Homeschooling the Sixteen-Year-Old Boy

 Today marks the start of Week 11 of school for us, which means (I think) that we're about 1/3-ish of the way through the school year.  But lo, it has been a grind so far, and I'm already plotting ways to make things easier next year.  

Finn (who is in 10th grade--we had to decide what grade he was in last year, and decided to say 9th to give us plenty of leeway/room, and we're not in a mad rush to see him off to college anyhow!) is taking Geometry, Chemistry, a combined history + literature + theology class, French 4, advanced conversational Spanish (a substitute for Spanish 4, basically), while also juggling choir, two evenings of work at the local fancy nursing home, and a community theatre performance (in which he has 4-5 roles this production!). 

I'm not going to lie. It's a lot.  Especially for this perfectionistic, slow-paced, deep-diving, pondering learner.  

I have been constantly ruminating over whether to convince him to drop his (confusing, rigorous, massively time-consuming) chemistry class for something with a gentler pace and more practical application, but so far he wants to keep it.  I'm praying about it.  We'll see. Next semester he's going to drop back to working only one day per week, and maybe even scale back further to not working at all for a few months until summer.  That may help. But time management, distractions, and prioritization are all issues that we are facing now.  His classes are generally set up like college classes: two days a week, with lots of homework in between.  This is great "training" for the independence of college, but challenging for a 16-year-old male.  Finn is a brainiac, but like most teenagers, when he logs onto the computer he suddenly finds himself "distracted" by all of his interests*....letting the actual schoolwork move to the back burner. This is an issue that I'm seeing unfold, and that I'm also praying about trying to solve with wisdom. 

Annie, who is in 7th-ish grade, is taking two online classes (Language Arts and Physical Science/Intro to Physics and Chemistry).  They're pretty good, but I'm going to shake things up next year.  The online classes were a great way to "cover the gap" during my dad's illness and death, and during my recovery from it, but I am feeling a bit more like it's time to turn back to analog learning for a while.  My Charlotte Mason roots are still there, still strong. :) 

Boy! Every stage of parenting involves so many decisions and so many things to navigate and consider.  It's a joy to raise a child into adulthood, but it also take a long view and a lot of patience and discernment. It's the biggest investment of time anyone who is a parent can make, and undoubtedly the most worthwhile, too.  

I'm all about Galatians 6:9 when considering the realities of raising a teenager!

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." 

Yes! I'm banking on this! I remind myself of this every day!

(*Here are the ways Finn gets totally distracted on the internet: watching past Republican primary debates (nope, not kidding), reading everything he can about various world religions, and learning about composers.  Like I said, he's a nerd. I appreciate his passion to learn...but you gotta get that chemistry done, too! He doesn't play video games...but he does like to watch funny Babylon Bee spoof YouTube videos.  And I have to admit, they can be really amusing.)

Schooling for Finn

 I just recently realized that Finn, who is in what we'll call 10th grade this year, lacks just 1 credit to hit the recommended or required class credit list for most colleges.  For a long time I was looking at the requirements for the advanced diploma track for our public high schools which is hefty indeed (and what I followed), and just this week I realized I should actually look at what colleges want to see. Interestingly, we're almost already there!

This has been a liberating revelation for me. Finn is having an extra-strenuous year, weighed down with rigorous math and science classes, plus high-level language classes (his favorite thing!), and a reading-heavy literature/history/theology class as well (his other favorite thing!).  On top of all that, he performs in community theatre productions and is working at a local retirement home twice a week, so Finn is working hard to keep his head above water, and it's honestly A Bit Much. 

To meet the minimum recommended requirements for most colleges, Finn lacks 1 class. One!! (That's Algebra II.)  This means that we can probably strike out and allow him to get more "specialized" over the next couple of years, which was, after all, one of our primary motivations for homeschooling in the first place.  I think we'll scale back our math/science plans (four years really not necessary) and replace those with the courses he's most interested in taking (humanities-heavy).  As a sophomore, he's already in Spanish 4 and French 4, and his heavy lifting in languages will almost certainly balance out the fact that he takes 3 years of math instead of 4! (If I could have skipped my senior math class--which was a colossal waste of time--I sure would have!) He does so much independent reading and study on his own that I'm already planning to award him a credit in World Religions. He's a curious, interested learner, and I'm so pleased that we can let him have more leeway and freedom over the next couple of years!

And if anyone has any college recommendations, please let me know. So far his ideals appear to be: east coast/not too far from the Mid-Atlantic east coast (although we could work with the midwest); a setting (whether secular or Christian) that values free speech and respects students' perspectives (in other words, Finn doesn't want to attend a school where professors are hostile to students of faith); smaller size school, preferably in a smaller-sized city or town (flexible on those points); strong study abroad possibilities, particularly for France or French-speaking countries; and--his mother's wishful addition--plenty of money to give away to good students! :) 

I've already started making lists of places that may check the box on some of these, and we'll likely do some casual visits over the next 6-9 months.  I'm so glad we're still a couple of years away from all of that, though. I'm in no hurry to send Finn off into the world. 

He's still mine--for a little while longer!

Annie's Al Fresco Spanish (+Azaleas)

 This is our week in Charleston, and I've never been more grateful for technology. Thanks to it, my children can be in Charleston and still (sort of) keep up with schooling.  

Here's Annie doing her Spanish class by Facetime, backdropped by early-blooming azaleas. It was eighty degrees today and we just couldn't resist!

We head back to the chillier mountains tomorrow because my husband has a live interview Friday afternoon from our schoolroom and I need to be there to provide both a laptop and moral support!

Tonight my Dad ate his entire plate of food.  Again. This is an answer to desperate prayers and I am thrilled to sit and watch him eat.  A CT scan today seems to indicate that the tumors are shrinking after only two rounds of chemo.  Given that fact, and the fact that his only side effects thus far are a little fatigue and some thinning hair, we're calling his cancer treatments so far a smashing success.  They buy time--that most precious commodity. 

We are thankful. 

A Cardigan for Baby Jack & A High School Education

 Last year I knitted my first-ever cardigan, a labor of love for my cousin's baby, who lives down the lane from us. I wished for tractor buttons, but all I could acquire at the time were cars.  It worked!

I'm not a great knitter, but this went alright.  I used the Verde Cardigan pattern, learned some new skills, and am very pleased with this project overall. It took a while (I sometimes knit in fits and starts), but was worth it both to create something small and warm and cute, and also to feel like I had Made a Cardigan.  Who knows what's next?  I could make a sock! Maybe even two socks!

{see how the pine is bleeding through the paint on my dresser? my dad painted this piece a million years ago. maybe I'll repaint it someday, but I sort of like the "character" these occasional spots provide!}

Actually, what's next is that I'm knitting a hat for my husband that I need to finish before spring comes. :)  Then I think I might move onto pink legwarmers for my Annie, who does many, many hours of ballet per week and would probably appreciate cozy legwarmers.  

