a long time ago when I named this blog, I should have named it "The Lazy Homeschooler" because really I am. I admit it. I said a while back I was going to outline our "educational philosophy" which sounds like too fancy a term for what we practice, but I can't think of another one so here goes.
1. We work from a list because schedules don't work all that well for us. We do not tend to stick with schedules well, but we're good at checklists. The kids checklists are not all the same, but include spelling, math, writing, grammar, exercise, cleaning, personal hygiene, art, decluttering (always an ongoing process) and biology. This sounds like a lot but they don't have a lot of each thing. For example we use Sequential Spelling, which takes my daughter about 2 minutes a day, my youngest son about 5 minutes. The Grammar with a Giggle program we do takes 5 minutes a day, maybe 10. I'm fortunate that my husband teaches the math for our homeschool. He uses Teaching Textbooks for the oldest and right now a variety of things for the younger 2 kids. He'll probably switch the younger 2 kids to teaching textbooks in the fall as well. They are in the same math level even though they are 2 years apart in age. They came out of the public school nearly at the same level and it's been easier to keep them together. I also teach grammar and biology as a group. We do notebooking for the biology too, when we do it, which we haven't been lately. Too many doctor appointments.
2. The rest of the work that the kids do at home is what I call the unschooling part. My oldest son has been teaching himself computer animation with a program called Blender and also teaching himself to play the guitar. He does a lot of drawing, expanding on the art class we had last year. The girl does a ton of art, jewelry making, cooking and pet care. My youngest son reads a lot, watches and absorbs what his older brother is doing on Blender, day dreams and imagines. He also carries out of a ton of self initiated science experiments. There are a lot of unidentifiable (to me) things in the freezer for example. The bathroom is also a place where he does a lot of experimenting. Don't discount this type of learning. It is important for kids. They also are required to go outside and play.
3. We go a lot of places, field trips, the library, the all important socialization with other homeschooling families, the state fair, the grocery. We also watch a lot of educational DVDs from Netflix and check a bunch of books out of the library. We participate in 4H and 2 different homeschool groups.
4. We take care of our home together. Whenever there is something needing to be done, the kids are expected to pitch in. Consequently, they know how to clean, cook, change a tire and rebuild a carberator. (I can't even spell it, much less identify it or fix it!).
Today when I think about it I feel pretty good about the way we homeschool. Somedays I am filled with self-doubt.
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