Hacks to Homeschool Happier

 

HOMESCHOOLING FOR THE FREE-SPIRITED 

 

Rule to Remember: It does not have to be a drag.

In fact, learning at home can be joyful and rewarding and create moments, habits and a way of looking at the world that last a lifetime. Our homeschool days were always a mix of formal and carefree. I guided the younger children more and trusted that the older one grew, the easier it became to discover what was interesting or important enough to pursue. 

I need to rephrase that; the younger ones had a regular rhythm of meals, play, read-alouds, naps and bedtime, but we did not pursue anything academic at an early age, (unless you count the year I attempted to do an at-home-after-school boxed French curriculum each afternoon after kindergarten-disaster).

The Artwork of Children, Today and Tomorrow

Every parent knows the sweet feeling the comes over you when your child offers you a drawing, from the simplest of purple stick-figures to the most elaborate painting or piece of sculpture made of wire, papier-maché and those funky styrofoam puffy guys. The final result has nothing to do with your feelings of pure love, joy and pride in this kid's creativity. You are part of them, they are part of you, and object in question was produced by them, thus it somehow becomes an extension of this lovely spirit.

There is a new tug to the soul that can come when it is time to sort out, to choose, to not keep every single bit of this flow of creative genius.

Nature? Nurture? Both? When the Child Returns to the Great Outdoors

 

 

It has been a consistent joy to see my adult children wander back outside after the need to be indoors has taken over most of their waking time because of school, work or "activities" (I swear that one is going to be considered a 4-letter word by parents across the world very, very soon). 

There comes a point at which a child is no longer interested in a nature hike with the old folks. Sorry, parents of younger children, I did not mean to give you apoplexy by sharing that. In fact, if your sweet kids are under the age of thirteen, please carry on as though that sentence never happened. Ignorance is bliss sometimes. Between small screens and long papers to be written, a mama might wonder if a child will ever again realize there is an entire world under the sky out there. 

Each of the older three have gone back outside on their own, for their own reasons and engaging in their favorite activities. One has become an avid fisherman, constructing and reconstructing a few small boats for that purpose, and spending days and evenings out on the water. The video-game playing came to a halt on its own, giving way to exploring local lakes and spots on the Mississippi. The word "bait" became a household one for the first time ever, and there has been much debate on the pros and cons of inflatable vs. wooden or aluminum construction and, naturally, on where the boat(s) should live in the winter.

Another of our offspring never stopped sailing, pretty incredible considering that four years of it was in Iowa City, necessitating a car ride to a lake 20 minutes away from campus. In Chicago, when she looked out at that beautiful, blue, enormity of Lake Michigan, boatless and stranded on shore, she found a way to meet people who had a boat but not the sailing skills she possessed. She became a skipper for someone with a beautiful little boat and is as happy as can be, sailing twice a week. Her most recent vacation was a hiking one in the Northwest, splendid.

This one? Above with her sandals on the edge of the frog lab? Amazing! She is making the environment part of her life's work. It is her major in college and she has spent the entire hot, muggy summer working outside for Americorps. 

She has become acquainted with each of the turtles, owls, frogs and snakes on a personal level and learned worlds of information by this micro-study. She can weed-wack an entire trail with a scythe and lead a group of homeschooled kids, cub scouts or girl scouts out into a creek exploration in the pouring rain or the blazing heat and not blink an eye. She regularly comes home covered in sweat and mud and she loves what she is doing. She gave us a tour of her nature-center-home for the summer. Her less hardy, less courageous mom waited until the temps were out of the 90's to visit, and loved every minute of it. Merci, ma cherie!

Now Homeschooling? One Minute...and 2 hours

Put kindness and love first. These are extraordinary times. Let's not make it any harder on ourselves than it needs to be. There is more fear floating around than most of us can easily deal with, and kids are vulnerable to the world's fear and to their care-giver's. Treat yourself with tenderness; it is normal to worry, you may be feeling afraid of many things; your child need not be one of them. Find joy in anything and everything; and live in that joy for a moment, before moving on to the next part of your homeschool to-do list.

The word on the street (and the t.v. networks), according to "experts" in education, is that a student at-home needs about half to two-thirds of the time they would normally spend in school to be spent in work at home. This would mean 31/2 to 4 hours, 5 days a week. Quantity over quality is not a recipe for success. The "how" matters more than the "what" in this learning equation. 

