D and I are now through two weeks of homeschooling. So far we have
painted cave-style as we studied early man,
made rock candy for science,
and made sentences using "linking" verbs.
We've also read six books that I've counted (so far) and narrated several. D has memorized a poem that she'll say tonight at dinner ("The Goops" by Gellette Burgess) and she has copywork and narration firmly in hand. Not to say she's an expert, but she is quickly getting the hang of it. Our writing book places huge emphasis on narration first, and then dictation and copywork to learn to write. There is only creative writing as the child wants, and so far D isn't a fan. We've learned to play Yahtzee and Mexican Train dominoes. We've also played many, many games of "99 or Bust!"
D is still loving being at home. She is as content as I've ever seen her, truly happy. That isn't to say that she doesn't push back--there is plenty of that! But I am so grateful for the opportunity to see her grow and learn, first-hand.
I want to post more about having kids in both homeschool and private school, and how they compare, but this is getting long and so I will do a second post about that soon. Happy Wednesday!
Did you love the first day of school when you were a kid? I did...pristine school supplies, carefully chosen outfit, and butterflies. The butterflies only lasted until I figured out how nice/mean/easy/hard my teacher would be, while the outfit was usually way overthought, and those school supplies only stayed pristine until we actually had to start learning something.
My kids feel the same way, except they wear uniforms. This is everyone with their start-the-year Smarties. It isn't a great picture because, frankly, I got so teared up that I couldn't really see through the viewfinder:
When did they get this big?!
M is a 7th grader now and J is in 6th grade, so we now have two middle-schoolers. P started 4th grade, while D is in 2nd grade. And that isn't D's uniform, because she doesn't have one this year! Wednesday was our first day as a homeschooling family. I suppose that also means it was my first day as a teacher, too.
On our first day, we did Bible, spelling, math, and grammar. We read the first bit of her history book, and D completed a time-line of her life. She also started interviewing family members for a "Family History" booklet. She ended the day with free reading time. She was happy, and I was exhausted!
Yesterday we did science instead of history. I've gotten a really neat science book (Real Science-4-Kids) but I think while it's nice outside we'll spend a lot of time doing nature-y things. So we spent some time in the yard yesterday, pulling weeds and trimming flowers. We also found two really cool animals in our yard and identified them. Here is one of our friends:
D is loving having Mom all to herself. At least twice she's said "I love homeschool!" just out of the blue. But I have to say, we are a little intense together, and I think we will find our way to a routine that works for us. We had a stressful day yesterday (involving many moving parts, including a trip to the ER) and late in the afternoon she just had a total meltdown. So she is sleeping in today while I finally write this.
First Day flowers and an apple. My husband is trying to get in good with the teacher.
As for me, I know I am falling prey to the worry that many homeschool moms have: that I'm not doing enough, and that she'll fall behind and somehow not learn something critical to her getting accepted to the college of her choice. That is something I just have to relax about. We don't have to everything every day. That is my new mantra, I think. Or, maybe this:
Yes, I know, I've used it before. But it works. Sanity later.
See that stack of books? That is the better portion of my second-grader's curriculum...we've decided to homeschool D this year.
You may know our kids attend a private school that we are generally very happy with. Once I no longer had the shop, though, of course I took the opportunity to consider where I thought each child was, and whether each one might benefit from a change. D had a good year last year, and I love her teachers. But as I watched her, I found her reading and doing math at a much higher level than I'd observed in her schoolwork. I think the little scamp has been holding out on us!
So we are spending a year finding out how D really learns, and how best to move her along. I am really excited about it. And so is she--she has always been Mom's girl. I mean, she is utterly devoted to me! While I harbor no illusions about this being a cakewalk, she certainly did jump at the chance to stay home with me.
I've always thought homeschooling would be a great option. For a while I was overwhelmed with four very young kids very close together, and then we decided that our best option upon exiting the public school here was a private school. We love our school family. But I am looking forward to choosing how to teach some things, like writing, and I'm also looking forward to integrating some topics together, like history and literature. And D is looking forward to learning cursive a year earlier than planned!
We are losing out on one big benefit of homeschooling, namely being on our own schedule, since we'll still have three at school. (Oh how I hate an early-August start!!) But it is a real blessing to have the flexibility of looking at each child's needs and talents, and then figure out how best to educate each one.
