Unexpected Learning

We went on our first "official" field trip yesterday, to the Museum of Science.  Since I'm incredibly uncomfortable with the very thought of driving in the city, I figured that we could take the train into Boston.  This was my boys' first ever experience on both the commuter rail and subway.

Seamus was beside himself.  He was bouncing with anticipation on the train platform, and spent the entire trip on his knees peering out the window as the train hurried into the city.  The subway was an added bonus, as far as he was concerned.  

This was my first time back to this museum since I was in school myself, and it was surreal to see the some of the same exhibits that I remembered from my childhood, along with just how much has been changed in the years since.  

Watching video footage of the first moon landing
from inside a model of the Apollo command module.

We headed to the small moon exhibit first, since we've been focusing on our solar system.  From there, we set off exploring the rest of the museum.  Computer science and models of dinosaur fossils, specimens of all the birds of New England and hands-on exhibits inviting children (and adults!) to explore mathematical concepts.  

We spent the morning wandering from exhibit to exhibit, and saw less than half of what the museum has to offer before we took a break for lunch.  While sitting in the cafeteria finishing up our meal, Seamus turned to me and requested to go home.  I was stunned, and asked if he was sure, because there was still so much more to see.  "Yes," he responded. "My brain is full, and my brain wants me to go home now."  I couldn't argue with that logic, and nor did I want to disregard that level of self-awareness.  So we packed up, headed back to the train station, and left for home.  

What surprised me once we got home is seeing what Seamus took from this experience.  He set to work in the playroom, constructing a model of the city with his blocks.  Wooden train tracks snaked between the buildings (the subway and commuter rail, I was told).  He added trains and matchbox vehicles, and a blue playsilk to represent the harbor.  He asked for a map of the subway system (so glad that I brought one home!).  And then he sat down with a clipboard and markers and carefully drew a map of his model of the city.

I'm quickly discovering that this, in a nutshell, is the true beauty of homeschooling.  The ability to follow a child's interests, and the learning that emerges from that freedom of exploration.  

One week down...

Seamus woke up this morning asking what we'd be doing for school today.  As I groggily attempted to explain that it was a Saturday, that we didn't have any school work planned for the weekend, his face fell.  "But I love kindergarten!  I really, really, really want to do some school today!"  Who'd ever expect to hear that from their child on a Saturday morning?!

So...some school work was done.  BOB books and word searches, math manipulatives, more books about our solar system, and an art/science experience - creating Neptune & Uranus with the wet-on-wet watercolor technique.

Adding Neptune to his model of the Solar System.

We're one school week into our homeschooling experience...and so far, so good. We did switch up our phonics curriculum only two days in.  Hooked on Phonics was a bust - Seamus hates it, and I can't say that blame him.  Something about the sing-songy yet frustratingly repetitive narration on the CD had us both bored to tears.  So I've returned that to the library (thankfully it wasn't a curriculum I'd purchased!) and will be going another route.  I have the first set of BOB books, and we'll be using Progressive Phonics as well.  I'm also debating either ordering the Explode the Code workbooks or signing him up for the online version, but ultimately decided to hold off for a bit and see how he does with what we have right now.

Seamus has been interested in learning about outer space, so we focused on learning about the planets this week.  Each day we focused on one or two specific planets.  It's so much fun to listen to your five-year-old explaining the difference between gas giants and terrestrial planets, or how Pluto is now considered a dwarf planet, or that Saturn's rings are made of rocks and ice, that Mars has polar ice caps like Earth, and that Venus has massive active volcanoes.

We've been done with all formal school work well before lunch, so we've had plenty of time for various adventures this week:
A nature hike with friends who are also homeschooling.
A trip to the zoo.
A walk downtown to our local library, followed by a long playground visit.
A lazy afternoon spent collecting, observing, and releasing hermit crabs at a favorite local beach.

Unexpected biology lesson - the behavior and habitat of hermit crabs!

I think we could very quickly get used to this.  In fact...I think we already have!

Day One: Let the Adventures Begin!

After weeks of counting down, we began our homeschooling journey today.
Seamus is "officially" a kindergartner!

Today went unexpectedly well.  I was expecting there to be hiccups (and there was - midway through the morning Declan threw a record-breaking tantrum).  Honestly, I'm expecting hiccups all through the week - and possibly weeks - to come.  We're all going to be finding our footing, developing a new rhythm, and naturally there will be missteps along the way.  But seeing that this was our first day, I'm pleased with how it went.  

The only formal curriculum that we're doing is for math, phonics, and handwriting.  I chose Math U See (Seamus is going to be doing the Primer level), Hooked on Phonics, and Handwriting without Tears.  Everything else is going to be touched upon through either unit studies that I'll pull together around his current interests or literature-based units from the Five in a Row curriculum.

