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Connections
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| Posted: June 27 2008 at 12:03pm | IP Logged
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Willa mentioned being intentional in homeschooling. There seems to be a lot of wisdom locked up in this (not so little) word.
I would love to continue to learn from ponderings about what it means to be intentional in our homeschooling.
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Tracey
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Willa
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| Posted: June 27 2008 at 12:55pm | IP Logged
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I would, too. I was just thinking that though I used the word, I don't know precisely what I mean by it. OR at least, I have intuitions about it, but it would be hard to put into words.
From the dictionary:
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1. A course of action that one intends to follow. 2a. An aim that guides action; an objective. b. intentions Purpose with respect to marriage: honorable intentions. 3. Medicine The process by which or the manner in which a wound heals. 4. Archaic --import; meaning
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Just to start it off,
Elizabeth's post called On Being Intentional -- though it is about housekeeping, made me reflect on my life as a whole and my homeschooling in particular.
She writes (substitute hsing for housekeeping) -- and I've excerpted the points for reflection and action, particularly the ones that seem to apply to this situation:
Quote:
I think that intentional housekeeping is how we establish and maintain rhythm and conquer the deadly sin of sloth.
Claim a quiet moment and think about what you want for your home.
Imagine Sunday mornings and the scramble to get to church. How can that look different? Imagine meal times. Imagine holidays. Imagine the ways in which your house will support your vision for family life. As you engage your imagination, jot down those things which come to mind. It's all fair game right now. Don't let the things that pop into your head be distractions; all of them to shape the picture.
Now, what stands in the way?
Set about making a list. Don't let yourself get caught up in a fussy system of notebooks or card files or anything else.
What needs to be done in your house every day?
What is necessary in a day to make life pleasant and peaceable?
The list needs to make sense within the context of your family. No one can make the list for you.
Which days are you home all day? Which ones call you out into the world? Which days precede days with special needs?
Now think about your children. Who is capable of helping with which tasks? Who is home at certain times? How can you share the load?
It's not a perfect list. PRINT IT OUT. Hang it on your refrigerator. Live it for a week. Make notes on it. Tweak it. Think, think, think about it. But do it. Do those tasks as you have listed them for a whole week. At the end of the week, look at your notes and adjust.Then do it again. Give yourself three weeks before you really will have nailed your routine. |
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I hope this helps give us a start! Again, I'd love to discuss it, too.
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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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missionfamily
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In education classes, you learn that before you plan a lesson, you write a "facilitory set"--three points to clarify your purpose.
1. What: What are you going to do?
2. Why? Why are you doing it? What is the goal of the lesson?
3. How? How are you going to accomplish this goal? What will your materials, methods, and plan be?
This might be a nice way to start thinking through "being intentional". If you think about your family studies and each students' core subjects and answer each of these questions, you should get a pretty clear of "the aim that guides your action" and "the course of action you intend to follow".
I might to try to think a few these through and post later today. Hope that idea helps.
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Colleen
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mom to Quinn,Gabriel, Brendan,Evan, Kolbe, and sweet St. Bryce
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sevenblessings
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| Posted: June 27 2008 at 2:20pm | IP Logged
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I'm glad this was brought up. I read Willa's comment yesterday about "intentional homeschooling" and haven't stopped thinking about it!!
This morning during my errands, I was thinking how I could be more 'intentional' with our homelearning today. I had no idea where to start. I have attempted to set routines down before, stemming from a list, but that seems so unnatural for us. I'm thinking that is not what is necessarily meant by 'intentional homeschooling'.
I want our homelearning to be more of a natural rhythm instead of a forced sit down for circle time, etc. I'm not sure how to acheive 'intentional homeschooling' without 'structured time', but I'm all ears for suggestions and thoughts.
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Michelle
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Connections
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| Posted: June 27 2008 at 3:36pm | IP Logged
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Pondering as I write...
So, being intentional seems to start with a vision for your home and your homeschooling. What do you want your days to look like? What is the atmosphere (borrowing from CM) you want in your homeschool? Then, it would seem important to define what ideas you want to spread before your children over the course of a defined time period. I think building in "margins" (borrowing from Lissa Wiley I believe) is important here to avoid feeling rushed. In other words, what does "Education is a Life" look like in your home?
(I think I will enjoy a review of the recent discussions on Education Is...)
Once you have the vision firmly in place, you can devise a plan to make that vision a reality. Then, you have to execute the plan consistenly (tweaking as necessary).
While executing, it seems essential to live in the moment and not rush to get things done or fall into the trap of "checking things off of the list." You need to enjoy the unfolding of your vision instead of mentally jumping ahead to the next step.
Another one of the traps I seem to fall into is thinking too much about what the school me (that's the part of me with lots of school experience) says I SHOULD be doing. This is usually very different from the vision I come up with for our homeschool when I simply use my imagination and heart.
Maybe being intentional lends peace of mind? Or is it the other way around?
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Tracey
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: June 27 2008 at 5:38pm | IP Logged
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I wrote about being intentional with regards to home education in this post, which is part of a book study on Education Is... Like Willa, I applied the same philosophy as with homemaking... In part, I wrote
Quote:
| To me, intentional is what happens when I ponder what I want life to look like. I think about a a certain component, whether it's the smooth running of my household or the academic development of a child in his last four years at home, or the nurturing of a love of literature, and I mull it over. I think about it as you take a walk in the morning, the rhythm of stroller wheels setting the cadence of my thoughts. I discuss it with my husband before I go to sleep at night. I pose questions to Our Lord again and again as I offer it in prayer. Then a plan begins to take shape in my thoughts and soon, the plan can be put into action. It is intentional action. It is a thoughtful, prayerful approach to life itself. |
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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4Real Forums : Philosophy of Education
Topic: Being Intentional in HSing
