Homeschool Writing

I have a variety of journals that we use for our writing throughout the homeschooling years.  EMan's writing is on the left with the larger lines and CJ's writing is on the right with smaller lines.  This writing sample is from August 2015.  I encourage my kids to write about things that they are passionate about or an experience they have had.

This next writing sample is from September 2015.  EMan (kindergarten) has now shifted to writing in the smaller lined journal and CJ (2nd grade) is improving his handwriting as well as adding punctuation.  I love this writing sample because we did it shortly after visiting the nursing home for our Lego activity with them.  CJ really loves going and his passion has shown up in this writing (below right).  Ethan had just visited the dentist and was writing about getting a toy monkey in the token machine at the end of his appointment.  EMan's writing is also showing his passions.  He has told me a number of times now that he would like to be a zoologist when he grows up.  Every time he has the opportunity to get a new stuffed animal or other type of animal toy he asks if he has enough money to take it home.

We have been working on handwriting with size of letters and location on the writing lines.  Since this last writing sample we've also started a focus on making sure sight words are spelled correctly throughout the writing.  I used the writing checklist from the Moffatt Girls beginning writing prompts for a few days but have since made my own.  I was so thankful for her idea of a writing checklist.  It is so fun to watch them grow and by having a journal it is easy to flip through and see their progress.

EdVentures: a #5Sigma Take-Away

I spent the last two days at Anastasis Academy and learned how their out of the box education format is empowering students. Part of that format is weekly EdVentures (educational adventures).  In the past, I've planned our Friday Field Trips for the school year every February based on the themes we'd be learning and talking about each week in preschool. This coming year I will not be teaching the 3 year old theme based preschool group anymore.  This leaves our Field Trip Friday options open to a new interpretation for the coming school year.

I'm looking forward to incorporating many of the ideas from Anastasis into our LEARN group for the upcoming year. 

Here are the specific types of EdVentures I'm thinking through:

1. Experiential Education - traditional field trips but think outside the box.  Interested in car mechanics?  Visit a mechanic shop.  Interested in food diversity?  Tour behind the scenes of different grocery stores, specifically different cultural grocery stores.  Attend performing arts, theater, speakers and events. Etc.

2. Service Learning - Once a month I'd like to do a service project.  At Anastasis they go to the same location each month (soup kitchen, homeless shelter, retirement community, etc).  

3. Outdoor Education - Sand Dunes, Camping, Black Hills, Local Parks, rock climbing, bike riding, hiking, swimming, etc.

4. Cultural Immersion - Religious Pilgrimages (mosque, Buddhist temple, Hindu temple, go to the experts to learn from them), Local Artists (photography, Music, Spoken Word), etc.

5. Community Building - park days, ice blocking, lunches out, team building activities at each event

Anastasis doesn't plan any of the EdVentures prior to the school year.  They  develop plans for EdVentures based on the direction the kids are taking their learning conversations.  I think it would be a good starting place for the LEARN group to plan a few key activities and perhaps an outline (like Service on the first week of each month, etc).

One of the key components to EdVentures making an impact is allowing purposeful, natural interaction between students and the experience and then reflecting on the process.  Currently, our field trips are more like a fun activity that we get to do.  It was purposefully planned (we'll fly kites the week we're talking about wind and weather, etc.) but it isn't purposefully being reflected upon.  I'd like to take the opportunity to allow ourselves (the adults and the kids) an opportunity for reflection.  Discussing the interesting content we learned (any facts?), discussing things that we were surprised by and how we reacted to different situations and sharing questions and ideas we're pondering after the EdVenture would give the experience a reason to be important in our lives.  And then, just as Anastasis Academy, we need to share our learning.  It's highly likely that in the near future Nexus Homeschool will host a variety of new posts by guest bloggers CJ (6 years old) and EMan (4 years old) about what they are learning. 

Though I'm still developing an understanding of the process of embedding EdVentures with powerful meaning and connections into our school year a little framework will aid in a big change.  Thanks #5Sigma!