There is not a day that goes by in our home when we are not learning. Even Saturday and Sunday offer a chance to learn, grow and experience. I’ve tried keeping up with days that we do school, but it is so much easier to keep up with the days that we DON’T do school – and takes up less time.
Each child does keep several spiral notebooks where they can add paperwork, artwork and other tasks that they have completed. The rule is always to date the papers but like many rules it is not always followed. We have periods where every day is accounted for and some where there are just lots of nice projects piled together.
The great thing about the notebooks is that it gives the children a chance to show off their work to grandparents and others. It also gives them a chance to look back at what they have accomplished over the years.
But I’m thinking it is time for more.
This year our family began using the ACE curriculum for all of our school work. We were just shy of signing up for the actually accredited program, but decided to give the material a chance first. The boys don’t LOVE it but they are tolerating it well. Now there is something more concrete to stick in the notebooks.
Some people I know keep a grade book where grades from all papers, projects and tests are recorded – just like in school. I can understand the need for this method to some extent, but I think it is a little overkill. Just having a record of what has been done (in the form of completed work) and what is being done are enough records for our house to worry about.
What do you think about records? And how do you keep them?
The thing to remember is that part of homeschooling is learning as you go. This year might be different from next year and this child might be different from the next. Work out what you are comfortable doing (and what is acceptable through your cover school or local laws) and you will be much more satisfied with your homeschool experience.
One child is in the dining room, one is in the family room and the youngest is in the hall shouting “fire in the hole” as he shoots his toy car off – they are each doing something different and seem to have to tell me about it all the time or at least making some type of noise to accompany the work. Add to that the noise from the washer and dryer and my poor husband trying to focus amid the noise and it is almost comical.
This is my day – most every day (except for the laundry, we have that scheduled for Monday and Thursday). Some people would walk in and consider it chaotic. My husband, who left a public school position last year, is one of those. It is hard to see the method for the madness!
If you ask the boys what they are learning, they might say nothing. Sometimes something will interest them enough that they will share, but usually they just do their work and go on. But I know they are learning. I can tell when they use the information from their lessons in ordinary life without realizing it. Their Sunday school teachers tell me how the boys share information that goes along with the lesson.
The chaos is not always bad. Most days I can still focus enough to get through a couple of blog posts or articles. Some days I am just happy to get through. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world – on those days when I get something done .
There are moments in the day when I panic and start to think that I am ruining the lives of my children. Is it possible that I am actually qualified to teach them all the lessons they need to know to succeed in life? Having family members that question the amount of work that the children do and also how we do our school does not help my panic attacks.
This morning I received a wonderful breath of fresh air in the form of an email. It contained an article called “What’s Your Platform” by Karen Lange. She talks about finding your own way of doing school at home and not being forced into a mindset by others. The article reminded me that things will be okay and that each child will be different and that YES I am qualified to help prepare my children for life.
In my heart of hearts I knew all along that the choices we have made for our family, our children and their education are the right ones. The memories that the children are forming and the lessons that they are learning go well beyond any thing that can be learned in a book.
My Sister-in-law keeps a family blog so the relatives on the other side of the country can keep up to date with their lives. It’s a very sweet gesture, and I love seeing my niece and nephew (and even their parents) even if it is only pictures.
The latest photos have been of my niece going to preschool. It puts that same knot in my stomach that I get when the kids on the sports teams all know each other from school and my boys are the odd men out.
Is something missing in their lives because I’m choosing to homeschool them?
If you were to ask me this question on most any day at any time, I would say no! In fact, they gain so much from being home schooled that there is really no comparison. How many kids got up at the crack of dawn to watch the space station fly over? How many get to spend the morning working in the garden with their grandfather? There really is nothing better for any child (or parent) than homeschooling. I firmly believe that.
But there is a moment when I can’t help but wonder if it really is fair to the boys. Are they missing out on life time friendships because I have kept them out of classes with the same people for 12 years? Seeing pictures of my niece and how much fun she is having does make me wonder – even if only for a second.
Deciding to homeschool can be a hard choice for the parents. It is completely sacrificial to give up all of your free time to be with the children. But the truth is that there may be some sacrifice for the children as well. Granted, the best friendships I had growing up were mostly made outside of the school (with kids in the neighborhood), but even those friends are rarely seen or heard from these days.
There are pros and cons to every decision that we make in life. As for homeschooling, there is no doubt that the pros of positive instruction, family bonding, and spiritual and emotional lessons far outweigh anything the “organized” educational system can offer.
The next time my SIL posts on the blog, I’ll be sure to stop in this blog and remind myself of where we are and where we are going as a family.
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