Journal the Adventure

Posted by HeatherW | 0 comments

Recently, as I was planning some school time with my daughter, I decided it would be fun to bring back The Year of the Dollhouse. Perhaps some of you know about my blogging friend Lynn and her idea to play and make a homemade dollhouse with her daughter everyday for a year a few years ago now. My daughter was 7 then and we did make some renovations to her house and did some playing, but it faded away. As I thought about what would make this school year special, I asked her if she thought doing another Year of the Dollhouse might sound fun. Now that she’s 10 my plan is to teach some home making skills through our creating and playing at the dollhouse. I pulled out a journal and began some dialogue with her. The journal is for us to plan and talk about our activities with the dollhouse and she loves it. Grammar correction is off limits in our journal allowing her to be free to communicate with me without a critique.

After hearing about the journal and the time I was going to spend with my daughter, my 8yo son wanted in on it too. Only I convinced him that maybe the dollhouse adventure wasn’t for him. Instead I suggested, the Year of the Adventure. His first question was, “Do I get to keep an Adventure Log?” And that is how journal time with him has begun. He and I will be reading Treasure Island and some of his favorite Jules Verne books and trying out our own adventures together. He loves his compass and binoculars and is an all American Adventure Boy.

Of course I wanted to find a way to have an adventure with each of my children. I gulped hard and offered to adventure and journal College Football with my 11yo son. He is a HUGE college football fan and I thought this would be a great way to connect with him throughout the season and I could give him challenges as we chat about team rosters and the National Championship front runners. Of course his absolute loyalty to the Virginia Tech Hokies would be prominent.

But, he surprised me by asking for a Redwall adventure instead. So, he and I will be discussing all things Redwall. He has in mind to make meals and write to the author Brian Jacques. I think he is secretly hoping that once this year ends, I’ll have enough planned to teach a Redwall co-op class.

And finally, my 5yo son requested some stories and after further probing, it turns out he’d like to draw pictures and tell me stories that I will write for him and read back to him. What a great idea for my Kindergartner who is too young to journal otherwise. He and I will enjoy time together and he tells a great story!

These, of course, are a version of the Adventure Boxes I shared with you all last summer. I had wondered then if doing adventure boxes and following a passion right during the school year rather than waiting for summer would be a fun idea. The kids won’t be totally immersed in an adventure at the expense of everything else, but it will allow them time to focus on something special they enjoy while getting extra time from my husband and me through journaling and activities.

I’m certain that we will look back with fondness at the memories we’ll make through our Journaling Adventures. What about you? Are you ready to make some memories with a Journaling Adventure?

Heather is a homeschooling mom of four kids ranging from middle school to preschool and wife to a handsome chemical engineer. Before raising a family, she taught middle school science (with a BS in biological sciences) and has a masters degree in curriculum and instruction secondary education. Now teaching at home means the chance to provide the extraordinary for her children. She’s been homeschooling five years and you can read about those adventures on her blog, Blog She Wrote.