Feb 15 2012
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field trip, homeschool

Work Hard, Play Hard

In response to yesterday’s post on “Not Homeschooling — School at Home” I received the following comment from PEG: ” Only 15 minutes for lunch?! This is pretty intense, but if they love it that’s great.”  He’s absolutely right that it’s an intense school day.   But what he doesn’t realize is that the kids have very little homework — rarely more than 30 minutes per evening (plus, of course, reading before bedtime).    Also, every Friday is field trip day in which they’re able to explore the city and use it as a classroom.  That’s why each of the four days are so intensely packed.

When we asked the kids, they were adamant that they’d prefer to have four packed school days of intense learning with little homework per night and Fridays reserved for field trips.  They were clear that they did not want to spread classes out over 5 days with hours of homework a night.   This schedule also frees up their afternoons for activities with other kids.

Work hard, play hard — that could be the kids’ motto.

Feb 14 2012
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Uncategorized

School at Home – Not Homeschooling

When I describe the kind of school we’ve set up for the kids, I’ve heard “That’s not homeschooling — that’s school at home!”  Maybe I need to invent another name for how the kids are being educated.  Any ideas would be welcome.

I thought you might be interested in our kids’ schedule. We have seven different teachers who come to the house throughout the week.  The kids rotate among three morning teachers  (for Math, Liberal Arts and Computer) so that each child has 45 minutes alone with each teacher four times a week.  French and German conversation are taught every day in group lessons (one of my sons has extra German); and Mandarin and Music are taught twice a week both in individual and group sessions.  Then there’s Science/Exploration on two afternoons as a group (sometimes they’re out and about exploring).  Finally, each Friday is field trip day.

It’s a bit of a military operation, but the kids are learning tons.

Here’s what the schedule actually looks like (the formatting may not be great, but you’ll get the idea):

 

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday
8:00-8:30       French9:00-9:45       Period 1

9:50-10:25     Period 2

10:30-11:25   Period 3

11:30-12:00
OUTSIDE FREE TIME

(recess)

12:00-12:15    Lunch

12:15-12:30  German–M

12:30-1:00    All German

1:00-1:30      Music All

1:30-1:50      Period 1 1:50-2:10      Period 2

2:10-2:30      Period 3

2:30-3:00      Music All

(Mandarin Prep)

3:00-3:30   Mandarin All

 8:00-8:30       French9:00-9:45       Period 1

9:50-10:25     Period 2

10:30-11:25   Period 3

11:30-12:00
OUTSIDE FREE TIME

(recess)

12:00-12:15    Lunch

12:15-12:30  German–M

12:30-1:00    All German

1:00-3:00       Science

(2:30-3:00 homework)

 8:00-8:30       French9:00-9:45       Period 1

9:50-10:25     Period 2

10:30-11:25   Period 3

11:30-12:00
OUTSIDE FREE TIME

(recess)

12:00-12:15    Lunch

12:15-12:30  German–M

12:30-1:00    All German

1:00-1:30      Music All

1:30-1:50      Period 1 1:50-2:10      Period 2

2:10-2:30      Period 3

2:30-3:00      Music All

(Mandarin Prep)

3:00-3:30   Mandarin All

 8:00-8:30       French9:00-9:45       Period 1

9:50-10:25     Period 2

10:30-11:25   Period 3

11:30-12:00
OUTSIDE FREE TIME

(recess)

12:00-12:15    Lunch

12:15-12:30  German–M

12:30-1:00    All German

1:00-3:00       Science

(2:30-3:00 homework)

   

 

 

Field Trip Days!

 

Mon/Wed Afternoon Rotation

Period 1   Mandarin—Katie

Music—Michael

Homework—Peter

Period 2   Mandarin—Michael

Music—Peter

Homework—Katie

Period 3   Mandarin—Peter

Music—Katie

Homework—Michael

Jan 18 2012
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science

Inflating Passion

This weekend I found my youngest son (9) creating his own experiment.  It had nothing to do with a school assignment.  He wanted to conduct an experiment to  test a hypothesis; that is, by adding baking soda and vinegar to a balloon, will it inflate?   He came up with this hypothesis himself, gathered all the ingredients on his own, and called me only to watch the experiment in action.

I wonder if he was spurred on by experiments conducted by his science teacher at our  homeschool.  Assuming that is the case, it’s exactly what I’ve been hoping for — to instill a passion for learning that has nothing to do with grades or tests.

In case you’re wondering, his balloon did inflate.

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Jan 13 2012
2 Comments
adult education

My Own Daily(Lit) School

Rather than discuss our kids’ education today, I thought I’d mention how I’m educating myself in just a couple of minutes each day.

I’ve signed up to receive The Intellectual Devotional on DailyLit. (Full disclosure, I founded DailyLit).   The way it works is that each day, an installment shows up in my email inbox that enlightens me on a random topic such as literature, history, philosophy, mathematics, science, music, religion or the visual arts.   Each installment takes just a couple of minutes to read (enough to make reading worthwhile but not enough to be a slog).  I highly recommend this series, whether it be via DailyLit or in hard book form.