We are finishing up one week at home and heading back to Charleston to be with my Dad tomorrow, for the next week.  I'm so thankful for the flexibility to do this! And I'm also thankful because prayers were answered.  He was so very sick in January, and has felt better and better--in spite of two rounds of chemo so far (3 days each).  Amazing.  Last week when we were there, he ate a big seafood meal one day, pizza the next, and Chinese food one night. I was floored, because when I'd last seen him, he was barely able to eat any solid foods at all, and was disgusted by the thought of food.  This alone has felt miraculous to me. 

In the midst of all of this, I'm trying to plan for Finn's schooling next year.  He toured a local private school--and it's not going to be an option.  So we've whittled it down to a local hybrid school (3 days at school, 2 at home) or just doing school-at-home with more online content, because he enjoys formal classes so much.  I'm hoping we can land the plane on this decision within the next few weeks.  Class registrations happen in March, so we have to get it all sorted out now!  One thing is for sure, though: he'll be taking French 3 for college credit next year.  The boy loves French! He'll probably also continue with Spanish 3, but it's a lot of work to learn two languages, and it takes time away from other subjects that he's also wanting to learn (like science!).  So we'll see.  I sometimes wish Finn were the type of child who liked only a couple subjects and didn't like several, so that we could easily narrow down his studies and focus.  But he likes everything.  He's reading a math book for fun in his spare time, studies languages voraciously, is itching to do more science, could talk about politics all day long....frankly, the only thing he doesn't truly consume with gusto is literature, but he does enjoy novels when he reads them--it's just that he's too busy learning about everything else under the sun. How does one homeschool a child like this? I'm at a loss most of the time.  I have to remember that my public school education isn't the gold standard (I barely recall much of what I did in high school, and frankly, much of it felt like time-wasting and game-playing just to achieve a grade).  Deep breath! We can do this!

As for Annie, she's basically spending most of 5th grade doing ballet, working through her math book, or reading enormous quantities of books.  She reads for hours a day, and since she's spending so much time reading (history, science, and loads of literature), I do very little hands-on homeschooling with her.  I think reading is the best education. :) 

February is almost over!  Spring is on the way. I'm so thankful for this, and for my Dad's continued improvement.  Praise be to God for His mercies and graces.  Amen!

Schooling and September

 Our second week of school is nearly done and I am here to tell you: I'm tired! My body has slept through my alarm clock for two days in a row.  Yesterday I was up around 6:30 (after sleeping through the earlier alarm), but this morning I wasn't up until 7:45 --!! I'm giving myself plenty of grace, because clearly if I need rest, I should get rest, instead of pushing myself for no good reason. Although we will still do a little school tomorrow and Monday, I am thankful that we have a four-day-weekend coming up (my husband is off from work). I'm ready for it!

Finn is getting into the swing of his two online classes--Honors French 2 and Honors Biology. I'm incapable of teaching the former and not interested in teaching the latter, especially after seeing his textbook!  Although I took AP Biology, went to Summer Governor's School for Biology in high school, and planned to major in Biology in college (spoiler alert: I picked philosophy instead), I don't consider myself a great resource as a teacher for Finn on this subject. It has been 25 years since I studied biology seriously. He needs depth, because that's the kind of person he is! I was ruminating this week about how some kids have clear likes/dislikes in high school, so you can sort of cater the experience to them.  Some children are obviously not going to be scientists; others are obviously not going to be English professors, etc.  I do not  have that yet with Finn. He loves every single subject with a passion and depth of curiosity that is astonishing to me. It's wonderful, yes, but it's also daunting!  Perhaps in another year or two he'll have a better idea of what he loves the most.  Although I did ask him this week "if you had to decide right now what you wanted to study in college, what would you say?" And without missing a beat he said "linguistics."  Interesting--and not at all surprising, for this boy who has been teaching himself Chinese all summer, and who is taking French and Spanish (yesterday after his first Spanish 2 class he was glowing, 'ohhh, it was WONDERFUL!!! to be back in class!!'), who checked a book on Thai out of the library, and who can read bits and pieces of Arabic and Russian, and knows more about the roots of languages than I could ever know. 

So. We'll see!  But in the meantime, I'm just so thankful that I get to homeschool him, that we get to spend the next 4 years *together*, that he exists and is my son.  

As we are navigating the waters of online classes and my expectations for Finn this year, I also have little Annie tagging along.  She is really the best.  She gets her schoolwork done quickly, reads voraciously, writes little stories, helps around the house, knows where to find everything, is often my right-hand-man :), and has a "friendship" category in her school planner where she can write down what things she is doing with her friends each week. She's definitely my extroverted, social child. I just love her! My goal with her this year is basically to be sure we get plenty of time together to read aloud, sew/make things, and talk.  Academically, 5th grade is really a piece of cake!  I want this year with Annie to be about making things, reading books, and spending time together.  She's at such a great age for relationship-building!

Today is September 2nd, and my husband and I were both in high spirits last night because of it.  He loves autumn.  From Labor Day weekend until Christmas, he's so happy. He loves the long Labor Day weekend. He loves the leaves changing, the crisp weather. He loves pumpkins, cider, and running or hiking in the fall air.  I like to think he also loves my birthday (September 25th) and our anniversary (two weeks later, October 9th).  :)  He loves dressing up for Halloween, carving pumpkins, traditions. He loves Thanksgiving and all the Christmas festivities.  In 2018 he was so sick, he missed the entire autumn. I think that gives him--and me--a heightened sense of joy every time it comes around again!  And it has felt more autumnal here this week, too.

I've always loved autumn because of the beauty (we're in the mountains, and it really is lovely in autumn), my birthday, the start of school (when I was a child, school began the day after Labor Day, and I loved starting school!), all the harvest goodness--pumpkins, spices, etc.  In fact, I love autumn so much that back in 1998 I changed our planned wedding date from July 24th to October 9th, because I couldn't bear not to get married in autumn! 

I think this weekend I will put out some fall decor. I need to de-summer my flower beds, but right now I still have a project looming: painting our kitchen cabinets! I haven't really touched them in several weeks because we went on vacation, and then school started.  But I need to get the cabinets finished so that I can move on to a few other projects around the house.  It's incredible how much paint can change things.  My cabinets went from dingy and grimy to bright and clean.  

Happy September!

Fifth Grade for Annie

We began school this week--ow, my head hurts.  The learning curve for Finn's two online classes has been so steep!  Annie's schooling is so much more my speed! Here's what she's doing this year:

*Math: She uses Horizons. I love it for her! It's really perfect for us: colorful, spiral, easy to teach, and challenging enough without being overwhelming. 

*Language Arts: this year I decided to try to inject a bit of formality and use Learning Language Arts through Literature. I wanted something that would be, for lack of a better way to put it, "open and go," but still a gentle approach. So far I love, love, love it.  It's not full of nonsense busywork, it's based on quality literature, and it just fits us very well so far. I'll give another update after the first semester or so!

