Education is about so much more than book smarts. I’ve known this for awhile and believed it to my core. In fact, this fact alone has dictated so many decisions we make in raising our children, especially since we home school and want to make sure that they are learning more than just “reading, writing, and arithmetic.”
Yesterday and today our school time was “interrupted” so that I could spend time one on one disciplining a child for behavior.
Now that my oldest 2 are at their tutorial two days a week, I find myself with just 2 children at home on those mornings. It is a truly odd feeling and a dynamic I am not yet used to. Though I am sure it is nothing compared to the strangeness I’ll feel next year when I am left with only my lil man two days a week. I am hoping to use this time to
While we’ve been “doing school” at home for the past few weeks for the purpose of reviewing and getting used to the routine, today was the first official start of our new school year.
We homeschool, but also use a tutorial. The kids attend the tutorial twice a week and study at home with me three days a week. So far, I feel it provides the balance our family needs between homeschooling and traditional schooling.
There were moments, many moments, this year when I doubted. I wondered if I was giving him what he needed, if he was on par with where the public school was. I wondered what I was thinking, was it worth the battles, and the mess around my house. Days when I shoved school work aside as I put dinner on the table before quickly rushing out the door for practice.
This spring I have 3 kids in sports. On 3 different teams. This in addition to the girls both taking gymnastics twice a week and Cub Scouts.
We are busy, busy, busy with games and practices most every night… some nights we’re even double booked.
Many people look at my schedule and call me crazy. Why do you do this to yourself?
The answer is, honestly, two fold. 1. We love it.
People often ask me what the girls do while I am doing homeschooling with my oldest child.
On Tuesday the answer was “take all the cushions off the couch and every single blanket and pillow they owned and build a fort”
If I am distracted enough they even smoke a stogie or two in their fort. (just kidding those would be pretzel rods…I promise, but doesn’t this bottom picture look sketchy?
I asked Scott to explain Pi to the kids yesterday as we ate our Chicken Pot Pie in celebration of Pi day (3/14). I knew he would do a better job than I, as I would have probably just showed them the symbol and told them it equaled 3.14
Because folks, that pretty much sums up what I know about Pi.
He however drew them a picture of a circle, taught them about diameter and then went on to tell them that you need a little (.
Reading has not come without its share of battles and tears for my son. Last year, he truly HATED to read and it was such a struggle for us. I at times found myself wondering if I was really meeting his needs by homeschooling. Part of me kept telling myself, “He is a boy. He’ll get it, it just takes time. Don’t worry.” But another part said, “Am I doing a good enough job?
When I told you of the never ending science lessons going on at the circus this summer, I was excited about my children getting to watch the baby birds grow until they were old enough to fly from the nest. We learned that Daddy Robins help Mommy’s feed their babies, as we saw both the Mom and Dad at the nest at the same time. By day 3 we even started seeing their little beaks peak out over the top of the nest in our “Robin cam.
Just because it is summer, doesn’t mean we have to stop learning here at the circus. God presented us with a wonderful science lesson, right in our back yard. The best part is, I don’t even have to do any prep work for the lessonsA very brave and trusting Momma Robin built a nest under our deck. Apparently, she doesn’t require peace and tranquility to feel safe as our crew stomps back and forth across our deck belting out songs or squeals or tantrums from morning till night.