Holistic Eclectic Homeschoolers: In-breathing in Autumn

[annettemarie]

I hope it's OK that I started a new thread-- the old one kept getting lost, and I thought maybe we'd like a shiny new thread for our bright new school year. The old thread can be found here.

So, how are we all doing? I thought maybe we could start with an intro, and maybe each could give a little outline of what we're using for curriculum.

[annettemarie]

So, : I'm Annette. I'm homeschooling a 9-year-old, a 7-year-old, and a 5-year-old. I also have a baby crawling around trying to eat the art supplies.

I did score Oak Meadow 2 and 4 this year, but they just aren't working for me. With so many little ones, I just can't do two completely different curricula. I have to teach them together when I can.

So...

Christian Ed: We're working through Our 24 Family Ways right now. We also do liturgical year-based projects and are keeping a saints main lesson book again. One thing we're doing is making a "Great Cloud of Witnesses" display, and we print out a classic picture of each saint we study and hang it up.

Math: I've said here before, I can't think creatively about math. I used a very tradition curriculum, Progress in Mathematics. I do try to "gnome it up" when I can. We have a heavy emphasis on hands-on experiences, manipulatives, literature, and art, not just on worksheets. A lot of what the teacher's book considers to be extension activities, we use for the bulk of the lessons. As I grow more confident with homeschooling, I may not even buy the workbooks. We've also been using Calculadder for drilling math facts. I'm going to try to bundle a few math units together--measurement, money, time. The rest we have to do as separate lessons.

Handwriting: Copywork a la Charlotte Mason. I also have A Reason for Handwriting for when I'm in a pinch.

Reading: For Katie Grace, we're finishing up with Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. Michael is just reading. He keeps a reader response journal and a vocab journal. We also started a book club for homeschoolers at our public library. We have read-aloud every day.

Grammar/Writing: Somehow, I ended up with copies of Learning Language Arts Through Literature for all the grades. I'm using it as a foundation, but I really want to work in some of the Waldorf main lesson blocks as a vehicle for teaching grammar and writing.

Spelling: This is another area I had a hard time thinking about creatively. I want to pull spelling lists from reading and writing but frankly, I just don't have the time. So, we've been using A Reason for Spelling. I'm not crazy about it. I like the word lists, but some of the exercises are silly. And my kids both hate word boxes. On the other hand, they can work through it fairly independently, which is a plus.

Social Studies: Story of the World and History Odyssey. We're enjoying learning about the middle ages together. Michael is also taking a side order of PA History for 4th grade. Both of them also do Daily Geography.

Science: Still struggling with this. Right now we're doing a nature study on trees, and Michael is going further and studying Pennsylvania trees. I actually started a thread here asking for science help.

Art: We do a lot of the tradition Waldorf handicrafts, handwork, and art projects. Every other week or so, we pick an artist, learn about their work, and do our own project inspired by that artist.

Music: Katie Grace is learning piano. Michael is learning drums and takes cello/orchestra at his old school. They're both in children's choir. Both my husband and I were music majors and music is a huge part of our lives, but we aren't terribly intentional about music appreciation/music education, which is something I've been thinking about.

Phys Ed: Soccer for all, basketball is coming up, Katie Grace is in dance.

Latin: Prima Latina. I'm kind of blah/apathetic about it.

Preschool/Kindergarten: I'd say we remember to do circle about 3 times a week. : We've started some math concepts with Nick, but mostly I've been picking a nursery rhyme each week and trying to find some projects that go along with it.

So, that's what we're doing. We're still working out think kinks. I figure if we figure it out by Christmas, we're doing well. It's crazy, but I really do love it. I love having all my kids home with me, and I feel so blessed to be able to do it.

I'd love to hear what you're doing!

[annettemarie]

cause I know you're here. You don't have to go into your whole curriculum right now if you don't want to-- just say hello!

[Twinklefae]

ing.... we're still very young, but have made the decision not to "try school first". This is the kind of homeschooling that most interests me. So I'm seeing what you all do!