*History/Literature: Annie picked Early American History to study this year.  We chose Beautiful Feet Books, but I purchased the "old" version of their Early American history, which is quite different from the new version they just rolled out this year. I am not sure why they made these changes, because the "old" version has some great books! In any case, this week I got so busy with Finn's needs that Annie volunteered to read the books herself--I'd planned to read aloud to her.  That's going great!  The readings so far are perfectly-suited to her level and she's narrating very well after she reads.  I'm so thankful. 

*Handwriting: we continue to try to tame Annie's handwriting into legibility with A Reason for Handwriting ("transition" level, so she begins cursive this year).

*For science, I divided Jean-Henri Fabre's Storybook of Science into weekly assignments, and we are reading through that this year.  She will do a drawing narration in her science notebook (it's from Riverbend Press--I love their notebooks!) at least once a week. 

*She will do a simple geography workbook to practice map skills--it will probably only take about half the year. We won't even start this until sometime in September. 

*Annie is taking an upper elementary Spanish class for fun--same wonderful teachers Finn has.  

*Annie's best friend is homeschooling this year, so I'm hosting a three-hour "book club" for the girls once a week.  My vision is to do poetry, Shakespeare, and a book discussion together, then work on crochet/knitting, and then they can play.  Once a month or so I also hope to do some sort of seasonal activity, and I am going to ask each girl to bake something as a treat to bring once a month as well; I'll bake a treat on the weeks I don't assign someone baking. 

*We continue to do "morning time"together--a prayer, a hymn, Bible readings, read-aloud, Shakespeare, poetry, a bit of Plutarch, artist and composer studies, etc....but not all of it, every day! Just the first four every day, and then a bit longer on Fridays for Shakespeare, etc.  This may be my favorite part of homeschooling. :) 

*Annie and Finn are both doing a robotics club/competition this fall. 

*Annie has been accepted into a local ballet company, so ballet will consume a lot of time: two 2-hour classes per week, plus four hours of mandatory rehearsals on Saturdays.  And we live 35 minutes from the studio.  But although she's only 10, she is super-focused on ballet and I want to support her in this.  She has been obsessed with ballet since she saw "Swan Lake" as a toddler! This is her sixth year of classes, and she's an extremely hard worker.  I'm thankful that she has this opportunity, even though it does mean a lot of sacrifice and work (50 hours of parent volunteer time?  yes) on my part as well. 

*And finally, violin lessons!

Annie is our social, extroverted child, and I'm pleased that every day she will have *some* sort of social outlet: book club, ballet, Spanish, ballet again, robotics, ballet again.  (Finn is a bit more like me: happy to curl into a ball and read a book for days without talking.) Her actual schooling is very simple (math + a bit of language arts + reading lots of books), which is perfect for her and for me.  

So far this week she got all of her work done easily by noon, she spent several hours with one friend at the pool on Monday, then she spent several hours with other friends at the lake on Tuesday, attended hours of ballet and robotics, and has plowed through several novels.  I'd say Annie's fifth grade year is off to a great start.  

It is a joy to spend my time with my children, and such a privilege to homeschool them. I am so grateful for this life!

Ninth Grade for Finn

 High school! Finn is going into high school! This feels overwhelming sometimes until I realize that high school should just be a natural continuation of all the learning we've already done, and that that learning--which has felt casual and organic much of the time--has been oh-so-sufficient.  I don't place much stock on standardized tests, and I never tell my children their scores.  I just send them to the school board and move on.  But this year Finn's scores truly blew me away.  It made me realize I can just Not Worry so much about "where we are" because where we are is fine!

More than anything else, I just love that he enjoys pursuing knowledge for its own sake. He's not much of a fiction reader, which has surprised me.  But he loves learning languages (this summer he's learning Chinese for fun), loves reading the encyclopedia, knows more geography than anyone I've ever met, etc.  He's becoming the person God created him to be.  He cares about the world, he asks great questions, and he's genuinely curious about life.  I love this!

So this year my goal was to provide opportunities that will foster his interests while not burning him out.  I looked at our state's advanced diploma requirements and sort of formulated a plan based on that--while still honoring what Finn is interested in doing. 

So 9th grade for Finn will be:

*Pre-Algebra/Algebra transition --we use Saxon and love it for him. I had worried about him being "behind," but my husband, who is a math nerd and engineer, strongly said that we need to focus more on building a strong foundation, and that he thinks Finn will be just fine to take the SAT.  I trust my husband's judgment on this point more than I trust anything else, so I'm not going to worry about it!

*Spanish 2--a continuation of the Spanish 1 class from last year. This is an in-person class taught by an American friend who spent part of her childhood in Mexico, and a lovely lady who immigrated from Venezuela a few years ago and barely speaks English.  It's wonderful and a huge, huge blessing for us. 

*Honors French 2 through The Potter's School (online)--Finn has never done formal French, just studied on his own over the years as well as worked with a friend who lived in France and tutored him.  They would read bits of Harry Potter in French, discuss grammar, etc. We decided it was time for a formal class, so he took and aced the placement test for Honors French 2.  I'm so excited for him. 

*Honors Biology through The Potter's School (online)--this is a subject we both wanted to outsource. I love biology, but don't want to teach it.  He's VERY excited about this course!

*Beautiful Feet Books Early American and World History pack--I let Finn pick what history to do for this year, and he picked this one. I'm happy because it is heavily-based on Genevieve Foster's books, which we enjoy so much!  This will provide his history and part of his literature for the year.  I chose a few more books for the year to round out his literature selections, and we'll do a combination of reading them and listening on Audible.  I'm actually keeping this subject as light as possible because I know he'll be pretty busy with his other classes. I seriously doubt we'll finish all the readings (it's a lot), but I'm hoping to get through about 3/4 of it this year. We will be reading the same books and having discussions about them--fun!

*Morning Time: this is where we do Shakespeare, Scripture memory, Bible reading, poetry, hymn, etc.  We will do this each day as a trio for half an hour or forty-five minutes before Finn tackles his other subjects. 

*Piano!  Piano is a huge time commitment for Finn. He practices a lot--and it shows because he plays beautifully.  So I count this as its own subject because it truly does take the same amount of time as, say, math. He loves piano theory in particular, and is focusing more on that this year. 

*Annie and Finn are both participating in a robotics club/competition this fall on a team that is led by a friend of mine.  It's an extra commitment, but they really seem to enjoy the team aspect and the problem-solving.

*PE: Finn and my husband are hiking parts of the Appalachian Trail for "PE" this year.  Once they finish the sections they are doing, we'll come up with another "PE" activity--probably perfecting his swimming strokes, or golfing, or tennis lessons.  I am focusing PE in high school on things that I consider life skills! Finn isn't really an "athlete" and I don't think he'll do any team sports. We may also do a 5K running clinic and/or a resistance-training clinic together, and eventually I'll have him take a CPR class, and I'll teach him a practical first-aid/basic nursing-type class. But we'll do all that over the course of 3-4 years--not one! :) 

And that's ninth grade for dear Finn! 

