Artful Homeschooling
We have been having lots of fun with art the past few days. I really love all the creativity and the happiness I see on the girls faces. This has really factored into my schooling planning for the year. In the book, the Artful Parent, she talks about how she makes art a part of her home life with her kids. She calls it artful parenting. I am thinking that we are not only going to do that, but take it a step further and become Artful Homeschoolers! Art is important to me girls and I love it too. I read about the Project Based Homeschooling and I loved the idea of it. However, that is based on what the child chooses to study. While I love doing that, I have the issue that my girls are going to need to do certain things in their school work, even if they don’t want to. So instead of waiting for them to choose something to work on and dig in, I am going to make the art a part of the school plan for the lessons that I am going to give. If we are learning about Africa, then they can create a map or an animal that they are learning about. If we are learning about Space, then they can create planets and solar systems. The possibilities are endless and they can even create with their math and language work. Make puppets to go with their story or make fractions out of clay. You see the more I think about this, the more I realized that they need to create to learn thing on a deeper level. They cant just read about it or hear me talk about it. They need to discover it on their own. As Maria Montessori said, “Education is a natural process carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences in the environment”. Their work is so important. The work of their hands is really what is going to help them learn. I can see Bunny and Pup both moving away from a lot of materials. It makes me sad, but at the same time I am proud that they are mastering so much. However, their need to work with their hands hasn’t gone away! So I see some of their work this year becoming more artful. As they make things they will need to know the information to do it well. So our Montessori journey has led us to be artful homeschoolers! My goal for their education is that it inspire them to want to know more about the world around them! I want them to dig really deep into the things that mean a lot to them and to know how to find the information. So I think that our path is changing and I am excited to see where its going!
Do you see a new path for your school plan this year? What new ideas are you thinking about?
July 3, 2013 @ 3:02 am
I’m loving this idea! I do want to become more artful too, but I’m also hoping to become more structured. John Robert is getting to an age where he can be responsible for much more and I can’t wait to see what he’ll accomplish this next year. With learning how to read out of the way, we’ll be able to focus on so much more. I can’t wait to see where your path leads you. You’re always an inspiration for me. 🙂
July 8, 2013 @ 1:40 pm
Thanks Lori! I am thinking that structure really is important to Bunny, so this really going to change the way we homeschool. The art will be a big part of what we do (its so much more fun the writing reports only right) and I am looking into some curriculum. The reading was a big step here too! I cant wait to see what this year brings!
July 3, 2013 @ 11:41 am
Hi Steph!!
I LOVE THIS POST!! Last semester, to be exaclty to the end, I added to our school room, some rules…. we start the day with a creativity moment, she can paint, draw, or do what ever she wants with her creativity… and she was soooo excited about it! and she asked me, this is a work??lol….. after that, she can continue in the following order, sensorial, history, physical geo or cultural, science, botany or zoology and then the language area… with letters or numbers…. like a rotation!!! By the end of the day, if she finished on science, then the next day she will start with language…. and she will not work with the same things over and over!!! she works with everything… and beleive me, WAS A HIT!!! but I will add your idea to my rotation!!!lol, I she working with fundamental needs, she can draw about it!!! LOVE the idea!! I will post soon about my ideas and what materials or presentation we will working with this semester!! as always says, THANKS FOR your great ideas!!! Say to the girls, my girls say hi!!!
Big Hugs!!
July 8, 2013 @ 1:46 pm
My girls say hi back! I love your rotation idea! I am so glad that it is working for you guys! Learning always looks like so much fun there! I cant wait to see what your plans are for the new year. I think that mine are changing a LOT, but I am hoping that this make Bunny more excited so we have less crying and yelling! It seemed like we did a great job at the end of last semester with me picking most of the work. Of course if she had something she wanted to do or learn about, we did that first! But with that in place, she really had a great time learning! Thanks for stopping and for all the support! You are the best!