Friday, September 18, 2009

WR: Learning Curves & Cat Herding

We had another very full week, between homeschooling on Monday and Friday, working in the garden, hauling and stacking wood last week-end and going to, running and teaching at The Daniel Academy (TDA).
Tuesday's and Thursday's at TDA are dedicated to academics- Math, History (ancients this year), science (plants), Latin, Christian Studies, English (phonics, copywork, dictation, literature), memory work, Apologetics.
Wednesdays are our Fine Arts & Daniel Track. Fine Arts take the majority of each Wednesday morning and contain Art, Drama and Music instruction. We have some awesome teachers in these areas and it's by far the favorite time of the week for most of the kids. We are going to add in Timeline's to Wednesday's schedule using Amy Pack's CD of historical figures.
Wednesday afternoons we spend time reading outloud (currently reading Little Pilgrim''s Progress) which the kids enjoy. While we read, they get big sheets of paper and can create whatever they dream up. This week we concluded read-aloud time with several paper chains, and paper crafted creations. The kids art boxes contain glue sticks and scissors and they are eager to use them!
After the read-alouds we play math and phonics games or work on manner's, review Veritas Press' time lines, which we are committing to memory; we are doing the Ancients pack- Old Testament and Ancient Egypt- along with the entire set (160 cards) of the Biblical timeline- 4 from each every week. We'll complete the Ancients Pack 4 times this year. The kid are memorizing titles on the cards as well as dates or Biblical reference.
Then gym time, intercession and closing.

It's been a learning curve for everyone the past month. We have families that have public schooled and utilized day care for years, families who have, in many ways, unschooled classical educators, etc. Now we are all coming under the same roof to create something, that is hopefully, better than what we could come up with on our own. The dedication of the parent's has been a huge blessing. The kids are great and it's been fun to get to know them, their quirks, strengths and struggles. We are going to implement a behavior chart beginning next week so that we can moniter behavior and group interactions, and to give us some objective measures of improvement. The kids all want to talk at once, or offer their suggestions or tell each other, and the teacher's what to do, put their feet on the table and interrupt some more- imagine that!!? Some days it does feel a little like herding cats, but there is more order each day.

2 comments:

Rhonda said...

It sounds like a wonderful week. Looks like The Daniel Academy is working out very well for your family and you seem to have adjusted very well to your schedule.
Blessings,
~Rhonda

Unknown said...

Another post from you. It sounded like another wonderful week at your place.