I don't know if we'll do this for a year, or three, or ten. But I am excited to start a new season in our family, and to be able to shepherd D through the next year.
Rarely do I read something in the Wall Street Journal that I disagree so much with, but today's the day. So, while I should be doing some last minute studying, I feel compelled to make some comments about it.
This article is written by a former IBM CEO who is now very involved in School Reform (Alert! Danger Will Robinson!). First, I'll say that he has a couple of points...first, that school class size isn't as much of an issue as you might think. I like my kids' classes of 15, but research has shown that they aren't critical to excellent education. However, he has some terrible ideas about improving things:
Abolish all local school districts, save 70 (50 states; 20 largest cities). Some states may choose to leave some of the rest as community service organizations, but they would have no direct involvement in the critical task of establishing standards, selecting teachers, and developing curricula.
What? NO WAY. Local control is very important, and I say that knowing what a bunch of igmos we have in our local school board. Bigger bureaucracies just mean more layers for incompetence or fiefdoms to develop. The best system we've ever been a part of is the smallest, consisting of exactly two elementary schools, one middle, and one high. Yes, it's private, but it's lean and mean, educates kids for less than the local school board (NOT including special education services), and I believe in it. Next idea...
Establish a National Skills Day on which every third, sixth, ninth and 12th-grader would be tested against the national standards. Results would be published nationwide for every school in America.
Um, no. No, no, no. What good does this do? It attaches our leadership even more to high test scores (not to mention taking yet another instructional day away from the teachers). In our area, of very high scores, the school board and principals have such a death grip on high scores (did you know high scoring schools--GASP!--affect property values?) that they are unwilling to try new approaches which might serve their students better. In my opinion, if you are going to publish scores, it's either "Pass" or "Fail," no more. That leaves passing systems free to try magnets, single-sex, other ideas which may suit their population better than the one-size-fits-all approach recommended by this guy.
Establish national standards for teacher certification and require regular re-evaluations of teacher skills. Increase teacher compensation to permit the best teachers (as measured by advances in student learning) to earn well in excess of $100,000 per year, and allow school leaders to remove underperforming teachers.
Pay teachers, fine. But what kind of corporate job lets you have at least three weeks off in 10 months, plus another two month? I've worked in corporate America, and as far as I know the answer is "none." Teaching is a calling for the best teachers, but not every teacher can be a best teacher (by definition). I can buy trying to improve the education departments in colleges--unfortunately they usually have the lowest standards for entry in the university. But I have too many friends and family who work or have worked in public education to believe that these "best" teachers wouldn't really be the best at kowtowing to the leadership.
The problem in both of these is that the emphasis is on the teachers looking UP, at their bosses, not DOWN, at the children they are supposed to be educating. Even my language there is wrong--the process should be driven by the children and their best interests.
It's interesting to me that nowhere does Gerstner mention parents. Does that tell you something? Just turn your little darlings over to the state, they'll be WELL cared for. Contrast that with this article, written by a college student. I don't agree with everything there, either, but even without kids and reams of "educational leadership," he gets it. Hope for the future, if it will wait for us!
I feel strongly that we have a lot wrong with our school organizations, in particular too much bureaucracy or administration and too much emphasis on the next new curriculum.
Three Thanksgiving programs today, the last day before the kids' week out of school. My big three are in a private school, small enough to feel like a family and large enough to have lots of opportunities for making friends.
Today, I'm thankful for a place where my kids are loved and valued for who they are, but also where the teachers can call them out when they need to be. Where there is trust between the teachers and parents and administration, because we are all focused on the same goal of raising fine, Christian adults. I know it's a luxury for a school to be able to take the long view, but I'm grateful we can.
Well. Kathy Cox in her infinite wisdom has decided that maybe possibly school starting in the middle of summer isn't such a great idea after all. We live in Georgia, and school starting in early August has been a particular beef of mine, along with testing in general and high-stakes testing in particular like they do here. Fortunately we can opt out of the testing by going to private school (which we love) but our school chooses to follow the local calendar just for convenience.
Anyway, Ms. Cox has decided to spin this argument as allowing more time for testing, which is also, oddly, the reason they originally gave for starting school during the dog days. Whatever. I just welcome the prospect of a full-length summer again!
painted cave-style as we studied early man, 
