As soon as we finish working on memorization (which lasts no longer than 10 or 15 minutes a day,) we break away for "Personal Prep." This is a block of time for each of us to actually get ready for the day, if we haven't done that already (some days we do personal prep before morning devotional.) For the girls, this means getting dressed, making beds/cleaning rooms, saying prayers, tidying up their zones, and practicing piano or gymnastics. For me, this is time to do the same (except for practicing), as well as shower, check or send emails if needed, and sometimes to squeeze in a quick 15 minutes of exercise (walk/bike/yoga). If the girls get done before me, they move into the next block of time: Study Hall.
For Abby and Miri, this is the one time during the day when we do anything that resembles school as they knew it. While I'm not especially concerned with academics right now, I do want to be sure that they are keeping up with basic skills and concepts for their grade level so that they don't need to "catch up" too much whenever they return to school. I bought some
BrainQuest workbooks for that purpose, and so far I feel like they are just what we need- no more and no less.
I'll often have the girls get started on their workbooks while I take care of other things that need to get done around the house. I let them choose 3 or 4 sections to work on at a time. When they're finished with the sections, I come in and sit down with each of them to go over their work, explain anything they might not have understood, and have them "try again" on items they may have done incorrectly. This seems to work well with everything but math, which needs more upfront instruction time.
Beyond workbooks, Miri and Abby spend additional time on any skills they are especially interested in improving. For Miri, it's currently handwriting:
For Abby, it's memorizing her times tables:
I've picked up a collection of extra helps for math and handwriting, some from a homeschooling website called
Currclick, and some from the Dollar section at Target or at thrift stores. We really love the dry erase mats (from Target):
Abby also works on spelling and vocabulary during study time. She chooses her words each week from our readings, circling those she can't pronounce or doesn't understand as we go.
Occasionally the girls work on their writing skills by copying down the poems,or sections of
The Living Christ we are memorizing.
Abby also keeps a blog as a personal journal and writes letters and emails to her friend in Virginia daily. Both girls begin (but don't always finish) writing their own stories frequently.
Study Hall is also time for history and geography, which we rotate weekly, rather than daily. Right now, we're memorizing the 50 U.S. States. We have a large floor puzzle that the girls like putting together, as well as dry erase maps of the U.S. where they can fill in the names of the states. We also use an online geography site. For history, we have a couple of history books that we've used interchangeably
, The Mystery of History and
The Story of the World.
The Mystery of History is written from a Christian viewpoint and incorporates biblical history with general world history. What I love about both of these books is their focus on the hows and whys and patterns of history, rather than general facts and information. It helps us try to apply history to the present. Having said this, although both history programs can be geared for all school ages, and include many activities for younger children, I've found that neither of my girls is quite ready for the kind of abstract thinking that a study of history requires. It's difficult for them to make any relevant applications. They enjoy the activities, but the related history means very little to them (which makes sense to me considering their ages.) For now, we spend more time on
This Week in History than we do in our history books, simply because the subject matter is so varied and it allows the girls to choose what they're most interested in exploring each day. I think Abby will be ready for a study of chronological history in another year or so.
No matter what we're doing, I try to take advantage of every opportunity to feed their curiosity. If they start asking questions about something they're learning, I take it as far as we can. This has resulted in a number of unplanned activities which we embarked on simply because of their enthusiasm for the subject. Once, after studying history timelines, we decided to make timelines of the girls' lives. Somehow, oddly enough, I just happened to have everything we needed on hand:
On another day, after learning about desert nomads, we decided to make our own nomadic dwellings for bugs (this was suggested in our history book):
Learning about Ancient Egypt is always fun. Miri and Abby decided they wanted to learn how to write their name in hieroglyphics. After that, they each went on to invent their own alphabet.
Beyond activities like these, we've watched all kinds of short videos online on dozens of topics and often spend time reading up on whatever strikes their fancy. I've built up a pretty good collection of books from thrift stores and clearance sales over the years on various subjects, which we use here and there. I also bought half a dozen fantastic reference books from Costco at Christmas time, when they pile up all those big fat glossy gift books about everything under the sun-- books on the Solar System, Natural History, The Human Body, The Civil War, and more. We have already used them countless times for topics that have come up in our discussions, or to expand on an idea from history or a book they're reading, or even a concept from their workbooks. I can't say enough about how much fun learning is when you blaze down a curiosity trail this way. I love it! Love it, love it, love it. I think the girls do, too.
You won't believe it after such a lengthy description, but all in all we don't usually spend more than an hour on Study Hall. That's it, that's all. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Maybe, but I prefer to see the big picture. Study Hall is the only time of our day that looks anything like "school," but in reality, the learning begins the minute we start our Morning Devotional. The girls don't realize this, so sometimes they think they only have school for one hour a day. But I know that all of our scriptures and stories and discussion in the morning is building their reading, comprehension and application skills, at the same time as it teaches them about human nature and God's laws and universal truth. And I know that their memorization is building their vocabulary, grammar and fluency skills at the same time as it embeds principles of strong moral character and virtue into their hearts and minds. And I know that
This Week in History is sparking their curiosity about people and places and ideas, at the same time that it exposes them to examples of greatness expressed in the lives of men and women throughout the ages. Even
Personal Prep time is building responsibility and self discipline, two traits which go a long way in developing great study habits down the road. All of this combined is a huge part of their overall education, not just for school, but for life.
This is THE BIG PICTURE of our somewhat unconventional homeschooling.
Up next: Project Time.
