Everyone is asking us, "Have you started school yet? Actually, we didn't stop doing school last year... sort of. During the summers, we typically do some schoolwork three days a week (on weeks that the kids aren't in camp or we aren't traveling). I typically reduce the number of subjects that they do per day to 2 - 3, and they get to choose what they work on during these days, so we continue to make progress and keep our skills and brains active during the summer months. In addition, they continue working on projects of their own choosing that keep them actively engaged in developing skills. For D, that means working on creating Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, and for C, it involves drawing and working on her novel, her web comic, and her Youtube channel.

Relaxed schooling during the summer gives us approximately 30 additional instructional days to use as we create a flexible schedule for the school year. This enables us to take days off as needed for travel, special events, or even sanity days. Our fall schedule consists of three days of all subjects, 1 day of co-op classes, and 1 day of project work. We generally get 16 weeks of full-time homeschooling in the fall semester before Christmas and 18 weeks in the spring. Then we move to our summer schedule. We have found that utilizing time during the summer for academic pursuits reduces the amount of time necessary to review skills typically lost during long breaks and enables us to continue making progress in small chunks in the areas that are typically more challenging to our kids and could result in frustration if they were required to progress rapidly through those skills.

Life Intervenes

My apologies for being remiss in posting, but life has intervened... quite literally. I have spent the better part of the last two weeks being a doting grandmother to a sweet newborn. Welcoming this precious little one has been a sweet break for me, but it is time to get back to work.

This year is my tenth year homeschooling. With one in middle school and one in high school, our lesson plans call for more independent learning than in previous years. We are currently using Acellus, Life of Fred (Geometry), and taking advantage of an area program that offers classes one day a week. In addition, I will be adding novel studies, writing activities, research, and life skills projects to the coursework (along with driver's ed for the high schooler). 

Book Talk: We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Tuesday evening while we were visiting my parents, my sister-in-law handed me Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's We Should All Be Feminists, a 2014 book based on her TED Talk. I had enjoyed Adichie's 2009 TED Talk, The Danger of a Single Story, so I expected this little book to be filled with the same humor and honesty as that TED Talk. I was not disappointed. Adichie shares snippets of her life in Nigeria that illustrate the disconnect between the cultural gender roles and expectations and the growing call for gender equality. Her stories sound like stories from another century, yet also seem hauntingly familiar. Adichie's graciousness toward those who don't understand her feminism and her ability to speak of the benefits to both men and women of setting aside the expectations that ignore ability and interest when pressuring them into specific roles help soothe the volatility of a difficult and often contentious topic. Whether you consider yourself a feminist or are concerned about the dangers of the push to challenge the societal norms that you are comfortable with, this is an interesting book and an excellent conversation-starter.

Introduction

Having started and restarted my blog several times, I have finally realized that the biggest challenge for me has been the narrow focus of my previous attempts. Writing only about homeschooling is challenging when I also hold two part-time jobs in higher education and have so many other interests, including theatre, music, books, elder care, grandbabies, and frugal living. So this time I am giving myself permission to broaden my choice of topics and embrace the wide range of interests and experiences that I enjoy.

Sometimes that will involve our family, including this little guy here. Other posts may range from book or theatre reviews to musings on being part of the sandwich generation. Writing about homeschooling is writing about life, so I hope you enjoy our journey, even with all of the side trips and diversions.