| Author | |
Mary G
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5790
|
| Posted: April 05 2008 at 8:36am | IP Logged
|
 |
|
After our discussions on just let 'em play, it got me thinking about how we all school ... since dh and I believe in learning 24/7, we don't really school 8-3, M-F ... we're much more trying to have the kiddoes love learning all the time ... so sometimes we're learning into the evening/night; we do read-alouds all the time; go to museums/zoo/parks and study certain things any day; when we camp/hike dh is explaining the geology, topography, nature ... and we're using orienteering skills. We only stop formal table-work (sometimes) during breaks/summer but sometimes we continue thru ....
I keep track of all this in a "lesson planner", but Mary Ellen does hers on the laptop as things are done (which would be a great way then to be able to organize into categories each week or whatever).
So does anyone else do it this way? Real learning 24/7-ish?
__________________
MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Paula in MN
Forum All-Star
Joined: Nov 25 2006
Location: Minnesota
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4064
|
| Posted: April 05 2008 at 8:54am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Yes. Nothing "formal", but we don't stop for 3 months. I remind my kids that we are learning all the time about Jesus, so we should continue to learn all the time about His world.
__________________
 Paula
A Catholic Harvest
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
donnalynn
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 24 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 581
|
| Posted: April 05 2008 at 9:39am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I think what I've been turning over in my brain from the seasonal learning thread and even the survival mode thread is that I need to learn to recognize and appreciate different modes of learning.
I think I start to get panicky when our learning doesn't look a certain way - when we're not "hitting the books" I start thinking - uh oh we are off track again when really we are just experiencing learning in a different setting or using experiential learning vs. "book" learning.
I am thinking that maybe keeping a log or a journal and really reviewing it each week might help me recognize that yes, they are learning even though I haven't specifically planned out, implemented, and evaluated that particular lesson.
Even something as simple as our nighttime frog walk really had a lot packed in there even though I didn't actually plan out an "official" lesson. I should be looking at the learning that goes on in the dailyness of our lives!
I'll be watching this thread to see what others come up with!
__________________
donnalynn
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lapazfarm
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6082
|
| Posted: April 05 2008 at 10:06am | IP Logged
|
|
|
We are also learning all the time. Though we stop formal lessons(stop laughing...they're formal to ME, ok?  ) in the summer, some our best learning happens during that time. Our summer in Kodiak, for instance, was quite an educational experience. Best thing--the kids totally ate it up. They wanted to know about everything they were seeing! I had a big old sack of field guides that went everywhere with us and we picked the brains of any local we could about anything we could, we visited museums on Russian history, Aleutic history, military history,natural history of the island, and walked the boat docks and talked to fishermen, visited a winery, explored the tide pools, went on a fishing charter,hunted for WWII bunkers, watched whales and sea otters, watched salmon migrating up streams...
There's not a curriculum written that can compare.
__________________
Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
amyable
Forum All-Star
Joined: March 07 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3798
|
| Posted: April 05 2008 at 11:42am | IP Logged
|
|
|
We do the Real Learning 24/7 365 ...lately book work has slowed way down in spring and autumn when it's so nice out, and picked up again in winter/summer when it's either too hot or too cold to go out mid-day. Last year we took SO much time off, though, that I agreed with dh that we wouldn't really stop this spring and would continue on, taking short breaks as needed.
But we're having fun learning ALL the time. 
__________________
Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
stacykay
Forum All-Star
Joined: April 08 2006
Location: Michigan
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1858
|
| Posted: April 05 2008 at 5:27pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I really like the idea of year-round learning, but does anyone have any problems having cooperation with kiddies when the neighborhood schools are out and the other children are running around or coming by to play? 
Once the schools let out, I think, we'll just do a couple of things in the am, early, before anyone wants to play. It lasts maybe a week or two before I give up. 
I really think year-round learning is the way to go, just haven't figured out how to get there.
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Willa
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Location: California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3881
|
| Posted: April 05 2008 at 5:31pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Well, I keep track of year-long learning, but I don't really "school" all year around.
Keeping informal lists of all the things that go on in a typical summer gives me a sense that we've already done quite a lot and often the kids interests that develop give me ideas for things to strew and develop during the more formal schooling seasons.
Of course, the same goes for weekends and the many hours outside of formal schooling time, which is usually about 9-12.
__________________
AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
joann10
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 10 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3493
|
| Posted: April 05 2008 at 7:43pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
amyable wrote:
We do the Real Learning 24/7 365
|
|
|
This is us too. I keep a lesson planner that I fill in as we go along. I don't put any plans in it--just what we accomplish-whether it is workbook pages done, books read, or art projects finished. This give me plenty of information to fill in those pesky quarterly reports that New Yorkers have to submit.
I also have teenagers in a private school, so I tend to hit the books harder when they are off of school because when they are home I have built in baby wranglers.  Also, in the summer I like to take my dd6 and ds8 to the library a few days a week for several hours at a time. Since the big kids are available to watch the littles I take advantage of that and we pack backpacks with workbooks, and usually do a few lapbooks over the summer while we enjoy the peace and quiet of the library.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Lauri B
Forum Pro
Joined: March 11 2008
Location: Pennsylvania
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 208
|
| Posted: April 05 2008 at 8:17pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
This is our 15th year of homeschooling and we've done it many different ways, over the years. Several years we did six weeks "on" and one week "off" - which worked well at the time. We've also done three months "on" and one month "off", as well as year-round schooling. For the past three years or so, we do four days per week from September through May-ish. I use the summer to plan for the following year and I enjoy the time off. To everything there is a season. :)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
BrendaPeter
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 28 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 981
|
| Posted: April 07 2008 at 6:30am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Mary & Joann,
Do you use a purchased lesson planner?
