Yikes! We only get two months of summer here for the school year and with July already nearing its last week, it means summer is almost half-done! And what have I done for school prep?
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
lol.
Well, I've thought about stuff. As I've decluttered things and found potentially useful resources, I've put them aside to use. But I haven't sat down yet and really thought about next school year. Or even this August, for that matter. Not that I want to start school this August (um, actually, as of this coming Monday!) but I will have my nieces and nephew during the day while their parents are working and I would like to have at least one presentation a day, establish a routine, etc. They are so used to just having complete free time at my place since they usually only come after school for a bit and the odd day off school; I haven't established any kind of real routine for any of that. So, I'll need to do things gently. Ease into it. But what am I easing into? Not entirely sure. I guess I have to figure that out!
But my mind is mostly on my son and his upcoming school year. My daughter's main work is already planned (ie she's doing online courses where the work and structure is decided upon by outside teachers), but there are still extras to make sure to include: meal planning, cooking, financial stuff... Oh, and her French class. She will be doing French with two other teen girls, but I have not yet planned anything for it. Ach (think German exclamation with that 'Ach'), got to do that, too. Back to my son...
My son will be 12 in September. He's always been a bit of a "different" sort of kid, different sort of learner. I never figured out how to break through or use the bond he had with his cousin when they were both little and give them as much Montessori as I gave my daughter and another girl I was homeschooling at the time. I had more children in the house at that point, too (my two plus four others), so it just made things more difficult. In any case, I would do things, he wouldn't connect, I'd leave it. But he's always been a kid who lags a bit, then catches up super quickly and even often gets "ahead". (I will never forget his Buzz Lightyear drawing. I actually still have it somewhere. He wasn't quite yet 3 and had spent all of his time drawing up to that point being elliptical shapes with dots: potatoes, he said they were. All of a sudden, one day, he draws this figure: a head with hair, eyes and a mouth, a body with arms and fingers at the end of the arms, legs going out from the body part with toes at the end. He had skipped all kinds of steps. It's what he does. He did the same thing with walking, talking, later on with reading... That's just how he is.)
So... I have this funny learning son who would be grade 6/7 if in the school system. As a homeschooler, he is registered as being "year 7", which just means it's his 7th year of school, but I can choose his curriculum. Had we sent him to school, we would have actually waited a year. When you have a kid who learns by lagging then jumping the way he does, starting him the year we started homeschooling would not have been good. At times, I do think I should have waited to register him for homeschooling. He just loves enjoying things around him more than he likes to do academic kinds of stuff. Which is why I ended up essentially unschooling him. Until now. (Can you almost hear the slightly evil "heh heh heh" and see me rubbing my hands together in anticipation? :D)
He knows this coming year will be different. For one, I will have LOTS of time to do lessons with him. Second, he is much more aware that other kids in the extended family are doing things he can't do. He doesn't like that. Makes him feel kind of stupid. He's not the slightest bit stupid: he just has not done anything remotely the same for work.
On one of my Montessori lists, we were discussing how many Montessori elementary schools post the local outcomes for the students to be aware of working at meeting. This idea has been stuck in my head as something to do with my son, but to have the outcomes for grade 1-6/7 available and as the 'target' stuff to have lessons with and do projects on. Not all of it, because we've got some silly topics in some grades for social studies and science (I'm pretty sure he doesn't need to cover the topic of My Family, nor Colours) nor do I need to include certain math things, for example, that he can already do. And as I write this, I find myself questioning: What is this going to look like exactly? This is what I need to figure out. How am I going to organize and present these outcomes? And do I include the grade 7 outcomes? Part of me goes: "Well, he's got a lot of "catching up" to do and he's youngish for his age, not at the Erdkinder point, so perhaps it's best to just look at him as a grade 6 student." Another part of me goes: "He is so capable and will catch up without any difficulty. Why not just put it all out there?" Both parts are equally weighted at the moment.
I know for math, we definitely have to cover all kinds of elementary things he has not really worked on, plus just have him do more work in areas he has not done enough in to master, like large addition and subtraction. My brain just paused there. I do need a basic plan for the year of when I can anticipate showing him different things, be it for math, science, social studies or language. (Language, oh boy, that's one we have to work on a lot.)
I'm going to have to do some more thinking and brainstorming offline rather than losing people with my endless train of thoughts here. I will come back at a later point to share what I've figured out. (Oh, and now I've seen the labels as I finalize this post and see "Work Contracts". Something else to mull over.)
Friday, July 20, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
This school year is almost done
Well, the schooling aspect for my two is done. My 14yo is spending lots of time doing art on the computer. Minecraft skins, to be exact--somehow or other, she started making skins that others liked and an increasing number of people have been asking her to make them skins. It's not something she can make money with right now, but it sure is bolstering her idea and faith in herself that she really could develop her talents into something that will provide for her.
