Pride, oh, how you tempt me.

In the short time I've homeschooled, my near-3yo has sat patiently at the table and done 'school' which was usually a wipe-off alphabet book or a coloring book.

Well, the novelty has worn off, and now she plays.  I am *totally* ok with that, but now I feel really stupid for letting myself think I was SO good at keeping her occupied.  HA!

Patience-
I just saw this scripture on this blog (which, by the way, has gone 'viral' through her e-bay auction):
For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Hebrew 10:36

OUCH.  See how that works?  AFTER I have done the will of God, he'll grant me patience.  Well, shoot.  I need the patience to do it!  (I especially needed the patience this morning during MATH.)  I guess, maybe, the point is that I need *GOD* to do his will, and the patience is a blessing of a different sort.

It has been SO long since I've posted.  Partially because, surprise!, I'm busy homeschooling.

Things are going well, I think.  Rachel grumbles sometimes, but I know that's typical.  We've eased into a schedule that seems to work well. 

Clearly, I've made mistakes.  Doesn't everyone?  I know I bought WAY too many curriculum books.  I'm ok with that, as I needed to get a feel for what would work for us.  I don't think, however, I needed three or four PHONICS books.  :-D

I've thought more about Charlotte Mason.  I've thought about Unit Studies, I've thought about unschooling.  Praying about it would help.  (sigh)  At this point, we're proceeding traditionally.  However, I'd really like to give unit studies a try.  Here's why:

I love books.  My kids love books.  Generally, we end up leaving the library with a theme going.  Penguins, kangaroos, space, things like that.  It seems that unit studies have the benefit of Charlotte Mason, and the freedom of unschooling.  I think?  lol

I looked at a KONOS book at the conference.  It was interesting, but at the time I dismissed it because I only have one homeschooler.  I know there are many other unit curriculums out there, so I'll keep looking and stick with what we've got for now.

In the end, I know it will take time to find our comfort zone, and then, it seems things get shaken up and our comfort zone changes.

If you have a moment, could you spare a prayer for a specific family member?  This person seems to be upset about our homeschooling, gives little jabs about it, but won't outright talk about it.  Of course, our choices aren't governed by others' approval, but it would be nice to smooth things over.

My kids have picked up on that.  Oops!

Anyway...  I had a light bulb moment.  DH needs to be deschooled.  Any suggestions?

I'm still not sure how I feel about the conference.  I am really glad I went, but I can't say I *learned* anything.  It was a lot of philosophy, which is helpful, but no way to implement it.  For instance, a session on teaching God in all the lessons... yes, I want to do that!  The session explained why (duh) but not HOW.  That was the case for almost all of my classes.  "How to support your wife's homeschooling efforts, " (for dads, of course) was a list of Scriptures!  Now, Scripture is well and good, but... I want DH to help me pick curriculum, grade papers, help with filing, teaching, etc, etc, etc.  Did they say anything like that?  Nooooo....

Anyway, as I said, it was still good and fun, and I did meet a few people from my area.  I did glean a few things from the conference:

1) Curriculum is not the first and most important concern.  If God is first, the curriculum will follow.

2) Teach your child HOW to learn, not just drill the stuff in their heads.

3) HSing is a lifestyle.  It's not just teaching the lessons, it's about everything you do.

 

In other news, my husband (who did attend on Saturday!  YAY!) is still struggling.  He doesn't think we can homeschool high school appropriately, and if we're eventually going to put them in PS, we might as well start them there.  Otherwise, it will be too hard to make the adjustment.  (MJ, can you help?)

Also, he's not as convinced that PSs are the cesspool that they have become.  He keeps saying that HE was fine, HIS school wasn't that bad.  Well, fine.  That was 20 years ago.  I hear the current stories, and they make my skin crawl.  So, I'm starting to send him the stuff I see, so that he's reading the same things.

He says we can provide enrichment after school.  I know, though, that most kids are so exhausted after school, and they have so much homework, it's very very difficult.  Besides, it's toooo easy to abdicate responsibility, assume the school's doing enough, and give up.

There are more concerns, but I don't remember them at the moment.  He says he's supportive, and I know he is, but I'm still uncomfortable knowing that he's not fully in agreement.

... that the neighbor I bought the bookcase from is a mother of TWELVE (blended family) and homeschooled two of them for a year.

Isn't that cool!  Too bad they're moving.  :(

I admit, this made me laugh quite a bit.  I think the author must have been looking at my counter to know just exactly what was on it!

My results:

I'm not surprised at the results.  Aunt Sue would be proud.  However, I'm not ready to take THAT plunge yet.  This year, we'll be eclectic and child-led, and MAAAAYBE next year we'll do un---  I can't  even-- ACK!!  You know.

What was your result?