Next up, fifth grade for Miss Annie......

The Gift of Time

 All the snow has melted on the farm, but more is expected later this week.  I am so happy we are getting snow this year! Last year was a very light year for snow (we had maybe one snow that was sled-able).  We live in the mountains; winter isn't winter here without a couple of bigger snows that keep us marooned at home for a few days!  Fortunately we've gotten several of those so far, and we've been sledding, had snowball fights, built a snow fort, and quit school early to play outside and then drink hot cocoa. For me, winter equals snowy days, so I'm really glad that we're getting some. 

(I'm also glad I don't live in a place where the snow never melts and shoveling it is a daily chore. Balance!)

I'm spending a lot of time these days thinking through school next year for Finn. I cannot believe my little boy will be a high schooler.  It is mind-boggling. Time, please, please, please slow down! He shadowed a kid at a hybrid academy this week (he was supposed to do it last week, but we got snowed in and all schools were cancelled!), and it was so fascinating to hear about that they did.  It was also a little vindicating to me, as his rather-laid-back homeschool teacher.  It made me realize that all these days when it seems like "education" is spotty or a little uneven are still all adding up to Something Good.  The funniest thing was that logic class was his last class of the day. He has never been taught formal logic.  When he was presented with a sentence and its two "supporting" statements, he immediately found the flaw in them and although, in his words, "I didn't know all the fancy logic words they used," he knew precisely why the statement didn't make any sense. 

"The class reminded me of you," he said later. "That's just stuff we talk about all the time!"

I guess that's what happens when your mother studied philosophy and the law.  You understand a fallacy because you smell a rat. ;) 

Also interesting: they read from Twelfth Night.  That was the second play I ever taught, and Finn now has 10 Shakespeare plays under his belt.  They were doing the scene that we LOVE when Malvolio comes out in his yellow stockings.  But Finn said that they were reading a modern "translation" instead of reading the original language.  I was actually shocked. And disappointed: although the language can be tough, you definitely get used to it, and there's so much wonderful wordplay and poetry that would be, well, lost in translation!

But reflecting on his experience and what he told me made me realize that what we've done for these past 8 years is enough. It's more than enough. 

And I think we can do high school. (Gulp.)

And all those days when I semi-regretfully let Finn practice piano, do some math, and then spend playing with his sister for hours?  Or those days when we just read a few books and called it a day?  And all those days when we answered the siren's call of just playing outside?  Or when we followed a rabbit trail interest by seeking out library books and watching YouTube videos? Or that weird year of my kids learning more about cancer treatments and pharmaceutical names and doctors than they did about, well, anything else? 

I don't regret a minute of it.   

This is a huge relief because I constantly wonder if the day-to-day choices I make will lead to regret later.  I would see other homeschoolers doing things that seemed a lot more rigorous with kids a lot younger than mine, and I'd get nervous about having children unprepared for higher-level learning. But my bigger fear was actually burning them out on education before they even hit adolescence!

So, here's what I'd say: if you've got little kids and you're trying to educate them, don't worry.  

Read a ton

Talk a lot

Do math every day

Play!! Go outside....

Practice music every day (if you do music lessons)

That's it.  

Then as they get older more structure naturally occurs, things take shape out of interests (that's why Finn is learning 2 languages, something I never, ever would have chosen for him), and expectations can increase a bit.....

A few years ago I said that time was the best gift I ever gave to Finn, and now I really do stand by that statement.  Those free days of childhood and natural learning and books....they are good things. I am so glad he has had them. 

Now I'm off to (joyfully!) plot out the roadmap for 9th grade. Whew!

A Path to Plutarch, Part One: Why and When?

Last week I mentioned that I'm going to create a little series of posts about teaching Plutarch for anyone out there who wants to incorporate this into their homeschool but feels intimidated or lost on how and when to start.  I'm sure there are lots of good resources online about this; I'm just sharing my own thoughts and experiences, and a few bits from Charlotte Mason.

To be frank, I am not sure I would have taught Plutarch at all if it had not been for the fact that my small Charlotte Mason homeschool co-op needed a Plutarch teacher.  There are many things our children can learn; Plutarch wasn't really top on my own list.  But he has moved up in my estimation!

Plutarch lived in the first century and wrote biographies of famous Romans and Greeks. He was born into a prominent, wealthy Greek family, and eventually became a Roman citizen.  His Parallel Lives contain paired biographies of one Greek with one Roman.

First of all: why bother? It's a valid question.

Plutarch, in some ways, is a means to an end.  In the Charlotte Mason model of education, the scope of education encompasses knowledge of God, knowledge of the universe, and knowledge of man; Plutarch is used to facilitate a student's understanding of the "knowledge of man."  We can study human behavior via history, literature, and even the Bible.  Why do people choose what they choose?  How do we assess whether their choices are good or bad?  Are all choices always all good or all bad? 

I'd like to linger on this for a few minutes, because I think recognition of this nuance is often absent in our culture.

I see, more and more, in our current society, a hyper-focus on people as though they are all good or all bad.  We want to categorize other human beings.  We don't always want to acknowledge that a good person can have a flawed belief system, or a deeply-flawed person can do good in the world. 

Interestingly, a reading of the Bible can quickly lead us out of these murky waters.  The Bible is a place where we do find nuance.  We see that humans are inconsistent, flawed, imperfect, and yet can also be deeply loved by God, redeemed, and create good and beautiful things in the world. It's important for me to pass this along to my children.   

So what does Plutarch have to do with this?

Reading Plutarch's biographies is a study in human motivation, character, and behavior.  Charlotte Mason used his works to teach "citizenship".  There are plenty of ways to teach citizenship; Plutarch isn't the only way!  I can envision many options: certain films, various biographies. But Plutarch was what Charlotte Mason used, and I find that his works are an interesting choice.  In addition to providing a biographical sketch of a notable ancient Greek or Roman, Plutarch's works allow us to easily incorporate some geography and ancient history into our days.  I like this!  It's also worth noting that Shakespeare leaned heavily on Plutarch's Lives when he wrote several of his plays, including "Julius Caesar" and "Coriolanus."

So, if we decide to try Plutarch, when should his works be introduced?

In general, it seems Charlotte Mason introduced Plutarch during "Form 2", or roughly around fifth grade. Mason used the North translation, which is written in Elizabethan English.  As a result, I recall Nancy Kelly saying at some point that it's helpful for a student to have at least a year of Shakespeare under his or her belt before beginning the North translation of Plutarch, and I agree that this is a good idea.

As for the age (here's where my own experience comes into the post)....fifth grade was too early for my son, who had been steeped in language, including Shakespeare, for a lot of his childhood.  Sixth grade was also too early, although we struggled through because he was in co-op and that's what we were using!  In seventh grade, I had a few young-ish students, so I taught Plutarch using another version, and that worked much better; we are using the same thing for eighth grade.  Next year--when he's in ninth grade--I will transition him to the North version once again, and I think it'll be a more pleasant experience.  (He probably would have been fine with the North translation this year, but I felt no urgency, and I'm happy with the choices I've made.) I will be interested to see how Annie's Plutarch education goes--she's in fourth grade now!

