what it looks like

When we were first considering homeschooling this spring, and then when we began to actually do it, I read voraciously:  homeschool blogs, homeschool articles online, and books about homeschooling.  And as I read, I kept thinking, okay, all this stuff is interesting, but what do you actually DO?  What does your homeschooling day look like?  What’s the nitty gritty, brass tacks, down and dirty reality of it?

Everyone’s answer is different.  It’s one of the most thrilling aspects of this decision, that you’re no longer bound by school district scope and sequence, you don’t have to deal with someone else’s textbooks (you can choose your own or ditch them altogether), you’ve discarded the ever-looming piles of homework and worksheets (unless you feel it’s best to use them), and, best, of all, you don’t have to work toward tests and deadlines, one week on this subject and one month on that.  You can see how your child learns best and adapt your approach accordingly.

It’s also one of the scariest aspects of this decision.  How do you know if you’re covering the right things, in the right depth?  At the end of this, will your child will be equipped to go back to school, or go to college, or go out into the world?  If you don’t have someone else telling you what he or she needs to study, how can you know what to do, how to proceed, what to study?  How can you possibly know if you’re doing it right?

Of course, that all makes one huge assumption: that schools are somehow mystically doing it right.  And all doing it the same way.  Not necessarily so.  In my opinion, any attempt to make teaching identical across large school districts leads to failure.  One of the things I hated most about the LA school district, in fact, was their remedial-style Open Court reading program.  It took teaching to the lowest common denominator to a new, well, low.  But most districts only teach things in lockstep inasmuch as they have to conform to a statewide test, and then they don’t necessarily teach the subjects with verve or depth.  When a teacher hates a particular subject (say, she has math phobia), do you think she teaches it in depth, in a way that will stick?  Not to mention that standards and requirements differ from state to state.

But I digress.  The point here is:  homeschooling = rowing in a tiny boat out on a huge ocean.  How to navigate?

The first decision is whether to navigate at all.  I’ve read a fair bit about unschooling, and spoken to a few unschoolers.  There’s something incredibly enticing about the idea that a child can set his own course, seek knowledge and learn according to his interests, not your agenda.  I had a book about the Ancien Regime in France when I was in middle school, which I read several times.  I can even recall the pale tan cover with its fleur de lys, and I remember far more about the Sun King and the decline of the French monarchy from that one book than I do about any history I supposedly learned in high school.  Personal interest, internal motivation, the lust to discover, that’s far more powerful a learning tool than anything a teacher can impart.

So yes, unschooling seems delightful.  I know there are plenty of homeschoolers who just strew books and other materials around the house and let their child explore at will. It sounds idealistic and kind of fabulous.  We did something similar for a couple of months, while we were deschooling (decompressing from school stress).  But ultimately, we couldn’t keep it up.  And in fact, most unschoolers I’ve heard about don’t necessarily do it in a pure form either.  Maybe they unschool except for math.  Or they unschool but enroll their kids in select classes.  Or — well, you get the idea.  And I have no problem with any of that.  Seriously.  Remember, there are no rules.  And if your child learns best completely unfettered, that’s wonderful.

Thing is, Damian is a child who does best with a bit of structure, as long as it’s not too constraining or dogmatic.  He likes following our lead some, likes having some room to explore.  And doing some degree of leading makes us feel more confident in this endeavor.  So we’re taking an eclectic approach:  some unschooling, some parent-led, but sparked-by-child-interest work (which can be in the form of unit studies), and some things we simply think he needs to know/learn/work on.

So what does this all mean in real terms?  What does our day look like?  It’s been nearly four months since we pulled Damian out of school.  A picture of our homeschooling day is different now than it was in April, and a snapshot taken in September or October will probably look different again.

Our current homeschooling life (and yes, we’re homeschooling over the summer):

At home:

Social Studies:  We watch an episode of Liberty’s Kids every day (and now we’re also watching the excellent 13 episode History Channel series The Revolution).  Dan or I usually read a chapter aloud from The American Revolution for Kids, by Janis Herbert.  We didn’t mean to read from it every day, but Damian loves it.  It’s part of a series which includes a book on the Lewis and Clark expedition and one on the Civil War, among many others.  We read aloud because Damian seems to absorb the information better that way (and enjoy it more), and he interrupts a lot to discuss what we’ve read, so it’s extremely interactive.

We watched the Brendan Fraser-starring The Mummy and The Mummy Returns recently, which kindled Damian’s interest in Ancient Egypt.  We have some kid-friendly books on Egypt already, but I found some interesting-sounding ones in the library catalogue, and I’ll be requesting those.  I don’t think we’ll do anything formal with them; he can flip through them as he desires.  If we’re still homeschooling after we’ve gone through American History, we’ll jump back in time and take a more thorough look at world history.

