School when do you know you've done enough?
Home schooling is freedom and chains at the same time. As I try to fold laundry this evening one little is on the kitchen PC doing a word search. She is getting frustrated and so am I. So casually I offer to let her quit...NO WAY! She screams. Good for her! She struggles through and finishes! Then the game offers to let her do the same puzzle again or a new one. She chooses to do the same one again. Most of the words are the same but they put them in a different order. It is still a challenge though and she starts to get frustrated again... then for whatever reason it clicks. She knocks that puzzle out fast!
The next one is taking too long to long. So it is time for a little "home ec" class, folding laundry. It seems her interest is in folding underwear, only hers though. Well that's better than no help at all. I'm glad she is showing an interest in helping. She has helped cooking but then when I am gone to work I have to emphasize "no cooking". When helping with loading and starting the washer she is totally engaged. You just never know what is going to pique her interests.
The freedom to me is that she learns at her own pace and she focuses on what interests her at this stage of her learning. Computers are not what she likes but the games are. Because that is what Chansonetta likes and she likes Chansonetta :) When she was very little I really thought she would be "leader of the pack" but it turns out she is only that way with the two younger ones. The reality is that she is a follower. This can be good or bad. It is funny what is nature vs. nurture. Her biological mom, for the short time that I knew her, was the same way.
The chains occur when I wonder if we are doing all we can to get her a good shot at success. We don't hit the books every day nor do we focus on the core subjects like public school does. Reading and math have been the focus. But I constantly wonder if we are giving it enough focus. She doesn't comprehend memorizing "facts" like the times tables and 0+ anything equals the same number. Even sight words can be a challenge yet she can read quite well. At this stage the letters on the page are just that. They are not the same things as the words we speak. Not sure we will be ready for charter school in the Fall. This is the goal DH has set for them. I wish I were solidly on board instead of half hearted. But there will be more supervision for them than if staying at home while I work. They will make friends and adjust...eventually.
So when we want to pack up and travel we will be on the district's time clock. Field trips will be governed by them. But they will learn to listen to other adults and learn to trust them. If only I could learn to trust so easily again. I need to stop typing these sight words as they are not helping me get past the half-hearted stage.
A winter storm is blowing in. I can hear the ice drops hitting the window. I just finished folding 6 loads of laundry and putting it all away. DH wants to know when I want to go to the range to shoot my bodyguard... Really? That's not a good idea right now...
The next one is taking too long to long. So it is time for a little "home ec" class, folding laundry. It seems her interest is in folding underwear, only hers though. Well that's better than no help at all. I'm glad she is showing an interest in helping. She has helped cooking but then when I am gone to work I have to emphasize "no cooking". When helping with loading and starting the washer she is totally engaged. You just never know what is going to pique her interests.
The freedom to me is that she learns at her own pace and she focuses on what interests her at this stage of her learning. Computers are not what she likes but the games are. Because that is what Chansonetta likes and she likes Chansonetta :) When she was very little I really thought she would be "leader of the pack" but it turns out she is only that way with the two younger ones. The reality is that she is a follower. This can be good or bad. It is funny what is nature vs. nurture. Her biological mom, for the short time that I knew her, was the same way.
The chains occur when I wonder if we are doing all we can to get her a good shot at success. We don't hit the books every day nor do we focus on the core subjects like public school does. Reading and math have been the focus. But I constantly wonder if we are giving it enough focus. She doesn't comprehend memorizing "facts" like the times tables and 0+ anything equals the same number. Even sight words can be a challenge yet she can read quite well. At this stage the letters on the page are just that. They are not the same things as the words we speak. Not sure we will be ready for charter school in the Fall. This is the goal DH has set for them. I wish I were solidly on board instead of half hearted. But there will be more supervision for them than if staying at home while I work. They will make friends and adjust...eventually.
So when we want to pack up and travel we will be on the district's time clock. Field trips will be governed by them. But they will learn to listen to other adults and learn to trust them. If only I could learn to trust so easily again. I need to stop typing these sight words as they are not helping me get past the half-hearted stage.
A winter storm is blowing in. I can hear the ice drops hitting the window. I just finished folding 6 loads of laundry and putting it all away. DH wants to know when I want to go to the range to shoot my bodyguard... Really? That's not a good idea right now...
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