I think we shouldn't underestimate our children's abilities, and that some children will be ready to read the North translation in late elementary or early middle school.  But I'm also a big believer in using maternal wisdom to discern what is best for our own unique children.  A living book must be living for that child!  So "when" to start Plutarch is going to involve a certain amount of discernment. Don't force it...you may risk frustrating yourself and your child, and souring them on Plutarch.

Next week I'll write a little bit about Beginnings, because one must start somewhere!

A Peaceful Practice: Sticking to a Schedule

 We finished our seventh week of school last week, and it has been the best year in...well, years.

One thing that has made a big difference has been our forced pruning.  I'm a devoted gardener; I know that when I ruthlessly prune, the best blooms follow.  My roses thrive when I prune them hard twice a season.  My azaleas bloom prolifically after a good post-bloom spring pruning.  And deadheading, too, revives and encourages better blooms.  My roses and butterfly bush can tell you that!

{Rose season is almost done--I've got the year's last blooms on the bush now.}

This year I had to turn the pruning to our schedule and our lives, and I had to make hard decisions about what to keep and what could go.  It was the best thing I could've done, and what's interesting is that no one is missing the activities we had to cut out.

The other thing that has helped me significantly has been using a "timetable," or schedule, for our schoolwork.  

The first few weeks of school I tried to follow a general routine: morning time together, table work, then reading independent books. We've done this for years. But after a few weeks, I became frustrated because Finn's school day felt like it was stretching to dinnertime every single day.  Sure, he's in 8th grade, but come on! It felt like too much to me, and he also longed for more free time. After taking a long time to do just a few subjects, he'd have literature to read at 4pm or science to do while I made dinner.  The biggest issue is that Finn is a person who dives into something deeply, and he's a neat, perfectionistic, diligent person, so one math lesson that involves drawing several graphs will take an hour and a half (I'm not even kidding), and result in--yes--the best, most gorgeous hand-drawn graphs you've ever seen. 

I love this about Finn!  But I believes he needs to do more than just math, piano, and foreign languages, with the occasional grammar lesson squeezed into the mix.  And--most importantly--I feel he needs to have a wide swath of time most afternoons to be outdoors, or playing with his sister, or studying more languages (yes, it always happens), or making things...whatever he wants.  I want him to have that "masterly inactivity" that is one of the primary benefits of homeschooling. 

{Alice the Cat needs no timetable to achieve peace in her life.}

So I revisited the Charlotte Mason timetables, and decided to assign times to each subject.  Rather than doing one math lesson a day, he just does 45 minutes of math.  Rather than taking two hours to obsess over Spanish, he can do 45 minutes, then revisit it later in the day if he still wants to do more (he often does!). Finn was shocked: when we instituted this and stuck with it, his school day went from being roughly 9 am until close to dinnertime, to being 8:30ish to 1:00!  And we get everything done.  And he has all afternoon most days to do whatever else he wants. 

We've used the timetable approach for about 3-4 weeks now, and we're thrilled with the result.  Yes, he'll go through his math curriculum more slowly.  No, we don't care (I checked in with the resident engineer to also make sure he was okay with that, and he said he prefers it!). There are days when I'll allow him to have a bit of extra time to finish up a subject.  I also tried to "over-budget" time for some things, like languages, because he does prefer to linger over them.  Even so, we're done with school by 1:00 most days, and if he's not done then, he only has a small amount left to do in the afternoon.  Since Annie is easily done before lunchtime, my afternoons are freer now, too.  

With just a little bit of discipline and thoughtfulness, I feel so much more peace now! 

Now I'm thinking of timetables (isn't that a better word than "schedule?" I think so...) as I ponder other aspects of life that may be improved by a little more time-structure.  Stay tuned.....

{Russian sage, a perennial favorite, which goes strong all summer and lingers into autumn.}

And September Begins

 September is well upon us now and we began school last week.  I debated about whether to wait another week, but decided to go ahead and get started.  We're doing a somewhat abbreviated approach for a couple of weeks as we get back into the swing of things.  I'm enjoying that, because it feels natural to ease back into the rhythms of our school year.  

This year we start with "together time" which is a time for Bible, prayer, hymn singing, poetry, Shakespeare, history, geography, Scripture recitation, composer study, picture study...but not all on the same day. :)  Next we do the table work--math, grammar, handwriting--whatever requires sitting at a table. Finally, it's time for books--Finn's independent reading and narrations, and Annie's reading with me.....

This is a rhythm I have used for a long time, and it works really well.  We'll throw snacks or lunch in there.  Sometimes we break away and take a walk if a good opportunity presents itself.  But that basic, predictable rhythm, is what we follow. 

Now that Finn is taking two languages, his work often extends way past lunch. In fact, yesterday he basically worked until 5:15, counting his Spanish class.  But not every day is so intense!  And on Fridays, we plan to only do "together time" and math, and then have lots of freedom for tea time, walks or hikes, errands, visiting friends, or field trips.

*   *   * 

We spent a week at the beach in late August.  It was rejuvenating and relaxing. My goal at the beach is to get onto the island and not leave it!  I achieved that goal this year, except that we did cross back to the mainland once because our friends wanted to go to the ice cream shop.  I packed ALL the food we'd need for the week (my husband was staggered the night before we left, wondering how we'd fit it all into the car with all of our other gear, but we did it!).  At the beach I get up half an hour or so before sunrise each day to walk by myself.  I usually walk between 4-6 miles.  It is the most peaceful, wonderful time of day for me and helps me tremendously when staying in a house full of other people.  Those quiet minutes by myself on the beach set my introverted personality at rest so that the remainder of the day can be happily spent with a house full of friends or relatives!

It's easy to "physically distance" at the beach. :)

One morning I woke my children and husband early so that they could walk with me at sunrise.  We ran into a baby loggerhead making his little way out to the sea, a straggler who hadn't made it down the night before.  We called the Turtle Patrol and spend an hour cheering the baby on as he fought his way against an incoming tide.  Finally the patrol showed up.  These baby turtles are adorable!

And of course, the after-dinner walk is always a joy.

I want to say thank you for anyone who prayed for my husband's beloved uncle, who had covid19.  His condition worsened.  We were beginning our last day at the beach when my father-in-law called, and I had to walk down to the beach to tell my husband the news.  Jim had died at the age of 67.  He was the first of our aunts or uncles to die, and it is so strange and surreal.  And, of course, it's sad, because he left a wife (who was so stricken with his death that she wound up in the hospital for a week from sheer exhaustion and dehydration) and two sons.  We gather at their home every Christmas night for a feast, and I can't even begin to imagine Christmas without him.  If you think of it, say a prayer for his wife and sons.  He was a dear soul.