Math:  He plays the math game Timez Attack a few times a week. It gives him much-needed practice in quick recall of his multiplication facts.  (This is the best math game we’ve found, an ingenious blend of action and math, and he relishes it.)   Sometimes Dan sits with him and goes through math lessons in Time4Learning (a multi-subject subscription-based online curriculum).  Sometime soon we’ll go over multiplying with three digit numbers and long division, probably using the Time4Learning lessons, BrainPop videos, and some sit-at-the-table work.  He covered both subjects in school and got the gist, but was overwhelmed with worksheets and pressure.

Language Arts:  Most days, he reads from a chapter book for half an hour.  We set this up as a specific activity, because otherwise he tends toward reading science or easier fiction (Captain Underpants, Calvin & Hobbes, Tintin).  There’s a school of thought that says to let him wait until he’s developmentally ready, and I see the wisdom of that, but he thoroughly enjoys the chapter books once he gets into them.  And again, it’s about who your child is.  With Damian, we’ve always had the best success waiting until he shows signs that he’s ready for something, then nudging him to do it.  He needs to be ready, but he also needs the nudge.  (Also, this is a kid who read through 10 of the 13 Lemony Snicket books in school in a few weeks when he was avoiding the class/teacher/environment.  He can read chapter books.)

He’s currently reading the second Artemis Fowl book (and tells me I’d really like the first, which he finished a week or two ago), alternating with The Fire Thief by Terry Deary, depending on his mood.  If we go for a long car ride, we listen to the second Mysterious Benedict Society novel on the way.  About once a week, he does a Language Arts lesson in Time4Learning.  And he writes blog entries!  (Hey, he’s working on essay structure, pertinent detail, etc.  It sure as hell counts.)

Science is easy.  This is a kid who, when he got the Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry pre-level book in the mail, sat down and read it in an hour.  He reads science books for fun.  He particularly adores the Horrible Science series.  Even before we started homeschooling, we’ve watched various shows on the Science/Discovery/National Geographic set of channels, including nearly the entire Universe series on the History Channel.  (The episode about parallel universes bent his mind.)  We’re looking forward to trying a Balloon Physics set we picked up after seeing it on a table at the Science Fair, and we have a cool CSI forensics kit.  We take a mostly unschooled approach to science for now.

He’s nearly done with his All the Right Type touch typing program, after which we’ll ask him to practice daily until he gets up to 20 words per minute (or whatever speed makes it so he can comfortably type an email to a friend or a blog entry on his own).  He either does a lesson or a 15 minute practice session every day.

And finally, he has a weekly drum lesson, with short daily practice sessions.  Recently he switched from jazz rhythms to focusing on rock beats.  Led Zeppelin rocks the house (literally).

It sounds like a lot, but really, we’re pretty laid back.  Like I said, no worksheets, no tests, no drilling, no fact memorization.  We spend a couple of hours per day max on structured-but-enjoyable tasks.  If he’s having a hard time (lack of sleep, general grouchitude) or busy with an outside activity, we let it slide.  The only things we insist on are the typing and drumming: he has to do both in order to earn his hour a day of video game time.

Other unschooling-type activities: Damian loves GarageBand, and has been creating radio plays and layered spoken word songs on it.  He’s also been playing with computer programming using Scratch (a programming language designed for kids), creating his own little programs and modifying other people’s.  He fools around with Google SketchUp (a free CAD program), OE Cake (a drawing program where the elements have physical properties, so they burn or drip or evaporate — last week, he drew the digestive system and had liquid drip through it), and Tux Paint, which he uses to create richly textured collages.  He also builds with Magnetix, Lego, K’nex, and Zoobs, which is a form of homeschooling in the sense that children learn by doing, by playing, by experimenting, by having fun.  He even occasionally helps with gardening.

Outside the house:

In June, he took a very good two-day homeschool class on the human body at the Liberty Science Center (and he’ll probably take a few more science classes there in the fall).  He’s been involved in a once-weekly homeschool bowling league which just stopped for the summer, is taking weekly swim lessons with a friend, is joining a weekly social skills group tomorrow, and is participating in the build-up to a biweekly tween discussion group that starts in the fall.

We also attend monthly homeschool meet-ups at the local library and an age-specific one at a Panera about half an hour north of us.  We go on homeschooler-organized outings and on field trips of our own devising (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex, Battle of Monmouth Reenactment, Cirque du Soliel performances, maybe an upcoming class at the Skyscraper Museum in NYC, and we keep talking about a trip to the Museum of Natural History to finish up our unit on evolution).

That’s about it, I think.

Was that at all interesting?  It feels like it must be deadly boring to read a list like that, but maybe it gives you a feel for what our homeschooling curriculum looks like in July 2009.  Maybe I’ll do this again in October and compare.  Dan will be back at work by then, and I’ll be on my own with Damian.