Two weeks in and we are back in the rhythm of lessons!
I am struck by the "joy in living" that the Mason feast brings. We have a full timetable but a varied and delightful one.
I think the photos express it better than words could...
Joyous lessons has always been my goal. Progress, peace, growth. and joy -- these motivate me to take up my homeschooling responsibilities as my profession, with diligence and regularity (as Mason says in Home Education).
A few notes about our year so far:
:: I switched to mostly-morning school from naptime school this year. We have done the bulk of our school during naptime for the past decade, so it was a big shift! But with the ages I have this year, it was good timing to try a new arrangement to our day. So far, so good!
:: The high schoolers work roughly 9-3 (with a half hour break for lunch) four days a week. I work from 9-11:40 with the Form 1, 2, and 3 kids -- parts together, parts independently. At 11:40, we meet as a family for movement (dance or drill), singing, and recitations. After lunch (12-12:30), we have one subject together (art, handicraft, arist study, composer study), and then Form 1 (and sometimes Form 2) are finished. Two days a week we have one subject after that: Shakespeare or Plutarch and then Form 2B is finished. Form 2A and 3 have another reading to complete a couple days a week, and Latin homework and Italian copywork or grammar on the other days, but they are done by 1:30.
:: Fridays are light for everyone. The Form 1 and 2 kids don't have any scheduled lessons, Form 3 has two readings, and the high schoolers have math, Italian, grammar, and one of their science readings. This coming week we will start a every-other-Friday co-op which will make those Fridays a bit fuller but the rest of the days of those weeks a bit shorter.
:: I currently meet with my high schoolers twice daily: for five minutes at the beginning of each school day and for about ten minutes at the end of each school day. At our morning meeting, I give them any notes for the day and "seed thoughts" I want to offer for their lessons. At our afternoon meeting, I read three narrations from each of them: Bible, science, and history (all of which they write narrations for daily). This allows our Weekly Meeting, which we have on Friday afternoons, to be a bit shorter. I do roughly the same thing in the afternoons with my Form 3 student.
:: I still have a weekly prep session during which I set up my planner for the week and pre-read any books I didn't get to over the summer. It takes me about an hour. I pre-read our Bible reading on Sundays, which takes an additional half hour or so -- the older Forms have separate Bible reading from my younger kids, so each Sunday I am reading from Exodus, Mark, Ezra, Mason's Saviour of the World, and various commentaries.
:: The set-up for my timetable, planner, and logbook is the same as last year. I still love it! It is my brain on paper.
I'll share more practical bits later, but suffice it to say I am delighted with our start to the year! It has been such a rich couple weeks. There are challenges and it can be quite tiring to manage so much -- don't get me wrong. But what a gift to spend my life guiding small persons into large ones. And the "books and things"! Living ideas drive me as much as they do my students.
Have you started your school year? What is your favorite subject so far?
I would love to see a visual of your schedule this year! How do you manage to fit all form 2 into mornings ( mostly) 4 days a week? It looks lovely, lovely, and yet peaceful!
ReplyDeleteHi Marlon! I will try to post some snaps of our current schedule, at least on the Timetables and Logbooks page, during our exam week coming up shortly. This year's schedule took a long time for me to put together but is running so smoothly! :)
DeleteWhat a delight to see your family doing so well. Your progress, peace, growth and joy certainly was communicated. Forgive me if this question was asked before... Do you ever enroll your children in courses outside of your own curriculum? Can you please share your wisdom/experience of hiring outside help? Classes, sports, etc.? Your days look so poetic. Thank you for sharing and providing inspiration.
ReplyDeleteHi Samantha, thanks so much for your comment! I do have my Form 2, 3, and 5 students in an online Latin class, and the older ones also take some Italian online. But both of those classes follow our methodology, so it is a natural addition. I try to utilize resources that are in line with my philosophy because I feel that it really helps to simplify things overall. We have a weekly nature club and, this year, a CMEC co-op that has been so helpful in having "outside help" in some subjects -- I teach the older students at the co-op and other moms teach the youngers as well as some of the family subjects. It's only a morning of lessons and only every other week, but it nicely supplements our home studies and is full of things I would be teaching in our home anyway. We don't currently do sports -- we do more family things, like going to the swimming pool, the park, hiking. We have standing dates with friends for game nights for the high schoolers, etc. It's a mix every year! :)
DeleteThank you for sharing all of this, Celeste! I especially liked your update about your daily meetings with your high schoolers. My oldest will be Form 4 this year, second born Form 3, and I might borrow that idea to stay connected with them and shorten our weekly meeting, as well. We also do a 4-day week with Fridays lighter, so that was interesting to discover how you manage all the subjects. We start next week!