[ahdoula]

So....define Holistic Eclectic homeschooling for me...k? I mean, I know what the two words mean independently, but I'd like to see what they mean put together and applied to homeschooling

[Aurie]

I am not sure what you mean either. I would classify us as eclectic.

We are primarily using Oak Meadow with lots of supplementation.

My DD in K is using OM 1st grade as a backbone only. She just isn't responding to it at all. So we are following what OM has listed to do each week, but are pulling from other sources. We are using Starfall and ReadingEggs for reading, doing lapbooks for science/social studies, and Complete Math/Reading (K) from American Publishers for some workbook pages.

DS in 4th is using OM 4th. We are supplementing with some unit studies and the Complete Math/Reading (4).

DS in 6th is using OM 5th for LA, Science and SS and OM 6th for math. We are supplementing with Complete Math/Reading (6) with him as well.

I think, in general, OM's math is very weak. We are really enjoying the 5th grade books. But I also found the 4th social studies/science to be a bit weak. I don't like to really push those subjects in the elementary grades either. But they need to be touched on (in my view) a bit more. My DD just wanted more then what OM was offering. She also just could not get into the gnomes/fairies/fantasy/wordy stories that were included.

Our whole family is really enjoying all the projects and the order in which things are presented. Fun fun! My kids are really enjoying learning for the first time!

[konamama]

aloha - glad to see a new thread.

i am a sahm to dd, 5.5, and we are using OMK right now as a guide. we keep things very simple, gentle and life learning more than anything else. we do a letter a week, which is what the OMK outlines. we also bake cookies every week of the letter of the week - which dd really likes. we play, read, flow with life on a 3+ acre coffee farm here in hawaii - which offers lots of "science". we talk lots of politics and history whenever it is of interest to her.

good seeing what others are doing for older children, great thread of resources as me grow :-)

[mountainsun]

Hi! We are using OMK with my almost 5 year old. I have to say though that I am using mostly as a place to jump off and get ideas from every week.

We really do not do any formal lessons or sit down work, and I think we lean more towards unschooling in that regard. I know ds is still very young, and really, I believe that play is his most important work right now. In spite of that, he is picking up the letters like nothing and starting to sound out words (without any prompting).

That being said, I want to stick with OMK for the year, and if he starts reading, that's great! But for now, I am focusing on lots of ouside play, lots of field trips, lots of life in general.

We have as veggie garden and a butterfly garden that we spend alot of timw in.

We also joined a hs support group this year and while it is nice to know that we are not the only hs'ers in town, they do alot of very academic things, that we just are not into right now.

So, yes, I believe we are eclectic. Unschooly with a Waldorf flavor (sometimes), but a mama who needs something in black and white to lean on

Nice to meet you guys.

[earthmama369]

I have an almost-4-year-old and a 2-year-old.

My youngest enjoys music, dumping, throwing, pouring, building, knocking down, gluing feathers to the wall, petting kitty cats, and washing his underwear in the toilet.

My oldest is trying out Oak Meadow K this year, with mixed enthusiasm so far. She's also really into coloring, helping with the yard and in the kitchen, and K-level workbooks right now.

Together we're doing some Earth*School units, playing with Oak Meadow preschool, attending playgroups and toddler/preschool activities, and participating in a once-weekly homeschool co-op focused on nature and community. Our activities range from nature hikes to music classes, French exposure, cooking for kids, storytime programs, Mad Science, and giant games of Let's Pretend. (We have a Family Wellness Center near us that offers a range of monthly programs for free. It's awesome.)

[heket]

If I remember correctly, I believe a loose definition was that we were all once originally drawn to waldorf for its nature-based/ season rhythm focus, but found that it wasn't enough. So we added in other things as we saw fit. Maybe someone else could say that more eloquently.

Hi all! We started last month (this is week 3) with OM K for dd (5). Ds is 3.5, so he can sit in and work with us or just play. We're not doing anything formal with him, but do include him in stories and crafts if he's interested.

Basically we're reading the stories and doing the letters. We'll be starting the numbers this week (now that I got paid, I'd like to get another main lesson book for math/ science.) We've got our nature table going. We haven't baked as much as I would have liked -- just too busy.

I also got dd a subscription to ClickNRead. She seemed to enjoy doing starfall last year, so I thought we could expand on phonics.

She likes to practice writing letters and we have a variety of activity books for that. I also have the old Singapore 1 and 2 workbooks for math, but we haven't done much with that yet.

Oh, and we've started to do some wicca abc's. I found a workbook on amazon that teach some basics that she seems to enjoy.

[chrissy]

subbing for now- nak- but will be back!

[fluttermama]

Hi! I guess we're more Waldorf than eclectic...but I love you mama's so I'm here!! : We're doing Live Ed One right now and I love, love, love it. In January we'll start Live Ed Two. We've been doing a math block and it has been magical and wonderful and I love it!

We've also been doing recorder which dd loves. And Autumn painting with stories...from yellow to red to orange...soon we'll start pumpkin projects...we're doing pumpkin and fall leave finger rhymes that kids love.

I guess this is the eclectic part...we also are getting fall Netflix out like Little Bear's Halloween stories....and fall books from the library.

We're spending lots of time outside enjoying the beautiful weather. Our biggest struggle at the moment is loneliness, I think. We've had a hard time connecting with people because of cancellations once we set things up, other groups not being friendly, etc. At the moment I'm looking outside of this county to find friendlier folks who we can socialize with. It's a big struggle here in our area-perhaps even more because we're weird Waldorf-ers-- and I know it's hard on my dd. :

[chrissy]

drat, i tried replying again yesterday, but was interrupted almost immediately. we'll see how long i've got now.

i think at this point we are mostly eclectic in that we are trying a ton of different approaches, searching for the best fit. i feel really good about what we're doing now though, so hopefully our search is over! ha! i know myself too well though, and i know i'll end up finding something else to try at some point.

so, i've got an almost 7 year old (Noah), a 4 year old (Lilah) and a terror, I mean toddler (Rowan).

We're doing Christopherus Grade 1 with Noah right now and I think it is a really good fit for us. We started with Enki, then did a quick trial run with Moving Beyond the Page, and now are using Christopherus.

I really feel a deep draw towards Waldorf, but we are not a completely Waldorf family. I am finally starting to relax into that and accept it.

In the same-ish vein, I am sometimes struggling with when to push on with what we're doing, even if it doesn't seem to be working, and when to move on. For example, our first block we were still using Enki, and we were doing letters. It was fine when we started, but by the end Noah (and me too) was SO sick of it. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that he is reading well on his own, and it just seemed so pointless. After much thinking, we started on Christopherus with the 4 Processes, rather than finishing up the letters, or doing a block on Number Qualities. I really think a number qualities block would have been boring for him b/c he is already doing a lot of math on his own. We are a couple weeks into the 4 processes block and it is going very very well.

Well, my time is up. I have lots more to blab about, so I'll be back later.

[konamama]

the title of this thread fits us REAL well...

we are pretty eclectic as a whole, with a waldorf light slant - since we use OM as an outline. but we also use workbooks, dd loves them, and we do lots of "unschooly" type things, no so big on circle or grimms, or other waldorfy things, but like the general gentleness of using waldorf, OM specifically, as a backbone, a general guide, and branch from there.

that's why it is so nice reading what others do so i can get ideas on what may come for us in the future since dd is only 5.5

[Madame Pomfrey]

Hello AnnetteMarie & Everyone,

It's nice to see this thread reborn - thanks for sharing what you're up to! I'm homeschooling a 13 yr old (8th grade) and a 9 yr old (3rd grade). We lean to the holistic as much as Waldorf, but with less structure - we do use loose 3-week blocks (units); enjoying the freshness every few weeks. My 3rd grader does maybe 1 & 1/2 hours of school work, 4 days a week; my 8th grader: 3 hours total through the day, but he does work 5 days a week - his choice.