"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.  For what is your life?  It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." 

We are holding our loved ones a little tighter these days.

Regaining Margin

 I did my school planning for this year earlier in the summer (so that I wouldn't have to think about it during our break), and for the first time in several years, I felt enormous joy and peace with our plans.  In fact, this feeling was so overwhelming that I nearly cried a few times.  I attribute this peace to what I call the "forced pruning of the pandemic". 

In 2018, my entire life was overwhelming, and I tried hard to do my best during a hard time.

Last year, I didn't take a long enough summer break, started back to school in July, had scheduled too many extracurricular activities, and suffered serious burnout in the fall as a result. 

This year the activities fell away like flower petals, one by one, until only a few things were left. We made these changes to our schedule because my husband's oncologist has noted that we must be particularly careful.  So away went any activity where physical distancing was not possible.

Robotics (too hard to "distance" physically when building robots).  Annie's Spanish class (the teacher will space children out, but since she's only 9, it's really not essential).  Annie's US history class (ditto).  Co-op (ended because we had a couple of families move last year and our needs changed).  

We are left with Finn's Spanish class (it's for a high school credit and I think the older children will be more cognizant of physical distancing than younger kids will be), piano (which will be via Facetime for now because the teacher is immuno-compromised), violin (easily held in an open air setting), and ballet (which is also online for now).  This feels right--and it feels, more than anything else, magically manageable to me.

For the first time in a long time, I feel we will have true margin. It's a curious thing, because I'm a girl who has always valued a wide margin, lots of freedom, and less commitments.  But over the past 4 years or so, I allowed more and more good things to creep into our lives.  And they were good!  But they were too much, and last year was particularly hard for me.  I was gearing up for a lot this year, too, when our perspective necessarily shifted. But I can't say that I've been crushed by these changes. If anything, I feel a gentle relief--like a cool, soft rain after a blazing hot day.  

My little plans seemed to fall into place without stress or anxiety.  I saw that we should have time one day a week to gather together and have cookies and tea while we read Shakespeare and poetry.  I saw that we should have no problem doing our necessary subjects and also getting in a nature walk once every week or two.  I saw that I wouldn't be running everywhere, all the time.  The relief is palpable. 

We plan to start school as we used to, in the days before cancer, on the day after Labor Day, but I'm also reserving the right to start the week after that if I feel like I need a longer break. My husband and I return to UNC on Tuesday the 15th, so I may consider starting the day after that, and taking an extra week off. We'll see.  But just knowing that I am reserving the right to do this feels deliciously freeing to me, and makes me feel like I'm not rushing into the new school year too quickly.  

*                   *                 * 

I wrote all of that last week, and so before I hit "publish" I want to send out a prayer request.  My husband's uncle went into ICU with covid19 late last week, was placed on a ventilator Friday night, and is in critical condition right now.  If you'd pray for him, and for his dear wife, we would appreciate it.  He's a tennis player, quite active, so this is a surprising turn of events, and our aunt is quite beside herself since she cannot even be with him in the hospital.  She simply communicates with the ICU nurse a couple of times a day. That is excruciating for a wife who wants to be at her husband's side.

Thank you for your prayers!

Advice for New Homeschoolers: Practical Tips

I recently tried to give a little homeschooling advice for anyone who is entering this stage of life for the first time.  Most of the advice was more theory, or how we think about homeschooling.  But sometimes a few practical tips help, too.  So this is my Practical Homeschooling post: a few things that I've learned over the past 8 (!!) years of homeschooling. 

1.  Know what's for dinner.  Having a menu plan is so helpful.  Just have a good idea of what's for dinner, and on busy days, don't hesitate to put dinner in the crockpot.  It's wonderful to do the work first thing in the morning!  I particularly like to do this when we have activities later in the afternoon.  Freezer meals are also helpful. For health and financial reasons, we prefer to eat at home, so I try to be on top of dinner--out of necessity!

2.  Get your rest.  Don't stay up late. :) Most of us are nicer when we've had our rest. (Even Charlotte Mason herself said this: "Do not sit up late preparing lessons; what you seem to gain in preparation you lose by tiredness next day." YES!) 

3.  If possible, once the day begins, put your phone on airplane mode (or turn it off) and don't use it until the schooling is done.

4.  Create a brief chore list for yourself of morning chores, midday chores, and evening chores, and stick with it as much as you can. Keep the lists simple and not too onerous.  Meals, laundry, pet care, and kitchen/bathroom hygiene are the true essentials, so have the chore lists focus on making sure these are covered.  

5.  Choose one place for your school items, and keep them there.  Every day after the academic stuff is done, put things back to rights.  This is a sanity-saver! (I also love using my labelmaker.)  Maybe I'll post a few schoolroom photos.  I really, really need order.  I can be kind and gentle even when things are chaotic, but it's much easier if things are orderly. :) 

6. Lower your homemaking expectations. The truth is, having children at home all day is kind of a messy, happy sort of chaos!  They play, they eat, they do crafts.  Gently train them to pick up after themselves (don't be harsh; it never wins their allegiance), but realize that the house may be messier, and you almost certainly won't get as much done.  It's okay.  This is a season of life.  Remember that babies (and toddlers, and preschoolers, and elementary schoolers, and middle schoolers.....) don't keep. Enjoy them while you have them!

7. Be kind and gentle to yourself, because that's how you can be kind and gentle to others. If you need to take a walk each day, or exercise, or work on a hobby, or whatever, try to carve out a tiny bit of time to do those things that make you feel more human, because your attitude and your spirit set the tone of the entire house.  Take care of yourself.  

I could say all sorts of things about juggling domestic tasks and homeschooling, but that might be overwhelming.  I think this simple list of tips is sufficient; it covers the bases of what I consider the most practical issues.  There are many, many things I could write about specific curricula, educational philosophies, interesting books to read on homeschooling, etc., but those are beyond the scope of this post.  This is more about the "boots on the ground" essential issues of day-to-day life when homeschooling: keeping routines, maintaining some semblance of order, feeding people, and taking care of yourself!

Advice for New Homeschoolers

Dianna asked recently if I'd consider writing something for people who will be first-time homeschoolers, but are feeling a little overwhelmed. She specifically asked about how to keep things interesting, how to keep up discipline, when to step back or take a break, etc.  These are such great questions!  I have been pondering them and would like to provide my own responses here, but I'd also like to encourage anyone who has more experience than I do to also leave comments and advice.  I know that there are women reading here who have a lot of wisdom to share.

I like numbers and lists, so I'm going to use that format for this post!  

1. Give yourself (and your child) a lot of grace.  Anytime there's a dynamic shift, a family change, or a new situation, things can get hard, and anxieties can surface. Adjusting to a new situation always requires grace, and it is my experience that grace is best given and received when we are taking life slowly and placing our trust in God (ie, not rushing around and trying to Do It All Ourselves!--this is hard-earned wisdom from me :)). 

