So we took a year off to unschool and it was blissful. Ham learned a lot (like how dogs are neutered) and mastered his YouTube channel. I was okay with no formal learning. He did take an end of year test, as required by our state, and did very well.
This space is more for me to keep track of what I'm doing, the resources I've found, and to pretty much talk to myself. Because I am much more creative when I have someone to talk to and no one else finds me interesting.
So we are kicking things off on Labor Day. Yes, I know it's a holiday but I am actually on vacation for the whole week (my first vacation since starting my new job 18 months ago) and I want to take advantage of that time to set the tone and lay out the expectations. Originally, I wanted everything to be done on the computer but I've realized, in my countless hours of piecing together curriculum, that it just isn't feasible. I don't want to buy packaged curriculum because I want to tailor the content to my son's strengths and interests. That's not to say we aren't going to work on areas that need improvement. Indeed we are, and right out of the gate.
This year, I've decided to dedicate one day per week to a subject:
Monday - Math
Tuesday - Language Arts
Wednesday - Specials (Art, Music, PE)
Thursday - Social Studies (History, Civics, whatever you want to call it)
Friday - Science & Technology (my day off every week so we can really have some fun!)
Weekends - Life Skills (Finance, Health, Housekeeping - all the miscellaneous things I want to make a conscious effort to teach him)
Since Ham has some organizational issues, I bought a 5-subject notebook and two folders - one for work he needs to do, one for completed work. I've stocked up on toner for my laser printer. As much as possible, I will have his readings available online (usually in Google Docs so he can easily print them out) or on his Kindle Fire. And I will print what I can, especially math worksheets and short stories or news articles, especially in the beginning. One thing I absolutely need to focus on with him is note taking and synthesizing information he reads, sees, or hears. It was always one of my weaknesses in school, and I struggled a lot in college when it came time to write papers and prepare presentations. I still kind of suck at it.
