How We Homeschool Sena

When it comes to Sena's education, it is best if I stay out of the way.

I didn't intent to unschool her, but that is what is happening, by and large.

During the past few weeks, she has been helping Tom run his lines for The Miser. Opening weekend, she went and saw the play twice, the first time completely by herself. (The director happened to notice her sitting by herself, so joined her. The director also happens to be her grandfather.) She has been studying the two acting theory books she ordered with an Amazon gift card, and she's been reading volumes of one acts she has discovered hidden among our novels. This week she finished her play for the Children's Playwriting Festival, marking the fourth year she has participated. (Which I have already bragged about in this post) She's been watching Youtube videos about how to train her voice, and more than once someone has caught her at the end of my parents' pier singing her heart out to the blue crabs and perch swimming in the shallows.

This week she wrote a five paragraph essay on why you should become vegan.  And then another on why you shouldn't. She can tell you all about The China Study and the controversy surrounding it. She is wrapping up the end of a Whole 30 challenge that many in our family started, and only she has completed.

She practices yoga every day.

She reads mountains of books.

She draws to her heart's content.

She fills notebooks with her words.

Gus and I have been studying the branches of government. The other day the three of us sat down to draw a picture of the White House. Sena went on to study the architecture in depth, and then drew out the floor plan as well.

The only subject I help her with in any significant way is math. We use Life of Fred. We're currently completing Pre-Algebra with Physics, and quite frankly, we're both struggling.

She still sits at the dining room table with me and Gus when we study geography. I turn on documentaries I think she should watch. Tom and I recommend books. We go on loads of field trips. As her parents, we are still active in introducing ideas. But really, if left to her own devices, she does a better job than we could ever dream of.

Sometime this week I'll try to share how we homeschool Gus, which bares very little resemblance to this. 

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Cabin Fever Cures // The National Aquarium

A week in and we were getting bored. Sick of the four walls. It has been cold and gray, and I haven't had much enthusiasm for bundling up and heading outside.  But when I woke up yesterday morning, I knew we had to go. The where part was uncertain and almost irrelevant. But it had to happen.

My vote was an art museum. I've been craving visual stimulation and inspiration. I was in the mood for wacky and whimsical, but I knew that despite the polite response from Gus, it wouldn't be hitting any home runs.

When I called to invite my mom, she completely poo-pood the idea, but wasn't able to produce any viable alternatives. So I suggested that if she would foot the bill, I would be willing to take the kids to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. The truth is, I don't actually like aquariums that much. In fact, I'm not terribly interested in anything "sciencey" except when it involves nature in a natural setting. Then I can get on board. Gus, however, loves aquariums. When I told him about the change in plans, he very literally jumped for joy.

In the hour between telling the kids we were going and actually leaving, I started to have all sorts of second doubts. Actually, it was just one doubt: is visiting an aquarium ethical? I warned my children that when we got home I was going to do the research so this could very well be their last visit. My "ethics" are a pretty insufferable thing to bear. I have concerns about so many things but then don't take very strong stands, which makes me a kill-joy who is still participating in the questionable activity.

I haven't gone on to figure out if all aquariums, and probably zoos for that matter too, should be avoided. After watching the joy and curiosity that overcame my children, I'm not sure if I want to. I'm desperately hoping that when done right, both institutions provide valuable research and support conservation measures in such a way to justify their existence.

Arlo had to be pulled from each and every exhibit. He spent five minutes with his eyes locked with a puffin, his new best friend named Stinky. Later he cried when we left his even newer best friend, Sharky. Gus bounced from one exhibit to the next, identifying fish I have never heard of.  Alamae stared wide-eyed and amazed in the dramatic light, entranced by the recorded whale songs.

I'm so grateful that my mom vetoed the art museum (though I'm forcing them to go visit one with me sooner rather than later) and that she treated us to the day on the Inner Harbor. Aquariums and lunches at Shack Shack are far from free.  So thanks, mom.