How you choose to face each day is more important than what you do or how many hours of schoolwork are getting done. After 19 years of homeschooling, my opinion is the same as that of many others who have experience with learning at home; in purely "sit down at home learning time" it looks more like 2 hours a day, less for a young child, more if one is attempting to prep for an AP chem exam or study literature. 

I do have a child who went on to college without ever going to elementary or high school, she has

graduated college and is now in law school. Her high school years were entirely self-directed. I think she studied German, math, piano and kung-fu. I never counted the hours and neither did she. Do I feel our time homeschooling was entirely successful? Yes and no. Academically? No question. Functionally? We all survived, my kids are the most wonderful human beings I know, but I spent more time worrying about how I could get everyone to behave and conform to the ideas I had about how our school at home should look, than the amount of compassion employed as I went about accomplishing it. This is a real regret. Steiner was correct. The greatest work is the work of how, not what we bring to the student.

Only 2 hours a day?! What else can the kids be doing? What else do they normally do? Do you spend time outside? Go!  (When allowed by your local powers that be, or having a back yard.) Do you read aloud together? Do more! Do you cook or bake together? Make lunch or dinner an elaborate affair. Do they play Legos while listening to audiobooks? (Our kids also like to fold origami, draw, paint, twirl a baton or work on a puzzle while listening to audiobooks.) Are there chores that need to be done? You are all home; recruit the forces. If you have an adolescent who likes to dance, maybe you can be an extra cool parent and agree to make a Tik-Tok thingy with her. I may cave soon, I already let her give me a makeover, gosh...maybe we could increase the amount of hours needed for schoolwork after all. 

Unexpected Homeschooling: You CAN Do This

Wow; we are all in one big, worldwide homeschooling club, aren't we? And most of us had not expected to be here today. From the looks of it, this ride may be the long-term sort, so buckle up, relax, and let's look at what may be in store for you. First, remember; this time is pretty precious. Whether or not you've figured out a rhythm yet, these days spent at home, wondering where the heck the world is headed, together with your family, are creating unique memories already.

Circa 2010, homeschooling for 3 months in France in a tiny aparment

True, I have been here before, but in different times and different circumstances. The children were...children, and I made the decisions about great portions of their lives. Now, my husband and I are thrilled to co-exist with four real humans who have separate realities outside of this house, or they did until about two days ago, and it is not the same. 

You are most likely in the same type of ship; they may be younger, there may be less of them, or more. You may have a more precise idea of how you want this to go down, or still be floundering in the waters of denial. 

In any case, first things first; breathe, and give yourself a few days permission to sit with this and see what presents itself; both in your own mind and that of your child's. It is not a race, my friends. This is not school, this is life. Life is nothing without tenderness, so start with love. 

Homeschoolers often talk about a period we call deschooling, like detoxing in a way. It means allowing for a free mind to emerge from the habit of having much of one's day scheduled in a familiar way. This is not always easy, and in uncertain times, it will present challenges yet unknown to our era. I believe some of the same principles still apply to the situation of forced-to-be-home. Expecting a family to go from all-day-school to zero school and a plan for home all at once is unrealistic. Take time to take care of yourself, and in the best of unschooling traditions, do two things:

1) Follow your own interests/passions/things that need getting done.

2) Let your kids share their interests with you. 

In our house, this has looked like a lot of things over the years.

Cookie maps of the world

Spending time outside: sailing

Camping

This week, it resembles this:

The past few days, we have all slept in (this is, after all, our spring break). We've cooked, baked, and cleaned and threw things away that should have been thrown away 12 years ago. The kids slept in even later, and joined us in cleaning or cooking or listening to French podcasts or the Presidential Address from Emmanuel Macron. We have read books, gone on walks (not together, it is no longer cool to head out on a 7-person walk), played Uno and watched movies. 

I looked at the weather forecast and saw only one day of sunshine all week; yesterday. We dropped everything else and did spring yard work for one glorious day, reveling in the good fortune that we have a backyard and it was warm enough to be out in it.

