Worksheet Dilemma....

Like many teachers, I use worksheets to supplement and test what the kids are learning. While Denver enjoys reading books, he detests worksheets and lets me know each time I hand him some. Today I gave him a packet of worksheets to test him on recall on a CD he listened to about the Assyrians. He groaned as usual. Interestingly, what he did then was grab the globe hanging above my desk and proceeded to spend 10 or 15 minutes looking at Israel on it and ancilliary comments. We ended up having an impromptu learning session. Then he moved on to Russia, thinking about the 2014 Winter Olympics, and so got a geography lesson with that too.

It just struck me that that is how learning often happens in homeschooling. The worksheets don't click, but we have other learning materials around that the kids can get involved in. They have the time to pursue information in other ways than just what I present. I do wish I had more time and motivation to make all learning more interactive and hands on for the kids (our dream is to travel the world to learn history and geography!) but I don't. I do try to keep worksheets to a reasonable level though. (sigh) Seems like some things you just need a worksheet for, though!

Planning for Next Semester

Yesterday I sat down with each of the kids and walked through their ILP's line by line, figuring out what we need to study for the coming semester.  Their Individual Learning Plan (ILP) was put together jointly last spring by myself and the kids' supervising teacher with Connections, Patricia Kane.  We considered their passions, interests, learning styles and grade level as well as state standards and my desires as we decided what subjects to have the kids work on. 

I had to quiz the kids a little bit to see if they had learned certain items on their ILP's.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that they are right on track for being halfway through the semester.  Aurora has nearly completed her entire Course 1 McDougal Littell math book, and when checking the ILP the items that she didn't know were the ones contained in the final chapters of that book.  The Jamestown series for reading and some writing dovetails very nicely with the basics skill development in reading:  analyze literary devices, differentiate between fact and opinion, understand concept of theme, accurately restates and summarizes text, etc.

Part of the challenge of teaching is trying to break things up so that it doesn't become monotonous and boring, trying to keep it challenging enough without being overwhelming, and teaching things that are not as intrinsically interesting and satisfying.  Each person has things that they love, but if it is presented in a certain way the joy goes right out the door.  Denver can spend hours working with his simple machines lego kit, building and refining designs but has resisted any related bookwork.  Does that mean learning isn't happening?  Not at all; learning can happen in the absence of books, but we've become conditioned to think that if students are not using textbooks they are not learning.  How many workplaces have textbooks to teach?  Most jobs offer on-the-job training and observation followed by practice.  While that can be a difficult ideal for teaching basic facts, it has some merit.

The bottom line is that in planning next semester I felt my way through it, sensing the kids' motivation levels and interests.  Tomorrow we will meet with the kids' supervising teacher to refine and ask questions.  And then for break time!

Collaborative Efforts

In planning the next semester, I offhandedly mentioned to Denver that maybe Clayton, a next door neighbor boy the same age as Denver who is also homeschooled, might like to do the simple machines and chemistry activities with him.  Denver's face lit up with such excitement at the thought of doing activities with a friend that I felt a twinge of regret that I haven't organized such activities for him before now.

For those who think the life of homeschoolers is a quiet, sedate pace, think again.  Constant enrichment activities and field trips are blended into the day along with the normal daily activities of exercise, eating, chores and more.  I have found it amazingly difficult to connect with other homeschooling mom's and their kids for activities.  We all seem to have some level of desire to connect, but our days have a structure to them just like any classroom, and to a degree we are loathe to break the routine too much.

I happened to run into a mom at the library who was checking out all the Egypt books they had, and we emailed back and forth to figure out a time and day to meet and plan some collaborative ancient civilizations activities for our daughters who are the same age.  Finally it got pushed back to January:  after the holidays.

Another family was recommended to my son for collaborative activities, and coincidentally we met them in kayaking class a few weeks back.  Apparently they have been travelling all fall and are finally home.  We'll be swapping emails this week at the last kayaking class and then the dance to coordiate schedules will begin.

Ultimately, I hope to more along these lines, but it is a delicate balance of finding other kids whose personalities, learning styles and interests match.  With homeschooling this process can take time, but I suspect that once we find those other families it will be a little bit easier.  We begin to meet people when we're out and about and find out which ones are homeschooled and would be interested in daytime activities.  Proximity makes a difference of course, not that "the other side of Homer" is all that far away (15-20 min.).  Meanwhile, we will continue to get out there and seek out other kids who would enjoy group activities.