Hi Mamas 
How many of you make daily/weekly plans, or even keep a mental list of daily have-to-do activities (ie: reading, writing, math)? (Whether it be a curriculum or your own eclectic combo of materials/ideas.) And how many of you do not? Either way, how is what you're doing a help (or hindrance) for you and your dc?
I am asking because, after homeschooling for only 2-3 months now, I have come to a crossroads. Up to this point I have kept a fairly detailed planbook which I have outlined (ahead of time) all "plans" for each week (no details, just the basics). In the beginning it worked great to help guide us from activity to activity. But it soon came to the point where the plans were getting in the way of doing what came naturally. For example, on Mondays I had planned to do math, language arts, social studies, art and spanish...But come Monday dd was more interested in doing weaving, science, storytime and an art project. So I would cross out all my plans and write in what we really did. We very rarely stick to what I have planned. So tonight is the first Sunday night that I am leaving the planbook empty for this week. I am going to let dd lead the way this week and see what happens. I will suggest and encourage certain ideas/subjects but for the most part I will let her divert as much as she wants as long as it's productive.
I am slowly learning, thanks to many Mamas here, that learning is far more valuable when the desire comes from within. I am changing my ideals of what education is all about. But the teacher in me has not made it easy to just let go of how I have been conditioned to teach. So I am a walking contradiction right now :LOL.
There is this worrywart on my shoulder that says dd needs to keep up with the standard 2nd grade curriculum. For one thing, she has not shown much interest in reading and math lately. I have let go of the reading but now it is math too. And I am worried that next month it will be writing, or whatever, to the point that she is no longer learning any of the "core subjects". Her strengths clearly lie in the arts. She is always interested in anything that has to do with arts (drawing, weaving, clay, cooking, crafts, etc.), and I am behind her 100%, but how to encourage her into the traditional subjects too? She may re-enter PS, maybe as soon as next year IF she wants to, and I want her to go with confidence if and when she chooses to walk that road. But at the same time I want her to have a natural love of learning and see it as positive rather than something she had to do to meet the needs of the "norm". Ugh. It's a fine line isn't it? Just want to hear your thoughts...
How many of you make daily/weekly plans, or even keep a mental list of daily have-to-do activities (ie: reading, writing, math)? (Whether it be a curriculum or your own eclectic combo of materials/ideas.) And how many of you do not? Either way, how is what you're doing a help (or hindrance) for you and your dc?
I am asking because, after homeschooling for only 2-3 months now, I have come to a crossroads. Up to this point I have kept a fairly detailed planbook which I have outlined (ahead of time) all "plans" for each week (no details, just the basics). In the beginning it worked great to help guide us from activity to activity. But it soon came to the point where the plans were getting in the way of doing what came naturally. For example, on Mondays I had planned to do math, language arts, social studies, art and spanish...But come Monday dd was more interested in doing weaving, science, storytime and an art project. So I would cross out all my plans and write in what we really did. We very rarely stick to what I have planned. So tonight is the first Sunday night that I am leaving the planbook empty for this week. I am going to let dd lead the way this week and see what happens. I will suggest and encourage certain ideas/subjects but for the most part I will let her divert as much as she wants as long as it's productive.
I am slowly learning, thanks to many Mamas here, that learning is far more valuable when the desire comes from within. I am changing my ideals of what education is all about. But the teacher in me has not made it easy to just let go of how I have been conditioned to teach. So I am a walking contradiction right now :LOL.
There is this worrywart on my shoulder that says dd needs to keep up with the standard 2nd grade curriculum. For one thing, she has not shown much interest in reading and math lately. I have let go of the reading but now it is math too. And I am worried that next month it will be writing, or whatever, to the point that she is no longer learning any of the "core subjects". Her strengths clearly lie in the arts. She is always interested in anything that has to do with arts (drawing, weaving, clay, cooking, crafts, etc.), and I am behind her 100%, but how to encourage her into the traditional subjects too? She may re-enter PS, maybe as soon as next year IF she wants to, and I want her to go with confidence if and when she chooses to walk that road. But at the same time I want her to have a natural love of learning and see it as positive rather than something she had to do to meet the needs of the "norm". Ugh. It's a fine line isn't it? Just want to hear your thoughts...
The plans we make are going to the park, remembering we need to go to the grocery store, planning a trip to the library or the museum. We have no schedule for learning subjects or the like because we unschool and see every bit of life as our education. I agree that alot of the process is just undoing in your head what you've been taught about learning and education. So basically, though I am almost certainly biased toward unschooling, I say that anything that is interfering with the spontaneous moment to moment learning is no good. 
. I told dd that she could choose what to do today and in what order, but reminded her that when she chooses math last then she usually ends up tired and frustrated. So she chose math first. (We are doing Singapore Math 2nd grade and she is not even finished with the first half of the 1st semester books.) She is usually very good at math and has been eager to do it up until recently when a new concept (carrying over) was introduced which she has struggled with. Today we ended up frustrated with each other so I asked her if she wanted to draw for a while before continuing with the workbook. I told her to let me know when she's done with drawing and math, then she whined about me leaving to go on the computer. I told her that I can't sit and watch every single thing she does all day long, that if she needed help to let me know. I wish I was that patient but I just can't do it and remain sane. I need breaks too. She doesn't seem to understand this. I love spending time with her but not every minute of every day
:. So now she is miserable and tired and I am miserable and tired, and it isn't even lunch time yet. I feel like I did when I taught a whole class full of kids. I am still torn on whether to push her like this or not because she is beginning to become very lazy, if I let her she would watch tv or play video games all day every day. I know from experience with her that once she learns something (like a concept in math) then she is more confident and willing to learn more, but if I let her completely lead the way then she will never learn it at all. She will eventually learn certain concepts in math like counting money and measuring just from daily life but some concepts seem to need to be taught first (like ones tens hundreds, what she's doing right now).
