Tell me I'm not the only one!

Early this month I laid out the month for our homeschool daily work. Last fall I found a handy dandy way to keep track of attendance, lessons, and tests. One problem I am finding is that often we do not do gradable lessons and I do not do "tests". (well except for the ones Z~girl has at Time4Learning) How do I grade that? We work on learning goals until they are learned and for A~man that also includes LOTS of review on past goals. 

Oh, and planning activities for certain days? That totally went out the window. I would do better to write a list for the month of goals and plow through it as we get to it, without worrying that it was done on Wednesday morning and not Tuesday evening. This is no longer a kindergarten science curricululm we are talking about and I know in a couple short years I am going to really need to document Z~girl's eventual high school work if she wants to go to college. 

"Grades" are not essential to A~man's learning but still I like to document the skills he learns so I can build on them. With his developmental delays, to homeschool ADD/ADHD issues demands a whole different approach than his sister requires. 

When I start worrying about documenting things like grades I always feel like I am losing sight on what homeschooling truly means to our family. For us it is to allow both children to learn in a creative, open, and sometimes unstructured way as that is how both of them learn best. A~man needs a certain amount of routine, especially with meal times and special events, but I find the best learning days come on relaxed days when I'm not saying "we have to finish this now!"

I guess that is why we are definitely eclectic relaxed homeschoolers! It works for us.

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Last, but not least, are some pictures I took of the matchbox swaps we received in the mail. Both kids were absolutely tickled! Z~girl's was the artist Seurat who she loves and A~man's box contained an art museum of sorts with games and puzzles. It's truly amazing what learning you can fit into such small boxes!