October 24, 2015
We have officially completed our Fall Term* of the 2015-2016 Academic Year! (Loud cheers and confetti!)
*Explanation: During my planning at the beginning of the year I broke the academic year (July 1-June30) into six terms. They are all approximately six weeks with breaks falling when we need them to and around holidays, etc. I use this as a very flexible guide to keep me on track, mostly for those days when I just don't "feel" like doing school. I know we have some wiggle room available, and the idea of doing school in June (yuck!) is usually enough motivation to persevere.
To date we have logged 73 of our required 180 days. I saw a discussion recently on what "counts" as a school day, especially when such a big part of our educational goals has to do with character and life skills. Do I count the hour my nine year old learned how to do laundry as school? What about the random discussion we had about Bhutan after church? Geography? Check! Nope, not in my house. I know that line between academics and the never-ending-learning-that-is-life is blurry. In fact that's one of the things I enjoy about homeschooling, that we can integrate life and school so thoroughly. To further complicate matters, we are actors with a non-traditional work schedule. My husband works Tuesdays - Saturdays with Sundays and Mondays off. So we school Tuesdays - Saturdays, reserving our Sunday/Monday "weekends" for family time.
So what counts as a school day? Which activities earn a check on my very high tech attendance chart that will eventually be handed over to an evaluator as proof that we have met the state requirements? I don't have a good answer. It's one of those things you just have a feeling about. Brooklyn takes a weekly ballet class. I consider it a part of her p.e. curriculum. Next week when we are on "fall break", she will still go to class, but I won't count that as a school day. The majority of the day will be spent doing the regular stuff of life. I imagine we will play a lot and while I'm sure I could make a case for counting it as a school day if I needed to, I just won't. Unfortunately I can't explain it any more than that. I do absolutely count field trips and enrichment activities.
For us the rule of thumb is based on the assignments/goals I have set for the day. See I have a big master list that breaks down by subject/text what I want to accomplish by the end of the year. It's a guide. It does the heavy lifting for me when I sit down to schedule the week's assignments. (*Special note: If you are thinking about homeschooling and you read this and thing 'Oh no - way too complicated for me, I can't homeschool! Do not be discouraged! I do it this way because I like to. That's it. There are a hundred other ways to plan and organize your own day, many that are less labor intensive!) Some people like to do this daily. At this stage in my life, I like doing it weekly. I sit down on Sunday or Monday (sometimes Friday or Saturday if I'm feeling ambitious and ahead of the game!), look at my calendar and my lesson plans and write out her assignments in a spiral notebook. When the day includes reading and math or an abundance of enrichment that meets a particular goal of mine - I count it as school.
I read recently that the root word of "school" actually comes from the word "leisure" because once upon a time it was only those who had extra money and time who were free to pursue education. Our system of education may be full to the brim with flaws, but how blessed we are that it is no longer reserved for the elite!
We have officially completed our Fall Term* of the 2015-2016 Academic Year! (Loud cheers and confetti!)
*Explanation: During my planning at the beginning of the year I broke the academic year (July 1-June30) into six terms. They are all approximately six weeks with breaks falling when we need them to and around holidays, etc. I use this as a very flexible guide to keep me on track, mostly for those days when I just don't "feel" like doing school. I know we have some wiggle room available, and the idea of doing school in June (yuck!) is usually enough motivation to persevere.
To date we have logged 73 of our required 180 days. I saw a discussion recently on what "counts" as a school day, especially when such a big part of our educational goals has to do with character and life skills. Do I count the hour my nine year old learned how to do laundry as school? What about the random discussion we had about Bhutan after church? Geography? Check! Nope, not in my house. I know that line between academics and the never-ending-learning-that-is-life is blurry. In fact that's one of the things I enjoy about homeschooling, that we can integrate life and school so thoroughly. To further complicate matters, we are actors with a non-traditional work schedule. My husband works Tuesdays - Saturdays with Sundays and Mondays off. So we school Tuesdays - Saturdays, reserving our Sunday/Monday "weekends" for family time.
So what counts as a school day? Which activities earn a check on my very high tech attendance chart that will eventually be handed over to an evaluator as proof that we have met the state requirements? I don't have a good answer. It's one of those things you just have a feeling about. Brooklyn takes a weekly ballet class. I consider it a part of her p.e. curriculum. Next week when we are on "fall break", she will still go to class, but I won't count that as a school day. The majority of the day will be spent doing the regular stuff of life. I imagine we will play a lot and while I'm sure I could make a case for counting it as a school day if I needed to, I just won't. Unfortunately I can't explain it any more than that. I do absolutely count field trips and enrichment activities.
For us the rule of thumb is based on the assignments/goals I have set for the day. See I have a big master list that breaks down by subject/text what I want to accomplish by the end of the year. It's a guide. It does the heavy lifting for me when I sit down to schedule the week's assignments. (*Special note: If you are thinking about homeschooling and you read this and thing 'Oh no - way too complicated for me, I can't homeschool! Do not be discouraged! I do it this way because I like to. That's it. There are a hundred other ways to plan and organize your own day, many that are less labor intensive!) Some people like to do this daily. At this stage in my life, I like doing it weekly. I sit down on Sunday or Monday (sometimes Friday or Saturday if I'm feeling ambitious and ahead of the game!), look at my calendar and my lesson plans and write out her assignments in a spiral notebook. When the day includes reading and math or an abundance of enrichment that meets a particular goal of mine - I count it as school.
I read recently that the root word of "school" actually comes from the word "leisure" because once upon a time it was only those who had extra money and time who were free to pursue education. Our system of education may be full to the brim with flaws, but how blessed we are that it is no longer reserved for the elite!
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