Today, when we talked about maybe coming up with a plan for the next month or so, the topic of Kahoots came up. I was the only one who knows nothing about this questionnaire/contest thing all kids play in school. They were more than happy to oblige, and we were soon immersed in a trivia game that we played all morning, had lunch, then played some more. We took turns picking topics and winning our faves; geography (Thierry beat the pants off the rest of us), anatomy (Charles, future sports medecine-something), chemistry (Valentine, hands down), Spongebob (Gael, naturally), 19th century lit (mine!) Is this game aligned with my Waldorf homeschooling values? Why not? It is on a screen, on many screens, as answers have to be picked on a phone or laptop, but it is also a fantastic way to bring people together in fun and challenges. 

We will come up with more of a plan by next week, and so will you. I have faith in you as a parent. Have faith in yourself as a parent. And enjoy the time that is now. 

For more resources, including another lovely blogger's straight-forward, zero filters take on it here, you might want to read Leonie Dawson:

https://leoniedawson.com/corona-homeschooling/

Or for a Waldorf-inspired source of curriculum, but also parenting advice, including free videos and resources, Melisa Nielsen of Waldorf Essentials:

https://www.waldorfessentials.com/

If anyone would like to work on their French skills, drop me a comment; Skype-pals may be a thing starting soon. Stay well and sleep tight. 

The School/Homeschool Dance

We are not alone; many homeschoolers do this little boogie at one time or another; to school and back again, but I had thought that this time, it was the end.

Next up on my agenda was a new and improved home, organization and education; we were putting the professionals in charge of the latter and the former would magically take priority, to the benefit of one and all.

Is it wrong to find myself deliriously happy to be homeschooling again, even part time, even just one child. Why in the world...?

[The House on the Rock...a beautiful chaos that reminds me of a home that might have been decorated by a large family, each with their own style and vibe.]

Throughout the years, on and off, a child of this family would try school, decide that it was not for him or her, and head back home. By about 8th grade, it tended to go all one direction; towards more hours at school and never less. I guess it should not have come as a surprise that for an 11-year-old, the radical change from total freedom to a strict schedule involving 8 hours of his day every day as well as four bus rides, would constitute a shock to the system. G. has been asking me about homeschooling again since before Halloween. I let him take the lead on this, not pushing or prodding in either direction, until he finally came up with his own solution. 

"If I commit to riding my bike to school, would it be OK if I started after 3rd period, going to the Steam (math and science combined) class and then to the Creative Arts Academy? But do you think you could take me when it is really cold?" It was a sweet way of putting it. He went to sleep on a "yes, but go ahead and tell me, for sure, in the morning," from me, and in the morning, he was still certain.

Boy, did I get busy! I began by locating back-up for the day or so per week I may have work; "Honey, would you maybe, please, be willing to take him to school if I can't?" D. (oldest son); can you take him if Daddy's not available? Yes and yes. Bliss! Next up was the filling out of paperwork, writing to principals of two schools, guidance counselors, teachers...all in one frenzied day. I know the drill and the rules and who to contact by now. Done. 

I was tempted with visions of creative ways to go from Greek to Roman history, and all of the religions of the world we could look at, quick, how do we catch up to Christ before Christmas? There is the writing he would have time to do and develop, the spelling; oh gosh, how he needed some work on spelling! But I was stopped cold by the realization of the need to take it one day at a time, allow for some detox and relaxation, get used to our roles as homeschoolers once again. I'll hit him with the spelling next week.

                                                               [A cozy day last winter]

Oddly enough...or not, as this kid has never been low on ideas, he has brought his own work to our homeschool table these first few days. From writing a book to reviewing a math problem from school, there has yet to be a dull moment.

It sometimes seems that the world of school, church, community and work is in cahoots to compress your time into segments they can use. Although there can be countless demands on our hours, some constraints are more pleasant than others. I am just fine with this particular schedule change. There have been many adjustments to make over the years of raising children, and I anticipate many more to come. Sometimes, like now, it is a marvelous, welcome accommodation. Pleased to oblige!

Museum Homeschooling Series #2: The Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium

Dubuque, Iowa is my hometown, and it is also host to the largest, truly incredible museum on the Mississippi River and the history of the peoples who have inhabited the area. In a single visit, you can do everything from petting a freshwater sting ray, to trying your hand at shaving roof shingles, to dreamily meandering through the aquarium section.

