Wow--It has been quite a long hiatus since my last post. So, I'm dusting off the cobwebs and getting back into the "groove" as our activities for homeschooling, inevitably, increase this time of year. Yes, we "school" year round but we remain tied to the "school year" routine due to others' schedules. Fall is my favorite season of the year! The air is crisp, the leaves become a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors, the mosquitoes are gone--I am in my happy place! However, I must quickly offer an addendum to my thoughts; it is only August and the air already feels like fall. I guess I can only hope for, along with many other Manitobans, for a very beautiful and lengthy season!
This year I have felt a need to become a tad more structured in our routine. This may sound a bit counter-cultural to our approach to homeschooling (since Self Designing, for us, tends to meander over to the "unschooling" genre of home education). However, as Rebekah gets older and is asking for additional workshops, classes, and mentors and I am in year two of my masters degree program, I believe it is crucial for us to have some solid banks offering support as our river of education flows and picks up its pace. By no means does this mean we will be tied to an hour by hour, minute by minute schedule (that would undo both of us). We will create a new mind map (a visual method of organizing our thoughts, activities, passions and discovering the points of intersection), thoughtfully choose which activities we will engage in this year, and put them on a weekly calendar (I need the accountability of completing what we set forth to accomplish). Within this "structure," we will always have the freedom to change things as we go to foster self directed learning; listening to and honoring our interests/passions.
The other day I brought up my need of adding "structure" to our rhythm to Rebekah. I was careful to language my intended meaning and how this would be executed so she didn't run for the hills thinking that her mom had done a 180 degree turn in our approach to "schooling." Fortunately she understood and really embraced the plan. In fact, her "languaging" was much more eloquent than mine. "Yeah Mom, I've been thinking about how I want to really dive into a couple areas I'm passionate about and truly have all my studying (meaning the traditional "subjects" taught in school) center around those passions. I've been desiring more guidance in my learning." I say "structure," she says "guidance." What a meaningful conversation and awareness of both of our needs, willing to deeply connect so that we can move forward and get back into the "flow" of life.
It will be interesting to see what unfolds as we create our mind map in the next couple of days. I already sense points of intersection and am allowing myself to dream about the potentiality of the year. I shared one of those points with Rebekah the other night and it was magical to observe her excitement as she acknowledged how this process can work. Learning is enchanting and we have a world to explore!
However you approach education (whether you have young ones at home or are a life long learner yourself), I encourage you to remember that "benchmarks" are much more than numbers and education, like life itself, is not a destination it is a journey! Look around you for those "aha" moments and embrace this season as it commences...
