Homeschooling? Day 2

It's day 2, and I'm beginning to wonder if the word 'homeschool' is helpful. I'm at home, the first word is right... but so far I'm not sure I would call it schooling. To be 'schooling' sounds ordered and systemised overflowing with measurable outcomes. To be 'schooling' sounds balanced and holistic with research driven nuances. To be 'schooling' sounds like boxes are being ticked and evidence is being collated. I'm not going to pretend to do what my children's teachers can do. No, we're not 'schooling'. We're 'home learning'. Learning what it means to be at home together. A lot. And learning at home with lots of mess!

After reflecting on my victories in my blog post yesterday I thought I'd better share with you my 2 rookie errors of the day...

ROOKIE ERROR 1: SPELLING & WRITING AFTER LUNCH
Just. Don't. Do. It. There were tears and frustration for the first time at that moment today. Those poor little fellas just wanted to use their bodies and chill! Not worth the battle. I'm definitely going to opt for technology based learning after lunch as of today (something we've survived without for the first 2 days!). Turns out schools are onto this - a quick look over our Mr 8's school timetable cemented reading and writing first up followed by maths and a snack in the morning, and more kinaesthetic based activities with less output in the afternoon.

ROOKIE ERROR 2: MUMMY LEAD TASK
Mr 6 requested scones for afternoon tea today and agreed to help me make them. After reading through the Vic Curriculum for maths last night I swiftly agreed and had all the wonderful maths learning opportunities in my head. Cooking is so rich with these - and because of so many variables NOT something they get to do at school - I love having the kids 'help' in the kitchen. I had even printed off 10 blank recipe template last night for the kids to fill in with the hope over the coming weeks that we'd be combining some literacy and numeracy in the process. I was ready. He would write down all the ingredients and the method. He would do it and rejoice in his skills. I would sit back and watch. Surely?!

'Homelearning' isn't just about the kids. I've got a lot to do. Learning about not just when to take on teaching times, but what. Mr 8 wrote out all the words, but it was just that. It was meaningless and I even bribed him to do it. Mr 6 stopped after the ingredients and was very over it. Perhaps I need release the idea that learning needs to be fun all of the time, but I also feel that I got a taste of disinterested kids here because it was a Mummy driven task. I'm going to experiment tomorrow with letting their interests guide their writing and see where that will bring us.

I'm looking forwards to another new day tomorrow and testing out a new structure to the day, as well as inserting a little bit of educational technology. I'll let you know about some of the great online resources I've come across in my next blog post.

A quick snap of today's tasks:
Learning about 2D & 3D shapes
Cutting and folding various 3D shape nets
Starting a pokemon treehouse project made from garage contents
Playing poison ball & human bowling with a gym ball outside
Miss 3 beading
Creation of paper puppets
Using a coat hanger to weave circular creations (surprisingly a great lesson in odd and even numbers)
Reading & comprehension from Speld SA
Mr 6 planning a comic for future creation
Baked scones & wrote out our first recipes for our recipe books (will that continue?!)
Mr 6 wrote 1-50 in a 100 grid, Mr 8 wrote the first 100 2 times tables in a 100 grid