Let the Homeschooling Begin

After way too much electronic freedom, its time to detox the kids' minds and get back to learning. We are using August as a fill in the gaps month and get a head start on some subjects that need some brushing up. Its a fairly light schedule to ease back into lessons. They will all start their music lessons: piano for Mr. S and Divagirl and guitar for Mr. T.  Divagirl should be able to finish her Reading Lesson book and refresh her memory on All About Spelling. The boys will also work through the All About Spelling program albeit at a much faster pace. They can probably get through the first 2 books in a week. We will start reading The Wind in the Willows aloud each night as a family round robin. The boys will also start their first assignment with Teacher-Grammy reading The Outsiders. Lastly, everyone will work on Cursive First since Divagirl is still learning to write and the boys need some maintenance on their established handwriting. We also started some art lessons. I bought the Kindle edition of this Art Lab book and the lessons are really delightful. 

All remaining subjects will start around the 1st of September.

Reading Update

Divagirl is a Daisy Girl Scout and yesterday she had a troop meeting. They worked on Sunny's petal, friendly and helpful, and the girls who wanted to participate could take turns reading Sunny's story out loud to the group. Divagirl took turns reading! I was so proud of her progress I could've burst :) She did so well reading fluently for the most part, sounding out the bigger words when necessary and getting a little help now and then. And to think in January she couldn't retain a handful of sight words! I really had my doubts whether or not she'd be reading anything at all until next Fall. It just validates that I made the right decision to homeschool her.

Socializing the Kiddos

The first thing a non-homeschooler asks a homeschooler is "What about socialization??" (gasp!) And whenever I'm asked that I know in my head the answer, but I'm usually so busy or distracted with other things that it comes out all mixed up like I'm defending it as I go along. Or, if I'm having a bad day the comment may be more on the snarky side like "Of course public schools socialize better, just look at all the bullies and standardized testing that will help them succeed in the real world if one of their suicidal peers doesn't shoot them first." Yeah, probably shouldn't use that one too much.

All kidding aside, homeschooled children are more real-world socialized than those in a traditional school setting. I think the question that people are meaning to ask is usually "How will your kids meet new people?" But I'll get back to that, let's start with the definition of socialization.

so·cial·i·za·tion

[soh-shuh-luh-zey-shuhn]

noun

1. a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position.

2. the act or process of making socialistic. the socialization of industry.

When you put 24 five year olds of varying backgrounds in a room together do you think that each child will seek out the most polite and respectful child to emulate their behavior or do you think they will pick the child that is doing something new to them or is gaining attention (positive or negative) from the adults and kids around them? You better believe that they are going to emulate the kids with the grossest, loudest or most demanding behaviors! These kids aren't "socialized" to society's standards yet, however we expect that putting them in the same setting is going to end up with positive results. The schools make an attempt at teaching positive behavior but with demands for higher test standards and shorter class days, character development is an afterthought.

Now to draw a parallel to the real world, how many of you have friends and co-workers that are all exactly the same age as you and have had exactly the same education as you? I would venture to guess NONE. But if I am mistaken I would love to hear all about it. It is more likely that you have wide variety of friends, co-workers, acquaintances and family that you choose to hang out with. The age ranges and backgrounds could be staggering! Yet, somehow, you all get along and enjoy each other's company. How can that be?? (insert sarcasm)

My best friend growing up was a year younger than me, not in the same grade, not even at the same school, but we were neighbors and spent practically every waking moment together. We live on opposite sides of the country now and have very different lifestyles and even though 6 months can slip away between phone calls we can pick up as if it was yesterday.

You don't need to have friends your same age. You just need to have one true friend that understands you and will support you for who you are.

One of the drawbacks of having introverted children is that many extroverts would consider them anti-social. That's not the case at all. And to be honest, public school (and private school) did nothing positive to encourage them to "come out of their shell," in fact it tended to do the opposite since classroom teaching is developed for short attention spans. By the time my kids had observed the situation, made a decision to engage, the class had moved on to something else and the cycle started all over again. My daughter had the opposite problem. She was eager to jump in feet first without completely listening to what was required of her and then got royally bent out of joint when she'd have to redo her work according to the teacher's requirements. She was also easily distracted by the other 24 bodies in the class making a simple task take forever to complete.

I really find the second definition intriguing. The process of making socialistic. Isn't that exactly what our current president is getting lambasted for? His supposedly hidden socialist agenda. Yet, this is what is expected of our children.

Back to the intended question of "How will your kids meet new people?" My answer is simple, the same way you meet people everyday. When we homeschool out of a house you meet your neighbors who are out when kids are typically at school, like the little old lady with the lovely roses or the chatty neighbor who is raising chickens. When we go on field trips and really, nearly everything is a field trip! When we visit our own friends who love helping kids learn. When we volunteer at the Food Bank. When we participate in homeschool co-ops or go to playdates at the park. When we road school it will be meeting the people that are temporarily living next to you or the family you meet at the laundromat. When we visit National Parks it will be docents, volunteers or Park Rangers. We will also be visiting all our friends that we've left behind over the years including the kids' friends. I feel that having the ability to strike up a conversation with a stranger is a very important life skill to have. What if you need to ask directions, most likely that person will be a stranger. What if you need to pay for your groceries, another stranger. Get separated from the family in a big store, ask an employee for help, who is a stranger to you. Can't find a book in the library, ask the librarian, another stranger. Stranger Danger is dividing our nation and making everyone think the worst of everyone else. You have street smarts and instincts to help you discern a safe situation from a potentially life threatening one. And sadly, many of the potentially life threatening situations revolve around people who weren't strangers to the child. :( But its difficult for a child to develop instincts if their parents never give them the opportunity to be responsible for themselves and possibly make mistakes.

My kids will also be keeping in touch with their friends the same way we will, by face time, texting, phone calls, emails and letters (and for Mr. T, facebook as well). They will also be making new friends along the way.

So did I answer the question? Probably not and kudos to you if you read through to the end! (Aren't you glad you didn't ask me in person!?)

Kindergarten Update

We've been "de-schooling" of sorts for the past month and its going really well! I've eliminated all worksheets and writing assignments for the time being since it nearly always brings tears. We have been working on the "school is fun" concept and using the word "lessons" instead of "school" to disassociate the bad memories. (But sometimes I forget and call it school)


I haven't been focusing on reading, just remembering the alphabet and sounds of the letters. She had some sight word work in Kinder but she couldn't remember the words she'd learned if we skipped a day practicing. I made what I call "Word Gems" using glass vase gems and printouts of the Dolche sight words. I had several colors of glass gems so I used clear for the Pre-Primer list, yellow for the Primer list and lavender for the First list. I found the idea on Pinterest (LOVE Pinterest for school ideas!). I glued the word to the flat side of the glass gem and then painted it with clear nail polish after it dried so it would hopefully be waterproof. It has been so great! Its a way that she can hold onto the sight word in her hand and its a visual cue of how much she already knows. I even used some scrap fabric to make a bag to keep them in. We take them out and review, make sentences, make longer sentences and play recall games. She doesn't get to "keep" a gem until she knows it, not just by sounding it out, but automatic. We've been doing other things to help her learn new words: stamping the word, saying the word, writing the word, and highlighting the word in a photocopied nursery rhyme. No flashcards needed.


As for Math, she already counts to 20 pretty well, so I've incorporated some Montessori methods using base ten. She helped me make base ten rods using chenille sticks and pony beads we had on hand, then we used loose pony beads as the ones. She picked up counting by tens and 1:1 matching of numbers almost immediately. I then showed her how to determine place value and she understood that as well. We've also been taking advantage of the conversation hearts in stores now to do estimation and graphing lessons. Very tactile (and sweet) activity.


I've ordered a handwriting book called Cursive First and its designed to help kinetic learners, lefties and dyslexics write better. (How could I resist that?) For the beginning at least, I will have her do the exercises with both hands and then later she can choose which feels more comfortable for her.

I'm finding now that the pressure is off, she is recalling information that she learned earlier but was unable to retain. I think she really needs to have time for new concepts to sink in which is why we have backed up to basics and will take our time moving forward.

One Homeschooler

Well, there was this time when I said I had to try very hard not to pull the kiddos out of public school now. One escaped. That is, Divagirl is now being homeschooled. Hehe. The school curriculum and processes were failing her and it was painful to watch her try to keep up and learn to hate school. There were aspects that she loved (teacher, friends, playing) but most of it she didn't love. Although she was ever the trooper and went to school with a smile and told everyone how much she loved school. Which was why it was with great trepidation that I suggested to her that I might homeschool her instead of going to school everyday. It was with great relief that I heard her say "Yes mom!" And when I took her to her class the next Monday so she could say goodbye to her teacher, I felt a little guilty when she bounded up to her teacher with a huge smile and said "My mom's going to teach me at home!!" as tears rolled down her teacher's cheek. (Oops, oh well)

But really, it was inevitable. The only reason it hadn't happened sooner was that I was heavily invested in that class. I was Room Parent, classroom volunteer and website manager. And, selfishly, I liked my alone time, brief as it was. Trouble is, I never did anything productive with it. I did talk to the teacher, but she was teaching at an accelerated rate that the top 10% of the class could keep up with and her methods included vast amounts of worksheets. Divagirl loathes worksheets. She's a kinetic learner and most school settings aren't the best place for kinetic learner to thrive. One thing that clinched it for me was that I followed a hunch that Divagirl might be left-handed so I had her write her alphabet with her "wrong" hand and then her right hand. Aside from it being awkward because she didn't know how to hold the pencil and floated it across the paper, all of her letters looked as good or better than the letters she wrote with her right hand that she's been practicing for 3 months! When I showed it to the teacher and told her I suspected she was a lefty the teacher basically responded with I don't really care what you do with her at home and implied she wasn't going to change anything at school. Really? I then asked her how many lefties she has had in the last 10 years. None. Yup, that explains it. Teach by demonstrating the right hand. Unless the child comes in fully grounded in left-handedness, they will be a right-hander by default.

I also have a hunch that she may have some form of dyslexia. Its not the kind where you transpose letters, but the one where you can't remember whole words, but can spell and sounds them out. She also has difficulty reading the word on the next page after successfully reading the same word on the previous page. The type that I'm watching for in her is called Dyseidetic. Perhaps also mild Dysgraphia since she hasn't chosen a dominant hand yet. At least now I can keep an eye on her progress.

Doing the best for your child is what its all about. So homeschooling here we come!

Road Schooling

As I've mentioned before we'll be roadschooling the kiddos, which is really just a very mobile form of homeschooling.

The biggest challenge will be having enough room for all our materials and still keeping it simple (oh, and not exceeding our gross allowable weight).

This affords us an amazing opportunity to live, walk, and see historical sites and make our American history lessons come alive!

I've been sorting through the materials I have already and trying to simplify things due to the space constraints we will have imposed on us. I have lists on my phone and the computer that detail my ideas and the kids ideas on what they want to study. That's one of my favorite aspects of home schooling, letting the kids have input on things they want to learn. Our methods tend to fall into a classical, eclectic, secular, unschool approach with an emphasis on real-world experience. We teach everything that's mandated by the state we are registered in, but in addition to that we develop our kids minds so that they learn how to learn and can think for themselves while being resourceful and productive members of society.

I plan on posting individual curriculum lists for each kid (first grade, 6th grade and 9th grade).

The kids waffle between being excited about homeschooling again and being sad that they'll miss their friends. I won't miss the colds, bullying, drop-offs and pick-ups, early mornings, packed lunches, acquired bad habits, classroom volunteering, PTA meetings, expensive field trips, state mandated testing, and the peer pressure. I might miss the hour or two of free time I had that really only went to keeping the house clean. With only 200ish square feet of living space, I don't think I'll need 2 hours a day to keep our home clean.