My 11yo is doing pretty much as he pleases, which has actually been a lot of reading lately. Thing is, he's back to comic books and has been for sometime. I placed a limit on it: I told him that reading comics was fine, but they didn't help improve his reading level. He added in that it didn't help his writing because then he tended to put in capitals where he wasn't supposed to. (Observant boy!) I agreed with him, so I"ve said that I would just like him to spend some time each day reading a higher level book. He started with Superfudge, managed to lose the book the other day, slipped down to Geronimo Stilton (he had asked if it was okay, I kind of shrugged and said, "Well, it's an easier reading level than Superfudge," so he said he would just read more of it :D) and we still can't find the darn Superfudge. It's here somewhere. And no, he's not hiding it because he asked about just moving onto the next book in the series, but I said it would be better to read them in order.
School is still "in" for the grade 12 student I homeschool. He has a couple more major exams to do, and then he's officially done. He is very ready to be done! His last exam is on the 28th, so the last day we see him (well, on a school basis) will be Wednesday. We'll take a little break from studying to have a mini-party. (Which reminds me that I need to finish figuring out a graduation gift for him! And make him a card!)
I normally have sat down and started working out the next school year by now. I haven't this time. Life has been so busy in so many ways. I can't even keep on top of my email. Sure, I used to let my inbox get cluttered, but this is really a matter of I get about 10-15 minutes on the computer where I take care of my email and that's it. That's not nearly enough!
For my daughter, everything is already in place: she is doing online courses for her first year of high school and has already registered for them: English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Art, Phys. Ed., Religion and German. We will be doing a bit of French on the side with some other girls close to her age. That is one thing I do feel guilty about when I look at her schooling: I did not do nearly enough reading and writing work with her in French. It's her first language, after all! Ah well. She's smart enough that if she needs to, or wants to, have a high level later on, she'll be able to do it in no time.
For my son... *blank* Not entirely blank, but in that moment, it was a blank moment. I've had various thoughts about next year.
*Since he's still 11, turning 12 in September, and some of the academic skills aren't "up to snuff" because I unschooled him more than Montessori'ed him (lol), I'm thinking of looking at next year like a year in upper elementary. He doesn't feel to me at the Erdkinder stage, but I know that can change rapidly. I'll have to keep my eye on it. He has lost 5-6 baby teeth in the past couple of months. I've started nicknaming him "Toothless." These are signs of him changing. I'll perhaps have to consider the possibility of mixing a bit of Elementary with a bit of Erdkinder. Or maybe start with a lot of Elementary and gradually work in some Erdkinder principles. We'll see. I'll probably blog more about this over the summer. Right now, I'm thinking of the Great Lessons' focus and the Key Lessons. Of course, I don't have a whole lot of information about the Key Lessons, but I think that's okay. I think I will have to assign myself some Montessori reading this summer to get myself a little better "retrained" and thinking Montessori-style. I will have so much more time to really focus on Montessori this coming fall because the grade 12 student will be gone, as will my 4.5yo niece (off to full-time kindergarten) and the little guy I babysit a couple of times a week. I feel like my kids have been jipped a bit over the past years due to how much time everybody else takes. Although it's not just been that: part of it is their evening activities leave me acting as chauffeur and adding to the things I need to do in a day, weekends are now spent trying to get done all the things around the house and errands that weren't getting done during the week, and I have not had the energy nor the time to plan and prepare the way I have in the past. The joy at the thought of being able to do this with them in the fall--a feeling of "it's never too late"--is now encompassing that sadness and guilt. It isn't too late. :)
Another thing I have to do over the summer is start preparing courses I will be starting in the fall: French (two completely different levels), a twice-a-month science class for junior high-ish and then art/crafts classes. Yes, I am taking away some time from my schedule with my kids. Sort of. One of the French classes is Monday afternoons for 2 hours. The other French class is Thursday afternoons, when my daughter is already gone to a homeschool set of classes. The advanced French class, my daughter is in with 2 other girls--so, I may be working with her and not with my son, but my focus isn't just on other people. The science classes were something I thought to do as a means to make sure I have my son do hands-on science stuff. So those classes are as much for him as for helping replace my income. And the arts/crafts will be possibly only once a month, and my kids may or may not participate, depending on what the topic is, but I would love to have them decide some of the projects.
As I type this, I find my thoughts slipping into what I've read about Erdkinder--students creating businesses or being involved in businesses. I'm going to have to educate myself better about that level and see how I can perhaps lead both of my kids in this area. My 14yo, I can just kind of see now, could easily lead some art classes of her own, even some computer art workshops or something. I could get both involved in helping with the accounting and organizational aspect of different classes. I find myself chuckling and shaking my head right now because our government likes to talk in the curriculum about how they want to encourage entrepreneurship in students, yet they really do almost nothing to really encourage such a thing. The only thing I can think of is a sort of health course in high school talks briefly about starting your own business as an option of something to do after high school or to do as a career.
