The first two weeks

     Well, easier said than done, right? 

     Homeschool actually didn't start off too bad. Everyone was excited. Everyone was eager to jump right in. Everyone did more work than they had to. 

     But that was just the first two days. 

     After that, the excitement wore off and the crabby attitudes ensued. Well, one crabby attitude entered the picture. 

     Homeschool has been a breeze for Abby. Her creative mind is just taking off in every direction, soaking in the projects that encompass writing, music, art, movement, reading and research. 

     Ry, on the other hand, just wants a checklist. A worksheet. A list of assignments. Please help this boy. He can't handle all the open-endedness of homeschool. 

     And that's why I think homeschool is perfect for him, too. He does not really know how to be creative and how to love learning. All he knows how to do is finish an assignment. He loves to just know what needs to get done and do it. 

     Our schedule is set up with the backbone of homeschool using Diana Waring's history curriculum. Each unit is designed to be four weeks (though we might stretch them to five). Each week is different. Each day is unique. The reason is to incorporate all the learning styles.  

     We are beginning week four in unit one: Creation and the Flood. 

     During week one, we read. A lot. And listened. A lot. I think this week should be spread into two weeks. It's a ton of reading and listening at their ages. We didn't do even one-third of it, but honestly, a lot of the articles are written at an adult level. As we read, we explored all the angles of creation and the flood — including religion, evolution, the Ice Age, inventions, science, philosophy, math, music, etc.

     During week two, the theme was research. They made their own timelines, using reasoning skills. We talked about what a thesis is, and then they wrote a thesis and 6-10 supporting statements for their project. They both decided to turn their thesis into a song. Abby composed a piece about creation on the piano. Ryker wrote lyrics to a song about creation for young children.  

     

     Here is Abby playing her song. She really took the concept of research seriously. I challenged her to write her song "in reverse." This meant my non-music reading kid set out to find out how to read and write music. She used the Internet, a keyboard and music paper. She put her song on paper! 

     Here is Ryker singing/leading his song. We all participated in singing, as it had an echo component to it where we joined in on the second round of each verse. Well done, Ryker! 

     Week three is all hands-on activities.....