Sam began his fourth grade year seven weeks ago while we were parked in San Angelo, Texas. We were armed with several carefully-selected textbooks, a giant stack of notebook paper, and a perfectly-constructed scheduling grid that had our days laid out by the hours and minutes. Here's a flashback:
We followed the grid for maybe three days. It was a good approach in theory, but in practice, we needed a more fluid strategy.
Almost two months later, we've adjusted. I'd say that we're close to center in the structured schooling-unschooling spectrum, and that's right where we need to be. Reading, writing, and mathematics are non-negotiable: we feel he needs a strong foundation in those skills and, based on his personality, benefits from a more structured approach in those areas. But he also needs freedom to explore what interests him, and that's where "unschooling" comes into the picture.
The more structured part of our homeschooling day takes place in the morning and includes the following:
1. Reading or writing (30+ minutes): I let Sam decide whether he'd prefer to start the day by reading or writing. He usually picks reading (I'm trying to figure out how to get him to write more without pressuring him so much that he despises the task). In the past few weeks, he's read the entire Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, a few Humphrey the Hamster books, and an I Survived novel. We're in the process of identifying another series that he'll truly enjoy. The Warriors by Erin Hunter is a strong contender.
2. Math (20-30 minutes): We're using Life of Fred for our math curriculum. Sam typically completes one chapter per day. The chapters are short, the writing is funny, and the problem sets are refreshingly brief. Each problem set comes with an answer key. It's up to him to check his answers when he's done. If he identifies any discrepancies, we discuss them and review that material.
We reached a milestone yesterday when Sam wrapped up Life of Fred: Farming. Although closing the cover on a textbook is kind of an arbitrary way to measure progress, the fact that he completed it indicates to me that we're getting somewhere with homeschooling. We're moving forward.
3. Grammar (10-15 minutes, 3 times a week): To be honest, Sam detests grammar, but we're forging ahead anyway because I think establishing a strong foundation at this age is important. We're using using Scholastic's Success with Grammar for Grade 4. I figure that he can tolerate 10-15 minutes of verbs, nouns, subjects, predicates, adjectives, and prepositions a few times a week.
Then there's the less structured part of the day, which includes some of the following:
1. Field trips: Over the last few weeks, we've visited an aquarium, a bug exhibit and butterfly garden, several national monuments, a nature center, a natural history museum, a UFO museum (unsurprisingly, that was in Roswell, New Mexico), a cat cafe (yes, a cafe full of cats), a trampoline gym, and the plaza in Santa Fe. Of course, he also spent a week on an organic farm, and he often joins us when we run errands to the grocery store or Walmart. We use field trips in part for location-based learning and in part just to get out of the RV.
As a kid, I remember going on field trips and having to fill in worksheets along the way. We don't do that. One, I'm too lazy to print out a bunch of papers and then cart them with us. Two, it's important for kids to immerse themselves in the experience and absorb whatever they can, from their own perspective. Some of their observations will have immediate relevance, whereas others will become more important later (perhaps much later). We view learning as a long-term endeavor that doesn't always require identifiable short-term outcomes.
2. Video games: This makes us sound like slacker homeschool parents, but it's true. He plays video games, and often. Sam's current favorites are Minecraft and Kerbal Space Program. Minecraft encourages creativity and the development of spatial reasoning, whereas Kerbal Space Program - a rocket simulation game - integrates principles of astronomy, math, physics, and engineering. Both require problem solving skills, patience, and persistence. I was skeptical, but when your kid comes to the dinner table and starts talking about angles required to bring and keep a rocket in orbit around the moon, you start thinking that maybe video games aren't so bad after all.
3. Educational programming: Sam loves Cosmos, NOVA, and National Geographic. He's also a devotee of cooking shows (to the point where he took notes on Alton Brown's coffee recipe and can now produce the perfect morning brew). We let him watch as much as he wants; he polices his screen time pretty well.
4. Pursuit of big ideas: Like most kids, Sam is a creative thinker with big ideas. He wants to start a blog... create and sell art... own his own business... curate a coin collection... become a comic strip artist... write a series of children's books. We encourage him to explore these brainstorms because doing so requires him to think critically, problem solve, and apply his reading, writing, and math skills. Plus, we want him to know that he's capable of doing what he sets out to do. It's up to him to decide what he wants to do, how to do it, and what he needs. We're just here to help.
Everyone learns differently, so what works well for our family may not work as well for others. If you're a homeschooling/roadschooling parent, what approach works for you and your kids? What do your kids enjoy, and where do they struggle?
