An Experiment

There has been a strange dynamic in our house lately: Oldest has been resisting school work, while at the same time requesting it. I haven't quite figured out yet what is going on, possibilities are:

1) my presentation is so uninspiring that it's driving her to despair;
2) she is not sure what she wants but would like less structure;
3) she is going through a developmental phase where all boundaries have to be tested again.

I want my children to enjoy learning. I want them to connect deeply with the material, and I understand that this isn't something one can force. So the model that has worked thus far (circle, music, "schoolwork" at the table, story, in that order) is going out the window and our rhythm will shift.

This is quite hard for me to do. I am by nature quite organized and like to follow my plan. A lot of this has to do with the fact that being spontaneously creative is not something that comes naturally. But as I am reminded again, these children come to us because of what we as parents need to learn. So I am planning to stretch those creative muscles, be flexible, try on spontaneity. Of course I do have a bit of a plan for this:

We are taking the next few weeks off from "academic" work, and will spend more time crafting, painting, making music and generally being more immersed in artistic pursuits. So we will sit down and plan some activities, like presents for family members, a sewing project (by Oldes't s requrest), outings etc. Into this plan I aim to weave stories, seasonal verses, drawing, songs and festival preparations. I will bring out my Form Drawing book and practice, will work on my knitting, drawing and painting, and invite the children to be a part of it. We will see how much learning and exploring we can fit into a day without a formal Main Lesson. We will spend lots of time outside, rediscovering autumn, and I'll let go of the idea that we need to draw it when we come back inside. We will keep working on letters and numbers as Oldest requests help, but she will be in charge of driving that process.

Then at the end of the year, Husband and I will sit down and assess how this process is working for us. Somehow we will find a way to bring the joy of learning back to this homeschool.