We just finished our first block as we started the year with a fun & educational trip to Disney with friends. Hurricane Ike lent some excitement to our drive home. I was so afraid that my working part-time would make me cut corners on the arts - but it hasn't, it seems that it makes me focus out time better.

3rd Grade: We just finished Mesopotamia yesterday: clay tablets, watercolors of Gilgamesh scenes and of the Tigris/Euphrades region, a ziggurat, a Mesopotamian "action figure" and a hanging loom; plus Mesopotamian math, time, ramps, and the wheel,. Our next Math block will be Measurement based heavily on Golden Beetle and Lynette Long's book, Measurement Mania. Then we'll head into a study of the US Constitution and the post-Revolution nation-building around election time.

8th grade: We've decided to expand our Renaissance study a couple more weeks - so far we've created a self-portrait, perspective drawings, a fresco painting, and a soap sculpture, plus scientific models of the printing press, levers, and Leonardo's helicopter. We'll just do our pre-Algebra review in the afternoons so that we can start algebra in force in January. To prep for the election, we're using the NY Times Learning Network's fantastic lessons.. For US History, coincidentally, we're studying the Great Depression this year - using Joy Hakim's book plus biographies.

3rd & 8th Science: Both of my boys benefit from my job as science coordinator for a local museum. I get to bring home loads of neat stuff from the attic to "figure out what it is"...or I take home all of the optics materials for a few weeks for us to explore together, etc... They also take inquiry science classes regularly at the museum...so we do just a little bit of science "officially" in the Waldorf way anymore - mostly the natural sciences, the stories and social study/science.

So far a good year, but that doesn't mean we're not fully in the throes of a 9-yr change...ugh! If only he would eat, sleep, bathe, and dress without huge, unpredictable arguments!

Best to you all!

Lucie

[harmat]

My dd just turned 6. We're continuing with unschooling this Autumn, with the odd Enki story or movement verse thrown in for good measure. I have just purchased their 1st grade curriculum and am plowing my way through all the materials. Trying to plan it all to start with a literacy block in the New Year.
ATM dd's practising her written numbers (with no input from me, unless she's having a frustation filled meltdown - even then she doesn't ask for help), cooking, and playing, playing, playing from dawn till dusk

[annettemarie]

Lucie, I'd love to hear how the blocks work with multiple ages. Do you do one block at a time for everyone, or do you do a block for each child, or ???

[Mommy&Will]

Hi all. I have two boys, ages 6 and 4. I sometimes feel like I am the little silver ball in a pinball machine with my indecisions on what we are doing, and just keeping up with the busyness of two boys.

I have the Oak Meadow first grade syllabus but not the Fairy Tale story book that goes with it, so for letters I (kind of) use A Little Garden Flower. DS enjoys her story in there "The Wise Sophia." So we read the stories.

And I attempt a main lesson drawing and I have to say I Hate It. DS doesn't want to draw what I draw, or if he does draw he is done in like 2 minutes. He is quite happy with the finished page, but he just isn't into drawing or coloring. And we have actually only been doing forms and pictures. Not drawing letters pictorially. So the "main lesson" book has been sitting on the shelf collecting dust and stressing me out every time I walk by it. Why is that?

So then I picked up "letter" books at the library and he really likes them. He plays Starfall. I bought "Explode the Code" but we haven't gotten into it yet. He is a boy on the go, and seat work does not entice him! So we draw letters and forms with chalk on the driveway, or on our little chalk boards, write in the air, go on "letter" searches thru the house. He likes all of that. I introduced the Four Processes thru OM gnomes. He likes the gnomes. We drew their hats on the driveway instead of the main lesson book and then played a game - I would yell "Minus!" and they would jump on the hat with "-", or PLUS!, etc. We play Mancala, and use the rocks as manipulatives.

