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Angel
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| Posted: Aug 20 2009 at 3:14pm | IP Logged
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Jennifer and Elizabeth and anyone else using the Sunflower Basket plans from Serendipity...
I'm wondering what your expectations are for the amount of work to be done in a typical day. Or - how much work do your girls do in a typical day? (If you needn't have expectations because your kids are off and running on their own.)
Also, I need a more concrete idea of how you helped your daughters plan out their work. (Elizabeth, I know you said that MaryBeth sat down and did all her own planning. My apples don't fall far from the tree, though, and planning is... um, difficult... around here.  )
Confession: I'm asking less for my dd who is off and running with the books and the tweaks I made for her than for my 12 yo ds, for whom I made up a Serendipity-inspired male version of the basket. There are special needs involved here (his *and* mine), and I'd just like to have something to go on before I lay down the law. 
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Aug 20 2009 at 4:49pm | IP Logged
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Angela,
I'll tell you how our days look using the Sunflower Basket. This will be different for you because your dd is younger than mine. You might want to just sit down with her and do the planning for and with her...
General expectations
I gave some general expectations to Sarah...for example I sat down with her when we started and we talked about time management. I expressed that our goal was going to be to finish up the Sunflower Basket by September 11. That being said, if she was still enjoying the Sunflower basket we could linger. That date ISN'T set in stone, but it's something to shoot for.
Work in addition to the Sunflower Basket
The Sunflower Basket isn't the only thing Sarah does each day. We all have a large block of time doing our Morning Basket work. She completes a lesson of Algebra, a ]Latin lesson (or she will if her book ever comes in...), and a little history from another period she was interested in continuing her study of. So, on our plans I have a 2 1/2 hour block of time (divided in half) that is set aside for Literature for the Young Lady. Some days we stretch that a bit and do less in other areas. She's been averaging about 3 hours a day of focused work in her Sunflower Basket.
Planning the Sunflower Basket
Sarah wanted to study Natural History during the entire time of the Sunflower Basket and parallel that with one other subject at a time. She started with Literature and has just moved through the subject offerings from there. So, let me give you an example of a recent day she planned....
- Literature for the Young Lady - block 1
** Victoria: May Blossom of the Britania - finish book
** Botany in a Day, p 7-8 (spore plants)
** Botany Coloring Book, p 75-76 (true ferns) - Literature for the Young Lady - block 2
** Written narration of Queen Victoria (illustrate if desired) to include in Book of Centuries
** Outside to collect a fern sample
** View spores under microscope
** Watercolor of a fern with spores in Country Diary journal - Evening DVD of Victorian period documentary
Now, this day's sample is pretty heavy on the Natural History offerings, but she was just finishing up one of her literature books. So, you know what a typical day looks like. She sometimes adds to this by extending the lesson on her own.
Sarah and I plan the days together. She likes the interaction and the meeting time and she enjoys the accountability, but I encourage initiative and independence with her time management. We meet together once a week to review where she is in the Sunflower basket and I offer encouragement and tips.
If you've set up the basket for your daughter, why not meet weekly with her and discuss the week's goals. Break the basket up into more bitesize chunks. List the goals and let her make some of them/all of them with your input and guidance. Let her know when you feel something isn't balanced, like, let's just say your dd wants to spend 3 hours every day doing bird observations and recordings - her own passion! No need to totally squelch that, but offer some guidance as to balance..."I see that you have a few literature offerings/goals here, why don't we set as a goal 1 hour of birdwatching each day with a written report of your sightings. You can add all your sightings to your birdwatching portfolio (making this up as I go along!!!) and I'd like a written summary of any new birding behavior/nesting behavior/territorial disputes with illustrations each week (writing is easier when they're writing about their passion...but you know that!  ). In addition, let's choose another subject to focus on for the week. What would you like to do? Set up a weekly goals sheet that you work on together so that she is still following her passions, but you're helping to direct her goals. Does that make sense?
Have I sort of answered some of your questions, Angela?
