Third grade begins!

Once again it is fall and we are not back to school again!  Funny, we really are life learners and have experienced huge leaps in development during the summer when we weren't formally "doing" anything, but my son really enjoys the excitement of starting a new year of school.  When we order new books or materials it is like Christmas, and he loves to tear into them.  We also do report our progress with a local school district in order to get funding for our adventures, so we do follow their schedule when kicking off a new year.  But it is fun to start anew, thankful that we have the chance to follow what works for us now, that we are truly comfortable with it, and we can also change it whenever we need. I am not one to follow the rules of any one philosophy of homeschooling that sometimes seems as controlling as the schools they scorn.  Really, I don't need to trash anyone else's choices to justify mine, we don't all have the same needs and most certainly not the same children.  I came from a line of teachers and don't disrespect them at all, I love how the other teachers in my son's life influence him, and also love how much he teaches me.  We prefer to take from lots of ideas, keep them all loose, and fit what works and what he seems to need this year.  

This year we are excited by just a little more structure and routine, something I know I need a little more of because it does not come naturally and I see that my son, like me, has a hard time focusing if the choices are unlimited and no clear direction.  We also resonated with many of the aspects of Waldorf education that manifested in developmentally appropriate learning, simplicity, focus on the whole child, heart, hands and head.  The third grade year of Waldorf seemed to fit perfectly with where our boy is at in this year from 8 to 9 years, so I used those school funds for a curriculum for that lets us fit what works for us, at our own pace and schedule.  Which means we kick off with a Farming theme, which also goes well with the 5 or more farm related events we were planning to go to in the next month.  Already Conor is jazzed to get up in the morning and have some little rituals to start the day.  Daily weather journal, and starting the morning with a candle and a good morning song are his favorite things.  He baked us some zucchini bread (how that went from yuck to yum) with the overabundance shared from a friend (ours just weren't that prolific this year), skillfully measuring and remembering without cues his fractions.  It was eaten up very quickly!

 

We get outside at least twice even during our totally home days, even if just for short walks. We are already writing more than ever, and just generally excited about learning.  And of course, about reading, this is how I see him most of the day when not running, nose in a book!

And yesterday kicked off our outside classes where it was fun to see our homeschool friends, some of whom we haven't seen since classes finished in the spring.  Drama started at the community center, with our beloved teacher, Ken.  I peeked in and saw the kids enthusiastically following the exercises and just happy to be back.  After class was the usual 2 hours of free play around the grounds outside, I never caught the full story but I know it involved royalty, seeing as my son was disappointed I interrupted him before a crown could be made for the leader, Tui.  No children were harmed despite the proliferation of long sticks.  Aikido topped off the day, another enthusiastic and energetic hour of discipline and form.  Since dad was at a late meeting we celebrated our first week with a shared pizza a la Tutta Bella before returning home from our long day out.  We have another fun day home ahead topped with another favorite, piano, and then this weekend the Seattle Tilth Fair!