It’s a fun way to stay intellectually fit (one of my new year’s resolutions) in just a few painless minutes a day.

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Jan 12 2012
3 Comments
homeschool

I Will NEVER Homeschool My Kids…(until I did)

O.K., the truth is I never, ever thought I’d want my kids to be homeschooled.  I mean NEVER.  I thought homeschooling was reserved for those with extreme religious inclinations, kids who were somehow maladapted or kids with serious issues.

We’re none of those.  Our kids have been doing well in school (ranging from perfectly OK to really great, depending on the kid and the subject), and they have lots of friends.  There are no physical issues (knock on wood to that!) and except for the typical sibling rivalries and occasional stubbornness, they’re really good kids.

So why homeschooling?  The answer depends on whom you ask (that is, my husband or me).  My husband would say that the educational system is broken, that it conforms to the industrial age of schooling where it is all cookie-cutter and caters to the lowest common denominator.  That creativity is generally squashed for some sense of conformity, and that the fun and passion for learning has been driven out by state-testing and college-bound entries.

I have a different story.  I do believe in some of what my husband espouses.  That said, I think he’d agree that we’ve had some wonderful teachers in the public school system, but unfortunately there was only so far they could go with a class of twenty-something kids.

I’m excited for the kids to have some individual time with teachers, to follow their passions, to fill in gaps where the public school system couldn’t and make up for some poor teaching along the way.  It’s also a time for the kids to get to know New York City and to use the city as their classroom.

Moral of the story: never say never.

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Jan 11 2012
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field trip, history, homeschool, reading

Reluctant Reader Turns Enthusiastic

This morning my nine year old, generally a reluctant reader, had his nose in a book called The Tenement Writer: An Immigrant’s Story.  I asked whether he needed to finish a reading assignment, and he replied “yes, but it’s a really good book, and I want to finish it” (not a typical response from him).  He proceeded to recount the story in detail about the problems facing a young immigrant girl.

The exciting part of this is that tomorrow (Friday), he and the other kids will be going on a field trip to the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side.  What a wonderful way to make the reading come alive — visiting an actual, old tenement house so that they can experience what life must have been like at the time.

The plan is for the kids to take a field trip at least every Friday.   You think they’re excited? :)

Jan 10 2012
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homeschool, math

Chuck E. Cheese Math

My daughter told me this morning that her favorite subject was now Math.  I was floored.   I never thought I’d hear her utter those words.

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical when the math teacher we interviewed said he was devising a system that was “Chuck E. Cheese meets Kumon”.  I’ve never been to a Chuck E. Cheese nor would I want my kids to ever go there.  That said, when he explained that he draws on fun and games to make math more palatable, I got it.   And clearly, with my daughter, something’s working.

Just don’t make me ever go to a Chuck E.Cheese.

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Jan 09 2012
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homeschool

Homeschool Starts Today!

Today marks the first day of the kids’ homeschool.  Here are the courses being scheduled:

-Language Arts (Reading/Writing/History)

-Math

-French

-Computer

-Science

-Music

-Mandarin

-German Conversation

We’ll have separate teachers for each subject; the only teacher teaching two subjects is the Math teacher who is fluent in French.

The kids are excited to get started — so am I!

Jan 04 2012
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vacation

The Sellaronda: Our Right of Passage

Today marked the fourth time we’ve done the Sellaronda as a family (the second time for our little guy).  It’s an entire day of grueling skiing that’s been a rite of passage for our kids.  When each in turn was old enough (about 7 years old), they’ve been allowed to come along.    It involves a five hour hike on skis around the Sella here in the Dolomites.  We go from mountain to mountain in one big circle so that we end up at the starting point.   It involves lots of downhill skiing, a ton of lifts, some cross-country schussing and parts in which we all need to carry our skis.

Once you’re on your way and have skied for a couple of hours, there’s literally no turning back.  It was clear from today that the kids had no issues completing it.  By the end, I was pretty exhausted.

In fact, this year, it turned out to be more my rite of passage than theirs.  What a great way to mark the new year.

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Jan 03 2012
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public school

Teacher Speed Dating

A few weeks ago (before our kids left public school) Albert and I went to the Scarsdale Middle School parent-teacher night to meet our kids’ teachers for the first time.  It turned out to be an evening of teacher speed dating.    In the four corners of a room sat one of four teachers.     We had exactly 3 minutes (timed) to sit with each teacher and discuss how our son or daughter were doing in each class.  When the 3 minutes were up, we moved to the next corner (counter-clock-wise) to meet with the next teacher.  I’m a big advocate of time efficiency, but 3 minutes a year to discuss your child’s progress is a bit ridiculous.  One teacher prepared a written paragraph and spent 45 seconds of the precious 3 minutes literally reading it aloud to us.  Only one of the 8 teachers seemed to really know and “get” our child.  Others, although some certainly impressive in their own right, were clearly just going by the grades they recorded.

And folks wonder why we’ve taken our kids out of public school.

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