Preparing
We begin our homeschool year this Friday; we're all getting really excited!
I always plan the first day to be very easy and fun. This year I think we will take a short walk, light our candle and say our opening verse, possibly have a short circle, orient ourselves to the new learning space and talk about keeping it clean and tidy (it is now in a main living area of the house), go over our plans for the year, and decorate our nature table (fireplace mantel). The afternoon will be spent celebrating the autumnal equinox with our homeschooling community.
Our new learning space is nearly finished; we still need a map for one wall and a magnetic whiteboard for the other. Whiteboards are generally frowned upon in Waldorf education as they are not natural or aesthetically pleasing, however, Papa detests blackboards and insists that we not be creating chalk dust in the same room as the computer. As a person who has worked with computers since he as a child I trust his judgement. I do my chalkboard drawings in another room.
Still, I don't feel ready. Our house is still in upheaval and I haven't done much reading in preparation for our first block.I am supposed to choose and order our source books for Ancient Greek History and have only a few days to do so. (I stopped writing this blog post long enough to order our source books.) I try to be relaxed about our homeschooling and I know that whatever I choose will be fine, but still I wish I had spent more time with the books I borrowed from the library.
But sometimes that is the reality of homeschooling. We are knee deep in home remodeling and renovation and most days I feel like I am chasing my own tail. At least now that we are so many years into homeschooling I feel like I have the philosophy and method down well and that I know my children and how they learn. I don't start each year from scratch (and I think that is one reason that traditional Waldorf education is brilliant, having the teacher move up each year with the class rather than having the students and teachers start over each year) and we can learn as we go along. So I breathe and remind myself that it will be fine. It will be.
I always plan the first day to be very easy and fun. This year I think we will take a short walk, light our candle and say our opening verse, possibly have a short circle, orient ourselves to the new learning space and talk about keeping it clean and tidy (it is now in a main living area of the house), go over our plans for the year, and decorate our nature table (fireplace mantel). The afternoon will be spent celebrating the autumnal equinox with our homeschooling community.
Our new learning space is nearly finished; we still need a map for one wall and a magnetic whiteboard for the other. Whiteboards are generally frowned upon in Waldorf education as they are not natural or aesthetically pleasing, however, Papa detests blackboards and insists that we not be creating chalk dust in the same room as the computer. As a person who has worked with computers since he as a child I trust his judgement. I do my chalkboard drawings in another room.
Still, I don't feel ready. Our house is still in upheaval and I haven't done much reading in preparation for our first block.
But sometimes that is the reality of homeschooling. We are knee deep in home remodeling and renovation and most days I feel like I am chasing my own tail. At least now that we are so many years into homeschooling I feel like I have the philosophy and method down well and that I know my children and how they learn. I don't start each year from scratch (and I think that is one reason that traditional Waldorf education is brilliant, having the teacher move up each year with the class rather than having the students and teachers start over each year) and we can learn as we go along. So I breathe and remind myself that it will be fine. It will be.
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