So last month we had our first go at homeschooling kindergarten style. We had a farm theme. We learned about how farms work and the kind of work that has to be done on a farm. We also learned about how all of our food comes in one way or another from a farm. On our first farm day, we opened up our refrigerator and took a look inside. I asked the kids if they could find anything that did not come from a farm. They tried really hard, but couldn't do it. We learned about all kinds of different animals and what we get from them--meat, eggs, milk, cheese, leather, wool. We also learned about vegetables--seed vegetables, stem vegetables, leaf vegetables, root vegetables, tuber vegetables, flower bud vegetables, fruit vegetables...all sorts of vegetables. I learned things I didn't know before. I made a fun vegetable game that was sort of a combo between bingo and memory. We also had a grain day. We touched, smelled, and tasted all sorts of different grains. We also made some bread. We did lots of farm/animal/vegetable crafts. I made a big farm play set and we did a Montessori-inspired grammar unit. We learned about nouns, verbs, and adjectives (I thought I would leave adverbs, etc. for later...). We also did some skip counting with farm objects. We learned about farm machines and the things they are used for. E especially liked this part. Spending the last week of the month in NH has allowed us to have some hands-on farm experiences to top it all off. We took a ride on Grampa's tractor (E was disappointed that he did not have a combine.) We took a trip to Billings Farm in Woodstock VT (http://www.billingsfarm.org/) (a childhood school field trip destination for me in years gone by. it brought back memories...). We also learned about how the land where Grammy and Grampa live used to be a big cow pasture. We also walked down the road and looked at the cows.
This month, we will be learning about geology. Today we visited the Quechee Gorge (http://www.quecheegorge.com/). We had a nice hike in the autumn woods and learned about how running water can cut through rocks. We also learned about how all of New England used to be covered in glaciers and how that changed the landscape. Tomorrow we will make our own erosion project. We will probably work in a little bit of a cookery lesson by making some mud pies at the end. Later this week we are hoping to take a trip to the Polar Caves (http://www.polarcaves.com/).
Our home school curriculum continues like this through the year. I have a theme for each month and I try to work in a little math and reading stuff in ways that fit in. We also have 'folder time' where I works on different worksheets--some that I make and some that I get from books. She gets a kick out of moving things from the 'to do' side of her special folder to the 'done' side. She has special colored pencils for her special folder work. It is all very exciting. Our daily schedule looks something like this:
We have 'centers' while I put e down for his morning nap. I usually set out a couple of activities that have something to do with our theme and hope they don't pummel each other too much while I am taking care of e upstairs. This goes with only varying degrees of success.
After I am done putting e down for his nap, we have 'carpet time.' We do some fun exercises (hippo hops, shark squats, frog jumps...our house is pretty small, our yard is pretty small. I find the kids benefit from a little extra physical activty. Especially in the winter.) then we do our calendar (day, date, season, weather) and we talk about our topic for the day. We read some stories that fit in with the theme and sometimes sing a song or do a little activity.
Then we have a snack. Very important.
After that, we have our morning activity. This usually involves some sort of little lesson and a craft or some other project.
Then we have some play time. e wakes up from his nap. We have lunch.
After lunch, we usually have some active time. Sometimes we play outside, go to the park, or walk to the river or the library or something.
Next, it is time for E and e to have their naps. While they are down I try to do a (short) slightly more advanced lesson with I. This is often when we do our math stuff. This is also when I has her folder time. I also usually scramble around to make a clean spot in my house, make some effort at dinner, make phone calls to arrange things for e, or any of the other things I don't have enough time for.
As I said, we achieve varying levels of success with this and other things. I am satisfied if we get about three days each week of this. With e's schedule and other things we get a little busy sometimes. Some days it feels great and is really exciting. Other days, I wonder how we will ever survive a whole school year of this. We'll see how it goes.
For now, we are enjoying our field trips and mud pies!