2. Do not despise "the day of small things."  Nancy Kelly is the one who originally put Zechariah 4:10 in a homeschooling context for me, and I have appreciated its quiet wisdom ever since.  The small beginnings, the small things, faithfully done day after day, are what create the beautiful whole.  This is as true for homeschooling as it is for anything else in life. We are weaving a great tapestry, but we're doing it one thread at a time, and rather blindly most days. Just keep weaving, slowly but surely.

3. Develop the tiniest disciplines. Be faithful in these tiny things. The first step is to see if you can incorporate learning into the day seamlessly, organically.  For us, I read a chapter of the Bible every morning while the children eat breakfast; I read, and they narrate (although right now, we are reading one chapter of Proverbs each morning, and then we each choose our favorite verse from the chapter, and write and illustrate it on an index card!)  At lunch, I read a chapter of a read-aloud book (right now we are loving Little Women).  And after dinner at night, I read a chapter of a family read-aloud. It doesn't always happen at every single meal every single day, but it is enough of a habit that it happens at many meals on most days.  The next step would be (I think) to add one or two non-negotiable things; for us, that's music practice and math.  If it's possible, try to do them at the same time every day, so that expectations are clear.  And use a light hand, too: my 9-year old practices music for 10 minutes and does 20 minutes of math.  It's enough.....

4. If you use screens, be sure everyone is clear on screen rules.  For many years this was a non-issue in our house, but now that my children are older and engaging with technology more, we do have to be realistic!  Our rules are: 1) no screens until all chores and schoolwork are done (unless you're watching a math lesson!); 2) no screens after dinnertime; and 3) no screens without explicit parental permission.  Even if my children are done with their daily tasks, I have no problem declining the use of screens.  My favorite phrase is "go outside." 

5. In the moment of teaching, do step back anytime a child starts to really shut down.  My experience has been that a tiny bit of "pushing through" with gentle encouragement can be fine, but really pushing through when a child is shutting down (tears, frustration, total distraction), only results in bad feelings. No academic achievement is worth destroying your relationship with your child.  I'd rather see my child happy, well-adjusted,in a great relationship with his or her parents, and in a "no name" college than stressed, anxious, in a dysfunctional relationship with me, and at an Ivy League school.  No question about it. 

It can take a gentle touch and some experience to know what is a character issue and what is just an "I'm not ready to learn this yet" issue.  I have gotten good at identifying this and being so patient--but I wasn't good at this at first!  

6. Allow a child to follow his or her interests.  Decide what is most important for your family (see # 7, below), and do those things in the tiny faithful ways (see #3, above), and then allow your children to explore the world.  Trust that learning is happening even when they have been staring at leaves on an oak tree for half an hour.  Trust that learning is happening even when they are playing paper dolls all afternoon.  Trust that learning is happening even when they are writing their eighth book, in messy handwriting with terrible spelling (that's my Annie right now!), because they have SO MANY IDEAS about stories!  If a child shows an interest in something in particular, pray about how to provide additional opportunities.  I had to do this with Finn, who showed an affinity for languages.  He is now working on learning Spanish and French. 

7.  Decide on the basic, necessary things for your family. For us, the basic things I require each day are chores, math, reading, music practice, and some writing (I'm more lax about this with Finn, who is a fabulous writer, but doesn't seem to like writing, whereas Annie both likes writing and is great at it--even if her penmanship is terrible.  That apple fell close to the tree!).  If those basic things are done, I'm happy and grateful!  But most days a lot more gets done. 

As for the specific questions: 

How do you keep things interesting? I struggled with this one.  I puzzled over it.  I'm not sure I know the answer!  I don't try very hard to make things interesting.  If a subject is kind of dry (math), we just do it, and I try to encourage and cheer.  But most subjects are really interesting on their own.  Literature, Shakespeare, science (well, don't talk to Finn about Apologia General Science--we keep hoping it'll get better....), history...these are all naturally interesting!  I do think having some variation in the weekly schedule is nice, and cheerful rhythms that can be kept.  I have plotted those out for us this year, and will write about them soon.  

How do you keep up discipline? For me, it's keeping things simple, and honing in on what really matters to us/me.  If I suddenly have to live by a spreadsheet with specific times for each subject, I will rebel against it at the first chance I get!  It's a personality flaw, I'm sure, but that's how I am. 

I also believe it's important for the homeschooling parent to rest, to eat well, to have some quiet moments in the day.  Less will get done, perhaps, but if the things I am able to accomplish are done with a joyful, peaceful spirit, then I'm content with doing less.  (And anyhow: I believe in doing less.)

How do you know when to step back or take a break? I think resistance, tears, and opposition generally signal one of two things: 1) a child is being rebellious or 2) a child is not ready to learn something.  My experience has shown that it's almost always #2.  If you're getting a lot of opposition, I'd take a week off of academic work, and spend time with your child, building relationship, and figuring out, if possible, what's going on in their hearts and minds.  If you're feeling like "school" is a pressure-cooker every day, that is an indication that something should change.  And it's okay to change things.  

My last word is from Charlotte Mason:  "We allow no separation to grow up between the intellectual and 'spiritual' life of children, but teach them that the Divine Spirit has constant access to their spirits, and is their Continual Helper in all the interests, duties and joys of life."  In other words, we must remember that the Holy Spirit instructs us and our children in what we need to know and do.  We are not living this life alone.  The Holy Spirit has as much access to a child's heart and mind as to ours, and we can trust that over time, with a wide net spread over life and a "wide and varied curriculum", the child will assimilate and learn the things that he or she needs to know.  Our job is really just to present the world to them through math, music, good books, and nature, to keep home life healthy and happy, and to keep ourselves balanced and kind!

When Schools are Closed: Things to Do at Home

Our public and private schools are now officially closed through the end of the academic year.

As a result of this, several friends and family members have contacted me with questions.  These parents are now in totally unchartered territory.  And the territory that they are in is truly much harder than actual homeschooling, for three reasons: first, they need to try to implement the school curriculum at home, which means they haven't chosen it (homeschooling parents spend time picking the curriculum that is the best fit for their lifestyle/child's teaching style/parental teaching style/etc); second, there's a sudden, enormous change in the daily family dynamic and rhythm; and third, and quite notably, all of this is being done in isolation! 

As a result, I have encouraged my friends to give themselves and their children a lot of grace.  It's a very new, challenging situation.  Everyone will take a while to adjust! And that is okay.

The other advice I have is to create a loose, flexible routine for the day so that there's some predictability and consistency to what you're doing, but not rigidity.  More on that here.

I tend not to think of what we do as "homeschooling" because it really looks so unlike a classroom.  I have always thought of it more as "home-based learning."  Each day is unique.  We have a great deal of freedom to move at our own pace and decide how to structure our days.  I do think sometimes people picture me standing at a chalkboard with my children in desks in front of me, with their pens and paper.  In reality, homeschooling for us almost never looks like that. And it's okay if it doesn't look like that for you, too, if you are newly tasked with teaching your children at home.

