2-Week Not-So-Weekly Wrap-Up

So in the last two weeks we've...done things a little different.  I noticed a lot of racing to beat the clock and a lot of whining about things that were supposed to be fun or designed to her tastes.  A regular refrain of "But that will take forever!" was getting old.  In school there is a lot of "get this done and you can read the rest of the period; get this done and you can chill during study hour; get this done and you won't have homework."  But this isn't a regular classroom and racing the clock does us no good.  I sat down and detailed out the hours that were required of us, the subjects, etc. and how the faster she goes, the more work I have to provide.  Then we decided to put it to her to create the daily lesson plans, the parameters being that there must be educational benefit and that it must meet a time requirement.  "Structure the time, not the content."  No, I'm not brilliant.  I read it in a book ;)  I figured this would give me some better insight into how she works and how she utilizes her interests and give her some insight into what goes into creating a plan.

The first plan she came up with was going to be finished in about 10 minutes, but I figured when she realized it, I'd just suggest she do some reading to fill in the time.  Didn't come to that, though, as she came back to it and began to build it out more.  That night, we ended up at the library, picking up some books on hold.  She got inspired to check out the manga/graphic novel versions of several Shakespeare works, then picked up the originals, some translations, some books on Shakespeare...  So last week she read:  The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, and Romeo & Juliet.  We didn't go in-depth into the works.  I figured it was good to let her get a feel for them, before I have her approach them from a literary stand-point.  Plus, she was creating the lesson plans...  LOL!  Towards the end of the week, she also came up with a research project for herself.  She is currently researching the History and Cultural Impact of Comics in the U.S.  She has dozens of books on hold at the library (I think I picked up 13 giant tomes this week alone) and is working her way through them, making notes and pondering how it all ties together.  This is a long-term project, but there will be a final product of some sort (and we will work in citations, essay writing, presentations, etc.)

She also made sure to include more traditional studies, reading through the entire first book of the social studies curriculum, covering 3 chapters of science, and cruising through several chapters of her math text.  Next week, half of the week is hers to plan and then we will begin collaborating on plans going forward.  I am already seeing positive results from this experiment, with much less clock-watching going on.  In fact, today we surpassed our first 100 hours in only 3 weeks of schooling.  The district schools begin on the 15th and we should be 1/10 of the way into our next 100 by then.

Other random things we've learned in the last two weeks:

1. How to multiply 3-digit by 3-digit numbers. Still a little tricky on the math facts to get to the right result, but she's got the process down! 
2. Why/how knowing how to multiply/divide/add/subtract really is useful in life.  
3. How to create a spreadsheet to help you track & sort information.  
4. Originalist vs. Living Constitution Interpretation
5. How to cast a ballot in an election

See you soon!

"Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves."  ~Abbé Dimnet, Art of Thinking, 1928