Please share!
Bible, History, Geography. Grammar, Math, and Spelling. Science, Literature, Writing.
That’s a lot to fit into a day month.
How about art, music, Spanish? PE, programming, drama?
How in the world are we to teach it all? This week’s Blog Cruise, over on the TOS Homeschool Crew blog, poses the question:
How do you incorporate the extras, like art and music, into your day?
My quick answer is, “I don’t!” But that’s a little misleading. What I really do is get some help!
There is just no way that I have time to lesson plan for all of these subjects, much less squeeze them all into our daily work. So for subjects such as art, music, programming, Spanish, PE and drama, I make use of opportunities outside our daily grind. For example:
Drama: One of our local children’s theatres offers a summer camp as well as workshops throughout the year, usually on Saturdays. Ben loves acting and participation in this program has been a fun learning experience for him.
Art: While I would love to work art more into our normal routine, I simply have not been about to do it. To make up for that, I have signed Ben up to take art classes in a local co-op now and then. We also keep a plethora of art supplies, art instruction and drawing books, and art appreciation books around the house for him to use during his free time. We also take the opportunity to visit art museums any chance we get. And my new very favorite online resource is Google Art Project!
Music: Soon, Ben and I will both be taking lessons in Applachian dulcimer. We’re very excited about that. Other than that, we listen to music a lot. We love the Classical Kids Collection! We also have several books about composers and I will sometimes put those into our book basket for extra reading time.
Spanish: We have done a few things for Spanish in the past, including a Spanish co-op class. We have lots of Spanish books, CDs, games, etc. Recently Ben has begun an online Spanish class with Homeschool Spanish Academy. He logs on and has a one-on-one class with a native speaker, using Skype. I don’t have to do a thing to prepare or teach. I think we’re going to love this!
Keyboarding/Programming: Ben loves the computer, so much of this learning happens naturally as he explores. I have provided Ben with some basic instructional manuals and I’ve taught him how to use Word and PowerPoint. At some point, I’d like to find an outside class for him in this area. This is something he really enjoys. I would like for him to learn more than I can teach him.
PE: Ben plays outdoors almost every day. He rides his bike, skateboards, runs around. He also plays sports off and on — soccer, baseball, basketball. Recently, he has taken tennis lessons. He doesn’t show a particular passion for a certain sport so I am fine with his daily play and occasional sports activities being enough for PE.
As you can see, it’s become important to me that Ben either learn about these subjects on his own, or have an outside teacher for them. I don’t see any way to accomplish much learning in these areas without help. I suppose I could sacrifice other areas for more instruction from me in these subjects, but it’s just not a priority to do so. I know that as long as I am providing opportunities in these areas, it’s really enough right now.
So how do you incorporate these “extras” into your day?
Please share!
