I love the idea of Collaborative Units at Monkey Manor. She also calls it the IMIUAWGA (”I Make it Up as We Go Along”) Method.I guess this is what we do too. I made this form to help me with retrieval. Also, Maureen Wittman offers this Unit Checklist (pdf) (HT: Mary M.) and there is also this KONOS unit planner at Sprittibee's.
I am trying something new -- jotting down notes and links on a google documents page that automatically updates (hopefully). Here are Notes for Year 1. Right now it is a bunch of Waldorf-related links. It somehow occurred to me that some of the Waldorf ideas for bilaterality, like finger-knitting and form drawing would tie into Aidan's occupational therapy goals. And Paddy could probably use the help, too.
And one more thought -- all the Waldorf reading reminded me of how much I like beautiful things. If I had my dream homeschool, it would combine simplicity and order with beauty -- small order, right? Anyway, I want to ponder the thought that teaching is first of all an art, and the days when things go best are the days I try to "encounter" my kids (to use an embarrasingly over-employed quasi-religious term) rather than either back off totally or jump in totally. I think that is what I get from that "collaborative" term, which I've also seen compared in attachment parenting literature to a kind of "dance". With dancing, even missteps can be OK and relationship-building.
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