Academy 2020-21: What We Really Did

 I thought I had wisely planned a doable Academy this year with only two subjects (Spanish and geography) to gently study away from mealtimes.  My goals were twofold:

     1.   Practice learning in a group without food to keep kids quiet

     2.   Have opportunities for written work and projects

 

 

We lasted one semester, and then I had to return to our mealtime readings and discussions as our whole Academy experience.  

 

I think the reason for this was the development of our home daycare.  In a rather unplanned fashion, my dream of someday opening a daycare/preschool suddenly flourished.  When I planned the school year, we had no daycare.  As of this writing, we have 5 babies and toddlers ranging from newborn to 2 1/2 years.

Our Academy focus shifted from organized academic activities to informal emotional growth.  The babies have provided my Academy kids (ages 6-10) with practice meeting the needs of other human beings, understanding non-verbal communication, developing a sense of competence, serving others, having compassion, practicing patience, managing time, learning about child development, and so much more.  

 

 

There are days that go by when I forget all of the good things that my kids are learning when we can't "do school," and I consider closing up shop so that I may better focus on my own children.  Then I remember that these are skills that are a thousand times more important than being able to find Thailand on a world map (which, incidentally, my kids can do), and I relax.

When we had to step back from organized lessons, we returned to our joyful habit of reading and talking.

And we learned.

We didn't learn any more Spanish!

But we did learn about lots of countries and cultures around the world by reading as many picture books as we could about:

     China

     Japan

     Thailand

     Antarctica

     Australia

     India

     Egypt

     Morocco

     Kenya

We have picture books on the shelves waiting for their turns to be read this summer about Ghana and South Africa as well. 

I subscribed to a little nature study program that we followed exceedingly well for several months.  We read the books, took the walks, did the activities, and loved it.

 

Then we slowed down to just reading the books.

I noticed eventually that the creator of this delightful program lives in upstate New York, and I live in the Midwest, and our seasons don't match up quite well enough for study.  By the time dandelions showed up on her radar, we were past the first flush of dandelion season and well into mulberries and apple blossoms.  I turned to our state nature website and magazines to find the "What to Look For this Month" feature, and then I borrowed books on those subjects--specific to our state and season.  Right now that is still working . . . though I do really miss how much hands on nature study we did this past school year.

And then again, I realize that I don't need to miss hands-on studies because my kids are quite naturally observing and discovering and studying constantly, inspired by what we've recently read or inspiring me to get some books on things they find.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I miss the studies for myself.

My kids are doing it on their own!

 

I debated taking all of the pictures of books I saved over the course of the year and making an organized list . . .

Not gonna do it.

I recorded them in each week as they were read.  That's good enough for me.

(But I do love this beautiful stack of Christmas books we read for Advent!)

We did finish The Blue Fairy Book and Aesop's Fables (as planned at the start of the year), complete with oral narrations.

Our Academy this year included completing our 2020 goal of taking 52 hikes together.  It also included starting our goal of walking 300 miles in 2021.  We have not worked on this goal since the first of the year, and it may need to be changed because we cannot walk 300 miles with so many babies.

We reached our goal of picking up at least 2 bags of trash a week in order to serve our community.

We also wrote letters to local public service agents (police, fire, EMS) thanking them for their service.

In summary, Academy included:

     Spanish

     Geography

     Community Service

     PE

     Nature Study

     Science

     Literature

     Art

     Child Development

     Emotional Intelligence

It seems safe to say that my simple plan didn't even begin to cover what we were actually able to accomplish!