Setting Goals in Project-Based Homeschooling

A few weeks ago, I shared a little bit about my new role as a teacher-mentor under Project-Based Homeschooling. This week, I wanted to share how we have started incorporating basic goal-setting skills into our PBH journey.

Ideally, I would like to get to the point where the sprouts are able to set Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely goals-- usually abbreviated to SMART goals-- and be able to make a plan to reach them. However, I think that some of those concepts would be pretty abstract for my learners at their ages and experience levels. So, I have been trying approach their goal setting a little bit differently.

We have started discussing project goals at each of our monthly conferences. Once the sprouts give me a goal, such as building or sewing, we then talk about the steps we need to accomplish the goal. Usually, we generate a list of 3-5 specific actions that will help accomplish the goal. For example, when Second Sprout set her building goal, we felt that looking at library books, saving recyclable materials, and buying some new tools would help her reach that goal. At first, I would offer suggestions on possible steps, but I am gradually trying to step back from that and let the sprouts plan the steps themselves.

By the time we had our second round of conferences in November, the sprouts had a better idea of what to expect. Both of the older sprouts had a goal and some of their steps ready to go for our discussion. Second Sprout was interested in building with milk jugs, while First Sprout wanted to switch gears and study cats instead. However, I added a new component to their goal setting for these conferences-- they had to come up with an idea for sharing what they are learning. Second Sprout immediately suggested making a book of her creations, while First Sprout took much more conversation and thought to reach an idea. She eventually decided that she was interested in planning and hosting an art show of cat-themed works.

Now, I have to say that these goals sound incredibly awesome, but neither of the sprouts have followed through as of yet. Most of their Project Time has been spent on other pursuits, which is really crucial to their process of becoming self-directed learners. It's entirely possible that they will end up switching goals again at our next round of conferences. Practice is the key here.

And goodness knows that I haven't reached (or even started) all of the goals I ever set for myself.

I don't want everyone to think that we have perfected anything here. Rather, I want to share what we're doing and how it's going in case our experience might be useful to others. So, I'm okay if they don't start hitting their goals right off the bat. For me, it's all part of the process.

One thing I CAN do as they practice is model my own goal-setting skills. Currently, I have two projects going. One is Project-Based Homeschooling itself, as I try to navigate this new routine, conduct my research, and practice new skills. While I do (try to) make a habit of sharing this journey on the blog, it's maybe still a bit abstract for demonstrating the whole goal-setting process to the sprouts. So I created a second project for myself-- learning to crochet-- and set goals as well as steps I needed to get there. The sprouts got to see me skimming books and watching videos and creating samplers. They got to see my pull out stitches and puzzle over patterns and get impatient over interruptions. To be honest, I think they have been prouder of my accomplishments than even I am. They are rather fond of telling everyone they meet that "Mom is learning how to crochet-- she made that scarf all by herself!" I plan to keep working on my crochet and setting new goals for myself to keep this momentum going.

For the foreseeable future, I plan to continue working on our goal-setting skills in our conferences and through modeling the process. While we are not at the point of following through on independently-created SMART goals, we are practicing and learning a lot in the process.

Until next time,

Happy Learning!

Getting Started with Project-Based Homeschooling

At the beginning of our school year, I decided that I wanted to set some clear goals for learning. After a lot of thought,  I finally settled on: focus, persistence, asking questions, solving problems, and self-motivation. A few weeks into the year, we realized that the way we had been schooling wasn't working. The sprouts were distracted, bored, and annoyed with any sort of paperwork that I assigned. Even the projects I planned were often hit-or-miss. Anything that I gave them to do with a specific end product in mind resulted in disappointment and frustration.

So, I decided to step back. I retreated to stacks of books and internet forums. I chatted a lot with my husband and other homeschooling friends. I finally settled into reading Lori Pickert's Project-Based Homeschooling, and I had an epiphany. Workbooks, guided writing, and parent-led projects were not going to meet ANY of our learning goals for this year.

But Project-Based Homeschooling hits ALL of them.

I wasn't in a good space at the time to drop everything and switch to PBH, but I did start incorporating some open-ended Project Time into our day. Once I tied up some loose ends, we were able to incorporate still more Project Time. I tried to hang on to some of our routine school work those first few weeks, but it quickly became apparent that the more my sprouts directed their own learning, the less they wanted anything to do with what I was planning.

