Today's Modern Mother

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July 23, 2003

Unschooling with a schedule

I've decided it's possible to unschool with a schedule. :-D Now before you jump down my throat, hear me out ok? I re-read,A Thomas Jefferson Education for the Twenty-first Century(available from http://www.gwc.edu) yet again Since then I've been on a classic book buying binge. Can I just say I LOVE Half.ebay.com Wowzahs you can find any book there. And if you can't you can always try www.bookfinder.com Anyhoo, Xander has recently slipped into a play computer/ watch tv as much as possible type of "unschooling" and he is not learning anything of much importance. Originally I planned to wait on the schedules until he was 8 but this lapse and the rereading of the book have inspired me to make some changes around here! So here is what our schedule looks like to give you an idea of what I mean.

9:00am-9:45am Get boys up, dressed, and fed
9:45am-10:15am Devotional consisting of prayer, pledge of allegience, song, and scripture reading
10:15am-11:15am Chores
11:15am-:11:30am Practice Piano
11:30am-12:00noon Personal interviews- We talk about how they like the way things are, if there's anything they want changed. If there's anything they want to learn about that I've overlooked. How their relationship with Christ is doing etc.
12:00noon-1:00pm Lunch and clean up
1:00-2:00 Personal study: They can study anything they want. Usually Alexander reads from the classics like Gulliver's Travels or The Secret Garden and Sullivan draws pictures. But they could choose to work on math or a project too. Today Xander Drew a mindweb(a chart of facts) of the state Alabama as he is currently interested in memorizing and learning about the 50 states.
2:00pm-2:30pm Art/Reading: Xan named it. This is where I read to them a few chapters from a book (today was the autobiography of Helen Keller) and they draw with pencils or pastels. Usually they draw pictures of the story but sometimes they just doodle. It's up to them what type of art they choose to do.
2:30pm-3:00pm Pencil work: Child's choice but it must involve using a pencil *grin* So math, poetry, handwriting etc. Usually Xander writes nursery rhymes and I write them down and he copies them. Today since we did the Alabama mind web which involved a lot of writing, he played with tangrams.
3:00-5:00 Freetime
5:00-6:00pm chores and prepare dinner
6:00-7:00pm Dinner/clean up
7:00-8:00pm Freetime
8:00-9:30pm Baths and get ready for bed
9:30-10:00pm Read aloud (Harry Potter)
10:00 Lights out

So you see, it's a schedule, but the content is child led and based on the classics! I have to say, my house is lookin' good and my kids are so much happier. I actually feel like they are learning! And hello, I have time to read the classics too!

posted by Tamra at 05:37 PM

Comments

Hey there! I came to peruse your site after you so sweetly came to mine! Nice to meet you!

Posted by: Christy on July 24, 2003 09:48 AM

This is really great Tamra! I know you posted your schedule for me at Yaaps, but I loved to read about it again. We have fallen into a similar tv/computer trap. I wonder, if you have a moment, if you could tell me how you manage times where you have plans, like say, a homeschool group get-together . Do you still try to fit in your routines until you leave, or scrap them, or..or...or, lol! I know things will changes around here when summer is over, but right now we have so many things going on, a daily schedule is hard to stick to. Also..how did you start. DId you just get together and explain the changes that were going to take place and start teh very next day? Or did you ease into it? I hope I'm not bugging you! I want so much to make our days a bit more meaningful...since we've had more to do this summer,everyone has been so much happier. I want it to conntinue into fall even when there isn't as much going on.

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Today's Modern Mother
Going against the tide...

Going against the tide...

Today's Modern Mother Going against the tide...

Going against the tide...

Today's Modern Mother
Going against the tide...