February 2018 with the Kids

Antonio pushing Rain on a walk

check out that naturally correct pen grip!

It's all about self-feeding :)

at the keyboard

Reading nook

captivating book

my little helper

And for my actual preschooler, we have resumed activities!

painting a wooden car "for daddy"

matching numerals and colors, counting, and fine motor skills

matching lower case and upper case letters

My first looming project: a hat for Horsey

My second looming project: an infinity scarf for Horsey

future doctor

It's a two seater now!

siblings being cute

Antonio drawing spaghetti, Natalia drew herself in my tummy

they found an earthworm on our walk

snack table

unseasonably warm enough for sandbox

at an RV show

And check out my little darling playing peek-a-boo, applauding himself, winking/blinking, and praying Amen!

on a walk with daddy

the boys reading the menu

chalk art by Natalka: our family

mommy with Natalka in tummy, black spaghetti by baby brother

carrying earthworms to our compost pile

hugging Babcia

playdough and toothpicks

up a tree

pointing to Satan, also visible: thought bubble coming from me in red on the right

walking Licho, our boarder dog!

Pros and Cons of My Favorite Homeschooling Methods

I have loved the feel and spirit of the Charlotte Mason approach for years, but there have been a few ideals that have kept me questioning if we could really pull it off.  I'm coming at it from a perfectionist perspective, so of course it took some outside "permission" to realize that one of the benefits of homeschooling is that I get to customize my children's education; I am not strictly tied to a single approach.  That said, there's a wonderful article that really articulates for me what I found wanting with the idealized Charlotte Mason approach, and the nuggets of wisdom I pulled out of it are below.

CM is a champion of living books, ie. real literature, not watered down so-called "twaddle" that merely scratches the surface of any given topic.  I fully agree, with two caveats.  1) I nonetheless see the value of having a history and science "spine text" to give our educational goals a sense of direction, with the subjects touched on here being generously expanded upon precisely by living books. 2) The second caveat is rather new to me as I try to make sense of what exactly it means to lead a Christ-centered life, but the article brings up as valid food for thought: not all so-called classic literature is actually Christian-friendly.  So it's not enough to just read living books over texts, or the unabridged versions over the watered-down ones, or ancient texts over modern ones.  There really needs to be discernment as to which books provide both the academic content and support the virtues and morals we want to uphold in our family.

Narration, copy-work, and dictation are seen as THE way to teach language arts in the CM method, over any sort of grammar instruction.  While I believe all three of these are great ways to enforce spelling, grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, capitalization, penmanship, and even thought organization, I agree with the article that there's no reason to do this to the exclusion of formal instruction.  I see formal instruction as a way to catch would-be loop-holes in skill, rather than wondering around leisurely without a guide to lead us.

Nature study!  Argh, I have a love-hate relationship with this idea.  It sounds so idyllic in theory, but I am very particular about the weather, and it really ruins it for me to try to brave heat and humidity and bugs on one end of the year and multiple layers preventing ease of movement due to the cold on the other end.  I get great satisfaction from any opportunity we can spend time outside, even if it's just playing in the sandbox on the deck.  This probably doesn't even qualify as the sort of nature study CM had in mind, but it counts for me!  Fresh air, natural vitamin D from the sunshine, the sounds of nature are still present in the wind and birds, so it's better than nothing.  But I also don't believe nature study should take the place of formal science instruction.  It's a great way to supplement whatever is being studied, whether by bird-watching or wildflower pressing and identification or star-gazing... but I need there to be an organized way that we will be covering the various areas of understanding the natural world.  With books and videos and field trips and museum visits and, yes, nature walks/nature study.

I'll also add that there is no plan within the CM method for math instruction.  I think this was my wake-up call that I need to look at each of the subjects I will be teaching (based on state requirements as well as our own goals for our children) and see which aspects of which methods will help us accomplish the goals of each of the subjects.

My other favorite homeschooling method is Classical.  Some people have called Charlotte Mason "Classical Lite", and there are certainly areas of overlap, which is probably why they both appeal to me equally.

What appeals to me most about Classical education is probably the very thing that gets the most criticism - the rigor!  Coming into education with the expectation that we love to learn, I don't see it at as burden to expose my children to all the various wonderful areas of knowledge and skills that can help them make a life for themselves. 

The things I find somewhat lacking in Classical education, namely the study of beauty (nature study, art and music appreciation) is easily enough a matter of simply opting in.  It is a homeschool, after all, and we the parents are the headmistress and headmaster! ;)  But one thing that I haven't yet had much time to ponder is a point brought up by this article on the pros and cons of classical education: if we limit our list of so-called great books to those on the typical classical education list (and this goes for Charlotte Mason as well, I believe), we are left with a skewed view of the world in that it presents only the ideas of white men. 

