The Alveary Team is always happy to answer your questions. We are sharing two queries this week that we hope will be helpful to you all!
Query: What if I can’t finish all the subjects in a given week? Won’t this catch up with me during exam week?
Charlotte Mason encouraged us to leave any unfinished work at the end of a term and start fresh, incorporating those materials into afternoon free reads or family read-alouds, as suggested in Home Education. This emphasizes the importance of thoughtful planning at the beginning of each term. If you haven't already, we recommend reviewing the Reflective Practice Plan Book, particularly the "Teachers as Persons" section. Consider your available margin—this will help you complete the term's work within the allotted time. If you started the term with just a few subjects, continue with those while gradually incorporating new ones. Instead of diving straight into the current term's schedule, ease in by beginning with the new subjects. Also, term exams can be administered even if you haven't covered all the material. The goal is growth, not "teaching to the test," so feel free to adjust the exam questions as needed.
Keep in mind that Home Education is written for children aged 9 and under, so the child's age plays a significant role. When children are younger, unfinished work might be due to parental or home-related issues, time management challenges, or other circumstances. As they grow older, they should become more independent, and their workload will naturally increase. Mason's students often had school on Saturdays, and some activities we now do during the week were originally scheduled for Sundays, afternoons, or evenings. Adapting Mason's schedule to fit a five-day week in a multi-grade setting without a governess or nurse can be challenging.
Consider extending the term to 13 weeks to include a buffer week, accounting for life's interruptions, appointments, and other obligations. For subjects like Shakespeare, you might spread the readings over two terms, alternating with other subjects every other week. Similarly, handicrafts, art instruction, and modern language can be scheduled less frequently—handicrafts every other week, art instruction and modern language once a week (modern language twice a week for grades 4-6).
You have the flexibility to make adjustments and think creatively. Some subjects might need to be done on Saturday mornings or in the evenings, such as science experiments, Shakespeare readings, or art instruction. You could also enlist help from others, like having a grandparent assist with a subject over Zoom. Starting your day earlier can also make a big difference, as students tend to be more productive in the morning.
Query (from the Hive): I have been consistently underwhelmed by my two oldest students’ answers to the intro and conclusion questions for the science labs. They are really not trying at all when doing these questions. If your student has enjoyed answering these or has some thoughtful responses, would you mind sharing some of them here? I’d love to give my kids some concrete examples of good effort.
What an excellent and important observation! The question we always have to ask before determining our response is why. Why is the student behaving this way? What is this communicating to me?
Probably the most common “why” to this observation is that the learner hasn’t yet learned the habit of thinking like a scientist. They will tend to offer vague responses or may even say, “I don’t understand what’s being asked.” This mental habit has to be trained and is best accomplished through conversation with a teacher-guide. In time, the voice of the teacher is internalized and continues to support this habit of thinking. The conversation is generalized through the intro and conclusion questions in the lab book. For some learners, this is enough, but just like any new form of narrating and thinking, many learners need someone to come alongside to model and practice it with them until they understand and are comfortable.
(Incidentally, another type of habit training that must be accomplished in this stage of learning is how to follow directions. Students who have not yet learned this habit will often skip steps, think they are stuck because they haven’t read the next step yet, etc. Modeling the discipline of going step-by-step and asking ‘what comes next?’ is the most effective way to guide this habit formation. Here again, the guidance will be internalized in time.)
Another “why” sometimes connected to this observation is that the learner knows either too much or too little about the topic for their curiosity to be stimulated. They might complain that they are bored or “don’t see the point” of what they are doing. If a student was previously doing well, already had good scientific habits, and the difficulty is something new, then this is often what’s going on, especially if the student is at/near a developmental transition. The teacher-philosopher can help by adjusting the content to meet the boundary between what they know and what they want to know. For example, if a learner seems to know too little to have any curiosity term after term, then the teacher might move them back a level or two. Or perhaps the learner seems close, but just needs to move at a slower pace or have the teacher act as a lab partner for a term or two. When the learner knows too much for the provided content to stimulate their curiosity, the teacher might direct them to the extra helpings or encourage them to customize the lab by asking their own questions. For example, one learner who had little interest in some of the microscope labs in Grade 4 declared that they would rather compare cheek swabs of their pets. After challenging the learner to consider how they would accomplish this, they teamed up with their veterinarian and made it happen.
One more “why” that is important to consider is that the learner might be in a smaller “room” than we have anticipated. Some students become so hyper-focused on their special interest that it can be difficult to try anything new. It is important for the teacher-friend to validate and honor their passion even while gently encouraging them to enlarge the room that they are in. For example, a learner that has little interest in astronomy might have a difficult time in 7th grade science. But if that learner is interested in cars, the teacher might be able to stimulate some interest by learning about space vehicles. Or if that learner is interested in birds, the teacher might be able to stimulate some interest by getting to know some bird-constellations or by noticing the mechanics of flight. The Science Buddies website can be a great help for this type of accommodation.
Notes
1. Rembrandt is in the Wind: We hope you are enjoying this book and plan to join us for a book discussion on September 4th at 3:30pm-4:30pm EST. Here is a link to the questions we will discuss.
2. Office Hours: Join us for Office Hours on Thursday, September 5th from 3:30-4:30 (EST) to discuss combining students, choosing which subjects to do, and getting behind on lessons. Please submit any questions in this Hive Event by Wednesday, September 4th at 4 pm (EST).
3. Giveaway: Check out this Instagram Giveaway and WIN a FREE Virtual ticket to the 2024 Joy of Making Conference and other goodies! 🌟
4.. Advanced Academic Writing II: All of the page number references for Advanced Academic Writing II in the composition lesson plans for grades 11 and 12 have been updated to match the latest edition of the book that is linked in the Program. Please reprint or redownload the lesson plans to see these updates.
5. Exams: Term 1 Exams are posted on your dashboard! If you’re an Alveary+ member, you can find exams in the “Teacher Notes” for exam assignments in your planner.
6. Latin 1-4: All of the Teacher Manuals for Units 1-4 are now out of print. They offer the Digital Teacher Resource for a 1-year or 3-year subscription. You can obtain the subscription by calling the Cambridge University Press Customer Service team at 1-800-872-7423 or email them at orders@cambridge.org.
7. Alveary Planning Guide: We are beta testing a new Alveary Planning Guide. We invite you to view the full guide here and give us your thoughts.
8. Prepared Slide Set: The Prepared Slide Set (used in High School Biology and optional this year for Grade 8 Natural History) has been updated by the manufacturer. The link for the updated set has been added to the supply list. The list/key to the slides in either set is provided on Amazon’s product pages for comparison: original set and updated set. While they are not necessary for Grade 8 Natural History, you will need to refer to these keys if you are using the updated set for Lesson 2. The slide numbers referenced in the Grade 8 Natural History lesson plans are for the original set.
