Tag Archives: homeschool

Just call me SparkyMom

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“Education Is Not the Filling of a Pail, But the Lighting of a Fire”

-William Butler Yeats

One of the first quotes on education to inspire me, Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire, has often been attributed to William Bulter Yeats, one of my favorite poets. Apparently there is some controversy over who actually said this, but the truth contained in the quote is undeniable. Education should light them up, not just fill them up with facts.

Some interesting perspectives from Psychology Today:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dont-delay/200805/education-is-not-the-filling-pail-the-lighting-fire

#MotivationMonday

What’s your goal, anyway?

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“The question is not, — how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education — but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?”
― Charlotte Mason, School Education: Developing A Curriculum

For years now I’ve had this quote on a note card hanging over my desk or tucked into a book as a reminder to myself every day of why I am spending all this time and effort to educate my kids myself instead of sending them off to school somewhere. I want them to not just have knowledge, but to know how to get more knowledge about any subject they want. I want them to have ideas, and really think and be able to connect their ideas and to find joy and excitement in their ideas. I want their lives to be full, so their education needs to be full as well. ❤ #MotivationMonday

Thinking (Some More) About Scheduling Our Days

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I’ve been working on our schedule some more, and reflecting on Charlotte Mason’s motto- Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life. Trying to reconcile the truth in this motto with the rushed, jam packed, crazy thing that seems to be our life can be quite a challenge. How can I allow my kids the time they need to play house, make forts, catch frogs, see the animals in the clouds, make mud pies and just be a kid when we have 8 appointments or classes each week, in addition to taekwondo and church and grocery shopping, SCHOOL, and everything else?

I found the answer to be my educational philosophy. An educational philosophy is the goal, the form, the method, and the process we use to teach our kids. You may not agree with all the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason, but I think its a great starting point for looking at how we can light that educational fire on our kids. One of Charlotte Mason’s principals is that children need time to be kids and think and experiment and fiddle with things in order for it to make it their own

When planning our days I try to start with the most important things. For my family this would be relationship first as it is the foundation of everything else that will follow. My younger kids are adopted and we are still working on attachment and connection. It is especially important for us that for the relationship piece of the puzzle everything be gentle and pleasant, then habits, Bible, reading instruction, writing instruction, math instruction and exposure to great literature are my priorities.

Once they can read, write and do basic math, they have all the tools they need to learn anything they want, at any time. Great literature will provide the ideas needed to fuel the fire of their minds.

Another quote I try to always keep in mind when planning our days-

Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.  ~ William Butler Yeats

How Does Home Education Measure Up?

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Homeschooled: How American Homeschoolers Measure Up     Source: TopMastersInEducation.com

Gardening

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We started easing into school today, and did Bible, reading instruction, and some copy work. Everyone had fun and wanted to do MORE, so I knew it was time to stop for the day. 🙂

We went outside and worked in the yard for a while before it got too hot, and gave our beautiful, newly planted Mandeville plant some water.I can’t wait til it gets big enough for us to see those lovely red and white blooms from our bedroom window!

This afternoon I am trying to decide if we should take the Laguna Trolley into down to see the Sawdust Festival before it closes Sept. 1. I know the kiddies would love it, but I’m tired. We’ll see what happens!

It’s that time of year again….

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School planning is in high gear!
We are starting kindergarten for my daughter and JrK for my son, and while it will be a very gentle year, I will also have to be much more consistent than I have so far so that we can make the kind of progress my daughter has been requesting. She really is eager to be a big kid and learn!

Here is what we are planning for now.

  • 7AM- 9AM  wake up, breakfast, morning chores, take a walk
  • 9AM- 10AM read aloud Bible (10-15 min), Scripture Memory Work (5 min), Copywork (5 min working up to 10 or 15 min by the end of the year), and Reading Instruction (5 min working up to 10 or 15 min by the end of the year).  If we need to do errands, appointments etc they would go here *after* the school lessons
  • 10AM- 12:30PM outdoor play, (yard, park, etc) lunch
  • 12:30PM- 1:30 Math (5 min working up to 10 or 15 min by the end of the year), Nature or literature read aloud 15min.
  • 1:30PM- 2:30 or 3PM Quiet Time- free play or quiet reading/resting in bedrooms
  •  3:00PM- 3:30PM Spanish
  • 3:30PM- Free play indoors or out.

For Bible we are reading through and discussing The Jesus Storybook Bible.
For Scripture Memory we will be doing the verses assigned from  Sunday School- in September this will be the Great Commission

 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” ~Matt 18:18-20

 For Copywork we will be doing the Delightful Handwriting program which starts with single letters and moves into words and short sentences from the reading program we are using, which will be Delightful Reading. Both these programs are from SimplyCharlotteMason.com.

Math will be MathUSee Primer, moving into MUS Alpha as soon as she finishes Primer. www.mathUsee.com

For Nature reading we will be reading aloud Books by Thornton W Burgess such as The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse and The Bee People by Margaret Warner Morley. I got these as part of a downloadable bundle from Yesterdaysclassics.com and they are also available from Amazon.com

For literature we will be reading aloud fairy tales such as the original The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson or Aunt Jo’s Scrapbag by Louisa May Alcott.

Spanish will be  Salsa Spanish.

Wednesday morning will be Bible study class.

The difference between K and JrK is that if my little guy doesn’t want to participate he  doesn’t have to, and I have other activities like for him during reading and math instruction.

I am so excited to get started, now I just have to decide on a date to start!