The past few days have been unseasonably cool for late August, and despite the sense that summer was far too short this year, the blazing orange leaves tell us that autumn has arrived. No one’s really complaining, of course. You can’t live in New England and not love the fall. Trees with their splashes of wild color and cool, crisp air that begs you to breathe deep enough to feel it in your toes. It makes the transition from lush green summers to drizzly winters a little more bearable, a colorful stopover on the way to snow and ice.
As fall returns, so does schoolwork. I resume classes next week, and the kidlets will be starting a little later in the month. Mom and I sat down with them yesterday afternoon to discuss their school goals: what did they want to learn this year? what skills did they want to develop? With the exception of math, we’ve abandoned pre-packaged curriculums in favor of a more holistic approach to learning.
Stephen really wants to learn about World War I. To start things off, he’ll be reading about the events that led up to the war. Over the course of his study he’ll do a lot of internet research, visit the library’s reference section, read both fiction and non-fiction books, and together as a family we’ll watch and discuss WWI-related films. If possible, Stephen would like to acquire an old WWI era firearm and completely refurbish it. By studying one period of history, he will gain not only knowledge of history, but also literature, geography, and he will develop his skills as a gunsmith.
Hannah has a wider variety of interests, she just wants to do everything. She wants to learn how to sew. She wants to do yoga. She wants to learn Japanese (we’ll work on characters first) She’s chosen to study the history and culture of Scotland. Since we’re of Scottish descent, part of her learning will be tracing our family tree. In an interesting cross-over, one of our Scottish relatives died in World War I. Hannah will also be planning a garden during the fall and winter months, researching growing methods, figuring out plot size and the best place for sunlight, so when the time comes next spring she’ll be ready to plant. Did I mention her interests were varied?
The one thing that had Hannah concerned was math. She really disliked the approach of last year’s curriculum and she was absolutely dreading the subject this year. Then I showed her Math-U-See and her eyes lit up. “I can do that!” She’ll be learning about fractions, while Stephen will be learning about financial stewardship.
Later on at the dinner table Stephen said, “Hannah and I are really excited about school this year.” And that’s the best part.
