don’t blink

So I have taken some serious time off from researching and developing a routine for homeschooling. With all that has gone on and is going on and will go on, I just couldn’t find the energy to think about it. But I am back on track now. I started as I usually do researching teaching methods, going to Amazon.com and loading up my wish list with books on different teaching methods and curriculum. Hyperventilating.  Then I came across this brilliant post on the Camp Creek site:

http://www.whiteoakschool.com/camp-creek-blog/2009/2/11/the-perfect-homeschool-curriculum.html

It was one of those instances when you find exactly what you need, exactly when you need it. So for the next couple of weeks I am going to observe Fin to see how and what he is interested in learning. Here is how they suggest finding that out:

“If you instead quietly document how they play, what they talk about, what draws their interest again and again, you may come up with something entirely different, something more authentic (based on how they actually interact with the world, and not what seemed interesting in that moment you asked).

In the same way, before we go out to pull a homeschool curriculum off the shelf, we should spend some quiet time documenting our own thoughts, feelings, values, and goals — the things we already know to be true.”

So that is where we will start, what’s funny is that I never would have thought to do it this way. I was ready to just try out some methods, some curriculum and see how he reacted. This way seems so much more organic. I am excited to see what I find. Through what limited research I have done, and it seems silly to mention it now that I am going to go down this other road but I will anyway. I really am drawn to the Reggio method and the Charlotte Mason method but that is me. I am going to take a step back, take a deep breath and see where Finley’s interest lie. I will hopefully be documenting what I find here as we start this very exciting process.