I made a wonderful discovery over our spring break! I noticed that our best and most enjoyable learning experiences come when I have not planned anything. I did not really need to question why. I knew. We are more relaxed and able to follow what delights us on those days. But the learning still takes place. I am able to guide and encourage the girls on those days as they explore a topic together. Days like that leave us all more content at the end of the day. I have decided that needs to be our approach everyday. The girls and I (since I know what they need to learn) decide on a topic or book to study. We brainstorm every question or idea that we would like to explore. And this is where the delight-directed idea comes in. If Gracie is interested in the art of a certain period, she is free to explore that more in-depth. If Madelyn would rather explore the food or clothing of that same period, she is free to explore that. I teach them how to research on their own, how to document their learning in their journals, etc. At the end of a topic, they get to choose a project to share what they've learned. That project will be shown to a family member as closure for the topic. Math will be a separate workbook. Reading will still be done in the readers I have right now, but I am also encouraging Gracie to read magazines, newspapers, picture books, etc.
Here's what we did today.
Learned a new verse and song
danced to the song
read the Creation story in the Bible
played with coins (sorting, reviewed names and amounts)
cleaned pennies with vinegar and salt, journaled about experiment (also counted as handwriting)
listened to Madelyn "read" The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Busy Spider
practiced beginning sounds with Madelyn using game pieces from The Very Hungry Caterpillar game, the girls also "played" the game on their own
updated nature notebook to show that our caterpillars turned into chrysalises
completed a Venn Diagram (in the shape of a caterpillar) on the two books
Gracie read to us from her reader
read a caterpillar poem
listened to Jonathan Park during our Listening Lunch
created a Bible journal and Gracie made a Jesus and his disciples page, Madelyn practiced her name
read Amelia Bedelia to Madelyn
looked at images of other chrysalises
And only a few of those things were planned.
Excited to let the Holy Spirit guide us!