back to school...

so school starts for us on monday...

i'm fairly prepared in that for august we will just be doing some basic review to begin and some *fun* projects to ease us back into our routine...generally, we do school monday through thursday and take fridays off...and, for the most part, we are done by lunch with the rest of the day to ourselves...it's a good schedule and it works for us...

last year started off kinda rocky, but ended very nicely...i just really must remember that if something isn't working, it needs to get tossed or tweaked right away...and if we need a break, we take a break, again right away...

the really great thing about homeschooling is the duke...he really loves to learn, and we study some pretty interesting things...for instance this year we are both looking forward to studying the middle ages and latin!...

although, the duke did inform me the other day that he did not need to learn latin as he already knows pig latin...i told him that was great, if he wanted to converse with pigs...

"yeah, and i bet you can't perform any spells in pig latin"

priorities, you know...

we are also doing earth science and space, and of course grammar, reading, spelling, math...the usual...

this year we will have a formal math program which will be new to us...last year we played a lot of math games...we also played *store* a lot, did a lot of baking, learned to tell time, measurement, calendar, etc...

but i am running out of ideas, and the duke is proving to be quite proficient in math, so i think a formal curriculum will be best...besides, i'm SO NOT proficient in math!...i'm hoping to learn a few things along with him...it's actually quite embarrassing how little math i do know...

besides trying to understand grade school math, another one of my goals is to do more with teaching him some basic cooking...we did a fair amount of baking last year, but only touched on actual cooking...both boys really seem to enjoy the process, so i'd like to fold some cooking projects in on a more consistent basis...

wingman will have some activities too...last year we started on writing his name, and studying the letters of the alphabet...and did a lot of work with counting...he won't be attending preschool until he potty trains, so it could be awhile...so we will do some preschool activities here...he's really into music and singing, i'd like to do some unit studies with that...

the duke will have soccer soon and continue with chess club...and hopefully start piano at some point...i'm a little out of ideas for wingman in terms of outside activities, but we may try gymnastics...

we'll round out our studies with music, probably we'll do jazz...or opera...depends on what the duke leans towards...we studied classical composers last year and that was very interesting...the duke discovered a deep love of vivaldi...and we'll do some kind of art, probably artist/picture study or perhaps an organized craft class...the duke seems to like pottery (he took a class last year) so perhaps i can find him a class or group to work with...

but the deal is, even thought we are at home, we are still busy...and i don't want to pack his schedule...with soccer coming up and chess added to that, that seems good for now...all the things he and i both want to do in terms of extra classes can fit in here and there...but mainly, i want to keep it simple...

because regardless of his capabilities and interests, he's still a kid, and needs that kid down time...who needs a packed schedule at 7 years old?...or for that matter, 33? 

the next few weeks will be busy, but exciting...there's always a sense of renewal around this time of year...like going back to school is the real start of a new year, and january 1st is just an extention of holiday celebration...there's just a palpable sense of *possibility* this time of year...like anything can happen!... 

and it's funny how even now, after all these years, *back to school* is still an exciting time for me!...and the duke gets that sense of it too...because even though we are still at home, it's something he is excited about and really looking forward to...

now, if i could just fulfill his desire to ride a school bus...what is it with the damn school bus!...i know a few other older homeschooled kids and that's one of the big thing they *missed* out on...riding the school bus...sigh...it could be that despite my best effort and all the rich and interesting learning he does he'll still end up on the therapist's couch moaning about not getting to ride a school bus...

reat-gay...

x.