Weekly Wrap-Up: Better to Think or to Know?

Don't look now but he is using his planner and checklist. I am trying to contain my joy at this new stage in Mr. B's homeschooling and life. He is getting organized. As the youngest child, he seems to have cruised through school so far coasting on behind his older brothers. He hasn't had too many times where he is the only child at home or had me all to himself. Our school has a whole new feel to it and he seems to be thriving. It isn't like I haven't paid attention to him but things just have always gone smoothly for Mr. B. He grew into homeschooling as I worked with his older three siblings. He blended in well.

Now the two of us are really getting to know each other and to learn how much I need to interact with him to keep him moving along with his studies. Homeschooling is now more like unschooling and it feels right for us. Yes, there is a checklist but it was mutually agreed upon to include subjects and materials we thought would work for Mr. B. He is really owning his learning.

"In other words, they think that it's more important for a child to think than it is for him to know. But I say that a child can't know without having thought, and that he can't think if he doesn't have a regular, abundant supply of various materials of knowledge. All of us know how reading a passage can stimulate us to think, wonder, and make inferences, which all result in getting us some additional knowledge."
Charlotte Mason, volume 3 page 242

He is in taking more control of his learning but he still has a great amount of reading and narration that he is expected to accomplish. Yesterday he told me at the end of the day that he did "a whole lot of writing". He was working on some written narrations from this week's reading assignments, including a five paragraph story summary for Tell-Tale Heart (using IEW Unit 3). He was not complaining because he really does enjoy writing his thoughts out after reading and digesting. I think that his love of writing is because a Charlotte Mason style education gives a certain amount of freedom to the student to show what he took away from their reading, placing emphasis where they focused and making those connections between subjects as they arise. There are no real "right" and "wrong" answers.

Here are some additional highlights from the week.

We took an afternoon bike ride at the river (photo above.)
We shared some Edna St. Vincent Millay poetry: Recuerdo (read by the poet herself).
We enjoyed some Matisse paintings and I found a new favorite. Luxembourg Gardens.


Mr. B completed notebooking pages for William Taft, the Triple Alliance, and the Titanic. He also added to his timeline, opting to print images instead of sketch this week. (All pages from NotebookingPages.com.)
   
Week three is done and we will be taking next week off for some volunteer work and for some real unschooling time. This is part of our three weeks of school and one week off routine (taking two years to complete his senior year of high school). He will be doing some reading and a few other small tasks all at his leisure as the week goes by but it will be very informal.



We will be getting outdoors while the weather is still good and working on our Outdoor Hour Challenges from the newsletter. Join us!