Homeschool and Beyond

Sep. 12, 2006

Round! Like a Circle in a Spiral...

Does anyone else remember the song Windmills of My Mind? I don't remember it from when it came out, but my mom had a piano book of pop songs from the 60s and 70s, and it was in there. Well, sing it fast enough, and you'll get an idea of how I've felt lately. No time to sit. No time to be. Just time to do and do and do. (Which reminds me of another song, Scooby doo-bee doo!)

School is fine, I guess. I don't seem to have that enthusiasm that I long to have. Where's the fun? Where's the thrill? Is it me? Do I need a new challenge in my life to make all the other areas of my life more sparkly and interesting? I think I miss taking classes.

Tonight, I have a huge pile of ironing, so I thought I'd do something I rarely (never?) do--turn on the TV during the evening news and Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy and watch while I iron. I thought it would help to motivate me to actually get all the ironing done instead of just most of the ironing!

Everyone except Nathan is at practice, so the house is quiet. I have to help him (or help to motivate him) to write his first essay for AP US History. It's a daunting class with a ton of work and reading. He spent three hours yesterday reading and outlining, and I bet he has another two or three tonight! If nothing else, perhaps this course will help him to manage his time better.

Ah, is it 6:02? Time to investigate the evening news!

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Jul. 23, 2006

School Enthusiasm

Posted in Homeschool Journey

Friday I attended and spoke at the PA Homeschoolers High School at Home conference. I'm glad there is still a month of summer vacation left because I'm still not getting enthusiastic about the start of school. Usually going to a homeschool convention gets me all fired up for new things I can do and should do. I did get a little excited about setting up work areas for each child at their desks, but other than that, I'm still content to be in summer mode.

I'm not sure what it will take for me to get enthusiastic about school again. I don't feel "burnt out" as it were, but I guess I must be if I'm not excited about things like new books, our next section of history, crisp notebooks, and the like. Perhaps another month of relaxing will have me ready for the smell of pencil shavings.

As I type this entry, Rachel (age 6) is playing school with two friends from next door. They aren't playing homeschool. They are playing "real school." I think it's funny that a girl who has always been homeschooled and has all homeschooled siblings and two girls who haven't yet gone to school have such definite ideas about what makes a "real" school. Right now, they are having a show and tell time.

I wonder what makes school real? I know what makes school feel "official" for me. If we get math done, then it feels like a day of school. What about for you?

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Jul. 1, 2006

Our Homeschool Journey

Posted in Homeschool Journey

Since many of you have been so kind to answer questions and have listed me as a friend, I thought it was only fair to let you know a bit about me and my family. Then you can decide to run screaming for the hills or come back to read again!

I've been homeschooling my children their whole academic life. My oldest will be in tenth grade this year and my youngest will be in first.

Here's what my happy, little family looked like when we first started homeschooling in 1996:

And here they are in 2006!

Here's who they are--Nathan (14) and Rachel (6) are in front. Michael (10), Libby (11), and David (13) are in the back.

Our homeschool history involves a lot of books. I first became interested in Charlotte Mason from reading Karen Andreola's articles. I read further and decided that I really did like her philosophy. We began to use Songlight in first grade and had great success through fourth grade. Then, I got a bit lazy and we just did a haphazard year of history and read alouds.

About this time, I began to learn more about Classical homeschooling. Although I didn't really like the idea of Latin (yet), I did like what Susan Wise Bauer had to say in her book, and I spent a long time in the Veritas Press booth at the curriculum fair. I decided to begin a four-year study of world history, not necessarily done in a Classical style or a CM style.

We are about to start the fourth year of the study, the American History year, and I'm back to using Songlight again! Plus, I'd love to do Sonlight 1 with my first grader so she can hear all the great read-alouds the other children got to hear.

As for everything else--Saxon Math until Algebra, and then a switch to Jacobs, a CM-like science until 7th grade when Apologia starts, various geography workbooks and games, and lots and lots and lots of writing in all subject areas.

Coming next, all about Mary and her interests! (Aren't you all on tenterhooks? HA!)

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A little bit about my life and times