Wordless Wednesday

10 Reasons We are Eclectic, Relaxed Homeschoolers

If you have read the "About Me" section of this blog, you know that I consider us eclectic homeschoolers.  I have also always considered us "relaxed" homeschoolers, meaning that we are not school-at-homers, but not quite unschoolers either.  Being certified as a Montessori teacher (primary level, AKA: pre-school) I started out homeschooling thinking that we would use the Montessori method.  I quickly discovered, however, that the more money and/or time I spent on Montessori materials, the less likely my kids were to use them.  They're contrary like that.  But that doesn't mean that I abandoned the philosophies that drew me to the Montessori method in the first place.  And I found many of the same philosophies in other methods as well, such Charlotte Mason, and to a greater extent, Thomas Jefferson Education.

So these are the top 10 reasons we homeschool the way we do:

1. We prefer an individualized education.  No two people are exactly alike, so why should their education be exactly alike?  Everyone has their own unique combination of strengths and weaknesses, interests and aptitudes.  Education should reflect that.
2. No boring textbooks.  Nothing kills interest like a dull, dry textbook.  I think back to how much I hated science and history in school, and it was because of the boring textbooks.  Once I was out of school and started learning from real-life sources and "living books", I found that science and history are two of my favorite subjects!
3. We are more relaxed in the early years.  Young children learn by playing.  My children always made it abundantly clear when I started being too structured and formal for them.  So I would take a deep breath, remember why we were homeschooling in the first place, and "follow the child".
4. They naturally will start to get more serious about their studies as they get older, particularly in their areas of interest.  They are also more open to working on areas of weaknesses, as they are able to envision goals for their lives (even if they just want to go to college, but don't have any plans beyond that, for example) and can see where that area (read: math) may be helpful. 
5. I try to follow my children's interests.  We are all more likely to remember what we are interested in.  Yes, that makes more work for me.  But I would rather spend my time inspiring them to want to learn something than forcing them to do something they don't want to do, because then they're just going through the motions and not really learning anyway.  Then it's just a big waste of time and effort for us all.  And yes, sometimes in life we all have to do things we don't really want to do - ask my kids about cleaning the bathroom.
6. I love the flexibility this allows us.  We are not tied to any arbitrarily imposed schedules or a canned curriculum's lesson plan.  We can take a day off if it's nice out and we want to meet some friends for a hike, or go for a field trip, or even if we're all out of sorts and just need to get out of the house.  Or if we're learning about xyz and it's just not grabbing us, we can drop it, and either come back to it later, or not at all, depending on what it is.  If it's something like fractions, we come back to it later, because they will need to know how to work with fractions at some point in their lives.  But they didn't seem all that interested in watching the hawks on the hawk-cam fledge.  I don't think their lives will be negatively impacted for not having seen it, even if I thought it was pretty cool.
7. We want our children to be life-long learners.  By following their interests, often on their own, they are learning life habits of, well, learning, which is something we want them to see the value in continuing. 
8. We want our children to learn how to think, not just what to think.  This is definitely a work in progress, and probably always will be.  So often in traditional schools, the emphasis is on memorizing and spitting the information back out on the test.  We want them to be able to apply that information, rather than just memorizing it.
9. Books, lots of books.  If we are going to learn by reading living books rather than textbooks, we end up having lots of them around.  And I love books and reading!
10. I have time to pursue my own learning.  When they were younger, they spent less time on academics, and now that they're older, they work more independently.  This allows me time to read and do activities of my own interests, like writing a blog.

What are some of the reasons you homeschool the way you do?

This post is linked to Top Ten Tuesday at  http://www.manylittleblessings.com/

Field Trip to Mystic Aquarium

Last Monday, we visited the Mystic Aquarium to kick off our study of marine biology.  As usual, we saw some amazing sights!  Unfortunately, we didn't get pictures of two of my favorites sights: a penguin with a sprained ankle, with a bright blue cast/bandage on his leg.  As if penguins don't look funny enough when they walk, this one had a limp.  Poor little guy!

Another really cool thing we didn't get a picture of was an octopus' tentacles spread across the glass of his tank.  They usually spend most of their time hiding, but the tank was being cleaned, so I think that's why he was out.  We had an excellent view of all the suction cups on his tentacles.

Now for (some of) the pictures we did get:

We checked out the beluga whales first, as we always do because they're closest to the entrance.  They're in an outdoor habitat and the sun was shining on the tank glass, so the pictures didn't come out great.  The youngest one (9 yrs. old) was in a particularly playful mood that morning!  He had what looked like an indoor/outdoor rug and was swimming around with it in his mouth, dropping it and grabbing it again.

I love how they look like they're always smiling.

