Where we are at right now.....

Life is a funny thing, it keeps changing on you and throwing you curve balls.

You see about 1.5 - 2 years ago I thought there was no choice but for us to settle down and use a full curriculum for all our learning/schooling.

I was exhausted, pregnant with #4, then breastfeeding through the night and I was in a panic about my oldest child's academic progress at the same time but I knew I didn't have the time or the energy to drive the education or plan and do all the teaching, marking and facilitating that most other approachs had required of me in the past. so we started using the ACE curriculum and just doing whatever was assigned in their workbooks each day.

Over the months since then we have found that this was only a temprary solution which served its purpose well at the time and in truth we all learned a lot from this experience.

These days I feel God is leading us more towards what I think would be referred to as a relaxed or delight driven approach to homeschooling. I still feel a certain structure and routine needs to be in place each day and that there are certain basic skills that need to be practiced on a regular basis.... BUT... the way in which we go about this is evolving.

Instead of daily subjects and text or work book pages to complete, there are certain skills that we will be working on in some manner every day. However the children are free to work on these skills according to their interests and passions. This isn't always easy for me as I have a fairly proactive and controlliing personality and we are coming out of a much more structured approach and the children are still deschooling and learning where their interests and strengths lie.

We still spend part of our days working on some set skills but these days we apply these skills to areas of personal interest, and on things that are of personal value to 1 or all of us.

To illustrate what I mean here is what I would refer to as our...

 

'Curriculum Overview'.....

Biblical Life Application - Each day we will read and discuss Scripture, pray and try to apply the Lords teaching to our daily lives.

Writing Skills - Each day the children complete some sort of writing task. I will offer a suggested task or activity each day but the children may come up with their own alternatives if they prefer.

Math - We will practice and apply mathematical concepts and reasoning using a range of curricular materials and practical application to real life situations

Reading Skills - Together as a family we will read and discuss a variety of materials, books, texts and quality literature. The children will also spend time each day reading books of their own choosing independently.

Research Skills - The children will pick something of personal interest to research over a period of time and I will guide and support their research skills as needed.

Reporting Skills - The children will share information accumulated or learned  in a variety of methods. I will either assign a method or have them come up with their own depending on what works best or is needed most for each indivdual child.

Vocabulary and Language Skills - Daily exposure to and learning of an ever increasing range of language and vocabulary skills, and the use of them in relation to written and spoken language.

This is a real learning curve for all of us and is challenging the way we have done things in the past and all my preconceived ideas about 'schooling' and academic learning. It is a matter of trusting the Lord to guide and support us in all that we do including getting an academic education.

So that is where we are at right now.