The 2011-2012 homeschool year has begun, and we're already behind with our first blog post! Let me just give a shortened run-through of what we've accomplished so far....
We started our travel in early July, and we began school when we got to Manila, Philippines. The goal wasn't for us to homeschool throughout the summer. Rather, it was for us to get a head-start because we knew we would be having lots of adventures that aren't purely academic and part of our structured homeschooling curriculum. (A bit of foreshadowing here: we didn't do much of any homeschooling in all of August...)
We are using the Calvert Homeschooling curriculum. It is sometimes more skill-oriented than we are accustomed; however, it's quite comprehensive. All 3 kids are studying composition, grammar, reading, spelling, science, social studies (for Max and Maya that includes geography and world history), math, and technology (which includes a typing tutor). In addition, Gabi (3rd grade) is studying Greek mythology and Famous Americans. Maya (6th grade) is studying art history (sculpture) and French, while Max (7th grade) is studying art history (architecture), Latin, and Spanish. There are plenty of books and papers to keep organized. Plus each child has his/her own web portal that includes online lessons and research resources.
We started school in Manila because, in the past, we haven't found many touristy things to do in that city. It was a little hectic at first for a couple of reasons. First of all, although the kids were eager to try out their new school materials, they weren't exactly ready to start school only a couple of weeks after summer vacation started. Also, we all had lots of questions about how the curriculum worked. (There is plenty of online work, and we had to figure out how to access some of the programs.) Plus, we had to get used to switching gears frequently -- from 7th grade Latin to 3rd grade science. It was a bit hectic at first. We continued to school the kids in Accra, Ghana, and the kids attended approximately 10 days of school by the end of July.
In August, we were in London for the month. Dean was working at the London School of Economics, and I (Cindy) decided that we would homeschool in a less traditional way. I didn't want us to be cooped up in a flat with books all day when the entire city of London is filled with great educational opportunities. Max and Maya attended Arsenal soccer camp for part of the month. However, some or all of the kids and I visited museums practically every day in August. Some of the museums (and museum-like) places we visited in London and which we highly recommend are:
1. Victoria and Albert Museum (museum of art and design)
http://www.vam.ac.uk/
2. Natural History Museum
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/
3. Kew Gardens
http://www.kew.org/ botony lesson!
4. Geoffrye Museum (furnishings from 1600-present)
http://www.geffrye-museum.org.uk/
5. Courtauld Museum (impressionist art)
http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/index.shtml
6. Tate Britain (art from 1500-present)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
7. Tate Modern (modern art)
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/
8. The Garden Museum
http://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/ another botony lesson!
9. Florence Nightingale Museum
http://www.florence-nightingale.co.uk/cms/ biology and public health lesson!
10. Portrait Gallery
http://www.npg.org.uk/
11. National Gallery
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
12. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/petrie
13. British Museum
http://www.britishmuseum.org/
14. Hampton Court Palace (occasional home of Henry VIII and 6 wives)
http://www.hrp.org.uk/hamptoncourtpalace/
We were sad to leave London because we became quite comfortable there. However, in early September, Dean had a conference in Helsinki, Finland on behavioral economcis and development. The kids got to see some of their favorite economists (Maya has had an affection for Sendhil Mullainathan ever since he kept stealing her crayons in 2006, officially known to the children as "the summer of Sendhil" as we travelled with him for 5 weeks in India). The first thing we did in Helsinki was visit the highly recommended science museum that Dean took Maya and Gabi to 2 years ago, but Max and I had never been. It's called the Heureka Museum, and it's awesome!
http://www.heureka.fi/portal/englanti/ We learned how to build an arch, we enjoyed a temporary exhibition about nutrition (where we learned that a green pepper is a better source of vitamin C than an orange), and we saw how coins are made. The exhibits are very hands-on. At some point, Max rode a bike on a wire across the top of the building. I think it was a balance/counter-balance lesson. (It was very safe. Here's a picture:
http://www.heureka.fi/portal/englanti/exhibitions/ )
After a couple of days in Helsinki, we headed to Cairo where Dean spoke at a conference on microfinance. We enjoyed visiting the Egyptian Museum
http://www.touregypt.net/egyptmuseum/egyptian_museum.htm where we saw King Tut's sarcophagus, mask, and all the jewelry that was inside his tomb. Then the next day we visited the pyramids and the Sphinx. We climbed inside a pyramid to see the tomb. Very cool! After that, we spent 3 days homeschooling again.
Now we are in Istanbul, our last major stop before heading home for a couple of weeks. Yesterday we visited the Archaeology Museum where we saw all sorts of great artifacts.
http://www.istanbularkeoloji.gov.tr/main_page Today, we walked 1 1/2 hours to the Hagia Sophia, a huge 1,500 year old Byzantine church that was converted to a mosque and then to a museum. I had learned about the Hagia Sophia in my art history class with my cousin Camille, and Max currently is studying the Byzantine period in his history text. The kids and Dean jumped up and down when we got inside, in honor of Camille, since that is what she said she did when she saw it for her first time too. Something tells me her enthusiasm was a bit more genuine than Dean's and the kids'. This afternoon we very much enjoyed seeing how the architects of this massive building were able to put a huge round dome over a squarish building. (It wasn't easy! The original dome collapsed after an earthquake shortly after it was built, and the builders had to find a better design.)
Anyway, tomorrow and Tuesday we plan to do more homeschooling before heading home. Of course Dean just kept the kids up past midnight playing Pandemic with them while I wrote this up, so I'm not sure how early a start we'll get. It's difficult to break away from the fun (and educational) touristy adventures (and game playing) to get back to a standard curriculum. We will have to work on finding a balance between appreciating our location and accomplishing more formal schooling. I suspect this isn't such a bad problem to have, though. :-)