Almost missed this close-up!

Now you see it....

Now you don't.

The moray eels are so creepy, yet strangely intriguing...

There were a couple of loggerhead turtle hatchlings at the aquarium.  They will be released when they are ready back to the wild in North Carolina.

The last thing we did was check out the Titanic exhibit, which we have seen before, but this time we watched a video of  Dr. Robert Ballard's ongoing exploration of the ocean floor.  It was very interesting and we learned that the next expedition will be July 1-September 1, and will be streamed live online here.  We will definitely remember to watch that!

All in all, it was a great day!

This post is linked to The Homeschool Field Trip Blog Hop

Weekly Wrap-Up: June 15

All in all, this has been a fairly productive week.  Last weekend, Swimmah had her first long-course swim meet, which means that they swim in a 50 meter pool, rather than a 25 yard pool used for the regular YMCA swim meets.  (Note: Turtlegirl also swims, but is content with the 25-yd pools.)  Swimmah did well and enjoyed it, but was pretty tired out the rest of the day.  So was I - check-in time was 7:45am at a pool about 45 minutes away.  Most of these meets are further away with an earlier start time, which is why Turtlegirl didn't want to sign up for these!  I can't say as I blame her...

On Monday, the three of us went to Mystic Aquarium to kick off our study of Marine Biology.  Highlights of the trip: the youngest beluga whale was playing with a blanket (or maybe it was a rug?); one of the penguins had a sprained ankle (I don't think we got a picture of it, though); the octopus had all his tentacles spread out over the glass of his tank - very cool!  More to come in another post.

I also spent some time in my garden, thinning the Black-eyed Susans that were threatening to take over the entire garden.  I had one friend who was willing to take some, but there was a whole lot more that I threw out.  I have to say, the garden is looking better now.

Also on the homefront, my cordless cellular shades for the family room came in and we hung those up.  I'm so happy with them, I'm wondering why I didn't do this sooner.  We had white sheer curtains with a valance since we moved here eleven years ago.  I took them down to wash a month or so ago and realized the shape they were in - claw marks from cats trying to look out the windows, paint on the set that was next to the kids' art table.  They were clearly past their prime.  I also couldn't bear to put the navy blue velour valances back up.  They just look so heavy in the summer.  I'll put them back up in the fall, but for now there are empty curtain rods over the new shades.  I'll have to do something about finding something lighter for the warmer months.

Last evening was our natural food co-op monthly delivery.  I help in the kitchen weighing out the bulk items for members.  Now that it's summer, many members are on vacations and getting more food locally, so the order was pretty small.  We were actually done in about an hour and a half.  Often in the winter, it takes us closer to 3 hours to weigh and distribute all the bulk items (that's with 3-4 people working on it).

This afternoon, the girls and I met some friends for a hike.  You can read about that later this weekend, or maybe not until Monday, here.

This post is linked to Weekly Wrap-Up.

Wordless Wednesday

Swimmah on our hike last week

Turtlegirl's Nature Center

I believe I've mentioned before that Turtlegirl has a veritable nature center here in our "all-purpose" room (sometimes called the piano room, sometimes the turtle room).  She has done this previous years, but this year's is the most extensive to date.  Here are some pictures:

One of the newt hatchlings

Some of the toadlets

This one's very shy.  He also has lots of algae - you can see it if you look closely.

The littlest turtle.

The new 40 gallon tank she bought with birthday money.

There are also adult newts, who laid eggs right after she brought them home.  That's where the newt hatchlings came from.  She also has a couple of wood frogs that metamorphosed from tadpoles she caught.  All will be released back to the wild.
Update: The toadlets were released to our garden today, June 7.

This post is linked to Science Sunday.

7 Keys: #7 - You, not Them

If you find yourself getting worried that your child isn't doing xyz, instead of pushing him/her to do it, do it yourself.  S/he just might become interested in xyz after all - although this will backfire if that is your sole purpose in doing it yourself - I speak write from experience here!

Where are your own gaps in your education?  We all have them.  No one can possibly know everything there is to know!  Start reading some classics.  Or maybe you just always wanted to learn to knit, or play guitar, or...you fill in the blank.  What better way for children to learn that learning is a worthwhile pursuit and that it never ends?

I have been reading some of the classic books that I had always heard of but never read.  I learned to knit a couple of years ago.  This year I also started working through Algebra I, and now Geometry, both of which I took in high school but remember almost none of.   My husband has been learning to make his own fishing lures and also how to fix his boat motor.

Of course, this doesn't mean that you ignore your kids.  The point of working on your own education is to improve yourself, yes, but also to inspire your children.  So share the interesting bits with them, and show your interest in their passions. The result will be a lifestyle of learning.