To the conference!  ON THURSDAY!

must.do.laundry.  hahaha

Oh, on another note, a neighbor was having a garage sale a couple Saturdays ago.  She had a nice 5ft shallow bookcase for sale.  Guess where it's going?  Next to the homeschooling table.  :)  I just have to finish my dining room table so that my homeschooling table can stop being a dining table.

Yesterday, I told R we had to do school.  I've tried to explain to her again and again that she won't be riding the bus, that I'm going to be her teacher.  I tried again.  She got it!  She's excited!  She even told Daddy when he got home, "Mommy's going to be my teacher."  Awww.... and Eek!  No pressure.  ;)

Ok.  I think I'm ready to do this.  Is it just me, or does this seem like a MAJOR step?  Once I write down why I want to homeschool, it's hard to pretend I don't have good reasons anymore.

So.
*deep breath*
In no particular order...
1. Political/Moral Depravity of Public School.
I would guess this is no surprise to most of you.  "King and King"  "Evolution" "S-&-X" bullying, teaching toward the mean, I could go on and on.

2. Religious preferences
You'd think this was similar, but it's not.  I hear an ever-louder voice to live my faith more fully, starting with me, but in the end, to raise up a child that loves and serves Jesus Christ.  Yes, I could still do that if she were enrolled in public school, well, except for the counter brainwashing she would experience.
And, can I just say a dirty word?  Tolerance.  *shudder*

3. Educational challenges.
R is four.  She is reading at a first grade level.  It would not take much work for her to be adding and subtracting, too.  Her peers are just now learning the early reading skills.  I think she would still enjoy school, but it would not challenge her, I'm sure of that.  Why shouldn't she learn at her own level, rather than what her age and the legislature says she should be learning?

4. Social reasons.
Whoooooaaaa, boy.  She was in preschool for the majority of this previous school year.  In July, she was a sweet, loving child.  By October, she had an ATTITUDE!  She was being socialized, but let me tell you, it wasn't GOOD socialization.  I don't even know how to describe the things she was doing that she thought were funny.  Oh yeah, for example, she learned that MOONING was a fun thing to do.  She thought SpongeBob (a thing that had never been uttered or seen in OUR house) was REALLY REALLY cool.  Nu-uh.  No way.

I saw a preview of what the public school system taught and exposed to my children.  I didn't like it.  It was ugly and unhealthy.

I will teach R at her own pace, raise and educate her in the way of the Lord, and 'socialize' her in healthy ways.  I know that I need to culture more patience.  I know that our personalities don't always mesh.  I know that I'm not always disciplined enough to keep track of all the paperwork.  I go forward unsure of my way, but determined.

And now, I pray for mentors, for those who can tell me when I'm over my head, out of touch or going astray.

Next time I post, I hope I can tell you I've registered for the state HSing conference next month!  (Maybe, just maybe, I'll have a curriculum picked as well.)

When, exactly?  I grew up with several cousins (waves to treasurekeeper) that were homeschooled.  I didn't get to see Shelby much.  The other family I saw much more often.

This afternoon, I watched R lift up her shirt and 'nurse' her baby (much like I nurse her 5mo sister.)  I knew that in that moment, I had given her the seeds of nursing her own children.  I imagine it was much the same way for me and homeschooling.  I loved my cousins very much, and knew that even though I didn't 'get' homeschooling, they were just like me.

One summer, I spent the week with MJ over the summer.  To my surprise, I had to entertain myself for a while because she had to DO SCHOOL!  *shock*  ;)  It was a strange thing to me to work during the summer.

There were, of course, negative things assumed and heard from older relatives.  Aunt S made MJ learn it on her own!  She's not actually working at all!  I nodded in the way that kids do when they don't really understand.  Yet, it didn't seem to seep into my head.

Ok, so here's what spawned this post.  I have a BS in Psychology.  The only year I even took Psychology classes was my senior year.  Up until then, I had declared my major in education.  Specifically, deaf education.  That topic is still a passion of mine, so why did I give it up?

Something about my classes didn't set right.  I didn't like lesson plans (I know, don't tell me...), I didn't like a teaching ratio of 18:1.  I didn't like public school.

So, I finished my degree, got married and in just over a year, had a baby.  My BABY is 4yo, and here we are.  My heart is in homeschooling, and it occurs to me tonight that maybe it has always been there, and my brain is coming along finally.

I am a mother of three girls.  When my oldest was born, I hate pink.  HATED IT!   Now, there's pink everywhere.  I still lean toward purple, yellow, green and blue (ok, any color, even those boy colors!) when I can, but I think even in my old age, I will be surrounded by pink.

My girls are R (4yo), D (2yo), and C (5mo).  My husband, the girls and I live in Colorado.  We had a brief life in Florida, but our hearts are here.  We've been back for less than a month, so I am still unpacking and getting settled.  I had some time between houses to research curriculums but I haven't decided what to use yet.

Why am I starting to homeschool?  I may have to save that for another day.  What I will say is that I feel like homeschooling has been in my heart for a long time and I just can't imagine sending R to public school.