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Connections
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| Posted: Sept 05 2008 at 1:23pm | IP Logged
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Less is more.
How do you put this into practice in your home/homeschool?
Looking for some inspiration.
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Blessings,
Tracey
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hereinantwerp
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| Posted: Sept 05 2008 at 5:21pm | IP Logged
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I'm covering fewer separate subjects than I used to.
We do one "read aloud" subject a day (history, science, the arts, or geography), vs. trying to do a little of everything every day.
Instead of a separate spelling program I am taking words from my son's writing and having him practice them a few times.
I severely culled my books this summer. Now that we live in the US and have libraries, I really only kept my very favorites, and many of the others I was keeping "in case we need to look something up", or "just to have something on the subject" have gone away. Unless it was a favorite and a true delight to read, it went in one of several boxes to a very impovershed school in Kenya where they were thrilled to get all those schoolbooks!! (this coordinated with a mission trip my church was doing anyway!). That way I didn't feel guilty about all that money I'd spent over the years! (I DID sell several that were worth quite a lot used on Amazon, some sold for around $20 each. That helped pay for our summer vacation! But unless a book was worth at least 7-8 dollars selling price, I didn't try to sell it).
I leave a lot more space in our lives to pursue spontaneous interests than I used to. I think I'm a lot more balanced about seeing real life experiences (like pet care, or working in the garden) as real learning, vs. academic book stuff being the only "real" school, than I used to be.
HTH!
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Angela Nelson
Mother to Simon (13), Calvin (9), and Lyddie Rose (3)
my blog: live and learn
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Sept 06 2008 at 5:33pm | IP Logged
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Well,lately it's been "less gas is more money," but I don't think that is quite what you are getting at.
I find myself embracing the philosophy of simplicity to a greater and greater extent lately, and "less is more" has in a way become my "theme song."
I am not talking about simplicity to a monastic extreme, but I think we (as in my own family) have found rewards from simplification in nearly every aspect of our lives.
In our home it means simpler, more wholesome meals, less visual clutter, and less attachment to "things" in general.It means being satisfied with what we have, and "making do" rather than always looking for more, newer, fancier.
In our school it means fewer subjects explored more deeply, combining of subjects with both children when possible, and less emphasis on "product" and more on process. It means letting go of anything that does not fit into our particular homeschool groove, and making the most of that which does. It means being satisfied with the knowledge that my children are learning without feeling the need to "show" or "prove" their learning to anyone but ourselves. Less busywork means more conversation, more time outside, and more freedom to explore interests and follow rabbit trails (both figurative and literal!)
In our lives it means less tension, less rushing around, and more time spent relaxing and enjoying each other's company. It means less energy spent on trivial matters and more spent on what really matters-our relationships with each other and with God.
I am the first to admit that we still have SO far to go in living as simply as we can. But just making an effort towards simplicity has been very rewarding. It is enough to spur me on to simplify further, taking those baby steps all the way.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Willa
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| Posted: Sept 06 2008 at 7:55pm | IP Logged
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lapazfarm wrote:
| Well,lately it's been "less gas is more money," but I don't think that is quite what you are getting at. |
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Totally! 
But it's true -- sometimes it's a good thing to leave spaces. That is something I learned by accident when my youngest two were in and out of the hospital. I couldn't do it all. We didn't have money or time. And then I found that some of those things that I was doing without were actually hindrances.
I think it's one of those paradoxes, like in the Beatitudes or in Mary's Magnificat. You can't be filled unless you are hungry; you can't be comforted without mourning.
How that applies to day to day life? I think Theresa and Angela said most of it already so I am just ditto-ing.
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AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: Sept 08 2008 at 12:52pm | IP Logged
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Theresa, your home sounds like fun.
For me, less is more was realizing this year that I *cannot* do read alouds and separate history/science etc with many different age groups. I have always felt that because my kids are 3ish years apart, I had no choice. When I tried to plan this spring, I nearly had a heart attack at all the different age groups and well...was more than a little bit discouraged. 
Serendipity was an answer to prayer for us. Everyone is doing the same thing except the high schooler, who is completely independent. Everything is integrated in a way I have never experienced before. And I am not schooling into the dinner hour, either! 
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Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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Kristie 4
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Wonderful Books!
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Kristie in Canada
Mom to 3 boys and one spunky princess!!
A Walk in the Woods
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SallyT
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As far as school goes: being really selective about what we do and read. I've never done many separate subjects -- we cover nitty-gritty basics (reading/writing, math, Latin) in a short-but-concentrated amount of time, and then unschool/literature-base everything else. Every year I consider buying curriculum, and every year I buy books I want to read aloud to them, or have them read, instead. And I make sure that they're things we really want to spend time on -- maybe even before I make sure that they go together in any kind of coherent way.
As far as everything else goes: well, we just moved, and we're in a new small town where we knew few people, after five years in a large-ish city where we had a huge network of friends and more activities than we could do. For economy's sake, I try to avoid driving, or at least to have whole days where I don't drive at all (today has been one of those days). So we do what we can do at home or within walking distance, and our week is punctuated by Farmers' Market days (and I try only to buy our produce from the farmers at the market, though I don't succeed at this all the time) and Mass on Thursday and Sunday.
My teenager, in particular, misses her large circle of friends right now, but on the other hand, I notice her having much more patience with her younger siblings, especially her 10-year-old brother, who -- surprise surprise -- is really a pretty good friend, too. We no longer have a dishwasher, so they've been bonding over the dinner dishes every night, so there's another instance of less -- as in less convenience -- becoming more. The kids also now do tell-a-story time upstairs in the boys' room, after we've done read-alouds and prayers together -- my 10yo has emerged as a master of the humorous-pirate-story genre, and I love sitting downstairs and hearing the guffaws from upstairs as he entertains the other children. So right now they all have less social life than they were accustomed to having, but they're finding pleasure in each other, which I think will prove to be "more" over the long haul.
Sally
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Castle in the Sea
Abandon Hopefully
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ahappyheart
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I am doing a unit study with all my children ages 11, 10 and 8. And the study includes LA for them all together. This has really helped me, our life is far less complicated. The unit study is called Learning Adventures.I am also doing CCD at home this year using Marigold Hunt books, the first we are doing is St. Patrick's Summer, this too helps me, I only have to go to the church twice a week instead of four times a week. More family time. Yeah. Lastly I started getting the children to really help more with chores that need done, instead of having them do little chores like clean the table or wash the sliding glass door window, I'm having them vacuum a room, fold a load of laundry, empty the dishwasher.
Susan Marie
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Less is More
