Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Homeschool starts

Today is the official first day of our homeschool for the 7th grade. We homeschooled the 6th grade, and are now returning to it.
My homeschool philosophy acknowledges that children naturally love to learn. They will learn anything they are interested in learning and have motivation for.
Different learning methods suit different children. In homeschool we can use many methods and try different things. We can concentrate on English this month, and math and chemistry the next, if we so choose. So I don't want to have strict schedules to follow. We will spend more time on things that Indiana is interested in, and go through quicker the ones that she doesn't care about so much.
I think that it's sensible to emphasize learning languages and basic math, and other skills that useful in life like tech, finances, renovation and gardening. The things that you can easily look up from the internet nowadays, are not going to be memorized for a test. We'll read though history, religion, geology and biology etc. and discuss things and Indy can do some of the workbook exercises. In general, I think discussing things are a better way to internalize things.
We will not do tests, as I don't think they are useful. They are a way in state school for the teacher to give grades, but I don't think there is a benefit to the student, quite the opposite. Children start to study for tests, not in order to learn. This often reduces motivation and makes children dislike school. Again, all children are different learners and have different skills and interests, but homeschool makes it possible to facilitate learning that suits my child and her particular situation.

So what is the plan for the rest of the fall (and beyond, as I have quite many projects in my mind!)?

ART - this is her thing. I'm a painter, visual artist and print designer by profession and I could see by the time she was 8 years old that she is more talented than I am. Her drawing skills are awe inspiring and she has an ability to make stick figures convey emotion.She has taught herself to animate and make and edit videos, and she has a sense of rhythm and drama. So my job here is mainly to get her supplies, and recently she has also started to paint small paintings on canvases as well using acrylic paints.

MUSIC - Singing at church, finding music to fit her animations and videos, going to a homeschooling friend's place to play instruments (the mother is a musician). Later making her own song with the help of my brother, who makes electronic music.

SPORTS - BMX biking and regular biking, walking, stretching exercises. Swimming in the summer. Horseback riding. Playing games.

CRAFTS - Technical crafts and woodworking will be doing small renovation and building projects with me. How to make traditional stucco plastering, tiling, wall painting? What are differences between natural materials and non-natural materials? Building a leaf compost, painting a storage shed, building a small greenhouse and so on. Sewing an oversized hoodie and other clothing for herself, and knitting something that she wants to knit in textile crafts.

HOME ECONOMICS - We will cook and bake together at least once a week, she can do laundry and be in charge of cleaning her own room and help out in other things. She will practise lighting the fireplace properly, how to store food properly and do dishes. Regular house work.

MATH, CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS - Her father will be in charge of these and we have the school books for these. I'm thinking that we should schedule a ste time for these. During sixth grade Indy mostly just didi the math by herself, as it was still quite easy. Chemisty and Physics are new subjects.

SWEDISH - Indy likes to learn using an app called Duolingo. Her cousins and a new homeschooling friend family are Swedish speaking, so that is good practice. Last year she read two comics books as well and we will try to find something interesting for her to read now too. We also have the school book and exercise book for her to use.

ENGLISH - Indiana learned English by herself by watching kids' programs in English, mainly Pokémon. She now reads whole novels in English and speaks and writes very well. She doesn't need teaching on this really, she can just continue learning the way she has been learning it all along. I will buy her books and she can write about them. She speaks English with some friends who do not speak Finnish.

FINNISH - Native language. We have school books for these, and reading and writing will be part of the Finnish language studies.

BIOLOGY, GEOLOGY, HISTORY, RELIGION, SOCIAL STUDIES - We will read books and watch videos, go to church and Bible study group and discuss things. We will learn gardening, about plants and planting, wild edible plants, forestry, different composting methods, and whatever we learn by reading the school books. I want to give Indiana basic financial education as well, so we will watch some videos about money and how the financial world works. What is money and how does it come into being? Few people actually know that!

It seems likely that Indy will work in the art and media field when she grows up, as that is where her talent and interest is. She can spend a lot of time on drawing, animating and making videos. For work practice she can do pattern design for my company, for example.
She has also started to to study HEBREW with the Duolingo app, so we will continue that.

I will post pictures and write about our homeschool here with the proper tag so the homeschooling posts are easy to find.

To sum it up, our homeschool is a mix of unschooling or freeschooling and traditional homeschooling, as fits us. Subjects are learned in different ways.I will make an effort to regularly meet with other homeschooling families and have enough social activity with people of different ages.

Here is an article that I gave for her to read for English and Religion. After she has read it, we will discuss it. Today we will also visit the police station to get her a new passport, and then open a bank account, for which she needs the passport. We'll go first to her dad's, have pizza there for lunch, and then go together to the police station. We can tie these things to social /civic studies and talk about the function of the police, and I have plans to teach her about finances and the monetary system. This is something that I think is sorely missing from the state school.

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