With a little help from our friends...

 Hi there!

So.  Here is what they don't tell you about homeschooling in Ontario.  

YOU ARE FREE TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WHATEVER AND HOWEVER YOU WOULD LIKE!

Exhilarating.  Amazing.  Downright TERRIFYING.

I am sure each school board is different in small ways, but once I had signed that intent to homeschool form, we were on our own.  No technology sharing or online resource access; even our girls' google drive and board email were gone.

Before we made the leap I had read up and realized all this, with the exception of that last point.  My girls were shocked at losing all the work of the previous years that were stored on their google drive as well as the emotional loss of feeling 'disconnected' from their school community.

Thankfully, reaching out to parents of school friends, we are finding other ways of connecting and maintaining friendships.  Right now that is through emails, FaceTime and even snail mail! (My preference and a great introduction to learning to write letters! Haha)

With our intention being to return to public education when it is safe to do so (we absolutely love our educators, school community and the experiences we have had over the years) I chose to follow the Ontario ministry's  curriculum outline.  Having said that, reading those documents is like reading legal documents in all "lawyer speak" while inhaling laughing gas upside down in a dentist chair.  Haha. 

Thankfully we have some wonderful homeschooling bloggers with years of experience and resources for us; in the curriculum department, I found the most help from The Canadian Homeschooler .  She even broke down that hard to read ministry document into helpful checklists for Mommas like me!  You can check them out here .

The curriculum list (and the mountains of workbooks from our eldest two ladybugs that I have kept over the years) have helped us put together learning goals for the year.  Our learning year may not always be pretty but I am determined to make it as memorable and emotionally healthy as I possibly can for all of us here on SchnickAcres.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Jeanette

Finding our math groove...

 Good morning!

The idea of teaching and learning with my girls excited me... with the exception of the prospect of MATH.  

What if I royally mess this up?

What if we muddle through it but I kill all interest and enjoyment of learning?!

I had so much fear and I still have a little residual anxiety BUT as with most new experiences, a little preparation and education can help quell that unease.  So that is what I set out to do.

At the end of the last school term we had become acquainted with khan academy.  A great resource for lessons on just about anything we wanted to know more about.. including math.  But with hubbyD working from home and ErinGirl learning virtually most days a week, our rural internet was chugging along...barely.  That, and 100% online doesn't suit our family overly well.  We are visual; we like physical items we can move and manipulate; AND I personally like paper and pen... even our family calendar is the "old fashioned" paper on the refrigerator type.  Haha

Although I had chosen and printed a math curriculum back in August andfound online resources to help show/teach the concepts, it still took us three weeks to find our math groove.  In that time, I also took a math masterclass on "living math" - ways to take it beyond the textbook and find real life connections.  This class excited me - I didn't grow up loving math or seeing math and I hope to give my girls a different math experience.

So what does our groove look like?  Well, as with all of our 'subjects" I have broken our year down into quarters; laid out a plan for what I would like us to cover in each of these seven and a half week periods, and then broken those down into bi-weekly and weekly learning goals.  That helps me set a daily learning list for both girls.

For Math, this looks like:

Monday and Tuesday - Textbook lesson 

Wednesday - digging deeper - this could be a puzzle question, logic and problem solving.  If making a life connection can help clear any confusion, this is where we look for everyday math.  Last week fraction review had us in the kitchen cutting scones.  ;)

Thursday - online practice/review - ErinGirl has face to face class in the morning so we can all jump on and use khan academy to review our math lessons - they have quick review questions and little quizzes that both girls seem to like.

Friday - Math games... my family loves games.  This week we kept it light hearted and mildly challenging with a game of spiral multiplication and learning "dutch blitz".

This is how we are grooving for now - as I am quickly learning, flexibility is a blessing and a must these days and I am sure our math learning will be tweaked multiple times before the learning year is through.

And if you are looking for learning idea for your family, be sure to peek at our Pinterest boards.

Thanks for popping in!

Jeanette

2020

 

Well hello there,

It has been a long time since I've wandered around the old blog.  A lot of changes for our little farm family... our eldest is off to University, we run a little family farm shop and I finally have GOATS!  (Twenty years of persistent persuasion and Mr Schnick finally said yes! Haha)

But as I am sure is true for all of us, here and far, 2020 has been a year of immense changes.  Covid-19 made itself known and day to day life took on a whole new look.  Runs to town now include hand sanitizer and masks; visits with friends and loved ones are out door and "socially distanced" and we now manage community interactions in terms of bubbles and cohorts.

And through these trying times, we have all had to reevaluate priorities; our traditional way of thinking about things and performing tasks and most of all, we've had to find the gentle grace for one another's decisions, positions and the places we all find ourselves in.

I think that that is what I have come to notice most.  Wading through the disheartening, tough news of each day, there have been wonderful testaments to people stepping up for one another and supporting one another in amazing ways.

Its not an easy task somedays to realize that the plans and goals I had for myself and our little farm in 2020 have been sidetracked.  Big plans to expand our veggie production; thoughts of adding in a cut flower field and a few more sheep and goats have been tucked away to make room for Mr Schnick to work from home, our ErinGirl to distance learn and *gulp* me to homeschool our youngest ladybugs.  Haha, I had never considered that approach to elementary education before but deciding to do so brought me so much peace, I know that it is the right decision for us at this time and I am determined to do my best by my children and for my children.

So welcome back to the acres... my goal in dusting off this old blog is to share my daily learning - including the uphill struggles; happenings around our little piece of Earth and to hopefully share and encourage any fellow travellers who are looking to make 2020 a little more "normal".  

If nothing else, I hope to bring a little bit of laughter to your internet browser... go ahead and laugh with us as we SCHNICK our way through this new reality.

Cheers!

Jeanette