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Back At It

As Sunday wore on, I felt the looming dread of school the following morning. I suggested to my dad that I might need to give full on un-schooling a try, just to avoid returning to structure. Break was busy and not long enough to accomplish all the things that I felt I should have done. Though you and I both know so many of those should-haves will never be done. I will always have a giant basket (or two...maybe three) full of orphaned socks tucked into my bedroom's corners. There is no break long enough to compel me to actually organize them once and for all. Nevertheless, somewhere in my illogical heart, I blame the lack of time.

But yesterday I woke up a little earlier than usual, drank a cup of coffee, and organized the house enough so that we could start our day, all before the kids came down the stairs, blurry eyed and bedheaded.

As I made the kids oatmeal for breakfast, Gus wrote a journal entry about Christmas.  Meanwhile Sena began compiling her writing portfolio, and Arlo found a few abandoned Christmas ornaments, and requested to make them "more awesome" with the aid of plenty of paint, his favorite color being "fire."

When Gus was finished, he took a break to play with the Magna-tiles. Later my mom came over and worked with him on reading comprehension. Sena went to the basement to do a yoga video on her own. Throughout the day, they both practiced piano. At some point, the two oldest snuck upstairs so that Sena could read to Gus from one of her new Percy Jackson books.

In the afternoon when I was able to get Alamae to take a nap, I worked with Sena on her math, and when we were finished,  Gus joined us and we pulled out the globes, one of our most used books, and the new map study sheets I order sometime before the new year.  We sat at the dining room table reviewing continents, locating countries we have studied, pulling up images and information on my phone as needed. We talked about why Native Americans were mistakingly called Indians. About how map size is distorted. About the Aboriginal people of Australia. In an effort to take advantage of the tail end of Alamae's nap, I rented Walkabout on Prime for the kids so they could see what the Outback looked like, get a sense of the Land Down Under. As they watched with Arlo,  I snuck down to the basement for my own short yoga practice.

As it turns out, the grind isn't so bad.

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Crafting

I decided that we should take a full week for Thanksgiving Break, even if the county we live in doesn't. I wanted to make time for days of arts and crafts. But life had other plans for those coveted hours, and the full afternoons of paint and clay have become stollen moments here and there.

Some of the moments have been all by myself. And I have had the pleasure of falling into my own thoughts as I complete a repetitive, and yet rewarding task, watching my hands create something that will remain longer than a dinner or a freshly swept floor. I  am envious of those mothers who find time to pursue artistic ventures. (Anne with her finger puppets, macrame, and wet plate photography while raising five kids does it as well as anyone I have ever witnessed.) There is a part of me, small though it is, that is fed when I get to make things.

And while I loved those hours and minutes I sat at the table on my own, I equally loved the time spent there with my kids at hand. Watching as they solved problems and discovered new techniques, created patterns, revised plans. I sunk into the stretches when we were all quiet, focused on our own tasks. I hope to spend untold hours doing more of the same through the holiday season. That prospect brings me more excitement than nearly any other Christmas endeavor. I hope to show you finished projects at some point, but seeing as much of what we made our gifts, for now these bits and pieces will suffice.

*I had visions of what the kids should make for gifts. For instance, I thought Gus should make these eye ornaments. After completing just one, he decided that his ornaments needed to be far more personalized, and incidentally, far less decipherable. However, he is bursting with excitement and wants to tell everyone what he has made them a month in advance. The lesson being, my plans paled in comparison to his. 

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Family School

A baby balanced on the table as we draw Europe. Math programs started and abandoned. Home economics in the way of learning to make our meals.

Bartered piano lessons. A Skyped in French tutor. Field trips as much as time and money allow.

Chaos sprinkled with quiet. Gus reading on the porch swing. Sena at her desk. Waves of insecurity making way for moments of elation. Desperately trying to find time for it all. Philosophy conflicting with reality. Comfort conflicting with doubt. Frustration turns to understanding.

We will find our way.

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Playing Scientist

I am fond of making plans, and I am equally fond of cancelling them. Actually, that isn't true. While I frequently cancel plans, I'm always deeply dissatisfied when I do. And yet, I still do it...all the time.

