so, school…

I’m not sure how to write all of this out without sounding like I’ve gone off the deep end, but here goes.  Last week was hard, so hard in all the ways, but it was so good in lots of ways too.  Courben proposed on Tuesday that he’d like to start choosing what he’s learning.  To think that he’s gone along with whatever I’ve had on the schedule for all these years, I guess, is pretty amazing.  So, we sat and talked and negotiated and talked some more.
So, we’re trying something new.  We’re going to keep with our six weeks on, one week off rhythm, but we’re going to do some alternating between what they boys want to learn and what Nate and I think they need to learn (you know, math and reading and writing, the big ones).  Our first week of all of this was hard because I gave them not only options on what they wanted to learn, but also let them choose when they were working.  What a change from what we’ve been doing!
The boys each chose three areas of study and they had to work on all three areas each day.  They also had to plan out what they were going to do and then document (prove to me!) what they did.  If I keep the big picture in mind, that we want them to enjoy learning and to be proactive in going after what they want to learn, then I’m okay with the change.  If I get caught up in the little things like how each day feels real tiring, or question whether they are learning what they need to learn, then I’m lost.  This is definitely a grand experiment and it’s going to require more tweaking and adjusting as we go, but I think it will end up being successful!

Oh, and the pictures above were created by Judah.  Drawing was one of his areas of focus last week.