learning period 5: 2018 - 2019

I have posted previously about how our charter follows learning periods. (Here is my post from learning period 4, which links to those before.) I shifted into posting monthly at the start of 2019, but since I was specific about subjects in these learning period posts and I started the school year this way, I am doing both to finish the school year.

This learning period, April and May, flew by. My word for the year is present, chosen, in part, because this was my eldest's 8th grade year, so I really wanted to soak up our time together before big transitions. Having spent most of the year addressing extra needs, high school tours and applications, and more, I have only now finally felt able to slow down and be present. Boo. In April, our kids went through state testing, which also took a small chunk of time and a fair amount of emotional bandwidth. 

 

Brown Mouse cut and sewed this knife pouch himself. He wrapped a cordage handle on the knife and put the whole thing on a belt he also made himself. This was one of several things that show his growing independence, capabilities, and interests the past few months.

Social studies: We wrapped up learning about the Great Depression through literature; Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz. We also took a tour on a tall ship, which opened conversation back up on many of the topics and the time period we studied earlier this school year.

 

Lala Bug loves fiber arts of all sorts. This doll outfit is one of a number that she made this year. She made the leggings (from an old t-shirt), then the dress (from an old sheet). She entered the dress in the county fair for judging. Her sewing creations have increased in complexity and speed of completion this year.

Language arts and Writing: In addition to using the Brave Writer Arrow guide alongside Esperanza Rising, there was writing for 4-H for both kids this learning period. In addition, Lala Bug was getting weekly support from a teacher at our charter school and Brown Mouse is still working through a reading and spelling support program called REWARDS.

Math: Teaching Textbooks for Brown Mouse and Khan Academy for Lala Bug. Both kids did the evaluation for ALEKS and Lala Bug liked it, so she will be using that over the summer for some support. We all like Math Antics videos for review and always games! A big highlight in April was participation in their first Outschool class. The one we chose was a math class for review of certain concept under the guide of designing their dream homes.

Science: During this learning period, we continued our nature exploration through 4-H and as a family on the weekends. We also enjoyed several science experiments using the DK Smithsonian books and Mystery Science. We found tiny Anise Swallowtail caterpillars on our fennel. We had to identify them because we have never had them before. We moved fennel and the caterpillars to our butterfly net house to raise. It is amazing watching them grow! Perhaps the highlight, though, has been following (on bird cam) a pair of nesting Peregrine Falcons from when they laid 3 eggs. Two eggs successfully hatched and the chicks are nearly ready to try their first flight now. This bird cam is especially meaningful to my two young birders because they even had a chance to go and speak with an ornithologist about these birds.

And finally, our charter is now finished for the year. Our family participated in and attended a sweet, personal graduation celebration for the dozen 8th graders. It was such a celebration of each child, homeschooling in general, and our charter community. I declared May 31 our final day of school. We still need to bind main lesson books and share them with family. We are ready for a break! That said, both kids will be having mini math and language arts lessons consistently through the summer and we will need to compile record books for 4-H.

Happy end of school year! How are you celebrating?

June and July 2019

 

June brings solstice summer sun

Warmth and light for everyone.

 

We spend July in mountains high.

Canoe, hike, and swim; The days fly by. 

~Nicola 

 

Dates of Interest:

June 16: Father's Day

June 21: Summer Solstice

July 4: United States' Independence Day


Homeschooling:

We wrapped up the year well. We didn't get to all at hoped to and planned for. Not even close. But we also had some important health care appointments series that interrupted our flow substantially.

We usually take the summertime off. This year, our summer break is shorter and we will be enjoying some space and time, but we will also be doing some intentional learning. Our summer is actually far more scheduled (not necessarily full, just mapped out) than usual.

Intentional learning includes some language arts and some math for both kids. In addition, Lala Bug has asked to learn some coding. This isn't something she is normally interested in, but she has idea in mind that this would help with. I love this for so very many reasons! Also, Shakespeare is much loved in this house and there are opportunities around to see local performances, which we plan to take advantage of.

And, of course, I need to spend some time planning. This coming year will look very different, but I don't quite know yet how it will be different. We continue to try and be mindful of where our kids are socially, emotionally, developmentally, and academically, regardless of their chronological age. We are trying to respect their desires, limits, and interests, while keeping the broader view of what they might need for college and beyond. All that feels a bit fuzzy for my planning right now.

Self-care:


Self-care this summer will mean me getting some time alone, clearing some of our spaces (this gives me greater inner calm), and reading some books. We will be adventuring and exploring this summer, which is something I deeply need. I need to "get away," even if we don't travel and this just means exploring new and much-loved places nearby.

Parenting:


Our kids need some down time, nature time, and one-on-one this summer! There are plans for them to get all of that. I continue to work on boundary setting and holding and we are being mindful to pour on more positive compliments and observations when appropriate. We have one kiddo who has a hard time accepting supportive criticism, corrections, and also compliments. All of these help us grow when when they are intended in a caring way.

Home life:

We have some major work to do this summer...decluttering, room shuffling, and we need a new roof (and ceiling repairs from where the roof leaked)!



I am combining June and July, because one way in which I am caring for myself this summer is not setting myself up to feel obliged to be online! Have a joyful summer.

May 2019

May brings sun and sandy beach swims,

Before the summer fog rolls in. 

~Nicola

Dates of Interest:

May 1: May Day. We make and deliver anonymous May Day bouquets. (Above photo.)

May 12: Mother's Day

May 27: Memorial Day

May 30: Last day of school (for our charter and I think us, too, this year. Lala Bug graduates our charter this year. Lots of feelings!)


Homeschooling:

April was very off-kilter with, and following, testing. Our one consistent piece through the month was an Outschool math class both kids did and enjoyed. At the end of the month and heading into the beginning of May, our literature choice is Esperanza Rising, which fits in beautifully with our other studies of the Depression (and recovery, and World War II) time period and is poignant for us as Californians. It is a wonderful book!

Fifth Grader: We are continuing with our language arts (Brave Writer and REWARDS) and math (Teaching Textbooks and Key To series), but this month I want to be heavy on nature/botany for Brown Mouse.

Eight Grader: We are continuing with language arts (Brave Writer and one-on-one support from our charter) and math (Khan Academy and Key To series). This month I want to end with a focus on business and entrepreneurship with Lala Bug.

High school...we have a general plan in place now (link to post). Now, Lala Bug and I will begin to shape what her homeschool courses will be and I will dive a little deeper into making sure we are covering what we need to for all of high school, from the very beginning.

Self-care:

If nothing else this month, I am feeling a deep need for some alone time. The list of things I really want to do that would help fuel me seems rather simple; keep increasing my morning journal and exercise time back to what it was, drink more water, finish a couple books I am dragging through, and resume meditating and the anti-inflammatory diet. Ha! That is quite a lot, really.

Parenting:

M and I have gotten a little more time to focus on us, which is good. We can feel and see the growth, positive and challenging, in both our kids, and we are having to discuss and coordinate new limits within our parenting. I am working on not feeling guilty when setting a limit or frazzled when there is push-back to the limit. This is all normal and good.

Home life:

Usually, I am an autumn-cleaning rather than a spring-cleaning type of person, but I can feel my highly sensitive self is deeply needing to clear and clean. I know this won't likely be my focus until school and soccer season are done, but a little here and a little there helps!

Crafting:
Endless projects here...new baby and end of school year gifts being made, house and yard projects being worked, science crafts being done, and long abandoned projects being picked up and finished!

Have a lovely May!

(This post was inspired by Carrie of The Parenting Passageway.)

the path ahead - high school

More than a year ago, I wrote this post about the path ahead. And at the beginning of this school year, I wrote about how planning for the year felt and looked a little different because weren't sure what school would look like for our family in the 2019-2020 year. Well, it turns out that planning for the year (or ~4 high school years) ahead touched and affected almost every aspect of this current school year and yet we didn't know what we would be doing until this past week or so.

We spent the entire 'first semester' of this school year supporting our 8th grader through a series of evaluations to help us better understand and support her. She's a differently wired kiddo and it felt important to have whatever services she might receive, in place, before transitioning to the next stage of learning. (Even if we were to continue homeschooling, the charter school that provides us with support, structure, and community ends with 8th grade, so transitions are inevitable.) It turns out that we know her strengths and challenges really well (i.e. we didn't learn much new) and her differences don't qualify her for support, so we felt as though we were left stumbling a bit. We don't want to reinvent the wheel, but it has felt exceptionally difficult to find the support for her differences. In addition, at winter break, the kids' occupational therapist, with whom Lala Bug had been working and in relationship with for 3 years, moved. It has been an emotional year and emotions are hard to process.

In the weeks and months after winter break, I attended more homeschool high school workshops and learning opportunities, and we attended a number of high school information sessions. Then application time began, including applications from a reluctant Lala Bug, followed by interviews and shadow days. We explored both paths, homeschooling high school and brick and mortar high school options, wanting to know what our choices are, and trying to respect her consistent and strong desire to homeschool, in balance with my uncertainty about providing all she needs at a high school level, without proper support.

I am condensing a tremendous amount of intensity, emotional fluctuation, anxiety, uncertainty, discussion, and decision making into very few words for the sake of this post, but it has been a very full year of considering what is coming ahead, which feels contradictory, considering my word for the year is Present. I have felt anything but.

