Adventures of a wannabe crunchy mom: (NOT!) The First Day of School

So today, most of the other kids in the area are headed back to school. There have been “Back to School” sales at Target, fliers in the mail, and signs all over stating that fact. But for our family, today is The NOT first-day-of-school! For a couple reasons: We’re homeschoolers, so A won’t be *going* to a school building everyday for the next several months, and we’ve already been “doing school” for a few months now. Doing school is in quotes, because I don’t think of “school” as something we *do*. Instead, learning is something that is woven into everyday life. Sure, I make a point to pull out the books and do reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic everyday, and throw in some history and science in there for good measure. Ha. Just kidding. I’d like to be that relaxed. But I know my own laziness well enough that I need to have a good plan of sorts in place. :-)

But it does help that A begs to “do school”! Over the past couple months, we’ve already worked on phonics & reading, a handful of science & math lessons and read lots of Bible stories. History has been fun and we’ve learned about early nomads in the Fertile Crescent, how they farmed, early people in Sumeria and the Nile River area. King Menes and his double crown of Egypt, hieroglyphics, cuneiform & papyrus for writing & recording things, and mummies and pyramids. Then add to that, a bunch of read aloud stories: Paddle to the Sea, and Little House in the Big Woods, On the Banks of Plum Creek, & By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

So, what’s our plan? What do I teach? What do they learn?

First, I’ll start with my inspiration. The books/people/methods that I identify with most include,

Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay Clarkson

The 3 R’s by Ruth Beechick

anything by John Holt

Charlotte Mason

The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer

AmblesideOnline curriculum

Home Learning Year by Year by Rebecca Rupp

I case you did a double-take just now, yes, I am aware that John Holt and Susan Wise Bauer are pretty much at opposite ends of the spectrum in regards to educational philosophy. But there are parts to each that seem to resonate with me (and our family). We enjoy the freedom to follow rabbit trails, but at the same time we need a bit of structure to keep us moving.

In my next post, I’ll plan to detail our plan for subjects taught and resources used. Until then, Happy Learning!