It's been hard for me to take, especially as a trained teacher. But I believe in my kids, and if they need a few weeks to immerse themselves in projects, then I can support that. Honestly, the holidays are huge distraction anyway, so I know they will learn a lot more by doing their own thing that they can fully focus on. Once the holidays are over, we can re-evaluate our school day and see what needs to be done.

A glimpse at our project space (formerly known as the dining room).

In the meantime, I will probably be just as busy as the sprouts. One of the great things about Project-Based Homeschooling is that I'm not entirely out of the picture; my job just looks a lot different. Here are a few things I have been working on to facilitate the sprouts' project work:

1) Provide an organized, well-stocked work space

This "job" came pretty easily, since I have always worked to make art supplies, craft materials, and learning tools accessible to the sprouts. It's a bit tricky to fit everything in our dining room where we have our project space, However, I really like having our work space centrally located and integrated heavily with our regular life.

2) Document their learning

This one is a little trickier since I don't have the patience to write long, detailed records each day, but I'm not entirely sure that's necessary. Instead, I have continued my habit of taking anecdotal notes and photographing the sprouts' work into a dedicated "project notebook" that I make visible to them. I also keep a book list, quotes, and other snippets of ideas in my notebook for later reference.

3) Practice what I preach

Modeling is a powerful yet under-utilized tool in education. I once read that "children will do as you do before they do as you say," and this is especially true with PBH. In this spirit, I have actually started my own project-- learning to crochet. I have tried to make my learning steps (goal-setting, research, practice, mistakes, more practice, more goal setting) visible to the sprouts. I like to think that the more I learn and self-motivate in their presence, the more they will pick up on those habits as well.

4) Be a good listener

One of the practices I wanted to implement when we started PBH is conferencing. I was used to having conferences with parents and conferences with students in the classroom, but it never really occurred to me to have conferences with my own kids. I think I just kind of assumed that I was present enough to already know what they would say. To some extent that was true, but I was really taking away their agency by making that assumption. We have had two sets of conferences now (one at a time, at the local bakery, just for fun) and the sprouts are thriving on the undivided attention and opportunity to communicate their needs. We get to talk about what is and is not working, how they want me (if they want me) to assist with projects, and set goals for what they want to do. Knowing that I'm listening, focused, and taking notes has been really meaningful to the sprouts.

5) Give them time

We are still working to make Project Time a part of our everyday life, but it's not always going to happen on my schedule. Even though we didn't plan Project Time specifically over the Thanksgiving holiday, we often found the sprouts working on their projects anyway. My husband remarked on how First Sprout was up and working on her projects first thing in the morning a few times. As a planner, this can be challenging for me. I want to be present during their projects, but I know that it's really important for them to be independent and work on their own time tables. So, I am working on finding a balance of setting aside specific Project Time for me to be present and available to help. Then the sprouts always have the opportunity to work on their projects independently and spontaneously, knowing that I maybe be busy doing something else and unable to help. The important thing is that they have the time to think their own thoughts, to dream their own dreams, to plan their own plans.

Overall, I have really been enjoying Project-Based Homeschooling, even if it has meant changing the way we do things. In some ways, it feels a lot more like summer when the sprouts were much more self-directed. It will be interesting to see how it goes as we gain more experience and more learning into the process. It's important to me that they know it is a process, and we will make mistakes. But we can learn just as much (if not more) from the mistakes as we will from the successes.

Until next time,

Happy Learning!

Art Theme, Week 8 (Space)

We made it to the last week of our art theme-- huzzah! It was a really fun theme, but it was also challenging to finish because our homeschool day is undergoing a major shift toward more child-directed and project-based learning. The upshot of sticking through all eight elements of art is that we have a great foundation in how to discuss art moving forward.

For our final week, we focused on the element of Space, which involves creating the illusion of depth on a flat surface. First Sprout did a great job looking through pieces of artwork and finding the different techniques that could be used (to be honest, Second Sprout pretty much tuned out here-- probably a good sign that she wasn't ready for it). We also really enjoyed looking at the works of Mary Cassatt and talking about how she revolutionized art by painting pictures of women and children going about their ordinary lives. First Sprout is starting to pick up the threads on this sort of historical context, which is exciting for me.