At this point, we are still waiting to hear from the homeschool charter schools that serve high schoolers in our area, because they don't accept applications and do lotteries until quite late in the year. I suppose this could change our plans slightly, but given the experiences of friends who have forged ahead of us, we are assuming we won't 'win' a spot.

So...next year, we will be doing a hybrid of homeschooling and school. Lala Bug was accepted to a part time program at a school that supports differently wired kids, so we are hoping she has the best of both...community, support in learning and emotional growth as well as some freedom to really pursue her own passions. She will attend the very small high school for a couple of core classes and we will create the rest of her learning plan together. She is reluctant to change what we are currently doing, but I think we are both excited at the ideas of all the amazing classes that we can create, tailored just for her.

As we were exploring schools for her, we explored schools for Brown Mouse, as well, but he too, will continue homeschooling.

I would love to hear what others are doing for the coming year, high school or not. I will link to this post on Facebook and Instagram, where these posts tend to get comments, so feel free to comment here or there, if you prefer!

April 2019

April brings the flaming weeds,

as gold bursts from California Poppy seeds. 

~Nicola

Dates of Interest:

As a family that homeschools through a charter school, this month our kids participate in various forms of testing. In addition, we technically have a spring break, so our April schedule and activities will be a little different than usual.

April is Poetry Month!

April 15: Tax Day

April 21: Easter

April 22: Earth Day


Homeschooling:

Moving out of March, we have really been in an amazing homeschooling groove. I know this will shift this month because of testing, but I am really okay with that, because I am needing a respite from the regular "to dos" of homeschooling as I really tackle (and draw the kids into) some home clear out and rearrangement tasks. While the kids are testing, I will be working on our home financial management and taxes, so this has been part of our learning conversation.

Both kids are in an online class that pairs design concepts (something they are both interested in, in different ways) and math. So far, it has been a hit.

Fifth Grader: Not too much change, although I need to bring in more science, his love.  He is using Teaching Textbooks and Key To workbooks for math and we are using games to review, although between testing and the online class, we may make little progress. We are definitely not going to finish the Teaching Textbooks lessons by year-end. We are continuing to use REWARDS to support his progress with language arts differences and using Brave Writer Arrow guides for literature and language arts.

Eight Grader: She has been working through Khan Academy and Key To workbooks for math (although we will likely cover less of these with the online class and testing). A success has been discovering she really enjoys the math more on a pad with a rubber tipped pen. She is getting a small amount of outside support for language arts and math and is also doing the Brave Writer Arrow guides with us. She blurted out the other day "We don't do enough history!" That's her love, so we will do a little more this month.

We have been narrowing down options for high school next year and I suspect will feel settled in a decision by the end of the month. At the very least, the most stressful aspects feel as though they are behind us and some very good family and one on one parent-parent and parent-child conversations have happened now.

Self-care:

My priority has been sleep and personal reading. I have done well with these, but I still haven't been sleeping all that well. While I have been less successful at consistently being up before my kids (Lala Bug rises quite early these days) and morning exercise, we have been great at getting out into nature for hikes as a family on the weekend, and this really fuels all of us. My goals this month is to take a few minutes daily to write and/or meditate to process all that has been happening and also to finish another book. (I am reading several at once.) I would also like to re-kindle the challenge of a photo a day.

Parenting:

Parenting, as always, is about connection, empathy, play, limits, listening, and love. I am working on talking less and listening more. Patience, love, and playfulness are what is needed right now with the kids, as well as encouraging loving kindness and empathy between siblings. I think mostly, M and I really need to pour some time and care into our relationship. Spouse and self can be the last to receive care when kids, homeschooling, work, commute, home repairs, etc. feel so dominant.

Home life:

We are making more progress on clearing, cleaning, organizing, and re-arranging. We have continued to have a lot of rain and have had pauses as a result. The fence is now down, we need to clear out fence debris, clean up outside, and plant new seedlings. We need to finish clearing out a room and have the flooring we selected installed. I hope we can do this by the end of the month. I have a number of items to donate or sell to make space we desperately need.

Crafting:
So much creating has been happening here, especially building and sewing! I foresee it continuing, which is lovely.

Happy April! Share what is happening in your life!

(This post was inspired by Carrie of The Parenting Passageway.)

learning period 4 of 2018-2019

I share a little about our homeschool every couple of months when I write about the learning period that has just ended. We just wrapped up learning period 4, February and March. I wrote about learning period 3 here (with links to learning periods 1 and 2).

