Planning

Finally had some mental and actual space last night to do some homeschool planning.

The kids and I picked Cap up from work, which gets Cap home by 4:30 instead of the 5:30 when he takes the bus. Pre fell asleep on the way home and stayed asleep until about 5:30 this morning. An interesting mixture of emotions ensued: mild concern that he was sleeping so much, validation of my intuition that he's been sleep deprived, and wonder at experiencing having an only child (with both Cap and I present) for a few hours. Particularly noticeable was the calm dinnertime.

After dinner I jumped on the computer and began drafting the beginning of our school year, which is scheduled to start September 18. I started with Language Arts and mapped out stories for the first four weeks. I decided to start with a block of Grimm's fairy tales (a Waldorf element).

This is what I'm thinking of (K=Kinder; F=First):

9/18: (K) Sweet Porridge; (F) Bremen Town Musicians
9/25: (K) The Star Money; (F) Rapunzel
10/2: (K) The Elves and the Shoemaker; (F) Hansel and Gretel
10/9: (K) The Gigantic Turnip; (F) Snow White and Rose Red

Breakdown of “Lesson Block” for week (K will not do part 4):
part 1: present story orally
part 2: render story: drawing
part 3: summarize story: retell/act out, puppets, beeswax modeling
part 4: summarize story: writing

I got excited thinking about stories like The Bremen Town Musicians and The Gigantic Turnip (not a Grimm's tale, but a Russian folk tale), stories I have memory impressions of from my own childhood.

I would like to pay attention to seasonal elements in selecting stories as I continue with the planning process.

I also decided to plan for Pre. In NJ, where we will be, he will not be eligible for Kindergarten. So, I was of the mind that he would just get what he gets from watching Kinder, but once I started drafting last night, it made more sense to plan an eclectic Kindergarten curriculum for him. As is fast becoming a mantra of sorts, the nice thing about homeschooling is that we have the flexibility to try what we want and abandon what doesn't work.

I went back to Eric Fairman's Path of Discovery book for First Grade to map out introducing the Capital letters. Eric is a Waldorf schoolteacher in Australia who has published his teaching notes/plans. One of the more practically helpful and economical resources I have come across so far.

This is what I drafted, pretty much lifting completely from POD:

9/18: Straight and Curved Lines
9/25: M: mountain; Simeli Mountain (letter; letter "object"; letter "story")
10/2: V: valley
10/9: S: stream
10/16: T: tree; Three Little Men in the Wood
10/23: W: waves; The Fisherman and his Wife
10/30: C: canoe
11/6: F: fish; The Lambkin and the Little Fish
11/13: H: house; The Hut in the Forest
11/20: off for Thanksgiving
11/27: J: jug; The Water of Life
12/4: B: bear; The Willow-Wren and the Bear
12/11: G: goose; The Golden Goose
12/18: K: king; King Thrushbeard
12/25: off for Christmas/New Year's
1/1: R: rabbit
1/8: L: ledge
1/15: Conclusion (including vowels); The Two Brothers

The idea is that the letters will be introduced one by one (and not all of them are...the rest will be identified at the Conclusion of the unit and Kinder encouraged to "find" the others in the world around him) through stories. Fairman mostly uses Grimm's fairy tales, but also utilizes indigenous folk tales, as well as, tales of his own making. I like this idea a lot and will hopefully be able to incorporate folk tales from Japan and Finland. I am also interested in writing my own stories and drawing from local (NJ) geographies and cultures for inspiration and connection.

These particular Grimm's tales may not be developmentally appropriate for Kinder. In Waldorf schools, a child doesn't enter first grade until they are seven years old. Kinder will be starting a first grade curriculum at age six and in fact, won't be turning seven until the end of first grade. Therefore, it may be necessary to seek out other stories that will better meet him at his developmental stage. (Kinder's current teacher recently informed us that were he returning to his school in the fall, her recommendation would have been for him to do a second year of Kindergarten. This is a common practice for children born between June and December in Waldorf schools.)

Fairman also created a foundational storytelling tool to bind the letters together. He created an indigenous family who come across the letter "objects" in their travels of the local landscape. The letter "stories" are woven into the fabric of this original tale.

The letters/letter sounds would also be reinforced through speech, tactile and movement exercises during lessons and/or other times of the day like circle time. Off the top of my head, these could be: alliterative chants, writing the letters in shaving cream or on someone's back, writing the letters on the sidewalk with chalk and then walking, skipping, hopping the forms, etc.

Kinder knows his letters, at this point. He actually writes daily, mostly stories that accompany his drawings (he tells us what he wants to write and we dictate the letters) and lists of what he wants for his birthday. Introducing the letters to him formally, though, will integrate a more holistic conceptualization of the letters, tapping his imagination and also forcing him to engage parts of his brain/body that he doesn't readily do on his own.