A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

 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 n...

It was definitely a first-week-of-school kind of week. Lots of good. Lots of hard. Lots of questions. Lots of meltdowns. Lots of chocolate. What's working? Elevenses:   Taking a note from British book settings, I decided that we could stretch our mornings with a substantial snack and a later lunch.  We all like it, though Ladybug did say to me last night, "It seems like our school mornings are much longer than our playtime afternoons." She's right!  I read The Blue Fairy Book aloud this week--just a few pages each day--while we ate our snacks. Morning Mini-Walks:   Inspired by Jennifer at Bookish Family , as well as reports stating that kids are more ready to concentrate and learn after a bit of outdoor exercise, I've wanted to start our days with a walk for years.  We're finally doing it. Our walks are between 1/3 and 3/4 mile, depending on the morning.  We're outside for 20-30 minutes only.  Some kids point out interesting natural sights--a spider o...

Our Academy included our youngest 6 kids--Ladybug (turned 9), Mister Man (turned 8), Brother (turned 8), Beowulf (turned 7), Lola (turned 5), and Baymax (turned 5).  We started on one path and took a dramatic turn as our lives grew increasingly traumatic before getting better this school year. We started our year with the Kindergarten Enrichment by Memoria Press as our guide to science, history, literature, art, and music.  I worked hard the month before school began making lesson plans and organizing supplies/activities--even trying to schedule field trips--all with a hopeful eye to lots of hands-on exploring and creating. It was fun while it lasted. Academy was so fun that Nature Angel and Little Princess sometimes joined us! But Brother's needs just grew too intense for us all, and we had to default to our old way of reading and talking together over lunch. At least it's a lovely default. And then there were sick days when we relied on documentary...

The time change has knocked our socks off, but at least a bit of warmer weather and occasional sunshine are lightening our hearts. :) That's Nature Angel studying in the tree. We hit the park for Family Night on Sunday evening as we faced the first day's challenge of adjusted clocks, non-adjusted sleep schedules, and daylight past bedtime. The kids organized themselves into a hilarious game of hide-and-seek with almost no places to hide.  The same places were used again and again as the kids learned how to disappear in plain sight.  The teens all complained of sore muscles the next morning from contorting and holding themselves in strange positions under, above, and around playground equipment. It was a joyful Family Night.  The week was chock full of activities and events that interrupted our usual school schedule. First on the list was Ladybug's psych intake.  The intake was awesome!  The psychiatrist is NOT going to make us wait 6 or 8 mon...