This learning period was calmer, smoother, more rhythmic, and quite productive. We are still in a state of uncertainty about next year and whether or not we will homeschool our current 8th grader for high school. My word for the year is present, and I admit, despite being more rhythmic and even connected, I am having a difficult time really being mindful of the present in the way in which I would like. 

Social studies: We continued with our American Girl history project and our study of the 1930s and the Great Depression coincided with historical anniversaries that relate so much and there were so many connections. Both kids were part of a Shakespeare class and performance this learning period, which included quite a few assignments for history and writing, including a final project for each student. Much was learned here about books and book making in Shakespeare's time and about the Globe Theatre and performing in the late 1500s and early 1600s. In addition, we went to a Monet art exhibit and that sparked a lot of learning and interest in art history for a bit.

Language arts and Writing: So much writing came out of the kids' Shakespeare class and for Brown Mouse, from his science class on physiology. Lala Bug is getting weekly support from a teacher at our charter school and Brown Mouse is still working through a reading and spelling support program called REWARDS, which he is having success with.

Math: Teaching Textbooks for Brown Mouse, Khan Academy for Lala Bug, games, and Key To... series workbooks for both kids. We are more consistent with math this year, but it still seems to be slow going.

Science: During this learning period, we continued our nature exploration, although more of it has happened from home, with 4-H, or as a family on the weekends, rather than our planned, dedicated nature study time on Mondays. There is so much change to witness in late winter and early spring (!), e participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count and have had a great time with experiments. We also covered some more chemistry and some physics. Brown Mouse also took an Exercise Physiology class through our charter school.

 

What have you been up to? I cannot believe we are now headed into learning period 5, the final chunk of the school year!

March 2019

March brings our 'coastal snow,'

as flowers bloom and white petals blow. 

~Nicola

Dates of Interest:

March is the month dedicated to celebration of women. We will be reading extra stories of strong and unique women during read-aloud.

March 8: International Women's Day

March 17: St. Patrick's Day

March 20: Shakespeare performances day in our world

March 21: Holi

Homeschooling:

Homeschooling in a little smoother as we begin this month. We are through the application process with our oldest for high schools and are now waiting, talking, and making decisions. I had not anticipated how much stress and anxiety my girl would experience from participating in this process. Change is inevitable and hard.

For both kids we are going to shifting back into using Brave Writer Arrow or Boomerang guides paired with literature. We had taken a break while steeped in Shakespeare.

Fifth Grader: Not much has changed since last month's post! He is working on weekly homework for his Exercise Physiology class, as well as his Globe Theatre project for his Shakespeare class. He is using Teaching Textbooks and Key To workbooks for math and we are using games to review. We are continuing to use REWARDS to support his progress with language arts differences.

Eight Grader: She just completed her Shakespeare project and is working on memorizing lines so she can be an understudy for a couple of other characters, if necessary. She has been working through Khan Academy and Key To workbooks for math and she is getting a small amount of outside support for language arts and math.

Self-care:

I have been tired. My priority has been climbing into bed at a reasonable time and reading a little before sleep. There are so many other self-care things I want to be doing, and if I am honest, I feel like I deserve. If I stop and consider, there are little things I am doing...a hot shower (alone for 5 minutes of thinking and meditation), light exercise, listening to podcasts, and nature time, among others, but it is the time I have alone that is most meaningful to me. Recently, my brother came for an overnight and took the kids mountain biking for the afternoon, so M and I had a little conversation time alone together before he went for a hike and left me alone in the house. I did some clean-up, but it still felt restorative because I was by myself. I really haven't been getting this kind of time much. It is so important to know these things about oneself!

Parenting:

Parenting, as always, is about connection, empathy, play, limits, listening, and love. I am working on talking less and listening more. Brown Mouse just went away for a couple of days for special adventure time with Grandma and Nonno, leaving Lala Bug to get some special time with us. It was what everyone needed.

Home life:

We are making very slow progress on clearing, cleaning, organizing, and re-arranging, but progress in baby steps is still progress. We have had a lot of rain and we can see where we may need to pause until it is dry enough for us to haul some things outside, but also that items like roof patching and fence securing are getting bumped up on the list. M and I are working to carve out time to really connect and communicate with each other about all. the. things; kids, schooling, home, work, future, finances. We are definitely at a point where we are both feeling worn and changes are needed. I feel the winds shifting.

Crafting:
Lala Bug's itch to knit has been rekindled. I am pleased to see her creativity re-blossom. M has been making some tools for his shop that haven't required power, since his finger is still recovering from the table saw. Brown Mouse has been working on a model Globe Theatre for his Shakespeare project. Me? I have been mending things and decluttering my crafting area, readying it to be packed up for a room rearrangement.

And just like that we slide toward spring! What is happening in your world?