Just reminds me that much more of how my heart is in Montessori and while I may stray, I never go away completely. :)
My 11yo is doing pretty much as he pleases, which has actually been a lot of reading lately. Thing is, he's back to comic books and has been for sometime. I placed a limit on it: I told him that reading comics was fine, but they didn't help improve his reading level. He added in that it didn't help his writing because then he tended to put in capitals where he wasn't supposed to. (Observant boy!) I agreed with him, so I"ve said that I would just like him to spend some time each day reading a higher level book. He started with Superfudge, managed to lose the book the other day, slipped down to Geronimo Stilton (he had asked if it was okay, I kind of shrugged and said, "Well, it's an easier reading level than Superfudge," so he said he would just read more of it :D) and we still can't find the darn Superfudge. It's here somewhere. And no, he's not hiding it because he asked about just moving onto the next book in the series, but I said it would be better to read them in order.
School is still "in" for the grade 12 student I homeschool. He has a couple more major exams to do, and then he's officially done. He is very ready to be done! His last exam is on the 28th, so the last day we see him (well, on a school basis) will be Wednesday. We'll take a little break from studying to have a mini-party. (Which reminds me that I need to finish figuring out a graduation gift for him! And make him a card!)
I normally have sat down and started working out the next school year by now. I haven't this time. Life has been so busy in so many ways. I can't even keep on top of my email. Sure, I used to let my inbox get cluttered, but this is really a matter of I get about 10-15 minutes on the computer where I take care of my email and that's it. That's not nearly enough!
For my daughter, everything is already in place: she is doing online courses for her first year of high school and has already registered for them: English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Art, Phys. Ed., Religion and German. We will be doing a bit of French on the side with some other girls close to her age. That is one thing I do feel guilty about when I look at her schooling: I did not do nearly enough reading and writing work with her in French. It's her first language, after all! Ah well. She's smart enough that if she needs to, or wants to, have a high level later on, she'll be able to do it in no time.
For my son... *blank* Not entirely blank, but in that moment, it was a blank moment. I've had various thoughts about next year.
*Since he's still 11, turning 12 in September, and some of the academic skills aren't "up to snuff" because I unschooled him more than Montessori'ed him (lol), I'm thinking of looking at next year like a year in upper elementary. He doesn't feel to me at the Erdkinder stage, but I know that can change rapidly. I'll have to keep my eye on it. He has lost 5-6 baby teeth in the past couple of months. I've started nicknaming him "Toothless." These are signs of him changing. I'll perhaps have to consider the possibility of mixing a bit of Elementary with a bit of Erdkinder. Or maybe start with a lot of Elementary and gradually work in some Erdkinder principles. We'll see. I'll probably blog more about this over the summer. Right now, I'm thinking of the Great Lessons' focus and the Key Lessons. Of course, I don't have a whole lot of information about the Key Lessons, but I think that's okay. I think I will have to assign myself some Montessori reading this summer to get myself a little better "retrained" and thinking Montessori-style. I will have so much more time to really focus on Montessori this coming fall because the grade 12 student will be gone, as will my 4.5yo niece (off to full-time kindergarten) and the little guy I babysit a couple of times a week. I feel like my kids have been jipped a bit over the past years due to how much time everybody else takes. Although it's not just been that: part of it is their evening activities leave me acting as chauffeur and adding to the things I need to do in a day, weekends are now spent trying to get done all the things around the house and errands that weren't getting done during the week, and I have not had the energy nor the time to plan and prepare the way I have in the past. The joy at the thought of being able to do this with them in the fall--a feeling of "it's never too late"--is now encompassing that sadness and guilt. It isn't too late. :)
Another thing I have to do over the summer is start preparing courses I will be starting in the fall: French (two completely different levels), a twice-a-month science class for junior high-ish and then art/crafts classes. Yes, I am taking away some time from my schedule with my kids. Sort of. One of the French classes is Monday afternoons for 2 hours. The other French class is Thursday afternoons, when my daughter is already gone to a homeschool set of classes. The advanced French class, my daughter is in with 2 other girls--so, I may be working with her and not with my son, but my focus isn't just on other people. The science classes were something I thought to do as a means to make sure I have my son do hands-on science stuff. So those classes are as much for him as for helping replace my income. And the arts/crafts will be possibly only once a month, and my kids may or may not participate, depending on what the topic is, but I would love to have them decide some of the projects.
