School is starting around the nation

Many homeschoolers follow a schedule that mimics the public school schedule, so this week and last was probably the beginning of school for many homeschooling families.

I never really stop educating my son because it is my firm belief that you learn something new every day. Also, I don't want to get him out of the habit of learning. However, because he has friends in regular school we do lighten up a bit during summer.

I know I sound like I'm being too strict by continuing school through the summer, but Nick doesn't even realize it because I use the unschooling method for the most part and let him direct his own education. Because of this, he's actually the one deciding to continue his education through summer.

This summer Nick learned a great deal about making stop-motion videos and other short movies (using our digital camera and Flip video camera) and editing them in iMovie (we're on Macs at our house). We got him his own YouTube account and let his creativity soar.



Nick also learned a great deal about research as he spent a lot of his time looking for video game walkthroughs and other video game-related information. He got an education in setting goals, saving and spending because of these same video game desires. Every day I'd come home from work and he would tell me what he learned that day. I don't care that it's about video games because I know he's developing a lot of Internet search skills that will serve him well into the future.

Now the real work begins
But now with the official start of school I've developed a loose educational plan. Because he was so interested in video games and creating movies, I thought we'd continue his education with the software programs he was researching plus learn a little more about graphic design and programming. I know enough about graphic design to be of help there, but I turn to others for the programming part (Lynda.com helps out there along with all the free tutorials I can find).

There's a free program called Unity that allows you to build video games and they have a lot of tutorials to help you get started. We are going to be looking over that and learning more about actually creating a video game. Because there's a lot that goes into it, he will be learning coding, art, math, writing (or at least story development) and more. Hopefully we'll have something I can share with everyone and their children by the end of the year (or later, I don't know yet).

I'm also going to be ordering the Adobe Design Suite for him to begin working on graphic arts and design. Because I homeschool I can get MAJOR discounts from Academic Superstore on the set.

Still considering the curriculum
Even though unschooling is my main method of teaching Nick, I still have this nagging feeling I need to teach him the mainstay stuff they teach in public schools: history, science, math, etc. So I use all the free videos and online resources I can find (YouTube, the History Channel, National Geographic Kids) to help out with that. I also sign on to a lot of iTunes Podcasts which are free and very helpful in sharing important information. I recently joined a local homeschool group too and we have a lot of group activities planned that will allow the kids to learn a variety of information (ecology, food preparation, conservation, etc.) as well as hang out together and learn from each other.

Excited for the possibilities
I have a lot of expectations for this school year, but I will let things go as they wish to go. I hope everyone has a great school year. Please share your plans for the year and any ideas you have or triumphs and anything else you'd like to share. I love to hear from other parents on their educational goals and successes with their children.

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