Cheers to a more relaxed and more fruitful homeschooling this year!
It's almost just a blink of an eye and now, week 3 is done for our Year 1! I did not even notice it, we're almost done with our first month! I can honestly say that this year I am a lot more intentional, not just with our homeschooling method but also in our parenting. 3 weeks into the Charlotte Mason Method of homeschooling, we have had so much fun. It has its ups and downs, just like any other methods of schooling but the outcome and the way we handle the low points is so much better.
We started out with a bang! And so far, the fire is still sparkling and shining brighter than ever. Let me just share a bit of what we have been doing these past few weeks. It helped that I was able to make a very detailed lesson plan for the first quarter. I haven't made one for quarter 2 yet, it's still on the works but for sure it will be as detailed as the first quarter, with a little bit of adjustments here and there.
On some of my previous posts, I have mentioned about Narration as the basic teaching and learning tool in our homeschooling. My daughter has so far been at ease with the method. Another way of showing comprehension for kids is sketch narration. Last week, we read about Ang Hukuman ni Mariang Sinukuan. Every now and then, I ask her if she wants to narrate orally or if she wants to make a sketch narration about the part of the story that we read. This is one the times she chose to draw what she understood about the story. We were at the part here where Lamok was explaining why he was holding a bolo while flying around. He was looking for Talangka because according to Lamok, he was pinched by Talangka while he was passing by, explaining why he wanted to seek revenge on Talangka. In the story, it said that Talangka had already hidden in his home under the sand when Lamok came back and my daughter made a drawing of a house to show this. After we have read the story in parts, I had her retell the story from the start to finish and it's amazing how she was able to retell the story, with her using the Tagalog words she learned. Sure, she retells it in English but I'm just happy she has included at least 20% of tagalog words in her oral narration.
Another achievement we had these past 3 weeks is her copyworks. I do not require her to write a lot just yet. She has of course copywork activities that train her how to write properly. I only give her 5 minutes of copywork per subject per day that we strictly follow. Whether she finished writing or not, we stop the clock, and we move on to the next lesson. But of course, we try to make sure that we complete the tasks no matter how many days it takes.
My daughter is very much interested in arts. I took the opportunity to introduce her to the basics of drawing through the book What to draw and How to Draw it by E.G. Lutz. I included this in her copywork activities and so far, she's been enjoying this. It takes her longer to finish her drawing copywork, I make this as an exception to the 5 minute copywork rule. I understand that artists have this mojo where one moment they feel like drawing something, the other they don't even want to touch a pencil.
Part of our wholistic education approach, we also have Nature Studies included in our lessons. On our 2nd week, she planted some tomato seeds right next to the ones I already have grown. She did everything from putting soil in the pot down to watering her newly planted tomato seeds. We added watering plants to her daily chores too. During our planting session, she saw some insects like millipede, dragonfly, a butterfly laying eggs on our small lemon tree, a slug, and some caterpillars. She was most fascinated in the millipede because it suddenly coiled when we got near it. These are the moments that I'm aiming for her to experience where the spark of interest is awaken from all her observations.
Lessons I Learned as a Homeschool Educator
When things doesn't go as planned, Learn to Let it Go
I am amazed at all of her achievements for the last 3 weeks. These though were not without sweat, some tears (mostly from me) and a lot of patience. There were days when we just can't find the rhythm, but we power through after a little bit of break.
Be present
When we're homeschooling, it's easy to assume that we are there for our kids because we are technically with them, we are teaching them, they listen to us. But it's different when we are fully involved. One of the ways we found the fun in learning is when I join my kid in activities where I can join her. We have Art Appreciation where we study an artist, we observe their artwork, and then try to replicate their work. Right now, we are studying Claude Monet. We would look at one of his paintings for a certain time, study and observe the brush strokes, their painting style, the colors they used, the lighting, etc. Then we set it aside, try to remember the details, and then remake it without looking at it again. At first, I let her to it by herself. For me, it was a time to multitask and do other chores at home while she's busy. But it turns out she likes the activity more when I'm also drawing along with her.
*The sunflower art is my recreation of one of Monet's Bouquet of Sunflower. My skills (or lack thereof) in arts is strongly challenged in these activities, but we push through.
Listen and pay attention
I taught my daughter to pay attention when I read her the stories aloud so that she would be able to narrate them. It turns out I also could use a lesson on paying attention. One of the things that worked for us is when we let her talk openly to express her opinions. There are instances that she wants to skip a subject and move to another. Although we have a schedule, we treat it now as just a guide for the day. At the end of the day, I ask her what she liked about the day's lessons and what's her least favorite. This way, we're able to assess what went right and what went wrong during the day, making us continue the best practices, and readjust those that didn't work.
We are leafing through The Tempest by William Shakespeare. I am just so glad that she was able to express that she was getting bored with the story. Even though it was supposed to be about enchanted creatures and magic, she told me she did not like the part that talked about falling in love and revenge. We took a little break from it for a bit. She got bored on those parts but for her to still be able to voice out her opinion about it shows that she still understood the story. After a little bit of break from it, we are now on our way to start Romeo & Juliet.
Keep on Evolving
As we continue with our homeschooling journey, I am sure that we will surely get to valleys and peaks. I have learned to celebrate the highs, learn from the lows. One thing is for sure, we will continue the best practices and keep on discovering new ways to keep our spirits high in our homeschooling journey. The most important thing that matters the most is that we instill the love of learning to our little one. That is the ultimate goal.
