I so appreciate your inquiries and hope to be able to answer them as fully as you deserve.
- Shambalah Princess wrote:
- Ohhh....the delicious life! Tell us more! Do you have a curriculum.....
The curriculum we chose is K12. It is provided to us through OHVA (Ohio Virtual Academy) which is an online home based charter school. It is basically an Ohio public school at home. The curriculum is fantastic because it allows you to decide what your child needs to focus on and what you can move quickly through. We have math, history, phonics, handwriting, and language arts. Each day our lessons are provided for us on our virtual classroom. Because this is done at home, at our pace we can easily supplement with other materials. It's easy to work around becaue of how basic it is. It provides the fundamentals you need, but also incorporates optional and extended lessons if you so choose. Or, do what we do and add your own! Opportunities for learning are everywhere.
The best part about this choice was that all the materials and supplies were provided for us at no cost. Five boxes of materials such as workbooks, math manipulatives, writing paper, flash cards, magnetic and dry erase boards, teacher workbooks, student text books, a map and globe for history and more reading books than you could imagine!
In addition to all that, as if it weren't enough, we received a brand new HP computer, monitor and printer/scanner/copier for free. It is loaned to us as long as my son is enrolled in OHVA. Along with it came a microphone for my son to use when he logs into his classroom to talk and participate with the teacher. This is also how we do conferences.
*Edit* I forgot to add that every three months we get a stipend for our internet. We just received a check for $9.95 to put toward our ISP.
All materials are ours to keep, except for the computer equipment. And when my daughter is old enough to enroll, she too will get a computer of her own and all the materials with her courses.
I really highly recommend K12. The community is great, the teachers are there for support and reinforcement (and encouragement!) And the lessons are fun, best part, they are already developed by professionals and it takes all the pressure off of me and I can focus on what is more important, my kiddos education.
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- do you incorporate elements from different methods of study....
We are pretty laid back around the house and even when it's 'school time'. I prefer my son want to learn and be in the mood versus me trying to force him to sit and listen. If any other methods are utilized it would be either the 'unschooling' or 'waldorf' methods. But as I go along, I am finding out more and more about these approaches. When I started my goal was only to find a curriculum and let it all happen naturally. I really had no expectations going in because I had no idea what to expect. But that has been the beauty of it, I've done what has come naturally and been easy to implement and what's great is that I can see my son learning and changing daily.
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how do you involve the munchkins in a spiritual path? Seasonal rites, nature tables....any recognition of reverence or the sacred?
To me everything is spiritual. From cooking to cleaning, playing outside and going for walks. We do several things to honor Creation. Firstly, there are the seasonal holidays that coincide with many Christian Holy days. I try to make sure my kids understand that we should revere and honor Creation everyday, but most especially on the Sabbats (I still base much of my spiritual path on Paganism).
The seasons guide our lives and we truly appreciate the wonderful and expected changes that happen. The winter is a time for family and thankfulness. When we stay indoors (with the exception of playing in the snow) and make cookies and other baked goods. We cook stews, soups and chilies. With small helpful hands adding veggies or decorating cookies.
We don't yet have an alter in the home, but as soon as I can find a place and something that I like, we will change it by the seasons and by the holidays. My hope would be to have an indoor reminder about Nature and the deeper aspects of creation. A gentle nudge about it everyday will instill the children with the desire to celebrate nature everyday.
We have discussed Yeshua and Buddha but not at length. Just in passing and in regards to their holy and sacred natures. I have taught that within each person is a spark of the Divine. My son asked me once where is G-d? I responded S/he is in the trees, the wind, the rocks, the water and in him. That G-d is in everything because G-d
is everything. The concepts are tough right now, but over time I have no fear that the children will begin to more readily understand them.
I guess what it has always come down to in my home is that we do what is comfortable and what feels most natural to us. If I tried to label what we are or what methods we use I would be at a complete loss. So many different ideas and techniques are used!! And I find I keep incorporating more and more into our studies, both academic and spiritual. It's never ending, but then, isn't that how it should be?
Thank you for your questions Shambalah, they are always welcome and they force me to examine what I am doing and how it is working out.
