(Warning: This may change without warning as I fine-tune my ideas about Baby Boy’s education)
I don’t need to provide our school board with a curriculum, and it’ll be a few years before I even need one for Baby Boy, but if I did, it would look like this:
Baby Boy will be educated at home using a variety of instructors (including, but not limited to, myself and Pierre) and teaching methods. The term ’school’ indicates that learning is something that only occurs under the guidance of a teacher, between 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday to Friday, for 180 days a year, and that it begins only when a child can handle seated lessons. Baby Boy will learn 365 days a year from the day of his birth, any time, any place there is something that sparks his interest. In addition, learning will take place within the home, the wider community and the world at large in a relevant and timely manner.
My long term educational goal for Baby Boy is that he retains a love of learning to adulthood, along with the skills necessary to learn as he desires. His father and I want him to be an active, interested learner and participant in life, with a solid understanding of his own strengths and weaknesses – and knowledge of how to put both to full use.
My desire is that he grows with a strong interest in God, himself, the community, and the world at large. I want him to reach adulthood with good social skills and study skills, and a healthy sense of responsibility, as well as self-motivation and self-reliance skills. I want him to be able to trust himself, so that he does not fall into the common habit of believing something is true simply because a teacher, professor, leader, or book says that it is.
Baby Boy will use developmentally-appropriate, integrated curriculum, incorporating some, but not all, of the areas covered in the provincial curriculum for his age. As much as possible, unit studies, living books (ie., real literature, not textbooks) and hands-on application will be used, allowing greater information and knowledge retention, as well as showing Baby Boy how different educational areas work together in real life situations. Although we have some material that we expect him to master in the areas of arithmetic, grammar, and exposure to literature, this will not comprise the full extent of his curriculum.
Reading is the key to independent access of knowledge. Without the skill of comprehending the written word, a child is severely limited in his ability to investigate the word. Reading is the first step toward raising an independent learning.
Baby Boy will read and be read to from self-chosen and parent-chosen literature on a daily basis. Daily reading choices have been pre-planned, but these are intended as a start, no an exhaustive list. He will engage in reflection on those literature pieces in one or many of the following ways: oral narration, journal writing, book reviews, conversations, drama based on the books, art work. We will read to him daily from classic literature which is beyond his current reading ability in order to broaden his awareness of vocabulary, sentence structure, and pronunciation. Our choices will be made from a wide selection of high quality French and English literature, including Biblical selections (a familiarity with King James English sets the stage for Shakespeare and Chaucer in later years), A.A. Milne, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Aesop, Louisa Alcott, Carroll Lewis, Charles Dickens, Charles Perrault, Holling C. Holling, Charles and Mary Lamb, James Herriot, Rudyard Kipling, and many more We will select and read poetry daily from a wide variety of sources (such as A.A. Milne, Robert de la Mare and Robert Louis Stephenson) and will work towards memorization of poems which are particularly enjoyed by the family.
Phonics will be worked on along with vocabulary building, dictionary use, and spelling, but always in a whole language environment – that is, the understanding that reading, writing, spelling and vocabulary must be used as a cohesive whole and that they have practical applications in life. We believe, however, that reading ability and reading comprehension do not necessarily develop together, and adjustments will be made to strengthen both independently. My goals for Baby Boy are to enjoy reading, to read for pleasure, to gain exposure to a wide variety of genres, and to be able to reflect critically on what he reads.
Baby Boy will read, or be read to from, content-area non-fiction materials as needed to support his chosen areas of interest. This will be done in an age-appropriate manner. He will reflect on these pieces in one, or many, of the following ways: journal writing, writing an article for submission to a magazine, discussions, development of a lapbook or scrapbook in an area of interest. My goals for Baby Boy are to learn to read critically for information, to understand and be able to reflect on the materials he reads and to be able to compare them to other sources of information, and to learn how and where to find written resources as needed.
Learning to write well has a high priority in our curriculum list of goals, for writing is a tool of thought. A writer has the advantage of seeing his thoughts in a concrete form on paper. The very act of writing helps to fine-tune thinking. We hope to eventually explore calligraphy, which bridges art and writing.
When appropriate, we will use the KISS grammar curriculum, which emphasizes the study and grammatical analysis of living books.
Arithmetic is the method of measuring and recording quantity. Its prime function is two-fold: to keep track of “how many” and to allow us to mentally calculate amounts. Arithmetic and reading are the most useful tools a child can master.