We finished our "Art Smart" anchor chart, painted with perspective, and experimented with a new-to-us medium of chalk pastels. The sprouts LOVED blending with the chalk pastels, and I have a feeling it is going to be a new fan favorite. The only challenge was making sure that no one blew chalk dust everywhere, so I had to make that a one-and-done rule to keep everyone's lungs healthy. Without further adieu, I'm going to share a bunch of pictures from our adventures in art this week.

First Sprout's independently initiated painting using techniques of perspective. The dots in the background are people in the distance compared to the larger person up close.

Third Sprout loved the bright colors and new texture of chalk pastels.

First Sprout's still life in chalk pastels. She chose the subject independently.

Second Sprout's still life in chalk pastels (she liked First Sprout's idea and replicated it in her own style).

Everyone hard at work exploring their new art tools.

Saving the least exciting for last, here's a look at our final "Art Smart" anchor chart.

Thanks for sticking with me for the last few weeks of our Art Theme. It's been a lot of fun and very informative, but it's definitely time for us to take what we've learned and move forward. We are devoting more of our school day toward Project-Based learning, which the sprouts and I are really excited about. Although I had considered using this week to wrap-up and do a "final" sort of art project, the sprouts have fully-embraced Project-Based Homeschooling and taken up their own things. First Sprout is immersed in designing and sewing doll clothes, while Second Sprout has embraced building. I am mostly tasked with sitting back, observing, and recording the proceedings. That sort of active watching is challenging for me, but I know it will be worth it in the long run to give the sprouts some more independence.

Eventually I hope to have some more things to share about our journey with PBH, but the weekly blog posts will probably cool for awhile. Until next time,

Happy Learning!

Art Theme, Week 7 (Form)

We are nearing the end of our Art Theme, and thankfully we've managed to maintain our interest! First Sprout is back to enjoying the projects a lot more, especially since I've loosened my expectations and allowed her more freedom to simply explore the materials. For week 7, we took a look at the art element of Form and the work of artist Andy Warhol.

We were fortunate enough to find a neat book at the library featuring work of many artists contemporary with Warhol. (I believe that it was titled Art In the Time of Andy Warhol.) It had a wonderful array of painting, sculpture, photography, and performance art that were perfect for us to use in our discussion on form. We also read Josefina by Jeannette Winter, which is gorgeous book about Josefina Aguilar, a real-life Mexican folk-artist who sculpts and paints clay figures. We were inspired by Josefina to work with some air-dry modeling clay.

Later in the week, we looped back to Warhol with a narrower focus on some of his pop art prints. I found this super cool activity from Seeds Network that uses highlighters over top of printed photographs to re-create some of the funky, pop-art vibe of Warhol's work. I printed photos of each of the kids out on cardstock and let them go to town. It was lots of fun!

Lighter-colored markers and highlighters were great tools for the pop-art photo project.

First Sprout shares her funky, finished photo.

Second Sprout works to fill in her big blocks of space with color.

Overall we had a great week with our Art Theme (although some of our other subjects were still tough!). This will probably be the last theme that I plan for awhile since I want to give the sprouts an opportunity to explore some more Project-Based learning and self-directed studies. I'm excited to be moving in a new direction, but the planner in me is completely anxious. I know that Project-Based Homeschooling will be a big learning experience for all of us, and I'm super motivated by pouring over Camp Creek Blog for ideas. The sprouts have already been kicking around plans for what they want to study next, so I might be able to start sharing some of that process soon. In the meantime, we are on to our last (official) week of Art Theme by learning about the element of Space and the works of Mary Cassatt. We make have a wrap-up project or two for the following week to give us some closure, but we should be ready to move on by November. Ch-ch-changes ahead.

Until next time,

Happy Learning!

Art Theme, Week 6 (Texture)

We did indeed end up taking a week off in between parts 5 and 6 of our Art Theme; however, it wasn't quite the relaxing break I had anticipated. As usual, life threw us a curve ball and we would have needed the week off to handle things anyway. But rather than take a second week break, I decided that perhaps we were better off trying to press forward and wrap things up before we switched gears.

So last week, we continued learning about the art element Texture and the works of Wassily Kandinsky. I actually ended up creating my own book of photographs showing texture as a way to expand the sprouts' vocabulary beyond "bumpy" and "smooth." It ended up being a great photographic exercise that left me feeling a bit like one of my children's book idols, Tana Hoban.

