious because I often wonder if Steiner would actually say, don't do any formal work until after the 9 year change, or maybe even later. I even wonder if he'd be an unschooler....
ReplyDeleteNo I don't keep a blog. I think about it sometimes but I doubt I'd get anything else done if I blogged! Maybe when we've finished homeschooling or when the learning is a bit more independent I'll take it up. I enjoy writing, but I spend a lot of time trying to find the right words and being "out there" is quite scary for me! Posting a comment here and there is risky enough LOL. I love reading blogs, have learnt such a lot from so many people who keep blogs and I admire the courage it takes to do it. So I try to comment because I think, if it were my blog, I'd hate to never get any kind of feedback or acknowledgement that I was here writing away. And I want to try and encourage people in their homeschooling and parenting too. I think that's so important.
I think you are right about some of the extra activities Steiner inserted to keep kids busy. Thank you for commenting! I appreciate knowing people are reading. I used to blog elsewhere and I know I lost a lot of readers when I moved blogs, but it also made me realize I enjoy blogging for the personal record of what we are up to, too. I enjoy reading blogs, as well!
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