Our first study unit (main lesson block) of the year was local and U.S. history. I planned the museum visit as a part of this block. Native peoples, the land, the water and pioneers were all on the agenda, and I knew we would encounter them here, as well as the children's favorite alligator tank. What I did not know, was that the museum I had last visited a few years ago, was also constantly expanding and changing, adding ever new places to explore and chapters in the earth's history. This museum, in particular, makes it very easy to keep curiosity alive while exploring and having fun. The boys could be looking at arrow heads while I read aloud to them about Native American's respect for animals and all of life. They could stick their head in a turtle while I read the quotes about the mighty river and its connection to all. We had quite a visit.

Resources of the Mississippi (much depleted): Button-making clam shells:

Early European settlers' cabin:

The walkway between the cabin and a main building; there used to be a wigwam here...

Soil erosion lesson;

This goes nicely with Native American stories in a 3rd grade Waldorf curriculum, and animal stories in 4th grade.

Camping: Version October

This was a welcome little getaway, sandwiched in between work, activities and endless chores. And in what I qualify as "balmy weather." A nice bonfire, with the addition of pants and sweater is just right. Sorry, heat-lovers...autumn has arrived.

Bacon-toast and hot cocoa for the chilly morning time:


And the campfire for the only light to tell scary stories by at night:

Real Backyard Nature Study

Crash! "A squirrels' nest fell, mama!" And our lesson on whatever it was, morphed into two hours of watching out our back window as:

The boys were so quiet it was almost unbelievable. Charles ran for the camera, and he carefully and silently slid the screen up and moved it out the window...I admit to taking over and saving my camera from certain doom as he zoomed in to see what was happening.

The mother squirrel spent hours returning to the nest, searching, and attempting to lead each baby back up the trees. She did not always go back up the same tree, and it looked like she was distributing them to neighbors' nests around the yard as she went. It was pretty fascinating. Just last week, a baby fell out of the nest and landed on the fence, wet, clinging and petrified out of moving until the mama squirrel came to get it. This week, they were mobile and first played tag with mom, scrambling around the whole yard until the right path was painstakingly communicated. Mother squirrels can be as loud as a harpy when their babies are in danger. Shrieking, scolding, running up and down trees; it was not a show to miss! 

Our anxiety practically matched hers as we worried and wondered if all of the babies made it. We witnessed the extraction of four little squirrels. There may have been more, but I was dragged back to my cooking duties when everyone got hungry.

Baby squirrels may be trouble, but little humans are ornery creatures when they get hungry. Lunch: the harvest made into soup: but only the ones the squirrels have not yet stolen or nibbled.

Let's Do What You Love!

The other night, my husband asked if I would like to bike down to our favorite date night spot by the river. It was already 8:00pm, but I said yes...and what a ride. The way down, was, predictably, not too bad. Heading home later in the dark, the Mississippi was beautiful and mysterious. Then we had to climb the hills. I cursed his cute little trim rear end half the way home...until we turned into the woods, and it was magic. The drone of the locusts, the dark, the creek bubbling along the path. There was no one but us and the wild of the forest dwellers.

My husband regularly takes me out of my comfort zone. Without his encouragement, I would maybe not use my bike very often. He opens up new vistas and experiences for me in the same town I have lived in for fifteen years. All it takes from me is a "yes," and a little uphill climbing, to soar.

What is the raison d’etre of this little blog? The reason for everything else I do.  I write and talk and make things happen when someone says;

                          "I wish I could..." 

homeschool? knit? cook? speak another language? Make Waldorf more a part of our lives? find nature, even in the city? YES YOU CAN! Taking a willing participant along on the journey makes my day. I am so very fortunate to have people who take me along on new ventures, literally.

You will have to find your own questions, and your own reason for asking them, but I am absolutely determined that if you ask me, my response will be a resounding...OF COURSE! If you are willing to put in the effort, the rest will follow, people will show up to help you, the universe will open up possibilities and you will paint, dance, cook, sing, knit, homeschool along the Waldorf/Steiner path. You will love life again. This blog is meant for one reason: to empower you, the Waldorf homeschooling mother or father, to confidently say, “yes, I can do this!”

Camping 2016

Campsites are one of the things that America really does well. Our standard picnic table and firepit per site get my full endorsement. The midwest may seem short on spectacular scenery and architecture from the middle ages, but our camping grounds are the best. A few shots, between and during clouds:

 Taking turns cooking meals

 Exploring the banks of the creek across the way

Camping Out...and Back In

Today's post comes to you from our local laundry mat, as the sleeping bags, pillows and towels go round and round in two separate dryers. But never fear; the intrepid camping father is hard at work, reorganizing the car so that we can hop back in and head back to our wet campsite. Never say die.

