Thursday, October 25, 2012

Swirling Mind and Hoping Heart



Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
Col 3:23 (NLT)


     My mind is swirling with ideas that I've been gleaning from various books and articles I've been reading about homeschooling methods.  I have always labeled my style as "eclectic".  I have combined the Charlotte Mason methods with a little bit of classical and even leaned toward guided unschooling in certain seasons, intermingling unit studies for good measure.  We use actual textbooks for Math and might use other text books as sources for ideas or topics, but not as a primary source for history or literature.  Once we get to high school level, we have used parts of textbooks for higher sciences or even government, although I am setting my aims to use more original documents in our studies.

     So back to the swirls! After reviewing the possibilities of all of the truly inspiring books that can be pored over, studied, and ruminated on, I have been digging deeper into Charlotte Mason's methods of education that cover immersion in quality music and its composers, fine art and its artists, classic literature and its lofty ideas, and nature and science study that allows time to observe and understand creation in a way that flying through a textbook in a year can never do. 

     But I'm also taking another hard look at some of the traditions of the classical mode of education and realizing that I can easily implement what seems profitable without having to be a purist.  I feel pretty excited about that because up to this point, I have had a negative view of classical education, feeling that it is too structured, academic, and BORING (I might as well be honest!).  Now I'm seeing that I can allow my child (especially now that I'm down to only one that I'm homeschooling) to partake of the best of several homeschooling approaches. 

     I plan on implementing some new practices and continuing in some familiar old ones.  My young scholar will be memorizing poetry, hymns, Scripture, geography, historical events, famous speeches, and more.  She will be reading (and listening to) great literature and beautiful music of different time periods. Appreciating and learning about fine artwork will be a regular part of her week.  Narration (telling back in as much detail and in her own words after listening to an oral reading) will be a big part of assessment and developing her attention span and language skills. Of course nature study is a given and so is math. Creative lapbooking will be one way to allow my sweet girl to produce a project that can be admired for years to come.  As she progresses in maturity, she will be studying Latin and Greek, logic and writing. Hopefully her days will be balanced out with crafts, play, and exercise!

     All of these activities will definitely not be crammed into each day.  If there's one thing I've learned over these many years of home education, we must move with the ebb and flow of life.  Set goals and then be flexible. Allow for delightful surprises that come our way in the form of invigorating discussions, unexpected discoveries, and even breezy sunny afternoons that beckon us away from the books for the rest of the day! 

     Will we actually follow through on these ambitious plans with consistency and longevity?  I really hope so. All I know is that  I'd rather set high goals and not reach them than have only mediocre intentions that can be reached with only half hearted effort.

1 comment: