authors & adventures.

I can’t believe we’re nearing spring break, and I’m only just posting about our homeschool group.

We officially have a name now, folks! It’s Authors & Adventures (which we make sure to shorten to A&A, not AA).

So, if you’re curious why our family feels the need to be apart of not one but two homeschool groups, let me explain: Classical Conversations helps us with our academics and curriculum. And Authors & Adventures provides the fun extra stuff: field trips and book clubs.

We’re blessed that both groups have provided wonderful community and friendships — for both me and my kiddos.

 

 

My friend Kelly started Authors & Adventures three years ago, and I’ve loved watching it grow and evolve as we all evaluate year by year and have really settled into discovering who we are as a group and what kinds of things we enjoy doing together.

I’m going to share some of these things with you today in case you’re interested in starting a group like this. All the photos in this post are from our gathering this morning, where we celebrated the book Understood Betsy, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher.

 

 

So: the logistics.

The first year, we met once a month, but we discovered that it didn’t quite allow for enough time to build relationships, so as of last year, we meet twice monthly on Friday mornings from about 10 until 12 or 1:00.

The book club gatherings are always the highlight of everyone’s year, so this year we increased the books we read together from three to four. This means that we all read the first book over the summer and had a book club in September.

Another thing we’ve learned is to meet together as moms during the summer to plan out the entire year’s activities. This made our current year so much smoother.

We have enough families involved that we’re able to team up in groups of two moms. Each school year everyone is responsible to help plan one book club and one field trip/other gathering. This works great and doesn’t feel like too much falls on anyone’s shoulders.

 

 

The second Friday of the month is either a book club or field trip. And the fourth Friday is a park play date/picnic lunch. We kick off the play date by dividing the kids into two groups (age 7 and under, and age 8 and up) and do “Presentations.” This is basically like show-and-tell, and it’s an idea we borrowed from Classical Conversations.

We love doing this.

Not only does it give the kids practice speaking in front of a group, we’ve realized it really helps them get to know one another as they share about hobbies, trips, books they’re reading, a pet, etc. And it helps us grown-ups get to know the kids too!

 

 

Maybe you’re wondering about really littles. And as you can see from the pics, we have quite a few of those.

Typically kids start participating in presentations when they’re around five (although they’re welcome to start anytime), and a couple of moms volunteer to hang out with the toddlers and babies during that time.

It just works best to gear field trips and book clubs to the older set of kids in order to engage them, and then the younger ones join in as they want.

 

 

In the past we’ve done field trips like a class at the state museum, a couple different local farms, and the Historic Columbia Society, but as we gathered for our planning session this summer, we decided we wanted to add in some parent-led nature walks and Poetry Teatime, as well as a trip to the ballet or symphony.

We’ve loved it!

 

 

So back to book club for a minute.

We all submit a list of ideas for our books in the spring, and Kelly emails them out and has us vote.

Our reading list for this year is:

The Trumpet of the Swan, by E.B. White
The Railway Children, Edith Nesbit
Understood Betsy, Dorothy Canfield Fisher
The Green Ember, S.D. Smith

 

 

 

Two Moms plan the book club gathering, then email the group asking folks to bring different items for snacks, games, or a craft. When we meet we follow the same general schedule: snacks and the book discussion. Then we play games or do some art. Afterwards all the kids enjoy running off to play some more!

We’ve dressed up for book club meetings (remember The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe?). We always have book-themed snacks or drinks.

In Understood Betsy, Aunt Abigail seems to be constantly making donuts and popcorn. So of course a trip to Krispy Kreme was in order for today’s gathering (no, we did not attempt homemade donuts). The key is keep it simple, folks!

Kelly has worked to cultivate a very gracious, casual tone for our group so it does not feel like a competition to outdo one another with elaborate Pinterest-worthy gatherings! Some people love that stuff. This group of people does not.

Instead we’re free to focus on our priorities: relationships and learning together.

 

 

 

 

In this month’s book, city-girl Betsy finds herself suddenly living in a small rural town and attending a one-room school house.

So of course we had to play some old-fashioned school yard games today, like Tug of War.

 

 

 

 

The moms may have had to challenge the kids to a friendly little competition too.

 

 

Basically it’s sometimes hard to tell if this group is for them, or for us.

Let’s just say it’s for all of us!

 

 

One of my favorite things about Authors & Adventures is the opportunity to enjoy and celebrate beautiful things together as a community.

Yes, we will always read good literature in our home. But how much more fun is it to read good literature with your friends? And then get together and eat good food and have a lively discussion about it.

It’s the same with studying poetry and learning about nature. My kids are energized to do these things when they get to do it with their friends (and, as always, eat good food). In fact, several kids in the group decided to memorize or write their own poems for our December Poetry Teatime.

 

 

Typically we have good weather most of the year in Columbia, but we’ve had an unusually rainy school year, which has made for some disappointing cancellations/changes of plans. Our group is now too big to meet comfortably at anyone’s house but Annie’s — who’s been very brave and generous to have us over several times.

Kelly found a great solution for a rainy Friday last month by reserving a room at the library for us to gather for the kids’ presentations; then we were able to hang out in the library’s Children’s section and let the kids visit.

Like I said, we learn as we go.

 

 

In homeschooling, I learn more every single year and find myself more confident in both our family’s school rhythm and my own gifts and limitations. In the same way, there’s something very sweet about committing to a group and seeing it grow and improve over the course of years, becoming more comfortable in our own skin, and watching kids go from too shy to speak to others to laughing and playing tag together on the playground.

 

 

Another fun change this year is that several of the moms were able to get away for a conference last month in North Carolina. It wasn’t even about homeschooling, but the theme of friendship was very timely, and we enjoyed the chance to learn and have unhurried conversations (and drink an entire cup of coffee before it got cold) so much that it might just become an annual tradition.

 

 

My mom homeschooled my brothers and me in middle school, and we enjoyed it so much. However, that season ended because of lack of community. We loved learning at home. But we were lonely. My mom and us kids.

And so I feel extraordinarily blessed to be living and raising children in a time where none of us want for friends and educational resources and a support system on this homeschool journey. I learn so much from these families.

They’re a gift!