I want to be an inspiration for my children to learn how to
think in an integrated, holistic, creative manner. I want them to feel confident and excited to
tackle anything they set their minds to.
I want them to know how to bring their ideas to fruition. I want them to have a broad base of knowledge as context into which they can put new
ideas and a deep base of knowledge on
any subject they desire. My real wish
is for them to be passionate about things.
That takes care of most everything.
Here are the specific goals:
1. I will write 50 blog entries.
How does writing a blog help with educating my children? Simply, it keeps me accountable to myself. It requires I spend some time thinking about what we want to do and compare that to how we actually spend our time. And that is our journey to arête.
2. I will write two comprehensive assessments (in January and August) about Armand and Elio.
In Leadership Education lingo, this is called the ‘six month assessment’. I’ve been doing these for about three years and have found them to very useful and also a wonderful way to document what the children are like at different points in their life.
3. I will volunteer alongside Armand and Elio for 25 hours at PORCH.
PORCH is a volunteer local food distribution effort. One Monday a month we take donations from our neighborhood to a local church to combine with donations from other neighborhoods for an average of 1,000 very full paper bags of food. For the past four months, Armand, Elio and I have been staying to help sort the food and we find it to be a fun, energetic and easy way to give to the community. If we volunteer 10 times this year, we’ll have contributed 25 hours to helping our local hungry population.
4. I will have 8 classes in each of the following topics before June: soap and lotion making, stained glass making, cooking and baking , and native plant landscaping.
These aren’t official classes but instead reminders for me to introduce topics I have intended to but keep getting put off. I used to make soap and stained glass projects before the boys were born and I have been craving to do both again. The cooking and baking class is simply to remind myself to get them into the kitchen more often, especially when we are making things they love to eat. The native plant class has turned into learning about carnivorous plants and making a raised bed in which to grow them. This is a very strong interest of Armand’s. We’ll also start a butterfly garden this spring.
5. I will be outside and active for at least one hour on all of our homeschooling days.
When I took Armand to his well-child appointment this year I thought to myself how wonderful it would be if his doctor said he needed to spend more time outside. He didn’t say it but I realized that my little imaginary conversation meant I really wish to be outside more and want it to be deemed as important to daily life as learning to read or cleaning the house. I want my family’s health to be my number one priority this winter-spring season. Homeschooling allows many luxuries for my family, one being that we have full control over our schedule. We have no excuse for not living healthfully – long nights of sleep, lungs full of fresh air, plenty of hiking and biking and playing ball, sunshine on our faces, lots of healthy food, little stress and lots of laughter. We can do it all. I just need to learn how.
6. I will attend three live performances with Armand and Elio.
I have two events already planned at our local Arts Center – Jabali African Acrobats and Ballet Folklorico Mexico. These are small events and they look great. I want to also take them to a large event but I haven’t found the right thing yet.
7. I will teach Armand and Elio to identify by sight and/or sound 30 birds.
Canada Goose, Mallard, Great Blue Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Red-Tailed Hawk, Mourning Dove, Great Horned Owl, Eastern Screech Owl, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Wood Thrush, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee, Dark-Eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackle, American Goldfinch, and House Sparrow.
8. We will study artists Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, and musicians Antonio Vivaldi and Richard Wagner before June.
