Somebody Pinch Me

Now we are 3 weeks into home schooling. Wow, I can't believe that! Today I looked through my planner, where I highlight all the things we have completed. Most of it was highlighted! What a (small) sense of accomplishment! Bonus today: My son found some wooden letters and wanted me to tell him how to spell things. At least he is interested! We started learning place value in math today. I'm not sure I even get it... and we're in book 2 of Sing Spell Read & Write. We have read about Alexander Graham Bell, watched a movie about Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan, studied the parts of the ear, how sounds make things vibrate, and made lots of messes. We're cruising along for now, but I expect it'll slow down soon. It's about to get pretty challenging for him.

Still haven't figured out how to work housework or cooking into the day. We haven't had a veggie for dinner in a loooong time! I hoping those dino shaped chicken nuggets have something wholesome in the breading. ?? You know, they say that to make something a habit, just do it everyday for 21 days. Seems I have effectively made a habit of not doing housework or cooking!

Kids aren't fighting as much. They are used to playing together in the morning. Now we do school and they work separately. They play in the afternoon. This means that fighting doesn't start til the afternoon & evening! By then, they are on Daddy time. It's great!

Occasionally I have a thought or two about the consequences of home schooling. (I have never been able to spell "occasionally" right! Not even occasionally...) Oh, I hope I don't go blank before I forget what I was gonna say!

My son is a softie. He is tender-hearted, doesn't want to hurt a fly (which makes his football games rather uneventful), and cries at dog movies when the mommy goes away. I read somewhere, I think it was in Terrie Lynn Bittner's book about home schooling, that siblings are the best way to socialize kids. Yes, my child might do better in public school, where he would be separated from me and his sister all day, where he would have to learn to stand up for himself with bullies, be responsible for himself, etc. And just when I was about to go enroll him in the nearest public elementary school, I hear his sister yell at him and knock him down. Usually when this happens, he cries and comes to me to tell on her, because he knows he can't hit her back. But lately, he's been getting back in her face, or he tries to reason with her, which is ridiculous to do with a 3-year-old. But at least he's doing something about it! So maybe the little sister can personify all the good and bad characters he might meet in a "real" school. =)

Second thing: If my son were not home with us all day, little sister would have no one to play Barbies with but Mommy (except when her dear friend Aliyah comes over). And Mommy really does not like playing Barbies. I do remember getting one for a birthday gift when I was a kid, and wrinkling my nose saying, "Ewww! One of those?" So maybe this year is a good transition for all of us. I get the privilege of teaching my son how to (begin to) read, he gets to grow up a little before going out into the real world, and little sister has one more year home with her bubby before going off to prek. I'm not saying I'm doing that, but it might turn out to be one great benefit.

This is getting pretty long. But I want to express gratitude for my girlfriends who met me for lunch Monday. Only one of them reads my blog, so THANK YOU AMANDA for making it a great time together! Five home schoolers met at a perfect little restaurant for the most delicious chicken salad croissant sandwiches & tea, and just visited about the ins & outs of teaching at home. Everyone was open and willing to share struggles as well as advice. There were two veteran 14-year-ers, a onesie :), and two newbies.

Three weeks down. Thirty-three more to go. Hope I love it then as much as I do now!

Still hoping to put pictures on here someday...