We have been so busy moving and settling and moving and settling over the past 2 1/2 years, that school hasn't always been as "fun" as I have wanted it to be. We go through spurts where we have a few good months and a few months that look much more like the (seat work portion of the) traditional classroom because we need to get school done and move on with our day. {this is ALWAYS a temptation with homeschooling b/c unlike teaching in the regular classroom, like I once did, now I get to look around and see my messy house and unfinished projects all day long while we do school and think...if we could just move a little faster, I could get that done!} I used to be such a people-oriented person and it seems like the more kids we have, the more task-oriented I become. Bad Jeanna, bad Jeanna...wake up & remember who you are, woman!
One of my biggest goals as my children's teacher is that I would help them to cultivate a love for learning. I want my kids to become life-long learners that seek wisdom and truly know how to teach themselves so that when they are adults they will continue to learn as long as they live without relying on anyone else to spoon feed them. There is almost nothing more pitiful than a grown man or woman who hasn't cracked a book or done anything to expand their mind since they left their last classroom in high school or college. This world is so fascinating...so much to learn about the past, present, and future, so many interesting places and people to learn about, endless stories and adventures. How can people just STOP and be content with only filling their brains with whatever crosses their television or computer screen? It blows my mind.
Here is me, stepping down off my soapbox and getting back on subject...
The kids and I enjoy ourselves the most when we are immersed in a subject or time period, filling our days with literature, art and drama surrounded around a theme. It's been a while since we have been able to do that with all of the recent changes and we have all lost the 'joy in learning' since we have been in 'gettin' the basics done mode'. Lots of phonics, language arts {without the arts}, memorization, and copy work. So, in one of my recent, "maybe they'd be better off in school next year" moments, one of my best friends in the world suggested that we take a break this summer, {we school year round}, and just enjoy life, field trips, art, all of the fun stuff in school without the "seatwork." I'd start right now if they were finished with what I had planned for the year, but they still have some important things to get through before breaking. SO, we are just adding art to our daily routine with no particular theme besides art for art's sake, simply for the pure enjoyment of it. It is almost making it so much fun that I don't want to break after all this summer. Besides, who am I kidding? It was excellent advice, but I want the freedom all year round that year-round school affords us. When we do it all year, we can take breaks whenever we want and not feel guilty or like we have to race to catch up. So, what James and I have decided is that instead of completely breaking from regular curriculum this summer, we are going to cut way back and spend lots of time creating, playing and reading together as a family with the time set aside each week for getting each individual child caught up in the areas where we see they could use a little extra work. We shall see...looking forward to it.
