Schooling At Home

I thought I better write something about our homeschooling. I know so many people are interested in how/ why we do it, and I forget sometimes that not everyone understands the draw behind our decision.

Maggie has pretty severe anxiety, and though it is much better now that it has been, public school just wasn't working for her. She was a great student. Quiet, obedient, and never a trouble maker. But she also got overlooked a lot because of her sweet demeanor. You know, the squeaky wheel and all that jazz.

So we homeschool now, and have been for almost a year. We chose to use Washington Online School, which uses the K12 curriculum. The reason I chose this was because I felt like I needed a little bit of structure to my homeschooling, at least at first, and this provided exactly what I needed. We have a schedule of lessons, and though we can do them as fast or slow as we'd like, there is a time line that most parents follow, that coincides with the public school schedule. We basically do school every day, though there are some weeks when I just don't get to it every day, so we make up a lot of days. Ahh, flexibility.

School takes us anywhere from 15 minutes on an easy math day, to over an hour on a more intense reading day. Maggie chooses what she wants to do each day. Some days we only do math. Some days she only wants reading. Some days she wants to do every subject. We have the flexibility to do that. Sort of like public school. They don't do every subject every day, at least not in elementary school.

I know some of you are like, "but what do you do with her the rest of the day?" Good question. I let her learn. She is so good at learning, she does it without even knowing it. Today for example, she printed off some pages of a story book of pictures, and then wrote the words to the story. She made it all up, and it was great. She uses big words, which I don't remember teaching her, and she does this all on her own. She also watches a lot of TV. Yeah, I know. Mother of the year here, but it's good TV. Granted, there is plenty of Disney Channel on at my house, but there is also a lot of Martha Speaks, and Word World, and NatGeo, all of which are great learning opportunities without the kids even realizing they're learning.

I know a lot of moms that say they couldn't be around their kids all day, and that sending them to school is a way to stay sane. I totally get that. There are plenty of days when I just want some alone time, or time to do the laundry or dishes, or even to sweep the floor and have it stay clean for more than 3 minutes. But I consider myself pretty lucky that for the most part, I love being around Maggie. She is silly, and talented, and very easy to hang out with.

I've tried to talk Emma into doing homeschool next year, but she has no interest in it, and I'm fine with that. I loved middle school, and I know she will too. I also have no qualms about sending Maggie to public school if she ever wants to go. It would be a hard transition for me, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

So that's how we do it. It's fun, and it works for us. I know it's not for everyone, but when it comes to knowing what your kids need, moms have a gift for giving them exactly what will make them become the best people they can be. And if homeschooling is it, then so be it.

Little Things

You know, I've been homeschooling for 3 months now. I can't believe it. In those 3 short months, Maggie and I have both learned a lot.

She has learned to read rather well. I have learned to let her take her time in sounding out words, rather than jump right in and tell her what they are.

She has learned that she can do a lot of work on her own now, without me telling he specifically what to do. I've learned that she can be a self starter if I let her take the lead.

It's funny what we can learn about our kids when we are actually engaged in the learning process with them. I find Maggie's humor to be spot on, something I hadn't noticed before this adventure began. I also know that I need to make special concessions for Maggie. She needs things to be stable and smooth, no major bumps in the road, or it throws her whole mojo off.

My previous parenting skills included lots of threats and "if you don't"s, but now I know I need to take the time to see what her perspective is like, and then adjust my own reactions to her needs. She tends to be an organizer, so I let her make math problems in a line up and down, instead of across. She likes to find patterns, so I let her do the sentences out of the order they are written in her book. These are all little things, things that take no time at all to do, things that make her life so easy, and things that I know make her happier.

It's funny how the little things can mean so much. I only hope she appreciates it as much as I appreciate her.

Movie Review

Today we saw DisneyNature's Oceans. I'm giving it 2 stars out of 5. Not great, I know, but I have my reasons, and they have little to do with the actual movie.

First off, I ran yesterday. I know, I'm so proud of myself. But turns out, us fat chicks, we get winded when we run, and after I got home, I couldn't catch my breath. So I popped a Singulair. Then my nose wouldn't quit, so I popped a Zyrtec. This was at about 6:00 PM.

By 3:00 AM this morning, I was so agitated I wanted to rip my skin off. My legs were so restless, my head was going in 20 different directions, and I couldn't calm myself down. I ended up watching Awakenings, ironic, I know, until I dozed back off on the couch at 6.

Enter movie time this afternoon. Still agitated, bitchy and down right miserable. I thought getting out and getting my mind off the jitters would do me some good. Well, about half way through the movie I couldn't take it anymore, so I had to get up and move. I ended up pacing back and forth for the last half of the movie.

Really, it was a great show. The pictures are amazing. The story, not great. It's a little disconnected since they don't follow any sort of pattern with the animals (i.e. focusing on one particular region for a while, then segueing to another, or even sticking with one particular type of sea animal, the food chain, cycle of life, etc.) Plus, it was narrated by Pierce Brosnan, and I was sort of hoping he would break into song, a la Mamma Mia. He didn't.

It was a nice treat for the kids, and I like the fact that they learned something from it. Afterward, they were all talking at once about their respective favorite parts, and that makes the homeschooling mama in me very proud.

So if you need an out in the next couple of crappy weather days, take your kids to see this movie. Just sneak in some candy and save yourself a few bucks. Come on, you know you all do it!

It Is Done

Well, I did it. Yesterday I dropped the official home schooling affidavit in the mail. It was signed, notarized, and included a SASE for the district to send me back a signed copy.

I have to admit, I was nervous.

I mean this is a huge undertaking. What if I screw it up and my kid ends up a complete idiot unable to read or write, and it's all my fault? Yeah, I'm a freak.

I feel confident in a weird way, though, because I've read every home school book offered in the 2 libraries that are close to me. I've also scoured 3 Barnes and Noble's and pored over every book I can find on the subject.

I don't think I even did this much research when I was pregnant. Ever. Combined with all 3 pregnancies. What does that say about me?

So starting on Wednesday, Maggie will officially begin home schooling. She'll have a bit of a "deschooling" period where she'll just want to play and have fun and not really do anything "schooly", and that's completely normal and okay. Will you please remind me that I said that when weeks have gone by and I don't think I've taught her one thing?

I just can't believe it's done, and we're on to this new chapter. I'm thinking I'll start a home school blog to chronicle our daily life, so when/if I do, I'll let you know. I know, you're on the edge of your seats.

School At Home

Well, today is the day. The day I make the actual decision.

I'm meeting with a Homeschool resource counselor at our local library. Recently the library was given a $3 million grant to start a resource center devoted strictly to homeschoolers. It has all the curriculum available for use in the library, or to be checked out and taken home. They have microscopes, instruments, puzzles, and all sorts of fun classroom activities that can be used. I'm pretty excited.

And plenty nervous.

The one thing I have going for me is that it's just Kindergarten. Kindergarten isn't required in the state of Illinois, so even going to Kindergarten at all is a step ahead. Maggie is thrilled with the idea of doing school at home, and I think it will suit her better given her anxiety and sensory overload issues. She is plenty smart, that's not a problem, and she is a quick learner, but I know in my heart this is what's best for her. And sometimes being a parent involves making tough choices based on what's best for our kids.

So starting at the first of the year, she'll be homeschooling with me. I can't wait to see how it turns out.