Over the summer, whenever we'd talk about the upcoming school year, Seamus would insist that the first thing he wanted to start learning about was outer space.  So I spent the last several weeks gathering  resources - requesting piles of books and several videos through inter-library loan, and scouring Pinterest for project ideas.  Of course...Seamus had quite a bit of input which is influencing our plans this week.  

He decided that he wants to create a model of the solar system, and focus on a different planet each day.  I thought we'd start with Mercury, seeing that it's the closest to the sun.  He had another idea.  We need to start off with Earth, "since we live here, after all."  So, Earth it is.  

Referring to a photo while painting Earth.

We've also been involved in a postcard project, which we began participating in last spring.  As postcards have arrived, we've been taping them to the wall around our map, stretching a length of string from the postcard to it's point of origin.  The photo below is out-of-date - we're pretty much out of wall space and at last count have received over eighty cards!  

Since we're rapidly running out of room, Seamus decided that he was ready to start taking older cards down in order to make room for new ones.  Today we began a new project, and sat down to create a state "book" (three-ring binder) consisting of maps of each state and our postcards.  I'm hoping we can really focus on one state a week, in order to stretch this through the entire school year.  I'd love to wrap each week up with cooking a dish traditional to the state/region that we're studying.  

The start of his State Scrapbook

All in all, day one went better than I could have hoped!

Privacy Concerns and a Brief Who's Who

There have been countless times since I posted my first (and so far only) entry on this blog when I've opened up the "new post" window, only to stare at the blank text box for a while before giving up and closing out the tab.  I'm not entirely comfortable sharing my children's names and images online...and yet here I am thinking about writing a blog about our homeschooling journey.  I think I've found a way to reconcile these conflicting goals in my mind, at least for now. 

Both my boys will be referred to by pseudonyms.  After mulling this over for a while, and debating on either using nicknames (such as Monkey) or "real" names, I've decided to go with actual names.  These are names that were on my short list when we were naming our boys but weren't chosen because, regardless of how much I loved them, they sounded awful with our last name!  So...my oldest son, age five, will be known as "Seamus" on this blog, and my two-year-old will be called "Declan."  

As I mentioned, Seamus (oh my goodness, it's just too funny to refer to him with this name!) is five and will be starting kindergarten in the fall.  Like most five-year-old boys, he's full of energy, curiosity, and goofiness.  He's in the beginning stages of learning to read - attempting to sound out words and having some success with CVC words, and has been incredibly excited to be learning how to "crack the code!"  His current passions include trains, the solar system, worms/ants/honeybees, backyard birds, and volcanoes.  

Declan is my toddler.  He's completely fearless, and the cause of my rapidly graying hair!  He loves music, and has a great sense of rhythm that certainly wasn't inherited from either of his parents.  Like his big brother, he's fascinated by trains...and construction trucks...and tractors.He loves to paint at the easel, climb anything that lies in his path, and is absolutely obsessed with ducks (and geese, and chickens, and turkeys...they're all ducks to him).

I'm a former preschool teacher, and worked for almost a decade with children ranging in age from two years nine months to five.  I've been a stay at home mom since my eldest was eleven months old.  My husband is a landscaper, and we've been together for over ten years now.  

In all honesty, I don't know what my intentions are for this blog.  At the very least, it will be a record for myself and my boys of our experiences.  And if I wind up connecting with other homeschooling families through this blog, that would be an incredible added bonus.  

So this is really happening...

We're homeschooling.

It's a lot to wrap my head around.  Homeschooling.  I will be teaching my children at home.

I will be teaching my children at home.  Gulp.

This is a turn of events that I never would have predicted before becoming a mother.  I certainly never foresaw this as my future back when I was an wide-eyed, idealistic education major.  Sure, I was going to be teaching...but not my own children.  I was qualified to teach other people's children.  But not my own.  Never my own.

But as time passed, I found myself wondering...why?

Why would I be qualified - and trusted - to teach 20+ children completely unrelated to myself, but not my own?  Why would I be a better teacher to a classroom of 20+ little learners, each with their own individual strengths and weaknesses, experiences and backgrounds?  Children whom I'd have less than a year,  from September to June, to get to know and determine how to teach them best, how they learn best, before sending them off to their next teacher where the getting-to-know-them process begins all over again.  Why could I teach these children, but not my own?

 Why would someone else, who does not yet know my boys - each with their individual quirks and passions, struggles and strengths - be better suited to teach them than someone who has been with them every day of their lives to this point?

Since my children were born, I've met many families who homeschool or are planning to homeschool, as well as several adults who were homeschooled for at least part of their educational careers.  All have been intellegent, well-adjusted, creative, socially adept individuals who are passionate about learning, doing, living.

Homeschooling families are as varied as those who attend public schools.  They just made an educational choice for their children that is outside of the mainstream, but one that they feel is best for their children and for their families as a whole.

And isn't that what we all want, for our children, for our families, for ourselves?  To be able to make the best choice that we can, with the information and options that we have available to us at the time?

So here we are, ready to embark on a new adventure as a family.  And this blog will be a record of our educational journey.