ReplyDeleteHi Angie -- sorry, just seeing this! Yes, it is so nice to have the daily meeting with my older kids. I feel like it keeps me more on top of their (plentiful!) work. :)
DeleteThank you for posting! Those are great pictures!
ReplyDeleteI love the brush drawing nature studies.
We haven't started school yet. Our new baby is 4 weeks old and we are hoping to start school after labor day. :) I'm really looking forward to geography and Little House after listening to the Form 1 meeting recording. From my prereading, I am excited about Peeps of Many Lands and Halliburton's Orient book for the Form 2.
Hi Helen! I hope you have had a wonderful start to your school year with your little one! :)
DeleteCould you share your favorite folk-dance resources for teaching folk-dancing in a small CM co-op setting? Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteHi there! I usually use YouTube! This site is a great place to begin: http://geslisongroberg.com/hoedownpioneer-trek-music-and-dance-instruction-free-download/
DeleteLooks like a great start to your school year! I am adding my fourth student this year, in addition to juggling three preschoolers, so I appreciate seeing how school days can flow somewhat smoothly and am inspired by your posts and pictures. Also, my daughter has read your daughter's new book several times and is looking forward to the next one! Blessings on your week.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's so wonderful to hear -- thank you, Lindsey! (Blogger was moderating comments, so I didn't see your nice note until now. :))
DeleteHi Celeste
ReplyDeleteI love seeing what ideas you come up with!!
Is that regular sand in the sand tray or kinetic sand? Did you buy it or make it yourself?
It's kinetic sand! It makes a big difference over regular sand in terms of construction and clean-up. :)
DeleteHere's a good brand: https://amzn.to/3mYQy0n
DeleteHi Celeste
ReplyDeleteI thought I had posted a comment before, but its not showing up.
First off, I really enjoy learning what you do with the kids.
I really like the sand box idea for land formation, my youngest would love it. Did you make your own sand box? If so, how? Is it kinetic sand? If you purchased it, could you post a link please? Thanks
I have a question about your Forms 3 and 4 written narrations. You said they write one for Bible, science, and history. About how long are these? And how long do they take to complete? My current Form 3 student writes one narration per day from one of her readings and it’s usually about a page in length. But I’m wondering if writing shorter narrations from multiple readings would be better. Would you mind sharing your thoughts? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteMy current Form 3 does 2-3 per day, about a half-page each, sometimes longer. She takes about ten minutes on each narration, so the length depends on the complexity of the reading and ideas as she sorts through them mentally as she narrates. It is nice for them to be writing on a wide variety of topics, so two shorter rather than one longer might be helpful -- you could try both ways and see what your student thinks, or even vary it week by week or term by term. :)
DeleteHi Celeste!
ReplyDeleteThis is so lovely and inspiring! Do you have your timetables up at the CMEC anywhere?
Blessings to you all!
I have our old ones up on the Timetables and Logbooks page, Sandy. I will try to post this year's timetables during our break week coming up soon. :)
DeleteHi Celeste, coming back to this pots for inspiration. I was wondering if your older students (forms 3 and up) use any type of planner. My form 3 has asked me about having a planner to organize his days and weeks (it would be for school and other activities) and I think it’s a great tool to help with time management. Do you have any tips and recommendations on planners for students?
ReplyDeleteHi Mariana! Yes, my Form 3 and up students keep a logbook for school. My girls have a separate planner for other things (other tasks, leisure plans, work schedule, etc.) since they like that separate, but my son keeps all of his other planner-type notes and tasks in his logbook as well. I wrote a bit about their logbooks here: http://joyouslessons.blogspot.com/2020/11/my-planning-tools-for-2020-2021.html This year, my two Form 3 and two Form 5 students all have one.
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