After 9 years of homeschooling (!!!), I finally typed up a chart that I use more for record keeping (like Joann). Since we focus on the 3 R's & Latin the lesson plan books (from Pflaum) were really too much for us. The subjects are along the top of my page & the dc's names with days of the week are on the side. I use 1 page/week and there's a space for feastdays for the week & current read-alouds. It's amazing to be able to see how much we're doing!
We usually always do some sort of "school" in the summer and, like most of you, we're learning all the time. After reading TJed, I'm trying to inspire more & "live" the idea that learning is what we do ALL the time. I like to have the flexibility during the school year for things like 1st Fridays, vacations, Holy Week, Holidays and sickness. My husband has an erratic schedule so he sometimes works weekends & has days off during the week. Flexibility is the name of the game around here!
When we've stopped schooling totally in May in the past, my dc tend to lose direction and we all lose our connectedness quickly. We will probably stop Math & Latin for the older dc when those courses are done but we'll continue with spelling for one ds who struggles and definitely IEW as I would like us to get in the swing of frequently writing. Certainly read-alouds, history & religion will continue.
Bottom line is that we will cut back some which will give me time to do certain projects that I save for the summer - like cleaning our entire house from top to bottom, gardening and organizing the attic, which has to be done when the weather is pleasant. My dh also tends to take off more time in the summer so we need to be flexible (there's that word again!) for that.
Oh, I forgot to mention that we are very isolated and our closest neighbor is also a Catholic homeschooling family so there's not too much pressure to just take the summer off. When we lived next door to a boy that went to school, it was always a challenge when he was off or on vacation so I know what you're saying Stacy!
__________________
Blessings,
Brenda (mom to 6)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mary G
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5790
|
| Posted: April 07 2008 at 7:09am | IP Logged
|
|
|
BrendaPeter wrote:
Mary & Joann,
Do you use a purchased lesson planner? |
|
|
I use a pretty basic teacher planner I got from the $1 store this year ... but as my winkies get older, I'll probably create my own log sheet as they'll start moving more and more toward independent learning ... but for now, this suffices.
BrendaPeter wrote:
When we've stopped schooling totally in May in the past, my dc tend to lose direction and we all lose our connectedness quickly. We will probably stop Math & Latin for the older dc when those courses are done but we'll continue with spelling for one ds who struggles and definitely IEW as I would like us to get in the swing of frequently writing. Certainly read-alouds, history & religion will continue. |
|
|
I'm right with you! I hate stopping read-alouds ... it brings us all together so much! We do books on CD for long road trips and those are always a wonderful experience (even if the we don't like the book -- it gets us talking and builds memories and understanding!). We do lots of museums/national parks etc and then when we get home we have rabbit trails to follow ... always fun!
__________________
MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
stefoodie
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 17 2005
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8457
|
| Posted: April 07 2008 at 11:49am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Mary G wrote:
| So does anyone else do it this way? Real learning 24/7-ish? |
|
|
Yes! It's the only way that would work for us. Sometimes it's mom that gets on too many rabbit trails on her own that I leave the kids behind to fend for themselves.
My only concern now that 17-yo is almost in college is -- will they have a hard time switching to rest-of-the-world mode when they graduate from homeschool?
Our kids love it though and wouldn't have it any other way. I do get the occasional "how come they get spring break and we don't" but they realize we have all the other perks like traveling with dad or having half days all the time, etc.
__________________
stef
mom to five
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
dancingmama
Forum Newbie
Joined: May 22 2007
Location: California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 25
|
| Posted: April 07 2008 at 12:50pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I homeschool along the lines of the local school district. My oldest two are in the local high school.
During summer, we have break. But, they are busy with learning how to swim, visiting family, going to camp. They are still doing/learning, just not what you would consider normal school stuff.
Oh, and the local school district is on a modified year round schedule. We start school the first Monday of Aug, school for eight weeks, have two weeks off, back to school for about 8 weeks, three weeks off at Christmas, back to school for 8 weeks, two week break for Easter.
It breaks up the routine nicely and gives me time to do some catch up projects around the house.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Leonie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2831
|
| Posted: April 07 2008 at 4:06pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Sice we do a lot less formal school workl than many  , we do school year roubd. We live and learn. We read. We do some maths and/or Latin and/or religion and/or unit studies. The exceptuon is when we go away on holiday ~ except even then we take our journals or nature journals and update those during the vacation.
We have manuy days of no formal work during the official school year and many days of the basics (Latin Centred Curiculum?) during vacation time.
My thinking is that it all evens out in the end
I keep a very brief journal or log - and I am currently behind on this log!! This is part of our State's registration requirements.
__________________
Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4Real Forums : Philosophy of Education
Topic: Year Round or Seasonal Schooling
