Homeschool Mission and Goals

Updated as of 7/14/2010

We aim to experience a God-Centered, Catholic-Inspired Blend of Montessori, Charlotte Mason, Reggio, Classical and Other Inspirational Approaches in Tune with the Massachusetts Department of Education Guidelines for Preschool Learning Experiences

Our Mission

Each day, we will seek to follow “Our Rule of Seven”(*Giving credit where credit is due, please see the note at the bottom of this post!):

• Love God.
• Love others.
• Love moving.
• Love beauty (nature, art, music, culture, etc.)
• Love working.
• Love playing.
• Love learning.

Some Goals We Have For Meeting Our Mission

Some ways we can love God are by praying, reading His word, exploring Bible stories, focusing on faith formation and trying to be like Jesus.  Nina adds “by kissing each other,” or showing our love to others in His name, and Luke adds “by cleaning up”, or creating order and being good stewards, as God asks us to do.  (Now, if Luke would only balk less at actually cleaning up!)

Some ways we can love others are by sharing, being kind and taking time to help and visit them. Nina adds “by going to Nana’s an Papa’s”, or spending time with loved ones, and Luke adds “by kissing and hugging”, or showing affection.

Some ways we can love moving are to enjoy lots of physical activity inside and out (outside whenever possible!) at regular times throughout our days.  Nina adds “climbing”, or practicing skills that use our muscles and coordination, while Luke adds “by moving flowers by digging them out of the ground”, or doing heavy work to make our home and yard more beautiful.

Some ways we can love beauty are by noticing interesting things in nature, enjoying making and listening to music, acting out stories and getting creative while doing and observing art. Nina adds “playing with flowers”, or noticing nature’s beauty, sketching, sculpting and enjoying it, while Luke adds “seeing fish and bumblebees, dogs and ducks”, or enjoying animals and nature.

Some ways we can love working are enjoying cooking and gardening, practicing new skills and having fun with clean up time. Nina adds “spraying”, or using a spray bottle and a rag to clean doorknobs, etc. in an effort to make our home a healthier one, while Luke adds “helping Daddy”, or working together with others on projects and tasks.

Some ways we can love playing are by using our imaginations, by playing inside and outside and by playing alone and with others.  Nina adds “making something …like triangles or something”, or creating shapes and structures out of Bendaroos, Legos, etc., while Luke adds “by building stuff”, or using his imagination to create cities and structures with a variety of open-ended toys.

Some ways love learning are by thinking of questions and discovering answers to them and by focusing our current learning on Our Core Four, Plus**, which is:

• Faith Formation
• Reading and Pre-Reading
• Writing and Pre-Writing
• Math Literacy  
• Plus Bonus Topics, Themes and Subjects (Skills and Habits, Art, Music, Sensory Exploration, Nature Studies, etc.)

 *Our Rule of Seven springs forth from ideas initiated from reading Melissa Wiley’s post here.   After reading it, and enjoying hopping down all the little bunny trails it led me on, Mike and I made our own lists of what we feel is important for the kids and for us as a family.  We grouped our thoughts into seven broad headings which became our Rule of Seven.  Ideally, we attend to each part of the rule every day at Jammies School, but, in reality, we are happy if we touch on each throughout one week.  

** Our Core Four, Plus comes from a synthesis of many ideas, and, particularly, influence from Classical Education and the Well-Trained Mind.