It started with a small board with knobs for Kostya to hang stuff on. We couldn't figure out where to put it. On a whim, I carried it into the hallway and it struck me that it would look good under our bulletin board. I mentioned it to my mother and she said, "Oh, I have an idea..." Then, it exploded on us. My mother insisted that we needed to paint the hallway. Well, I mean, it was a bit dingy and kinda a cream color and would look better with a white paint job. My mom LOVES to paint so whenever she gets the excuse, she runs with it.

On a Sunday morning, we were sitting there and I suddenly jumped up. "That- um, I know- I have an idea." I ran outside and picked up the wooden screen door frame we'd been keeping for some project we hadn't yet thought of. I hauled it inside, dust and all and showed my mom the partitions. "See, we can put a chalkboard in the big area. We can put a white board in this smaller area and we can put a display case here." The idea was born. While pregnant, I put four coats of paint on it, swirly green and blue.

We convinced someone that he needed to help cut boards and a full 9 months after we started this project, it actually came to fruition and we had it on the wall. Some colored chalk and funky colored white board markers and we're set to go. Well, almost. We still need to mount the plexiglass for the display case but here's what it looks like (ignore the map hanging down over part of it, please).

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[IMG]http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t147/winchesterruger/homeschool/IMG_7859.jpg[/IMG]

Structure

I have a hard time with structure. Kostya has never been one to HAVE to sleep at a certain time or eat at a certain time. We have generally had naps anywhere from 11am-3pm after he cut down to one nap. We NEVER eat at the same time and his bedtime varies greatly. So, I guess I'm saying that structure bothers me.

I read something about 3 year olds a month or so ago and it really struck me that I needed to change. Basically, it said that 3 year olds need to know what is going to happen that day.

So, I thought about it a bit and came up with this:



I'm still working out the kinks on how to use it. I was originally thinking it would be a GREAT idea for him to put all the little trains up as we do them, but then realized that he got too carried away with the trains so I think in the morning, we'll get out the ones we need and put them all up in the morning so we can kinda plan our day out.

I am also working on a Noah's Ark one for my nephews. I'll post pictures of that when it's done.

My Philosophy on Unschooling

I firmly believe that, in unschooling, there is facilitating in the way that Charlotte Mason would agree with. Exposure is absolutely key in both types of schooling. With Charlotte Mason, there is more of a framework. With unschooling, I feel that as parents allowing to our children to have this type of learning environment, we still have responsibility to provide variety and require our children and ourselves to grow beyond our knowledge. Using the books and readings that amblesideonline lists, is a way to GIVE our children the idea of wings. Allowing them to fly beyond that is where the two schooling worlds separate and further personal-interest study can either be schooling (as per unschooling) or free-time pursuit (as per Charlotte Mason).

With the Charlotte Mason model of nature appreciation for children, many of the early activities DO become delight-driven/unschooled and promote a love that can later be structured, if needed, or left, depending on the personality of the child. For instance, on a nature walk with my three year old, I show him oak tree leaves and lichen. He seems uninterested. The next day, while out on a walk, he begins his exploration with, "Will we see leaves?" I tell him we will. "Will they be oak leaves?" I tell him that we will see some oak leaves. He picks up an oak leaf and names it. Then picks up another leaf, not an oak leaf. "What's this one?" "I don't know. Shall we find out?" "Yes." So we take the leaf home and look in our identifying book and learn the name.

I'm not a believer in a pure radical unschooling model because I do feel that children need some sort of established structure, something that helps them bend to a direction they would not naturally travel without guidance. I see a direct link between parents who lack self-discipline having children who lack self-discipline. I also see parents who have self-discipline with kids that do NOT. I believe the latter example is where a failure to communicate and address this absence of self-discipline occurs. I think the Charlotte Mason model comes into play to prevent such a problem by way of making things such as poetry a part of daily life to foster appreciation, encouraging fluency in another language to expose children to cultures they may not otherwise pursue or even be aware of, etc.

I find that radical unschooling (where children have no guidance or imposition of self-discipline in study) and simple unschooling (when children are both delight driven and intentionally exposed to encourage further study as well as consciously guided through the things that they not pick up naturally) often get lumped into a box together. I find them distinctly different. The division of time that you mention several times in your paragraph as far as the specific activities one uses as "school" time versus "free time" is what made me say what I said. My view of schooling is that LIFE is school, not just the interests of my child at the moment, but both the simple unobstructive guidance I provide towards certain subjects and the time I allow a child to wander and explore on their own. I don't divide the time up into "school" and "no school" time frames AND I don't label what we do during the day as "school" even though some might think it is. It is somewhat delight-driven, somewhat unfocused, but still facilitated towards many of the ideals of Charlotte Mason as stated on ambleside.

Thank you for reading so far. I wanted to be clear as to how I am proceeding school-wise and would love feedback

My Philosophy on Charlotte Mason

I recently spent some time talking about my philosophy on how a learning environment should be created. I have been called an eclectic in terms of plans. I enjoy the idea of unschooling and also have been exposed to a Charlotte Mason schooling.

This is what I personally take from a Charlotte Mason education.

Kids are STRETCHED beyond their current level of understanding. To read abridged books, simplified text, things that come down to the child's level do not STRETCH the child higher. Instead of meeting children where they are at, it challenges them to reach and understand the level higher than that. If you believe that your child doesn't "get" things, try giving them the benefit of the doubt and read them Dr. Doolittle, original version. We read that to Cameron at 15 months and he still remembers the characters, even if he doesn't remember the text. After reading and pushing his literature comprehension, we find him at a much higher verbal level than most kids his age. I don't know how much of this is personality because he's our first, but we look forward to seeing how this repeats with Elijah.

Charlotte Mason also relies on recitation, poetry/scripture memorization and copy work to improve language skills. I support these things to a degree, without being pushy or obnoxious about it. We are incorporating memorization in our daily without making it "school" for Cameron, just simple things.

I like that Charlotte Mason gives a non-traditional Christian educational view of how to facilitate children learning.