Things I have discovered the past couple weeks:
- I am a list checker....therefore, list tend to bog me down. I spend more time writing items down and checking them off than I spend actually doing the work. I can see this becoming a struggle in the homeschool arena; I simply must check every task off, or I do not feel like I have accomplished all I should. At least I am aware of the problem and can work to control it!
- When working with a developed curriculum, it is almost always necessary to tweak it for your own use. In the past, I have been hesitant to do this, not really trusting my own ability to come up with or leave out stuff, but now I kinda like it! I have learned to see curriculum as a "spine" to start from, instead of everything I need.
- While planning is good, it's better to be flexible! I started out this year with plans all laid out and then became quite frustrated when the Kayleigh didn't want to follow them. So, I threw the plans out the window and now things are great! I still do a loose plan for the current week and look ahead so I know what's coming, but other than that, Kayleigh pretty much decides what days we "do school" and what subjects we cover. Some weeks we have school everyday, others just a couple days, and some not at all.
- I am starting to see a lot of myself in Kayleigh.
- She's a reader, and I mean a read-all-the-time-constantly-has-a-book-in-her-hands reader!
- Drawing is not something she enjoys, although she likes to color and paint pre-drawn pictures.
- She isn't necessarily interested in the learning the mechanics behind things, she just wants to do it. For instance, she would rather just learn to play songs on the piano, rather than learn all the technical stuff. (this could be just an age thing)
- She gets frustrated and wants to quit if it takes her too long to learn something.
- She needs alone time. This year I implemented the rule of "Kayleigh and William's room are not playrooms", so nobody but Kayleigh or William is allowed in those rooms. It really has helped out, and Kayleigh can go in her room whenever she wants to get away. I wish I could do the same!
3 comments:
About curriculum: Glad you realized them as "spines." People ask me all the time why I don't use purchased curriculums in my work and I usually tell them that I spend so much time modifying them for my group's use that it's usually easier to do it yourself.
About plans: Kids have a way of not following ours, don't they?
About being a reader: You will never regret that. It's nice to have readers in the house. Except when the annoyance of finding books all over the house, left in places they aren't supposed to be left. But that is a wonderful issue to deal with.
About not wanting to learn the technical stuff: I'm 42 and still the same way about guitar. I'm not so sure that's an age thing.
I'm so glad you're feeling better about this year. I think as they grow, more structure is necessary, but never so much that we (as mothers/teachers) are more focused on the list than their joy in learning. I also love the idea of your kids having a space to get away. As an only child, I can totally appreciate that. And if you haven't already, you'll soon discover the wonders of the library. Keeping Samuel in books would cost me a FORTUNE if it weren't for our GREAT library system here in Shreveport.
I couldn't find a way to comment back on my blog. Remind me at Thanksgiving and you can look at the Queens Homeschool LA books. I like them a lot, but they require a bunch of writing which has held Samuel back quite a bit!
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