I happened upon this cozy scene this afternoon when I was trying to figure out just where and if my older children were doing school. Of course, in Cate and Grace's little attic room. It's chilly out today and there are still screens in place of window glass so the blankets were a necessity.
The final photo is from Gideon's book he's reading about Thomas Jefferson (or Tommy Jeff, as Gideon and I like to call him. Don't ask.). Considering A Thomas Jefferson Education is probably my favorite home schooling book that best describes my educational philosophy (but isn't a perfect depiction because I stray from it where I feel I should), I was quite interested in reading what Jefferson considered a suitable way to learn each day.
In case you are having trouble reading it, he says to his daughter Patsy:
"From 8 to 10 o'clock practice music
From 10 to 1 dance one day and draw another
From 1 to 2 draw on the day you dance and write a letter the next day
From 3-4 practice French
From 4-5 exercise yourself in music
From 5 till bedtime read english, write, etc."
I find his emphasis on drawing and music interesting. One would assume the schedule would be filled from dawn till dusk with language lessons, sentence diagramming, Latin and the seemingly (to me) boring like. I asked my kids how they liked the schedule and they said it sounded too rigorous going without a break from 8 till bedtime. Our schedule is more like:
7-10 practice music (juggling 4 kids on 3 pianos ensures everyone gets more or less 2 hours of practice time)
10-12 math lesson,
12-2 reading, and sewing after that for Cate and Grace.
Writing happens most days as well.
Oh, we eat lunch, too, actually.
Evie is doing a more formal reading and writing lesson, and I am happy to reinvent the schedule if a project comes up that I think the children would get a lot out of, so our days don't quite look exactly like that, but you get the general rough, very rough, idea. And of course everything takes much longer than it should on paper so somehow this schedule doesn't get done till around 4 or 5 most days. Maybe I can cram an hour to draw in there. Wouldn't that be nice.
I think it's funny how Jefferson wrote to his daughter, "Learning will render you more worthy of my love." Not quite the general philosophy of our day, is it? Hahaha. I hope when my children read statements like that, as well as finding out about Patsy's recommended educational schedule, it will remind them that I am a very very very nice mommy.
