Acquara Independent School

*Note: FTR, as required by law, I notified and got a confirmation letter from the ESD that A and N are home schooled students. Their records put them in 1st grade for the 2012-2013 school year (when I would say they will be second graders) but this is just how they handle homeschool kids based on birthdays and it doesn’t really matter anyway. So, I have complied with the laws until June of 2015, in which the deadline for the first required standardized test comes up. (Mark that on my calendar!) That will probably be done through VH. I may decide to test them next year, as a “practice test” as it will be our third grade year, but ESD counts them as second graders. Confirmation letters are filed in Evernote.

Portland can really homeschool your kids for you. You just have to get them places. This is why I really understand the appeal of unschooling, although still can’t let go enough to pull it off. (Also because Naim, in particular, and possibly Avery needs the consistency of a constructivist, spiral curriculum in things like math and reading. He needs the routine and repetition. Aaron could be the poster boy for unschooling, though.)

I think of this because today we went to the OutPost. And I just have to take them there, and then encourage them to do three or four things, and poof! It is pretty much the equivalent of a whole school day. There are many things like this. But the outpost could totally be a model to run public schools after. There are just a lot of activities around to pick and choose from, and the kids can go to them and stay as long or short as they please. There is always a craft, there are always games and books, there is always “nutrition training”, there is often science experiments, spanish language stuff, safety stuff, etc. It is right next to the library and today the library sponsored a magician to come. Beef that up with a few more community groups to come in and put together fun units on all different subjects and perhaps a service learning project or two and you’ve got yourself a free school. The kids are happy there.

Filed under: ADLs, Art, Communication, Drama, Fieldtrips, Physical Education, Social Skills | Tagged: The Outpost |