Less Structure

I'm trying to find the perfect balance between freedom and structure in our schedule. I think at the beginning of the year we had a little to much routine. Then I slumped into chaos for a bit in November. (see my Nov 27th post titled Slacking Off) When we came back to school after Christmas break I had designed a new schedule (back to extreme structure) that quickly became just another decoration for the classroom wall. How much is enough?

This week felt like I should have spent more time working in the classroom. At least it felt that way as it was happening. When I started to think about the big picture of this week, it seemed we had covered much more than I thought.

Monday was a day where we had less than our usual time in the classroom since my other son was sick and needed some attention from me throughout the day.

Tuesday JT began his immunotherapy for his allergies. We will be spending about 1 to 1 1/2 hours a week in the pediatric allergy department for the next 10 weeks. I packed a big bag of school work and hauled in from the parking lot to the complete opposite end of the hospital. I was glad I took it along. We probably covered more materialwhile waiting than we would have in the same amount of time in the classroom. Captive audience! Since we will be going back every week, I will need to save reading and worksheet assignments for that morning.

Wednesday JT went with my father for the day. What a great day for me! I had a meeting in the morning at the bank, but when I came home, the house was empty. Just me and the cat for 4 hours. JT spent the time with my dad learning how the stock market works and doing some "pretty hard math!" (according to my son). They also took a trip to the farmer's market. Education AND a great break for me. We are going to try to work this into our regular schedule. I think it was good for JT to have the time away from me and still be in a learning environment.

Thursday we had a full day of school! First one this week. We played our weekly spelling review game. I give JT a word to spell. He draws elaborate battles on the white board. If he misses the word, I get a hit. If he gets it right, he gets one. The rules always seem to go in his favor no matter what. I don't care as long as he's spelling the words! We also have started serious work on times tables. JT has never memorized his multiplication facts. He figures them out in crazy ways every time, but the delay is getting in the way of harder math problems. Today we set up a new game to work on that one too. We did some science, geography and he had his virtual class at 1pm. He's also currently working on a report on Robert E. Lee. He collected notes Monday and Tuesday. Today I helped him write his outline. Tomorrow he needs to start the writing of at least one or two paragraphs.

Looking back at the things he's done this week I realize we only probably spent 2 hours of our time on things that are actually a part of the curriculum provided by the school. All the rest are things I have put together from other places. I feel he is learning so much more than he would have in a brick and mortar school this year. He has bursts of responsibility where I can see in a few years this might become a little easier. If I keep it low key and allow him to enjoy himself I think we are going to accomplish a lot together.