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Angel
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| Posted: Aug 20 2009 at 8:32pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, Jennifer! Yes, that was nicely concrete. (Which is exactly what I need.)
I see that you have done a couple of things:
1. *You* have designated what each block of time is to be used for.
We are just in our "orientation week" right now. I try to ease into our year so we can flush out problems. My kids are used to a lot of choice and they are quite independent with their subjects they know are required daily. But up till now I have written daily choices on the white board so there really hasn't been much planning involved on their parts. On the other hand, I wonder how much of this is picked up by example? They don't regularly see me writing out goals, plans, etc. Mainly what they see me doing is having conversations and strewing books to build on interests.
Anyway, this approach of having a chart written out for a long period of time is new, and I think we are all trying to work it out a bit. I had set up 2 work blocks, but I didn't specify what they were for. In contrast you specified when the material should be worked on, which provides a certain scaffolding at the outset.
2. You encourage Sarah to write down specific assignments for herself for each day.
Hadn't occurred to me to do this yet, which probably relates to my planning style.
We were experimenting this week with a different subject assigned to every day so they would have some idea of what they wanted to work on each day. But that seems kind of broken up to me. (I should mention that my real interest was in transferring this to my 7th grade son. My 10 yo dd is doing pretty well with the Sunflower basket we tweaked, but could probably use a little more guidance on my part. She's a very motivated learner, though, and doesn't need very much from me. My ds, though, is another kettle of fish. I should probably go post on the Young Men's Unit thread as well. And I should probably post my plans on my blog as I've promised various people...
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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Grace&Chaos
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| Posted: June 28 2011 at 10:18am | IP Logged
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Jen, my daughter just finished reading about Queen Victoria in her Lincoln's World book. She wants to read more about her. Question, is the book you mentioned here from the Royal Diaries series? Any others you recommend or found since this was written?
We will be watching the Young Victoria later this summer, but I wanted to give her a chance to read something first .
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Blessings,
Jenny
Mom to dds(00,03) and dss(05,06,08,09)
Grace in Loving Chaos
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Mackfam
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| Posted: June 28 2011 at 11:30am | IP Logged
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Oh goodness - The Young Victoria is just so lovely!!! A perfect popcorn movie!!
Grace&Chaos wrote:
| my daughter just finished reading about Queen Victoria in her Lincoln's World book. She wants to read more about her. Question, is the book you mentioned here from the Royal Diaries series? Any others you recommend or found since this was written? |
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Yes! I'll list some options for you to look into for Queen Victoria which we really enjoyed!
In the Days of Queen Victoria by Eva March Tappan
This is the story of Queen Victoria's life and is so well done, as are all the books by Ms. Tappan! Wonderful insight into her life, and we loved how Ms. Tappan relates with great respect and admiration how Queen Victoria executed both the duties of state as well as the duties of motherhood.
Victoria: Queen of England (back issue of Calliope magazine, May 2003, Volume 13, Number 9)
I'm a BIG fan of Cobblestone magazines, especially the older ones and order many back issues as supplements to our American history reading. The Calliope magazine focuses on world history, and also offers back issues (again, the older the better to me). The May 2003 magazine devoted to Queen Victoria is quite nice as an intro to Queen Victoria and is appropriate for any elementary/middle school age student. The articles are lovely, lots of full color quality illustrations, time line information for adding to the BOC. The articles included summarize nicely all the main events of Queen Victoria's life and reign. And...there is a very neat and simple little project suggested at the end of the magazine, GARDENS UNDER GLASS, inspired by Prince Albert's Great Exhibition/Crystal Palace. There's also a simple board game included that teaches the vast reach of the British Empire during the Victorian period.
The Royal Diaries: Victoria - May Blossom of Britannia by Anna Kirwan
This is historical fiction based on Queen Victoria's life. Not on par with Eva March Tappan, but a good read. My dd really enjoyed this book.
Hope this is a good start for you, Jenny!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Sunflower Basket - expectations?