In a multi-ethnic family like ours, it is a priority for me to make sure my children see themselves reflected in the things we value and surround ourselves with.  This includes media choices, the diversity of the neighborhood we live in, toys and books, the people we associate with, etc.  Why should "official" books used as part of our home education be exempt from this priority?  They shouldn't.  So I will have to make it a point to include books that are classics by a different standard.  Bette Friedan and Simone deBeauvoir come to mind as giving a female perspective on what's been right and wrong with the western world.  I also remember being fascinated by reading bell hooks in college to gain a Black female perspective I otherwise wouldn't have known.  Of course there are others, and I'll need to find them and include them in our educational endeavor.  This will mean that some other things will have to go to make room for the diversity classics.

So I think I definitely have a starting point for our methodology.  What needs to happen next is a subject-by-subject analysis of what's needed curriculum-wise, and I need to remind myself to focus first on the early grades.

Educational Goals for Our Children

In thinking about the best homeschooling method and philosophy to follow, I have compiled the below list of skills, knowledge, and traits that I hope to instill in my kids by the time they graduate.  The ball got rolling as I started to think about how to best prepare them for adulthood.  Here goes.

CHARACTER FORMATION
Love of God
Strong understanding of Catholic faith and moral teachings
Character development, virtues, discernment
Confidence
Responsibility and maturity
Cultivating talent/hobby
Appreciation of beauty (music, art/architecture, poetry/literature, nature, self-presentation)
Service in a beloved area of interest
Good earth stewardship
Love of travel

DAY TO DAY SKILLS
Practical skills (cooking, gardening, knitting, car maintenance, etc.)
Computer skills
Understanding of basic health and nutrition
Time and money management
Understanding human behavior (from sociology and psychology, conflict resolution, direct communication, assertiveness, good listening skills...)
Organizational and planning abilities

GENERAL INTELLECTUAL SKILLS
Love of learning
Critical thinking
Strong reading skills
Solid basic math
Citizenship and consumer knowledge

ACADEMICS
Foreign languages
Basic geography
World history and world religions
Understanding of natural world (science)

Based on this list, I know that as much as unschooling may appeal to me in theory, it isn't a good fit because I have very specific ideas of what I feel are my responsibility to expose my children to.  In that regard, I see educating my children as my parental right and responsibility, and therefore schooling will need to be parent-led to accomplish the above list.

I also know that whatever approach or mix of approaches we pursue, it will look nothing like "school at home".  A lot of focus in this list is on character formation and general daily skills that are rarely, if ever, a part of mainstream curricula.

This leaves several of the more commonly referenced methods that have been circling in my head these past few years: Waldorf, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, Classical, Unit Studies, Thomas Jefferson.

Waldorf was very attractive to me when we were considering private schools.  I think we'd have gone with this approach if we were going the private school route rather than homeschooling.  But since we are not, the main thing that is a turn-off to me is the focus on fantasy.  Fairies and such.  The founder, Steiner, had a not-exactly Christian outlook on life, which is another concern of mine.

Montessori is perfect for the early years, and if we were to send our kids to preschool, we'd definitely make sure it was an officially certified Montessori school.  But having tried my hand at Montessori at home, the amount of prep that goes into it is overwhelming for me, and I'm not a fan of the idea that there is only one correct way of doing an activity.

Charlotte Mason is vary attractive to my sensibilities.  But CM doesn't provide much in the way of math or formal science.  Nature study is a nice beginning, especially in the early years, but then? Yet I love lots of the tools that CM utilizes, including living books, narration, dictation, copy-work, historical timelines, and of course nature study, as well as art and music appreciation.

Classical education speaks to the desire in me for a rigorous education for my kids.  I don't think this is contrary to sparking a love of learning.  Because we are homeschooling, we remain in control of how flexible we want to be with the content and schedule, so I think there's room to accomplish both, rigorous academics and nurturing a love of learning, that so frequently are thought to be in opposition to each other.

Unit Studies appeal to me as a way to tie different subjects together rather than teaching them separately as if life can so easily be compartmentalized.  But there is a lot of work that goes into planning these, and it's not really something that can be done once for the entire year. But even if, it does seem a bit contrived to force subjects together, because one of them will have to win out as the spine on which the others are hung, so to speak.  I'm not sure we can be as thorough as I'd like in the various subjects.

There's other approaches, including the Thomas Jefferson education and multiple intelligences, but the above are the ones that have most resonated with me and from which I intend to pull ideas and tweak them to fit our family.  In other words, an eclectic approach to homeschooling is a good way to label us. That said, I think our starting point shall be Classical education, though not before age 6.  Since both my kids have birthdays later in the year, we have an extra year to learn through play before starting on any formal academics.  What I see therefore is rather than looking at starting Kindergarten at age 5 and doing formal academics at such a young age, instead I see taking it easy until the year they turn 6, and then start official 1st grade level work.  Kindergarten is really a way for publicly schooled kids to adjust to being corralled in groups and socialized into the unnatural expectations of formal schooling anyway.

January 2018 with the Kids

Made a  house for her horsey out of a step stool and two chairs.

wearing daddy's shirt

visiting grandparents and their Chichi

Helping tia prep dinner

Getting licks from Licho.

playing with mommy's jewelry box

exploring a puddle

They play together....

... they work together...

... they rest together...

.... sibling togetherness!

And check out my little dumpling drying a bowl in his little kitchen.

And a glimpse into our walks :)