Baby Boy will learn math through participation in daily living – cooking, building, shopping, etc. We will use games which require counting, as well. We will explore the beautiful ways in which math pervades our lives, from making change to identifying the Golden Sequence in a sunflower. We will look for daily ways to incorporate math, including helping with household budgeting, recipes, price comparison, graphing objects and items around us, and more. We will work, at a pace dictated by Baby Boy’s needs, through the Singapore math curriculum. My goal for Baby Boy is to gain conceptual knowledge of mathematics as well as an appreciation for the daily application of math in his life.
Mathematics, of course, encompasses a broader field than mere calculation. Besides arithmetic, it includes the study of geometry, algebra, trigonometry and calculus. As more abstract disciplines, these branches of mathematics are higher up on the hierarchical scale of knowledge and will not be taught to Baby Boy until sufficient mastery of arithmetic is demonstrated. Even though he may repeat what he is told, without an appropriate context to tie it to, the information is necessarily disconnected, floating and worse than useless. This does not mean that these fields will be totally ignored, but the focus for the beginning of his education will be on developing solid arithmetic skills and knowledge that will provide an unshakable base in his future.
Baby Boy will study science as it relates to the areas of his interest by watching age-appropriate science videos and educational programs (Magic School Bus, Discovery Channel, CBC, videos from the library), reading related written materials, conducting scientific experiments, gardening, caring for animals, keeping journals, making and recording observations, visiting scientists in their work places, taking classes, participating in science fairs, visiting museums, and through cooperative classes with home school groups. We will include a weekly nature walk at selected places of interest within and around our city. My goal for Baby Boy is to experience a wide range of scientific exposure in his areas of interest, to develop a positive interest in science, to learn to think scientifically, to develop a respect for the work scientists do and to understand the importance that science has in his daily life.
History and geography will follow the same plan outlined for the other subjects. Baby Boy will read, and be read to from, historical fiction and non-fiction, watch educational programs such as The Learning Channel, Biography, and The History Channel, participating in field trips whenever possible. We expect to integrate history and geography into our study of other subjects through one or many of the following ways: the use of time lines and maps, discussion, journal writing, cooking historical or ethnic foods, plays, road trips, invention building, camping trips, and art. We also plan on participating in Flat Stanley projects – integrating geography and map skills, penmanship, math, computer skills, art, and letter writing – and will be communicating with penpals around the world. We will be maintaining a “Book of Centuries” or timeline notebook where Baby Boy will record key events and people in chronological order, along with his own drawings and remarks, so that he can visually comprehend the flow of history. My goal is for Baby Boy to appreciate the nuances and fluidity of history, to recognize his place in history, and to enjoy and understand the importance of his knowledge of history, as well as to have an understanding of the size of the earth, his place in it, and an awareness of other countries.
Health, physical education, and safety will be continued as part of our daily living skills. Baby Boy will learn to care for his body and his physical environment through one or many of the following ways: shopping for and preparing food, discussing the necessity of a healthy diet, menu planning, participation in fire drills and other emergency preparedness, exercise both as play and as part of a structured group experience, and through camping, merit badges and classes when available. My goal is for Baby Boy to appreciate the necessity of a healthy body and to learn to care for his body’s needs as he understands them.
Baby Boy will learn art and music through both self-chosen and structured methods including one or many of the following: art classes, visits to art showings, theatrical performances, choral singing at church, listening to various styles of music, learning through reading and videos about the people who have influenced music and art through history. Our home contains a wide variety of music, and more will be acquired through the library. We will select and examine various composers, artists, musical or artistic genres, etc. My goal is that Baby Boy be able to recognize, name and describe the most influential artists and composers as well as their major works.
We will eventually work through the book “Drawing with Children” by Mona Brooks, and Disney’s The Family Fun Craft Book, as well as exploring calligraphy, card making, rubber stamping, origami, and scrapbooking (both paper and digital). My goal is for Baby Boy to appreciate a wide variety of artistic and musical experiences, including performance, while understanding the importance of art and music as it pertains to history and daily life.
Baby Boy will learn socialization skills and rules of etiquette in real life situations, and will learn to interact with a wide variety of people of all ages and in many different environments, reflecting the normal social environment of adult daily life. These situations may include, but are not limited to, church, choir, restaurants, stores, play groups, home school co-op, and class situations. We will regularly visit with home educated children for play dates. He will be encouraged to interact with family and neighbors and will learning relationship problem solving in these situations while being guided by his parents and the adults around him. Baby Boy will have regular contact with adults other than his parents or teachers. Community service will be included as part of his education, with visits to the local hospital and nursing homes. It is my goal for Baby Boy to learn how to interact with a wide variety of people, of all ages and cultures, in a natural way, but especially that he is able to relate and deal with relationship struggles within his family.
