Adventures of The Haven School for Boys: The Haven Homeschool Experiment

Geesh! It has been so long since I've blogged that I was given pause over remembering my user name and password. I could also legitimately blame pregnancy brain for that.

Can there really only be one month left of the official school year? Is it possible that I have an almost 2nd-grader, kindergartener, preschooler, and newborn on my hands? Also--a newborn side note--he or she chose to be modest during the ultrasound reveal, and refused to come unfurled from a very cozy ball. BUT, sweet little one waved at us on the ultrasound screen. It just about melted my heart. With antics like that, Haven4 can keep his secrets close to his chest.

Recently, I read a book called The Homeschool Experiment by Charity Hawkins (pen name). It's fictional, but written by a homeschool mother who lives the day-in, day-out homeschool reality. Her characters are similar in age to my children, so the parallels are many. Matt has always hated the expression, misery loves company, but sometimes we homeschool mothers need to share in our miseries as well as our joys, especially since so much of what we do is in isolation from other moms. I was uplifted by her honesty, and encouraged to march on, in spite of the common odds that afflict homeschool scenarios. More than anything, I can relate to the simple concept of a "homeschool experiment." I apologize to James every once in an while for making him the guinea pig of this whole operation. But, the truth is, we are constantly evolving as a family and a homeschool, especially in these inaugural years. The process can be brutally exhausting!

Our Haven School Homeschool Experiment, if you will, has taken a little turn come the latter stages of the 2011-2012 school year. Yes, another turn. But, it's a good one...and I'm thankful to have started experimenting with it prior to the onset of summer. Much of my inspiration came from a book called, The Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century, by Oliver DeMille (loaned by a good friend and fellow homeschool sojourner, Crissy P.!) I'd have to say that next to David Gutterson's, Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense (which I read prior to the start of our homeschool), it was one of the most influential pieces of homeschool literature I've read to-date. And it's not entirely intended as a homeschool-themed book. It's more about an approach to education, via the use of classics across the subject spectrum. At its heart is a desire to coach students of all ages to become independent thinkers and scholars...leaders, through the process of self-motivated study and mentorship. More than anything, "method" aside, it fanned the spark that first started me on this homeschool journey--the desire to help my kids learn to love learning. It took me back to my roots. Somewhere along the line this year has begun to feel more like drudgery than inspiration. That being said, the boys have grown tremendously, across the board. But, when I got to thinking about what they might SAY or REMEMBER about their homeschool experience once they are grown up and gone, I was convicted. I'm not sure that they would recall it with the fondness I had hoped for. And maybe fondness is too extreme an emotion to expect from these burly boys...but I DO hope that they will reflect upon their homeschool experience as one for which they were thankful...

Which leads me to our latest homeschool experiment. During the last week, both James and Joshua have chosen subjects of interest to them, rather than Mama choosing the subject of thematic interest. James chose airplanes. Joshua, SHARKS. Thanks to our decent home library, we were able to rustle up a preliminary stack of books for starters, ranging from encyclopedias and periodicals, to narrative and varied expository writings. The instructions were simple and even a little vague. You are going to study. Dig in. Here is a clipboard to process and respond. Write down what matters to you, and we'll discuss after you feel you've come to a good stopping place. Fifteen minutes passed, then thirty...and forty-five. Both boys were on their chosen couches, noses buried in books, furiously scribbling away on their clipboards (drawings, mind you)--lost in their worlds of ocean and sky. Something felt right about this. And, without droning on, I will say that each day to follow has been much the same. Their enthusiasm bubbles over to delve into their books (we have since robbed the library of every book on airplanes and sharks available), and the ideas/ connections coming out of their study are something organic, unplanned, and totally inspired. Joshua has measured out whale sharks and orcas, thought out his own food chain, and even invented his own "jet parachute shark." James has built a tinker tot model of a Wright Flyer, studied famous aviators, and helped write a poem with Joshua called "Shark Song," written in the style of Plane Song, one of his plane books. We have identified descriptive and figurative language, summarized expository text, looked up unfamiliar words, studied the globe, identified Latin roots, and, most importantly, synthesized big ideas such as How has the jet age made our world smaller, What are the character traits that made Wilber and Orville Wright successful, and How did Amelia Earhart influence women of her time? Sometimes, their study overlaps, such as with the poem, and also with a great section in one of Joshua's shark books that elaborated upon the ways in which sharks moving through water are like the planes soaring through the sky. James has already come up with new ideas for better planes and thinks that the "government" should make it legal for seven year-olds to train to be pilots. I sit with each boy individually (even the Samster) and enjoy post-reading discussion time. Even Joshua tells me when he is ready for me to jump in and read a book--he prefers to study it on his own first. As we discuss and work our way toward higher level concepts, the boys dictate as I record our conclusions. Their ideas are so far beyond their ability to put them in writing at this stage. At the end, James reads aloud our synthesis. It is hard to explain all that is going on. To speak oxymoron, I will say that we have simplified in an effort to create depth, passion, and independence. And we're loving it. I can see a light in their eyes that is altogether new. This is the something different, something special, something that we've been striving for since we opened our homeschool doors. I'll try to keep you updated on their latest study, as this is an unfolding process that will surely continue to evolve.

Aaaaaand, lest you be concerned that I have thrown all things "establishment" out the window, I will assure you that I have not. Every afternoon we sit down and work out our phonics, language review, spelling, math, journaling, etc. The fundamentals drill has its place, and their study is richer for it. But, it's not the first thing we attack every day.

Measuring a Whale Shark

The Wright Flyer

Tracing of the Wright Flyer

Synthesis from Study and Discussion

Joshua's Food Chain

James and Joshua have started writing journals that involve back-and-forth narratives between themselves and Matt. It has been a beautiful way to encourage them to write something meaningful without agonizing over every word and sentence. I even holster my red pen (this takes more will power than you can imagine), because the purpose is to encourage communication through writing...and to develop a love (rather than passionate rage) for writing. So far, so good.