::: gearing up for a new school year :::

Today, I started pulling all of my promising learning resources off the shelves. There's so much good stuff! I hope to take today to begin organizing a bit so that we can add some academics to our interest-led learning. Bard could use some math assistance, Edison some writing and spelling, and the younger children just learning in general, including introduction of concepts. I plan to go through the Skills Evaluation for the Homeschool book to assess the current levels and learning needs of each of the kids.

Sweetheart is really excited about doing lessons. She says she "loves school" and wants to be a cheerleader. ;-)

Edison has been given a clear guideline for doing lessons along with keeping up his visits to the bakery and Penny's house.

We discussed future goals, how important academics are to pursuing a career, and what grade levels mean, for those we encounter who will want to "test" the kids about their grade levels, etc. We also discussed notification and assessment, and how important it is to keep good records of our activities.

I'm excited about this year. I'm hoping to keep a healthy balance between hands-on learning and rote memorization. I also hope to refine my skills of determining when a child is ready to learn something, and letting go if they're not.

I have a lot more on my mind, but I'll come back to it later.