Not that the girls were not getting a good education traveling, learing geography, animals, life experience, and everything else we encounter in the next 10 months, but we want, at least semi-scheduled, schooling.
We decided to start school on a specific date, August 7th to be specific. We had already download on the girls devices apps that allows them to math problems. Brooklyn does two sets of 10 problems of each addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Kaleigh does one set of 100 of both addition and subtraction. This has been taking them anywhere from 20-40 minutes. The both like math and we hear little complaints about the math portion.
Next, we have a set time 30-60 minutes that they write in their journal. This has been the fight. Kaleigh likes to write so it is easy for her. She can knock out a couple pages and be happy with it. Brooklyn, it is a different story. The problem with Brooklyn is not necessarily the writing, it's the writing about her experiences. She much rather be writing a funny or fantasy story. What we get when writes about her experience is “I saw a bird”, that was after 20 minutes. This has been a constant battle with her. We have been trying to find a middle ground where she enjoys the writing, but she is still recording her experience. Let’s say it is still a work in progress. I am starting to call it Elizabeth’s homework figure this out!!
After we struggle through writing portion the girls read for about 60 minutes. We signed up with Kindle Unlimited prior to leaving and it has worked well. There seems to be plenty of a select for the girls so far. I know it has barely been a week, but the both have a list they want to read already. After the first reading session, we did figure out that we needed to set timelines, such as you have to Saturday to finish the book. The first several days after reading for a bit they just started to stare at the pages … they had no incentive to finish it. Setting the deadline seems to be working right now, but we will see how long. Kaleigh is currently reading Silly Jokes for Silly Kids and Brooklyn is currently reading Lemonade War. Additionally, Elizabeth is reading Mary Poppins to the girls for 20-30 minutes.
The state of Tennessee requires the girls to do about 20 hours of work per week. There “assignments” are taking up 3 hours. Since, schools has started we have been on tour nearly every day of historical city or ancient ruins. The have explored and found fossils from 420 millions years ago, just outside the Sahara dessert. The have seen ancient nomadic remnants of the Berber people form prior to 800 BC. They have walked through and learned about the ancient Roman ruins of Volubilis, which dates 800 BC. They have learned of the histories of Casablanca, Fez, Rabat, Marrakesh and walked through the Medina of each of the cities. I think they are getting a little bit tired of history…especially in 100+ degree weather.
In addition to the history of the areas the girls are learning about religion. Prior to this trip, they had very limited exposure to religion outside the Christian faith. The have toured several Mosque, including the third largest in world. The have visited several Synagogues one dating back to the 17th century. The will still visit Buddhist temples in Vietnam, Tibetan Monasteries, and the Vatican in Rome. The trip should be a well round education in religion.
Anyways, back to finishing out the 20 hours a week for the girls. We have just started using Khan Academy for grammar for 30-60 minutes. We have been working on adding some science lessons and computer programming. The girls have both agreed they want to work on building a program, so part of the school work will be learning Apple’s Swift.
We know this plan may need to change, as it already has, but that is the beginning of the girls school year.
