Monday, May 14, 2007

Spiraling

I know I haven't written much about school lately. For some reason, maybe because it is going well right now, I am not planning for the future or lamenting the failures. I suppose I should document the progress and try to recreate the balance for next year. Anyway, formal school is spiraling to the finish line. Princess finished all planned work in math Friday. Pink Panther will finish his planned math work this week. Grammar, handwriting, Latin, and spelling will finish this week, as well.

Unfortunately, I was so ambitious in the planning of Ancient History that we may not finish this summer. The World in Ancient Times series has taken us on a well informed journey that won't be finished soon. We will start Ancient Rome today. Did you catch that s word? I did say start. After Rome there is one more book in the series. Ouch. The children have never associated history with "real school," so perhaps continuing will be a continuation of story time?.

At Christmas I started looking through the spine of our history reading to see if there was anything I could neglect to read. I haven't found anything that doesn't seem interesting or important, so I just keep reading and they just keep listening and narrating. I wonder. Is this one of those Charlotte Mason good habits?

Spiraling to the beginning of the Middle Ages, I wonder if they would notice if we didn't take a summer break in history?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're not tied to someone else's idea of the school year or a full load or anything. So if everyone is enjoying the history, keep going. And if not, take a break. You can pick up where you left off when you start again.

Wisteria said...

I know I'm not tied, but the children have noticed the "other" children don't do school in the summer, and the pool will open next week and, and, and. . .

We are taking history on the road starting tomorrow. There is a wonderful Pompeii exhibit and an Ancient Greece IMAX show at the Exploreum in Mobile, AL. We thought we might stop by on the way to the beach.

Anonymous said...

We have fallen into a cycle of taking off in Mid may until about July. By then, the novelty of the pool and reading in the hammock etc has worn off a bit. They start becoming a bit bored and bicker more often.
I find a wee bit of schooling the perfect distraction for their desire to do each otehr bodily harm. ;) I lead in with reading and art and some mini- math practice sheets (so we don't have to spend all of Sept reviewing). Maybe a field trip here of there, and we are all ahppy.

Unknown said...

We are wrapping up an Ancient Greece intensive--just five families meeting twice a week for the month of May. I'll send you our outlines and resource list if you like. You know, I should post that online. It has been GREAT.

Oh, and crafts. You should've seen the paper-mache helmet we made. I lovingly reinforced mine with miles of tape, then nudged children away from the goo bowl: Hey, make room, kids. This is going on my mantel!

(I mean, it is FOR the kids...the adults are having way too much fun, though)

We're doing Rome in the fall for three months...wouldn't it be great if...? :D

Garden State Kate said...

It sounds like you're all having too much fun to stop now...