After introducing the idea of texture and vocabulary, we used a macro lens attachment for my smart phone to go on a "texture hunt." The sprouts searched throughout the house for items with really interesting textures that we could photograph up close with the lens. The results were stunning, and we ended up printing the photographs the same afternoon.

First Sprout's macro photography of a dress-up dragon cloak.

Second Sprout's macro photography of a bean bag.

We also learned about the work of Wassily Kandinsky through viewing his art and reading The Noisy Paintbox by Barb Rosenstock (with illustrations by Mary GandPre!). The idea of painting what you feel rather than painting what you see seemed to resonate with First Sprout especially. She ended up being motivated to draw a Kandinksy-inspired work right away.

First Sprout's Kandinsky-inspired artwork.

I had originally planned to try this Circles in Felt activity, but it turned out that regular old markers ended up taking precedence that day. It's a super neat idea though (and what a way to tie texture and Kandinsky together!) so I think I'll keep it in my pocket for a snowy day.

Next up, we are going to explore the element of Form and the works of Andy Warhol. The following week, we will be wrapping up with the element of Space and the art of Mary Cassatt. It's hard to believe that we are so close to finishing our thematic study of art and the first 9 weeks of school!

Until next time,

Happy Learning!

Art Theme, Week 5 (Pattern)

I've seen Pattern on some lists of art elements but not others. I decided to include it because: (1) it also hits math standards, and (2) it seemed like a good fit for our studies of Alma W. Thomas this week.

If I'm really, really honest though, it was a rough week for our art unit. I'm not sure if the theme is wearing thin, if I'm directing things too much, or if it was just one of those random off-weeks.

Some of the challenges started with planning. As it turns out, there is no children's literature based on Alma Thomas's work. I thought about writing my own thing but could not quite sort out how to go about that in time for our lesson. So I resorted to a brief bio and a digital gallery of her work, which didn't hook the kids at all.

We also did an art project, based on this awesome post I found.

I had visions of these beautiful, colorful mosaics with all of the white spaces filled in with bright paint chips.

I gathered beautiful paint chips, cut them into random shapes, and sorted them by color.

I made glue sponges.

Paint chips and glue sponges!

And when I shared all of this with the sprouts, their reaction was "meh." They felt that the glue was too messy and the pieces were too small and this project was taking too long.

Second Sprout's paint compact chip collage.

They still made some cool artwork and experimented with a new medium, but it wasn't quite the result I had envisioned. And therein lies the problem. I went into this project with too many expectations and too much investment. The sprouts have their own ideas and their own tastes that didn't mesh with mine. Which is all perfectly normal and (usually) perfectly fine, but just so happened to bum me out this time. A lot.

Third Sprout's cool paint chip collage.

Thankfully, I don't think this particular frustration affected the kids. And in the grand scheme of things, this is a very mild thing to be frustrated about. But we had an off week in general, and the only day everyone was really happy was the day we took off to celebrate the autumn equinox. So we're going to take a break from our Art Theme next week and see if that improves everyone's perspective on things. I'm always so grateful that we have the flexibility to pause and breathe when we need it.

After our break, I think we'll try to pick back up with our theme by studying Vasily Kandinsky and the element of Texture. I'm hoping that the sprouts will enjoy the change of pace-- I know I will! Until next time,

Happy Learning!

Autumnal Equinox 2015

Fall is pretty much my favorite season. I love the weather, the clothes, the food, the colors, the holidays.

Everything about fall is amazing.

So we are making it an annual tradition to take our break from our usual school routine to celebrate the first day of fall. Last year, we took a walk on a nature trail to make observations and enjoy the signs of a changing season. This year, we are sticking closer to home, but we are still marking the changes anyway.

First Sprout designed and sewed her own felt owl.

First Sprout's super sweet felt owl, named Pumpkin Pie.

We colored these delicious fall pages.

Second Sprout enjoys coloring our cool art pages.

Zucchini bread was baked and devoured.

And our Halloween fall decorations are hung.

All-in-all it's been a successful day, and it's scarcely even lunch time. We have lots of time left for going outside and playing in the afternoon. I know for a fact that we have black walnuts to pick up out of the yard, and we might have just enough leaves on the ground for a moderately-sized leaf pile. It never ceases to amaze me how much still happens even on our "slow" days. I'm looking forward to tucking in and enjoying more slow days in the months ahead.

Happy Fall!