If they have online assignments and work to do that the school gives them, then it's great to let them move through that at their own pace.  But I've heard from several people that now that their children are home, they're racing through assignments.  My cousin told me that her daughter finished an entire week's worth of schoolwork in 2 hours on Monday morning!  This doesn't surprise me, since learning at home is so efficient.

So if a child finishes all her schoolwork by 10am on Monday, what in the world can you do for the rest of the week? Especially when you can't really go anywhere?

Here are a few resources I've shared with friends who have asked.  I will update this from time to time as I think of more. Most of these are geared to elementary and middle schoolers, but some may be useful for high schoolers, too. 

MATH:

*Khan Academy is free and has math for all levels.  You can easily see what concept/skill each lesson presents, so you can jump around and practice various skills at the child's pace. 

*Right Start Arithmetic Kit: this is a very reasonably-priced kit that introduces number sense and the abacus.  This would be a great math supplement for elementary schoolers. 

*Right Start Fractions Kit: for an upper elementary or middle school child who needs extra help understanding fractions, this kit is well-priced, and extremely helpful!

*Hands-On Equations: this is a strong introduction to algebraic concepts.  It is a little higher in price than the Right Start kits.  I own this and Finn and I plan to use it sometime in the next few months!  I imagine that Annie will join in, too. 

*Life of Fred books: these are a fun math supplement; they're math books in narrative form (with practice problems at the end of each chapter).  Quirky storytelling about a math genius named Fred who is 5 years old and teaches college math, it's fun and engaging, particularly for the child who prefers words to numbers.  

*GAMES!  Skip-Bo, Snap-it-Up, Shut the Box, etc.  There are many math games out there, and some you can play just using a regular deck of cards, if that's all you have.  Games are a fun way to learn math.  Right Start has a math card games kit, too. 

HISTORY:

*Story of the World (especially on audiobook, told by Jim Weiss!) or any of the Jim Weiss titles listed here: https://welltrainedmind.com/c/history-geography/jim-weiss-history/?v=7516fd43adaa

*Liberty's Kids videos: I laughingly called these a "homeschool kid's rite of passage" not long ago.  (These may be available for free somewhere else, but this is the link I have.)  They're videos on American history, and my children seem to like them.

*For the older student who enjoys diving deep into history, I love Genevieve Foster's books. (Again, you may be able to find them for much less somewhere else, but this is the easiest link to all of them!)  You could pick one historical period that most fascinates your child, and order one of the books used online. If you're like us, your libraries are closed!

SCIENCE: 

*The best and cheapest science is simply observing the natural world.  Take a magnifying class and binoculars, if you have them (not necessary) and go out into the yard.  Look at flowers. Identify trees.  Watch birds.  You can make simple birdfeeders to attract the birds, and then learn the difference between a finch and a sparrow.  You can also take a sketch book or blank paper out with colored pencils, and draw or sketch what you see.  Observation is the foundation of science!

*We like Planet Earth and Blue Planet videos (we own the DVDs of both).  They are so fascinating! I am sure there are many interesting science videos out there; we rarely watch TV or movies, so I'm not really in the loop. 

*Tinker Crate kits can be fun, although they are a financial commitment.  Finn has enjoyed building a few of these. 

*Some people love Magic School Bus videos! My children have never gotten onboard with them (ha), but some children really do love them. 

*There are all sorts of kits and things at Carolina Biological Supply. We will be doing a dissection kit sometime soon--much to my children's disgust.  (I used to love dissections as a child. We'll see how they do....)

ARTS:

*Drawing videos.  There are loads of step-by-step drawing and painting videos on YouTube, all for free!

*Drawing books: we like these books for the younger set, and I LOVE Lee Ames books for slightly older students. 

*Picture study: this is a Charlotte Mason standby.  You can print out a picture (or purchase a set; I like the portfolios from Simply Charlotte Mason, because they are high-quality prints). Have everyone look at it carefully and quietly for a few minutes, and then turn the picture over.  Then everyone describes what they saw!  This develops skills of observation.  After you finish, display the picture on the refrigerator or somewhere else, for everyone to enjoy. 

LITERATURE:

*Audible is now offering some free children's audio books.

*Shakespeare: read this Midsummer Night's Dream picture book, then watch this free (and clean!) version on YouTube; older students may then want to dive into reading the actual play (I like the Folger editions, available on Amazon, but you can find the original script online, since it's in the public domain--I just avoid "modern translations", as they can be unsavory)

*for older students (and adults), check out the American Shakespeare Center.  They've had to close down for now, but taped several performances that can now be "purchased" (at a very, very reasonable price) and watched online--they're calling it "BlackfriarsTV"! My husband and I saw Henry IV, Part 1 there last year, and so we're going to get "tickets" to Much Ado and Henry IV, Part 2! Here are more details.

*read-aloud time: now is the perfect opportunity to read through an entire series of great books, like Narnia or the Little House on the Prairie books.  We are reading through Little Women right now, and after we finish, my son is on a mission to have us read Jo's Boys and Little Men, and we'll probably read Eight Cousins as well!  I made a list of all the good books on our shelves that we haven't read, and am hoping we can read through many of those this spring!

FOREIGN LANGUAGE:

*We love French with Alexa on YouTube.  She is so funny! My children enjoy her videos.

LIFE SKILLS:

Don't overlook these!  Isolation days are perfect days to learn:

*laundry (sorting, washing, drying, folding--and in our case, bringing things in off the line!)

*baking (we've enjoyed rolls, cinnamon buns, and loaf bread, and I plan to have my children bake brownies later this week)

*cleaning (learn to wash dishes or clean a bathroom!)

*gardening/yard work (I'll admit that this is my favorite domestic task, and spring is the best time for it, so my children have learned some gardening skills--and even more botany as a result of my obsession)

*cleaning windows, organizing, dusting, etc.....this is the perfect time for a big "spring clean"

*sewing, knitting, cross-stitching, etc: if you or your children have ever wanted to try to learn one of these skills, this is a great time. YouTube is full of tutorials.

CHARLOTTE MASON:

The Charlotte Mason Institute has created a free "emergency" curriculum for people who need some supplemental things to do with their children.

FRESH AIR/ACTIVITY:

*Absolutely essential for my own well-being, I know my children do much better with a lot of fresh air as well.  We take walks up and down our country lane, do plenty of gardening (well, I do; my children play), and sometimes shoot basketball outside.  My children spend hours running around the yard, swinging, riding bikes, etc.  As the weather warms, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, sprinkler-playing, etc all become appropriate, too. Sometimes just reading a book on the front porch does us all a world of good, and we can do that even if it's raining.

This season of life won't last forever, and I'm committed to embracing it and enjoying the enormous amount of margin we gained by having all our activities cancelled.

I hope this helps anyone out there who is trying to figure out how to navigate life now that schools are closed!