And so our story begins..
Today we have started a little more formal style of homeschooling. Never mind that one girl is sitting beside me on the couch and the other is sprawled out on a yoga mat with jar lids she is using for counting scattered about since that is about as formal as we are likely to get. So far in an hour we have done math, language, science and a fair bit of ooo we could do this or that. We are great adders of more than we need always coming up with great ideas. Bad idea when remodeling (just ask how I know) but when learning I love it. I believe I am going to find it a bit hard to keep us from wandering all over. I am hoping that is a problem where my relaxed and unschooling tendencies will come to be a great asset.
Today for Tav we started Teach Your Child to Read In 100 Easy Lessons. I decided since she was learning sight words in public school with no real success that we would just start from the very beginning. I understand sight words and I get that those are words she will see over and over so she should just know them but to learn them with no real comprehension just memorizing makes little sense. Well at least for her but isn’t that one of the reasons to homeschool? Other than that we are just working on basic addition and subtraction for now with other math basics slid in more like a game than anything else. We are also practicing handwriting and neatness.
LittleMiss is a different kettle of fish. She has public school so ingrained I am having trouble shaking it loose. She has that follow all the rules no exceptions mentality and I am not sure if that is her personality or if it is a holdover from public school. What makes me mad is that I feel like I do not know because I gave her to them for 4 years and I did not see how that developed though from the way things are around here I don’t think we taught it to her. Although that is definitely something I should ponder further. Whatever it is I do not like it and I want her to just let go and relax. She always seems so stressed trying to be just so. With her I am encouraging a mixture of rigid ,this is what we are doing like it or not, and rambling and exploring whatever pops into her head as deeply or shallowly as she likes. I think that should satisfy her public school mentality and ease her more into what I want for her. That being a joy of learning and investigating things for herself. I believe that what she learns is not nearly as important as the fact that she is learning. After all no two people know exactly the same things and wouldn’t the world be boring if we did.
So WOW this homeschooling thing is hard! The self doubt is the hardest part. Am I teaching them the things they need in this moment in the proper order so we don’t miss something crucial and make it harder on them. Am I teaching to much or too little of one subject? How fast should we be moving through subject matter? Am I boring them to tears? How will I ever get all the things I need to do balanced out? I could go on for quite awhile with the doubts but you get the idea and probably could add some of your own. However logically I know that this will get easier and faster to plan and that as I gain experience I will gain confidence. I don’t think that day will come fast enough but I will do my best to breathe deep calming breaths until it does. I will need those for the patience as well. I will also remember that this is one of the most worthwhile things I can do for my children and my family and that all the angst and irritation as I try to balance things is very worth it.
A couple resources I used today that I quite like are Spelling City and Super Teacher Worksheets. I have also discovered a great bookmarking site Diigo that has neat features and helps eliminate that “now which computer did I bookmark that on” talking to yourself bit. Hey anything that helps you look less crazy is great right?
Unschooling Tav
As you already know we decided to withdraw Tav from public school. There were reasons on top of reasons but the biggest issue being her unknown stomach disorder. She was either at home suffering or suffering at school and having to come home. It was a tough decision because she is a social butterfly and loves everyone and in return they love her. I thought it was so sweet that her teacher was so sad to see her leave. Really though we felt it was in her best interests to be at home leaning here. She loved the idea so we set off on a grand adventure to do a mixture of traditional schooling and unschooling. She wants to learn everything so technically I guess we are unschooling. She is eager and inquisitive and so much fun to hang around with so I know this is going to be great. That said I am very worried that I will be able to stay “on task” so to speak and get her all the information she wants and needs to know. Those days that are hectic and crazy or those days when I flat out just do not feel like doing anything at all. However I push those doubts to the side and tell myself that of course like everything else in life there is a learning curve and I have to be a tad bit forgiving. With the help of wonderful supportive friends we can do this and do it brilliantly.
