Unschooling Classically
I am drawn to two dissimiliar methods of home educating my kiddos. One is the structured, rigorous and time-tested method of classical schooling, complete with chanting declensions, and in depth analysis of ancient classics. The other is unschooling, following one’s bliss and trusting in the Lord to provide the pilgrim with everything he needs.
So far a Thomas Jefferson Education has come closest to a synthesis of these two for me. Yesterday, though, I got an idea which was at least fun to start up. We’ll see how things go.
Back a few years ago, before I became openly classical in my methodology, I was very relaxed/unschoolish. We had a wall in our kitchen (now gone due to extensive remodeling we did last year) where I would just post things. One thing I did was type up and print out a “Root of the Week” from the program English from the Roots Up. Then at mealtime we’d get around to discussing the new Root of the week. I also did stuff like hang a Parts of Speech poster up there and then I’d play Mad Libs with my kids. They all learned their parts of speech painlessly this way.
Well, my 11 yo, every once in while, would mention how much he liked learning the root words that way. He is my engineer child. He likes learning the parts of things that add up to the whole. For example, he could not learn piano the Suzuki way, but the minute we switched to the more traditional way, he started getting it. He wanted to learn the technical side of piano playing, namely reading the notes. So anyway, I could see why learning the root words so interested him.
Inspired by that and by another homeschooler, who talked about how she puts quotes up on her fridge, as well as art reproduction postcards, I decided to turn my fridge into an unschooling bulletin board. So far the categories I have come up with are: Quote of the Week, Latin Phrase of the Week, Root Word of the week, Spelling Rule of the Week, and Math of the Week. I showed them to the kids at lunch time (I was very busy setting it up yesterday morning and they were getting curious about what I was doing!). So I showed them each category. My 11 yo immediately said, “get me a pencil and paper!” And then got some himself and wrote E=MC(squared) and posted it up. I’d forgotten science! And apparently when he and his dad were attending a baseball game on Sunday, dh had explained Einstein’s Theory of Relativity to him.
So here is what is up on our fridge this week:
Quote of the week (the kids can pick a quote for next week; I just picked this one because it was inspiring me)
“At first reading the classics can be a chore, an assignment. If we persist, it eventually becomes entertainment. Then one day (after a few weeks for some, perhaps years for another) something clicks; all the exposure to to greatness reaches critical mass. And you, the reader, awaken. Your exposure to greatness changes you. Your ideas are bigger, your dreams wilder, your plans more challenging, your faith more powerful.” Oliver de Mille, A Thomas Jefferson Education.
Latin phrase of the week: Caritas Deus est
Spelling Rule of the Week: C usually says /k/ (can, lilacs, music, act) but C says /s/ only before E, I or Y (cent, city, cycle). *this is taken from Teaching Reading at Home and School.
Root Word of the Week: Photos (with a list of words underneath) We decided we’d start over again for the younger kids with the same English from the Roots Up program.
Math of the Week: Lists the formula for finding perimeter and area of a rectangle; perimeter of a triangle; volume of a rectangle.
This last one actually sparked a discussion where my 15 yo, who enjoys math, starting explaining how area and volume are related to the younger kids.
Science of the Week: Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. This sparked another discussion!
So I think I am going to start a new Page here entitled “On the Fridge.”
Today, I think I am going to add to it, by putting up an art postcard. I have the Mommy, It’s a Renoir program stashed away somewhere.
Cheerio!