As I type this, I find my thoughts slipping into what I've read about Erdkinder--students creating businesses or being involved in businesses. I'm going to have to educate myself better about that level and see how I can perhaps lead both of my kids in this area. My 14yo, I can just kind of see now, could easily lead some art classes of her own, even some computer art workshops or something. I could get both involved in helping with the accounting and organizational aspect of different classes. I find myself chuckling and shaking my head right now because our government likes to talk in the curriculum about how they want to encourage entrepreneurship in students, yet they really do almost nothing to really encourage such a thing. The only thing I can think of is a sort of health course in high school talks briefly about starting your own business as an option of something to do after high school or to do as a career.
Just reminds me that much more of how my heart is in Montessori and while I may stray, I never go away completely. :)
Monday, June 11, 2012
Tests
My 14yo has this thing with tests. She wants to do them. She somehow feels like she's not doing what she's supposed to or is not going to be capable of doing them in high school unless she gets a lot of practice.
It came up yesterday. I was reminded that I have been meaning to give her some of the year-end tests done in our province. We haven't done enough of the math yet, but I decided I could give her something from the English test. I found the reading comprehension test from a couple of years back and "surprised" her with it this morning. She's had no practice, no guidance on anything related to taking these kinds of tests. I was curious to see how she would do.
Well, she met the criteria for excellence. Her reaction to seeing how many she had wrong? "It can still be excellence if I have that many wrong?" In her mind, I think, 100%, or almost, is required.
This all goes back, I know, to an inner insecurity that fears that she's not learning as much as others, doesn't know as much, can't do as much. I'm not sure where this stems from. I don't know if she was with others her age and something popped up school related that she didn't know about or if it's just her ingrained perfectionist tendencies (she comes by them honestly!). In any case, having this outside assessment, where the standards of achievement are determined by the government, saying that she's doing just fine... I think it was a good thing. Although she seems a little unconvinced by their determination that her score was excellent. ;)
It came up yesterday. I was reminded that I have been meaning to give her some of the year-end tests done in our province. We haven't done enough of the math yet, but I decided I could give her something from the English test. I found the reading comprehension test from a couple of years back and "surprised" her with it this morning. She's had no practice, no guidance on anything related to taking these kinds of tests. I was curious to see how she would do.
Well, she met the criteria for excellence. Her reaction to seeing how many she had wrong? "It can still be excellence if I have that many wrong?" In her mind, I think, 100%, or almost, is required.
This all goes back, I know, to an inner insecurity that fears that she's not learning as much as others, doesn't know as much, can't do as much. I'm not sure where this stems from. I don't know if she was with others her age and something popped up school related that she didn't know about or if it's just her ingrained perfectionist tendencies (she comes by them honestly!). In any case, having this outside assessment, where the standards of achievement are determined by the government, saying that she's doing just fine... I think it was a good thing. Although she seems a little unconvinced by their determination that her score was excellent. ;)
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Spontaneous Repetition At ANY Age!
When I think of spontaneous repetition, I think of very little ones, like the stories Maria Montessori shared about children doing something over and over and even just the little ones who have been in my care over the past 14 years (mine and others'). There is such a natural tendency for them to repeat something over and over and over. They are focused, intent and just have this need.
It apparently is not just for little ones. :P
My son, who is 11, got his first house key on Sunday. Monday, the repetition began: lock, unlock, lock, unlock... And not just the deadbolt on the back door, but the doorknob, too. He showed his little 4yo cousin how it worked in all of the doorknob and deadbolts to the outside/garage. It got so bad, it was driving me crazy. So he then took up just doing it from outside rather than leaving the door open and doing it. Tuesday, he kept his key with him and every time he went outside to play, he locked the door. He'd come in for water or to get something and would unlock, do what he needed to do, then back outside and locked the door. It was really quite funny!
He did it again yesterday, but was not in-and-out so much. Today, the novelty seems to have worn off. Or I guess in Montessori terms, the need has been fulfilled.
Do you have any stories of an older child doing something almost obsessively repetitively?
It apparently is not just for little ones. :P
My son, who is 11, got his first house key on Sunday. Monday, the repetition began: lock, unlock, lock, unlock... And not just the deadbolt on the back door, but the doorknob, too. He showed his little 4yo cousin how it worked in all of the doorknob and deadbolts to the outside/garage. It got so bad, it was driving me crazy. So he then took up just doing it from outside rather than leaving the door open and doing it. Tuesday, he kept his key with him and every time he went outside to play, he locked the door. He'd come in for water or to get something and would unlock, do what he needed to do, then back outside and locked the door. It was really quite funny!
He did it again yesterday, but was not in-and-out so much. Today, the novelty seems to have worn off. Or I guess in Montessori terms, the need has been fulfilled.
Do you have any stories of an older child doing something almost obsessively repetitively?
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