Last week, I almost did it. I planned to take the kids to the Calvert Marine Museum. I had an itch to go after spying sea otters on my parents' pier for the first time in ten years, and since the museum has a pair of otters it seemed like a fun idea. Then I discovered that on Friday they were having their twice annual home school day, so it seemed perfect.

However, when I woke up Friday to snowy weather, the prospect of trying to get four kids out of the door by nine seemed impossible and completely unappealing. Plus, the last time that I tried to take my kids to a museum did not go so well. I called my mom to bag the whole thing, but then called her back three minutes later to say wait, wait, I changed my mind. Let's go.

So we went.

And I am so glad we did.

Sena, generally, loves museums of all varieties. It's easy to engage her. Her nerdiness runs deep. Gus, however, is pulled in as easily. So the fact that he loved the place meant a lot. There were lots of hands on activities, and the museum had undergone massive growth since the last time I was there when Gus was a baby and Sena was a toddler. The giant Megalodon hanging from the ceiling of the Paleo Hall was definitely a highlight. And Arlo enjoyed pushing any and all buttons he could find.

It's pretty awesome having such a beautiful museum dedicated to our specific part of the Chesapeake. I think that was part of the appeal for Gus; he wasn't learning about far off places that he can't particularly relate to. He was learning about his backyard.

The weather did keep us from checking out the sea otters though, so we are going to have to head back once warm weather comes round these parts in earnest.

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Staying At Home: Words From Last Week

I wrote this last week and thought I posted it, but apparently I didn't. It's amazing how fast everything can change, how one little eight pound person makes all the difference. 

Yesterday was my first day of being a "stay-at-home-mom." It's a rather ridiculous claim in many ways because even if I was going to return to being a "working mom," I would be on maternity leave right now. And realistically, I'm going to have to get a part-time job in a few months so the title doesn't completely fit. And... yesterday was yet another snow / ice day, so I would have had off no matter what. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the hell out of it.  I knew that yesterday was not the new baby's day to come, woke up knowing it. Sena, Gus, and I started the day making coconut flour pancakes together before they started on their school books. I checked in on them while folding loads of laundry, brewing more Kombucha, picking up the kitchen, entertaining Arlo. In the afternoon we sat down to work on nature journals together before their friends came over to build popsicle stick weapons while I planned a homeschool unit we'll start soon enough.  It felt like everything I ever wanted it to feel like. This is where I have wanted to be.

I won't go counting chickens yet. I know that adding in an infant is going to change everything. And I know that a peaceful first day means next to nothing. But  I won't let that undermine how perfectly this new stage started. The rough days ahead can't take that away from me.

I don't think the baby is coming today either, so I'll stockpile the kitchen and freezer and go to what I hope is my last midwife appointment before the big day. I'll keep plugging away at all things nesting while sipping on the endless cups of raspberry leaf tea.

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Anne Marie Gardens and Thoughts On Education

A couple of days last week I had to stay home with my kids because my parents needed to go be with my grandmother.

They were sad days, but I didn't want them to be wasted. There is always joy to be found, but often times you need to look for it.

We drove down to Anne Marie Gardens to wander. It is a sculpture garden with all sorts of kids play areas. Gus liked looking around for the painted rocks to collect and move  around. Sena was embarrassed at the sight of several nudes along the Women's Walk. I was able to make another tally on my 2014 Field Trip Goal. I have it in my mind that I want them to go on 10 field trips before my home school review in June. The weather was perfect, and Arlo was angelic. It was good in every way possible.

As we drove home, I had a moment of doubt about the way I try to educate my kids and about field trips in general. I wondered if they had actually learned anything looking at some pieces of metal scattered among the trees.

But then I had two related thoughts:

1. Who cares?

2. Learning is only part of the big picture.

Why does everything have to be educational? Why can't things be fun? The kids had a great time. I had a great time. While they may not have acquired any factoids, they had their imaginations stirred, which brings me to my second thought.

Learning, as in the accumulation of knowledge and skills, is useless alone. If my kids can't appreciate and enjoy then I will have failed them. These days, weeks, years of their lives are not just for completing tasks.

Maybe they didn't learn anything, but they experienced something, and that's what matters.

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