We have been really looking at our current school workload.
Recently, we culled curricula and books that are not suiting us anymore.
At the beginning of the year we had a long list to get through, and I was stressed looking at the list wanting Brid to get right in and excel.
Well within a week or 2 we had tears, loud words and uncomfortable silence, as we licked our wounds. Not a good start to the year. We both tried to please each other but we weren't fooling each other.
My expectations put Brid under enormous stress, she wasn't enjoying all of our day. And nor was I.
We rearranged our subjects and I took away my expectations. I looked at what she liked to do. I let Brid achieve in her time. This wasn't easy for me, but necessary.
This term, we have dropped Geography, Science and History. All worthwhile curricula, and we will come back to them in the future.
I said to Brid lets stop the train, and spread our wings for a while.
Instead we are looking at these areas in context with Stories of the Saints and Literature for Young ladies-. I have blogged on these before, but as we get further into these Brid was interested going deeper. This is usual for her and why I started a subject a week last year.
So let me explain.
Apart from Maths these are the only areas we do.
At the moment Presenting Miss Jane is a hit and will lead nicely to introduce Jane Austen to Brid's reading list. She reads through her list and no expectations are made to write about them. This will come next year as we continue our Tuesdays with a friend.
St Gianna Molla is a modern day Saint and one I admire greatly. Dermot read a biographical book about her life recently and It was with delight we saw the first in the Series "Stories of the Saints", was this amazing women. It is a unit study, spelling vocabulary words comprehension analysis are covered. We have covered Italy in WWII, Milan, Looked at various speeches from the time of WWII.
We have researched areas of faith, other saints- St Francis and related these areas to her life.
We will cover Science and look at stages of Pregnancy and talk about Pro-life choices. I am sure this will led to some great discussions.
These 3 focus areas are taking us on many interesting trails. She is still gaining a solid education, but in our way.
We talked about not living inside a square, we have decided we like living in a semi circle- or a big smile. We can occasionally get out and smell the trees and jump back in to safety. The smile symbolises being able to stretch and grow and not having restrictions.
So where to next,
Brid is fascinated by women in various periods of history.
Women like-
Queen Elizabeth I, Marie Antoinette, Caroline Chrisholm, Marie Curie, Mother Teresa, Helen Keller, Florence Nightingale, Cleopatra, Queen Victoria, Suffregettes, Mary Queen of Scots, and then a few authors such as Louisa May Alcott and Enid Blyton. the list keeps growing.
Recently, we culled curricula and books that are not suiting us anymore.
At the beginning of the year we had a long list to get through, and I was stressed looking at the list wanting Brid to get right in and excel.
Well within a week or 2 we had tears, loud words and uncomfortable silence, as we licked our wounds. Not a good start to the year. We both tried to please each other but we weren't fooling each other.
My expectations put Brid under enormous stress, she wasn't enjoying all of our day. And nor was I.
We rearranged our subjects and I took away my expectations. I looked at what she liked to do. I let Brid achieve in her time. This wasn't easy for me, but necessary.
This term, we have dropped Geography, Science and History. All worthwhile curricula, and we will come back to them in the future.
I said to Brid lets stop the train, and spread our wings for a while.
Instead we are looking at these areas in context with Stories of the Saints and Literature for Young ladies-. I have blogged on these before, but as we get further into these Brid was interested going deeper. This is usual for her and why I started a subject a week last year.
So let me explain.
Apart from Maths these are the only areas we do.
We have researched areas of faith, other saints- St Francis and related these areas to her life.
We will cover Science and look at stages of Pregnancy and talk about Pro-life choices. I am sure this will led to some great discussions.
These 3 focus areas are taking us on many interesting trails. She is still gaining a solid education, but in our way.
We talked about not living inside a square, we have decided we like living in a semi circle- or a big smile. We can occasionally get out and smell the trees and jump back in to safety. The smile symbolises being able to stretch and grow and not having restrictions.
So where to next,
Brid is fascinated by women in various periods of history.
Women like-
Queen Elizabeth I, Marie Antoinette, Caroline Chrisholm, Marie Curie, Mother Teresa, Helen Keller, Florence Nightingale, Cleopatra, Queen Victoria, Suffregettes, Mary Queen of Scots, and then a few authors such as Louisa May Alcott and Enid Blyton. the list keeps growing.
Leanne, I love this description: "...we like living in a semi circle- or a big smile. We can occasionally get out and smell the trees and jump back in to safety. The smile symbolises being able to stretch and grow and not having restrictions."
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting list of women! Did you find any good books about them? And the girls will be able to talk Jane Austen when they next get together.
I love sharing your homeschooling ideas. Thank you!
It sounds as though as your path has been a little like ours, Leanne. We culled a lot of subjects, too, when I realized that the children didn't enjoy all that we were doing and that we didn't have the time to get really involved in anything.
ReplyDeleteWhat you're doing, now, seems very rich and full. It sounds as though you're both really enjoying it:)
Thanks Sue, I have located a few books on these women. The list continues t grow. There are some women we hav just google searched and we will discuss them after reading the material.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by Vicki,We may use several resources later, but I am not sure. I am still struggling with Latin. its not her favourite subject, so it maybe dropped soon to.
ReplyDelete