Friday, June 21, 2013

Summer, Summer, Summer has reared its ugly head and summer school begins Monday.

Today is officially the first day of summer... although the weather in middle TN has loudly declared summer for a while now, :-/ Have I mentioned how much I dislike heat and all things green? Summer reeks of sweat and allergies. As my least favorite season, I announce that I plan to ignore its existence and, therefore, will no longer be traversing my threshold except at night, other than to skulk my way to a vehicle where the AC will produce arctic wind for my enjoyment or to allow Pretty Princess Prancey Paws to relieve herself, until the end of September and the first day of fall.

To this end, we will begin summer studies on Monday when we will jump into the 13 day Moving Beyond the Page A Wrinkle in Time Literature unit. I plan to spread it over 15 days. I did not purchase the coordinating space study, but we will be studying space via George's Secret Key to the Universe, books from the library, and the astronomy chapters from Conceptual Physical Science. During summer with the constant interruptions by friends, family, and summer events, these 15 days may take 6 weeks instead of 3, so I am not wasting my time, even though it is tempting, planning any other cool, fun, indoor projects. Ds will also continue with the Evan Moor Daily Paragraph Editing that he started in January, his math tutor, and Kumon math.

Although I dislike the hot, humid weather and the nasty botanical growth that it encourages, I find much pleasure in the more relaxed days that accompany our summer schedule. :-D

5 comments:

  1. I am in south Alabama and TOTALLY echo your sentiments about summer. I am already counting down the days until October. I love the book A Wrinkle in Time. I bet you guys will have a lot of fun with it. Also, I've looked at Moving Beyond the Page before. What is it like?

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    1. https://www.movingbeyondthepage.com/faq.aspx
      This is from the FAQ page from MBtP.
      What is the educational philosophy behind Moving Beyond the Page?

      Some of the more popular philosophies in homeschool education include: Classical Education, Core Curriculum, Waldorf, Montessori, and Unschooling. Moving Beyond the Page incorporates wonderful aspects from many of these approaches to education. Like the Waldorf Theory, we believe in educating the “whole” child and our lessons reflect this belief. Like Montessori, we don’t emphasize “grades” or tests and believe in respecting the individuality of each child. We also believe in giving students a level of freedom in what they study and encouraging them to experience their education in the real world - two hallmarks of Unschooling.

      At its core, however, Moving Beyond the Page curriculum is most closely aligned with what is known as the Constructivist Theory of Learning. Constructivists view learning as an active process in which the learner actively constructs knowledge as he tries to comprehend his world. Constructivist theory is about facilitating the learner to go beyond simple memorization toward understanding, application and competence.

      Constructivist theory indicates that understanding, application, and competence cannot be achieved without actively engaging the learner. Learners should be constantly asked to synthesize and evaluate what is being learned. Students must “experience”, on some level, what they are being asked to learn in order for the learning to have meaning. In a constructivist-oriented learning environment, students acquire content while carrying out tasks requiring higher-order thinking.

      Active learning is a great way to remember what underlies a constructivist approach to learning. Not just reading a textbook or hearing a lecture, but actually exploring what is being learned, applying understandings, experimenting with ideas, and forming new ways of thinking. Students must be given time to reflect on and discuss ideas and knowledge.

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    2. Basically, MBtP is a unit study curriculum that probably requires the same sort of output that Oak Meadow and Further Up. However, MBtP purposefully covers the standards for language arts, science, and social studies.

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    3. http://www.movingbeyondthepage.com/articles/why-standards-matter
      Here is an article on MBtP about standards.

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    4. I like MBtP, but I don't think I could use it as my entire curriculum, because it isn't linear in the way my brain works. :)

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