Science I use some OM stuff - we still have not created a Science notebook. I would like to do that. We are reading lots of books about the human body right now and I have some fun ideas for that (making x-rays with black construction paper and white finger paint, a hand with tendons using a ruler, rubber bands and a cardboard cut out of a hand). I thought I would get them a stethoscope and play dr. kits, we could play the game Operation. I'm sounding kind of unschooly, aren't I???

So after freaking out about how we are not doing this the Holistic Waldorf/Enki way and where is our rhythm, and worrying about how I skip around all over the place that I don't really know what "week" of school I would say I am in---- I chilled out. I dropped the idea of a formal lesson time, and we pick up books and just learn as it fits our time. And we have really enjoyed the last few weeks! I think we will go with this for a couple more weeks, keep reading the Wise Sophia because he likes it. And then I may start incorporating some more classical elements including Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading, and Story of the World. Honestly, I can't believe how much he learns just by us living our life, together!

He does gym class on Monday afternoon, a homeschool co-op day at the Waldorf school on Wednesdays (he does Spanish, knitting, music, and painting there), and usually a playdate on Tuesday afternoon. Then Thurs. and Friday we are either home, or at grandma's.

Tommorow we are making our scarecrow for the front porch. : Homeschooling can be so fun if I just stay chilled out about it! I mean, really, he is only 6!

[desertmom]

Harmat: Hi there. How are you liking the looks of Enki 1? I have K and probably will buy 1st as a pkg, too, but I've been waiting for the online full preview of the materials to get functioning again so I can be sure. I'd like to be ready to start working with it by spring, though, so I'm not sure how much longer I want to wait. Also, I like what I see of RightStart Math and have been trying to decide whether to buy that, too (all inclusive or if that'd be overkill with whatever Enki has in the way of 1st grade math, maybe just their math card games set...) so I'm particularly curious to hear a review of the math materials if you've sunk your teeth into that part of Enki 1 yet. Thanks.

[Madame Pomfrey]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

Lucie, I'd love to hear how the blocks work with multiple ages. Do you do one block at a time for everyone, or do you do a block for each child, or ???

It varies. It used to be that we would share blocks more often, but with my eldest doing mostly 8th grade work - at 8th grade speed - well, that makes it difficult to share. I do about a 1 hour main lesson with each one - separately. It's a lot of back & forth:

8th grader likes to work in the dining room, so I'll start him on a Renaissance subject - something to read or a web quest, maybe he needs to write a report or draw a map or diagram, etc.

3rd grader and I start our main lesson in the living room or backyard - lately that was Mesopotamia. We read short passages from a book excerpt a friend sent, then we discuss the reading, add an activity, and start the craft. We also read excepts from Gilgamesh after the craft is started - he's DOING while I'm reading out loud. In about an hour, we're either done or I'm ready to leave him working independently on his craft.

Then 8th grader & i start working on the Renaissance by talking about what he read or wrote, and we go into a particular area - economics. art, science, exploration, whatever. Then each day tends to lead into a project of some sort to share - the printing press we simulated with Scrabble tiles & cardboard and rubber bands - etc. He isn't as much into achieving Waldorfy beautiful projects as he is in learning/understanding how things work.

After we get something going, I check back in with the third grader who's usually finished & off playing by now.

Then I sit down with the 8th grader and we read from the Agony & the Ecstasy - Michaelangelo's biography. (LONG book - might take us a year at this rate!)


I do these things to keep the blocks simple:
- Both boys do social studies, math, American Civics, etc - the same general subject area - at a given time
- I try to coordinate art projects so if I'm painting with one. I'm paintinng with the other or if I'm sculpting with one, I'm sculpting with the other - not necessarily the same medium,

These help me with mindsset mainly.

The most helpful thing I've learned is to stop thinking about HOW to teach once the school year starts - and start just teaching no matter what...

...it sort of lifts each day.

Lucie