Mid-year Masony Meanderings

I do not know what we would have done this year without God's leading on reading about Charlotte Mason.  Pocketful of Pinecones alone has had SUCH a HUGE impact on our homeschool this year. (I just learned there is a sequel... I have GOT to find it and read it!!) After all... when your classroom is everywhere and no-where all at the same time... how do you get it all done?

Sometimes we don't!

Yes, our God-send has been the Mason Method and this mama has found such relief (aka-not feeling like a failure for all the traditional bookwork we are missing more than I care to admit!).



We have journaled, done some hands-on math, read rich beautiful stories to ourselves and out-loud,

given oral book reports, walked in the footsteps of history...literally....

(Click on images to see larger and read easier!)

but our favorites have probably been Social Studies and our Science journals.


I "teach" very little about science... I mostly share facts (often a sum-up or skim over of our textbook or other books), discuss observations around us, we explore...

btw, that is NOT a lake in Alabama... it is a thermally active lake in Yellowstone with beautiful black rocks!

we watch videos, perform experiments...

we pour over diagrams, and we copy them into our journals.

For Social Studies we have been blessed to travel to diverse places this year, sparking an interest in culture.  We have studied maps in depth, copied them, and drawn them (even my dyslexic has loved this!)  We have drawn flags and learned about their symbolism.  We have soaked up good literature from regions near and far.  We have drawn pictures, made comics and I have even set them to develop their own studies and reports on the countries we are 'exploring'.

It has probably been our most hands-on year yet and the kids are remembering more than ever.  And this week, as we have not been able to have a 'normal' school schedule on account of ministry demands... we have still learned because of this wonderful explorative technique which fosters and ability for the children to experience learning, not just pop in brain knowledge!

I pray your learning with your children is steeped in experiencing, living and exploring!

 Blessings,

P.S.  You don't have to travel the country to gain experience, walk in the footsteps of history, or explore... it is all around you, no matter where you live.  Just look!


 

Linking up today with: 

 Homegrown Learners, iHomeschoolNetwork, and Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers