at the end of the day, has she given her children the life experiences needed to fulfill self-confidence? instill kindness? remembering to use their manners?
meeting the educational milestones needed for continued education? giving back to those in need? remembering to floss - when without mom? *gulp* sewing jumpers? okay... maybe not that last one. *giggle*
it can be overwhelming when considering how to organize the many logistics of homeschool into a daily schedule... so stepping back to take in the bigger picture is sometimes needed. a report card of sorts, if you will.
while many parts of susan wise bauer's book can easily overwhelm me, i do love her analogy of placing pegs... as a foundation of knowledge. each nugget of knowledge is placed on a board as a peg... and everyday, as we learn, we are simply hanging more knowledge on those pegs. wait. did that make sense?
so... here are several "pegs" of knowledge from our year through various avenues of learning.
brace yourself...
andrew jackson. eleanore roosevelt. richard nixon. jfk. ada lovelace. charles darwin. the beatles. oprah winfrey. helen keller. mark twain. louis armstrong. sally ride. ludwig van beethoven, judy blume, jane goodall, ann frank, william shakespeare, benjamin franklin, elvis, christopher columbus, mlk jr., amelia earhart, thomas jefferson, george washington. john adams. mary and lincoln. roald dahl. fdr. thomas edison. beethoven. marie curie. lewis and clark. mozart. pocahontas.
multiplication. improper fractions. quadrilaterals. writing a check. temperature. time zones. long division. measuring. probability. roman numerals. money amounts. radius. diameter. decimals. percentage. angles. polygons. perimeter. area. metric system. negative numbers. and so much more.
chapter books. several of them. nator read 66 alone. including, a little princess. the tiara club, a favorite of gracie's. poetry. spelling. cursive. vocabulary {e.g. delectable, scurry, enamor, bliss, whimsical, resident, elegant, smitten...}. past/present/future tense. punctuation. capitalization. by/buy/bye. to/two/too. direct and indirect quotations, topic sentence, suffix, prefix, noun, pronoun, verbs, i or me, we or us, adjectives, friendly letters, business letters, addressing envelopes, adverbs, double negatives, homonyms, antonyms, synonyms, prepositions, interjections, abbreviations, commas...
nomads. nile river. hieroglyphics. the sphinx. embalming mummies. tombs. pyramids. sargon the great {or not so great, as the girls say}, mesopotamia, jews. joseph. ziggurat of ur. hammurabi. gilgamesh. a citadel. sahara desert. lei zu and the silkworm. china. the shang dynasty. yin-yang. king tut. poytheism. monotheism. hatshepsut. phoenicians. ashurbanipal. hanging gardens of babylon. nebuchadnezzar. crete. greek pottery. homer. women's suffrage. cyrus the great. life in athens. greek gods. alexander the great. romulus and remus. buddha. great wall of china. confucius. julius caesar. celts. cleopatra. augustus caesar {octavian}. jesus. christianity. catacombs. attila the hun. barbarians. visigoths. romulus augustus. fall of the roman empire. olympics. pharaohs. civil rights. dreidel. cuneiform. mesoamerica. 7 wonders of the ancient world. hinduism.
teeth. apple mummy. penguins. dolphins. horses. dogs. pollination. mitosis. fitness. tornadoes. cats. organic food. squids. pandas. hiccups. dna. neurons. circulatory system. periosteum. collagen. marrow. ligaments. coccyx. gluteus maximus. and, yes, even flatulence. atrophy. carbohydrates. proteins. cuspids. pepsin. vitamins. scurvy. conchae. larynx. alveoli. arteries. white blood cells. adrenaline. phagocytes. antigens. chambers of the heart. cerebellum. dendrites. myelin sheath. endocrine system. vertebra. olfactory glands. cilia. inner and outer ear. cornea. sclera. epidermis. melanin. carotene. medulla. hypodermis. lymphatic and immune systems. antigens. amniotic fluid.
painting canvas. degas. thanksgiving lapbook. 50 presidents memorized. online safety. recycling. bullying. email and IM. the blues {music}. color.
sprinkle in a lil' dance, dance competition, piano, family time fun, field trips, and theater {okay, maybe a lot}... and i'd say we had a very full year.
one of the biggest {and most important} pegs mama has learned this year in homeschooling has to be this...
not to compare my worst day to someone's best.
my homeschool will not... and does not need to look like another to be successful. it just needs to work for our family team. {repeat}
which means... if learning the complete language of latin is not working for one's family,
it's okay. really. it's. o.kay.
*deep breath*
if you are in need of homeschool encouragement and/or a simple booster shot, try these links:
Posts
Agree, agree, agree! I've been wanting to do a post about comparing my homeschool to someone else's homeschool. but, you said it all. another reason I love your blog. :)
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your list I think you should feel great : )
ReplyDeleteThis is fabulous and fantastic. It is fabutastic! I think you should do a linky and we should all write a similar post about our children's learning. How powerful would that be?? Such validation for this choice of educational experience...... I linked this post to my Teachable Moments Facebook page. I also sent it to a friend of mine who is considering homeschooling.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. Your pictures are wonderful and a reminder that I need to get the camera out a little more often. I've homeschooled four of our six children at various times and have always enjoyed it. With several sons now grown, we have 2 kids in public school and one, Luke, being homeschooled. Luke had to have a risky brain surgery when he was younger to save his life. He now struggles with severe dyslexia and some other difficulties. I learned very quickly how important it is to not compare our homeschool "success" with anyone elses. For Luke, every tiny step forward is a huge victory to be celebrated. I'm sure what works well for us would be a disaster for another family and vice versa. Such is the beauty of homeschooling. Thanks for sharing your memories.
ReplyDeleteLove this and it is so true. All homeschools are different. Isn't that the coolest thing? I love the way you listed everything. I may borrow that idea with kudos to you of course. Now I am off to visit your links.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. One of my favs of yours!
This was really encouraging for me! Plus, I loved seeing all your pictures! : ) I'm doing some re-thinking this year of what a well-rounded education means as well, and your words were helpful.
ReplyDeleteCompletely and totally magnificent post!!! I think this is my new favorite!! Great job..and all the pictures, priceless!
ReplyDeleteI am just reading this now...yes, it does seem that we are on the same page! I love Teddy Roosevelt quote ~ SO true!
ReplyDeleteWell, I feel like a slacker. :)
ReplyDeleteSo very true!!! Thanks for sharing these thoughts we all need to be reminded of!!
ReplyDeleteTHis is awesome!! So nice to have it all down like this and your pictures are amazing!
ReplyDelete