"Mother Skylark" writes:
It is Friday. We have just finished our second official week of "school." At home, of course.
It has been such a busy couple weeks with travel, many activities relating to work and education, and trying to get a certain amount of planning and routine in place. I have felt overwhelmed and underprepared already. The amazing thing is that that hasn't mattered so much. Because we've chosen materials that will promote learning and curiosity and stimulate the children's minds and creativity, the children carry themselves through their studies quite eagerly. I am little more than a guide. I don't teach as much as place stategic materials or books or ideas in front of them and then step back to watch them interact with all the natural capacities and eagerness that are natural to children and which, I might add, formal schooling so often seems to strip them of. It is one of the great rewards of home education to have your children begging to get their math books out and complaining when told it's time to put them away.
Part of that is due to Charlotte Mason's encouragement of short lessons. 10 minutes per subject at this stage. Sometimes we might go into 15. It is so their minds stay fresh and they are not overwhelmed or bored by too much information. It has been amazing how much the children take in in just this short amount of time. Even more than that is how much they ENJOY learning, look forward to it every day and how well they retain what they study. It is a fine balance providing challenging and stimulating work while making sure none of their mental faculties are too burdened at any time but we are getting a fairly natural rhythm down of concentration and rest.
One day this week, I noted that we completed very productive lessons in math, copywork (SuperBoy is copying poetry, Dinosaur Man is practicing letter formation), phonics, geography, history, nature study, poetry and literature in 1 hour and 15 minutes exactly. They then took a tea break and had free play in which they made up a ten-act sequel to Star Wars.
I am so surprised, still, after having cultivated this style of learning for the past couple years, of how smoothly it goes and what a joy it is. I still watch with amazement.