Monday, January 28, 2013

New Semester, new ideas, new goals....

Okay, I posted at the beginning of the year and the first semester flew by. The kids did wonderful. We were part of two co ops, where they met a bunch of new friends. They both wrote novels! Tristan built catapults and cup towers and even a robot in his engineering class. Hannah learned to knit and jump double dutch. She and I strengthened our Mother Daughter bond and both children learned more about cooking.



So here we are in Semester 2...co op is going to start up in a week or so and we will see how it all plays out. Hannah and I are in a Drama production. We are putting on Monsters in the Closet this spring. Tristan is getting involved with robotics and riflery and engineering and all sorts of stuff. Tristan and I have been learning games like Fluxx and Munchkin and Phase 10 and have been playing everyday. Hannah saved for the year and finally got her reborn doll. She loves it and it LOOKS SO REAL.


We are currently in "hibernation" mode, where we stay put and buckle down and engross ourselves in school. Come spring time, when the south wind blows, we leave the schoolroom and hike and bike and...live outdoors. So since we are still in here soaking up all the knowledge we can find, I am going to introduce The Great Brain Project. Several friends have mentioned this to me and one friend says it works fairly well for her kids.So I reread all I could find on the subject tonight and now I am making notes and am going to introduce the idea to the kids tomorrow. They will have 1 week to come up with their project ideas, and then the learning begins. The kids will be required to read three books on their chosen subject, present their information in whatever medium they choose...art, photography, written report, maps, diorama, etc, whatever! If they choose something sciencey, we will use it in the science fair. If not, then so be it.
The kids will have until the end of March to present their projects

This is my salute to unschooling. Last year I tried to go all the way unschooling and it made me crazy, so instead of unschooling, I am just going to independent learning projects and The Great Brain Projects allow the child to become an "expert" in whatever subject they choose. So here we go!