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I
just wanted to share a few quick facts with you that affect our school year.
Because SL is based upon a 36 week year for school and I have chosen to school
year round -- I have had to make some adjustments to our schedule. We
school year round because learning is not something that you do for a short
time but something that you do all your life, something that should be as
natural as breathing and praising God.
We
take several breaks throughout the school year and a longer one during the
summer. These are not break from school but rather breaks from our usual
curriculum. For information on what we do during these breaks, see our unit
study page. Most of the unit studies are picked based upon our children's
interest but not all. Like this summer, we are doing a review of skills that
we have learned so far. This is so that I know where we are at. More
information on this on the other page..
Whole Home Learning Environment
Even
though you may designate one area to your home to your child's education it is
actually throughout your home that your child will learn. Every skill we teach
our children is important. You cannot teach cooking from the desk in the
office!
What
I have done and continue to try to do, is to take advantage of every area in
my home. I use bulletin board sets from the teachers store to decorate my
children's rooms in whatever topic is their current favorite. We have one wall
designated for this. In the bathroom I have posters of personal hygiene, the
five senses, and body parts. The kitchen has a model of the food pyramid and a
chart of different types of fruits and vegetables. The playroom is covered in
preschool posters from ABCs and 123's to the ocean to tips on sharing. The
dining room has maps and posters from all over the world.
This
is how our 2 bedroom apartment was decorated. Since we moved, things have been
moved around and placed in other areas of the home. Since we now have a school
room and a playroom, a lot of things have been moved there.
My
point is ... be creative. Every room in your home has something to teach
your child. Just as every tree and flower in your backyard has a
secret to share, home schooling is about opening our eyes to the
wonders around us. Not necessarily for the children, but for the parents. As
we get older, we tend to overlook that which fascinated us as a child. The
bread rising on the counter, the ladybug crawling on a leaf, the wind moving
through the area, the dust on the furniture. Each one has their own story to
share. Its your job as a parent to rediscover and share it with your child.
Yearly Schedules
In
the past, I have broken down our year by quarters, planned breaks and
holidays as well as vacations but not this year. My plans never seem to
go as I thought they would. Two weeks into the new year ... things are
already on a very different course. So, I have a new plan (didn't think
I would give up on planning altogether now did you??). Since we
believe in schooling year round, I am simply picking months to start and
end in. May 2005 - April 2006 May
2006 - April 2007 We have used this plan for several years now with great success!
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