Yesterday was a fabulous first day of camp. We had lunch in a terrible fast-food place on the way there (we are between two trips, after all) and arrived to find every single site of our destination open for set-up. Nobody for miles around. Perfect.

How it All Started

I am supposed to be writing a speech. A short one about homeschooling and what it is, and to introduce myself. It is for a panel on education. I've never been on a panel. All I have to do is remember why we began this journey.

That's easy; it all started in France with "la maternelle," or public school at age 3. It was a good fit for my daughter, the teachers were caring and wise and patient. She learned to say very interesting things like "caca boudin," which roughly translates to "sausage poo," and the whole class waltzed in sweet ball gowns and tuxes made by one of the grandmothers, for the end of the year program. This, despite the fact that the entire class had come down with chicken pox in the last two months of the school year. The teacher/headmistress was desperate; "forget the two-week quarantine, I have to teach them to WALTZ!"

A Little Nostalgic...

...for the days when I was homeschooling five kids, making candles, taking hikes, having all the time in the world and not knowing it.

Immerse yourself in the joyful chaos that is the gift of today.

Sled, Experiment, Build

February is always the month where spring starts to sound like a really good idea that is really far away. I love the winter though, and there is not quite enough snow and cold here anymore. Here is a tribute, then, to what can be done when homeschooling in the winter months, with or without the snow.

Remember the Elephant Toothpaste Experiment I told you about a week or so ago? Here is what it looked like in my driveway:

January Lesson Ideas, Fun Experiments and Encouragement

When the weather is dismal and energy levels inspire more to crawling back under the covers than to deep study and hard work, the homeschool blues or dropping it all seem to be the only options. Courage, fellow homeschoolers, the season will soon be turning and you will be glad that you have persevered and finished up the lessons you intended to complete before the weather turns beautiful again and outdoor adventures beckon. You can do it!

Think of:

All the books you ever wanted your kids to read. Make a list, start with your very favorites, and curl up for reading time, out loud or individually. We are into the second book in "The Wrinkle in Time" series for one of our read alouds. Another is a history series that they are all enjoying; "A History of US," by Joy Hakim, Oxford Press. I take advantage of the lack of enthusiasm to venture out in the winter months to spend lots of time reading, and a little extra on writing and doing math. 

Science...move on to an experiment once a week. The Waldorf method is to do the experiment one day, not discussing it, just letting it sink in until the next day when it gets explained, analyzed and recorded. Some fun online resources:

Plodding Away

Plodding away...like a big old farm horse, not real sexy or going anywhere fast, but some progress is still progress. That is what the past week of homeschooling has felt like, and what it may be like for the next couple of weeks of December. This is my favorite time of the year. At home. When I don't have to run all over the city and everywhere else. When it is snowing and everyone is in bed by 8. New reality; the kids are older, I have a job and they are in a whole bunch of stuff that they need to get to.

Signs Not to Ignore

Sometimes I know that the task set before me may not be easy, but I feel the utter necessity of following through if my kids are going to grow up to be anything more than dissatisfied adults with unfulfilled lives full of tv, bad food and lite beer.

Lesson Plans: Grade 3, 5 and 8

I love this first week of school when everything is fresh and new, as well as the level of enthusiasm; it all seems possible. We will all speak fluent Spanish and read in Latin by the end of THIS school year. They will be performing at a 12th grade level in math and writing stories and reports that put a college freshman to shame. No, I guess I never was ambitious in that way...or not to that extent. I periodically rewrite

Not in School: Poor Mom?

No, not "poor mom" and here's why: I keep hearing the joyful exclamations of parents about their children being back in school. I am joyful too; but because there is nowhere else I would rather be! Over the summer, I had a few misgivings about how things would feel in a house where the normal 4 or 5 children was suddenly reduced to 2 every morning. I even fleetingly thought they might be better off in school. Here are some of the things we are doing instead: (as well as yesterday's photos, all from my i-phone, of playing along the Mississippi. The first ones are of a walk we took after dropping off my son at high school Monday morning. Poor us.)