Library, Homeschooling, and Unit Studies

OK, back to what I started out to say about libraries and homeschooling. (I got sidetracked -- I do that a lot these days.)



Anyway, Jack has announced that he wants to start schooling at the age of six. Um...OK. Fine with me.

We plan to do classical home schooling combining Well trained Mind curriculum with Charlotte Mason methods, and we hadn't really planned to start doing anything formal before age six or so.

We do read with Jack quite a bit -- both literature from the Charlotte Mason lists we find around the Internet and non-fiction about things that interest him. (And now, with the library, also some "twaddle" that I wouldn't choose for him but see no need to forbid.)

But his announcement that he plans to wait hasn't reduced his interest in anything and everything. *(Leaving me to wonder what "school means to him...)

So, I am following him on his whimsical journey, and using "unit study" ideas to help him expand on his interests. He took a serious fancy to soccer for a week or so after we went to the park and saw some men playing. He sat down on the bleachers and watched for over a half hour and he talked about soccer constantly for several days. So, I printed some clip art soccer pictures out on my computer and invited him to write a story -- he dictated the story and Dad scribed it. It was the first entry into "his book". A week or so later, he wanted to dictate another story to me on the computer. He dictated his own wandering version of Red Riding Hood, we scanned the Internet for an appropriate drawing, printed it, and it was the second story in his book. It's my intention that he will "narrate" what he is learning for us every time he gets a fancy and we will put the narration in his book. As he gets older, the narration will become more formal, but this is excellent practice.

As I mentioned earlier, his current fascination is with mountain gorillas. He has read his book about Koko and watched videos of Koko and other mountain gorillas. He has listened to clips of the sounds that gorillas make and we have read a bit more about them online. Later today or maybe later this week, I will ask him to tell me what he knows and we will transcribe what he has to say.

The library means that Jack will have plenty of opportunity to take an interest in any topic that crosses his mind. I think this may be some of what Holt referred to as unschooling...? Certainly it sounds like it in what I have read.

So, we aren't in a hurry, but to be successful, homeschooling can't be something a family "does" -- it's a lifestyle choice, and so far, the lifestyle is going great guns!