It seems that the longer I homeschool, the more my theories change. I suppose this is probably something most homeschoolers go through as they realize that homeschooling really is different than a brick and mortar school. Lately I have been spending much time pondering WHY we do things the way that we do, and if it's necessary to continue doing them that way.
I have been struggling with B lately in his reading, or should I say he's been struggling with me. He does not like to read, he does not want to read, and yet I continue to push him to read and read, and read some more. This does not seem to be the best approach, and I got to thinking that if someone was pushing me to do something I did not like and did not want to do how would I feel? The answer is that I would enjoy that activity even less, so if I feel that way how must my boy feel?
This got me to thinking about all of our school stuff in general. We are in the midst of change, and for once I am not worried. I am not worried that their education will be interrupted because I know there is plenty of time. I am not worried about making the right choices, because I know that I need to trust my instincts. I am not worried that I am doing the wrong thing, becasue I am at peace with my decisions. I am not worried that my children will not learn what they need to learn, because who am I to decide what THEY need to learn right now at this moment. I am not worried about taking a few days off to reorganize and regroup, because I know my boys are yet young and a few days will not matter in the scope of years of education. I am not worried of what others will think, because I have learned that it's not about others it is about my sons and their education.
We are taking a break from our regularly scheduled curriculum and spending more time at the Library, more time at the park, more time reading TO them instead of them reading to themselves, more time learning through play, more time outside, more time enjoying one another, more time DOING things. We are spending less time at the table, less time fussing over who didn't do what, less time writing, less time doing workbooks, less time worrying about worksheets, less time testing, less time watching and reading others doing.
I am spending more time reading good books to my boys, and I'm not worried about if they read or not. I'm giving them time to enjoy the things they enjoy, and learning through it. I am letting them take the lead in their education, and I'm just facilitating it. If they need to go to the library I will take them, if they need to go to the park to play, I will take them. If they need some craft supplies and a little direction I will give it, if they need someone to read to them, I will be that person. We are going to spend time learning this way and see what happens. I have comitted to this through the new year, after that Hubby and I will sit down and see where they are, what they've learned, and if it is worth continuing.
I am confident that this is the right choice for us at this time, and already I can feel the peace of our home returning. I am excited to see where this new journey will lead us, and I am excited to see what my children will learn, and how much happier they will be, and maybe just maybe the 'problems' that I see now will not be problems anymore.
Birbitt thinks that sometimes a break from the usual is just what the doctor ordered. I am breathing a sigh of relief, and I am certain that the boys are feeling the same way.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Tag! I'm it!
I feel loved today, as I have been tagged in the blog world! Thank you Ganeida! Now I will try and play along as best I can seeing as how I have few readers, but here goes:
1.What is the one moment in your life you would love to live over again & why?
The one moment in my life I'd love to live over and over again, well this is going to sound quite generic but the moment would have to be when I met my husband for the first time face to face. Yes I know that was a typical answer but it really meant so much more to me than you could imagine, and he is after all, my best friend here on earth.
2. Which historical figure would you like to meet & what is the one thing you'd really like to ask them? [yes, I know I'm sorta cheating. lol]
Historical figure huh? Well, I guess I'd most like to meet the Apostle Paul and ask him how he found the strength and courage to do all he did even through adversity. Though I suspect I already know some of the answer I'd really like to hear it 'straight from the horses mouth' so to speak.
3. What is your Heart's Desire?
My Heart's Desire is simple, I want to see my children to grow both physically and spiritually and become responsible, respectable young men who love and serve the Lord.
4. What is your most irrational fear ~ & are you game to share it here?
My most irrational fear? Well, I suppose all fear could be called irrational in some way or another but I have two fears that can stop me in my tracks. One is spiders, even tiny ones, I am terrified and can not bring myself to get close enough to step on them with my shoe even, I run the other way and send my hubby in to get it. The other is thunderstorms, this I suppose is more irrational than spiders because it is my most crippling of fears. I can not drive in a thunderstorm, I can not think straight during one, and when one stirs up I can be found cowering under my dining room table with a pillow and a blanket pulled up over me.
5.Cat person or Dog lover?
Both! I love animals in general. I love cats because of their strong independence, and because if a cat greets you when you arrive home it is usually because the cat in genuinely happy to see you, where as when a dog greets you it is usually because you will now let him out to relieve himself. I love dogs because they are fiercely loyal (one could learn something from a dog) and genuinely aim to please their 'master' (again one could learn something here).
6. If you could be a tree what would you be & why?
I think I would like to be a Maple Tree because they are big and strong on the outside providing shade from the heat of the sun, and yet they are soft and sweet on the inside giving sweet sap for food.
7. When you meet Jesus what is the one thing you really, really want to say to Him?
Assuming I am even able to speak when I meet my Lord and Savior the one thing I would most like to say would be "Thank You" for loving me enough to die for me, and loving me despite my flaws and sins. Though thank you is not nearly enough for all he's done for me, and continues to do for me it is the one thing I'd most like to say.
1.What is the one moment in your life you would love to live over again & why?
The one moment in my life I'd love to live over and over again, well this is going to sound quite generic but the moment would have to be when I met my husband for the first time face to face. Yes I know that was a typical answer but it really meant so much more to me than you could imagine, and he is after all, my best friend here on earth.
2. Which historical figure would you like to meet & what is the one thing you'd really like to ask them? [yes, I know I'm sorta cheating. lol]
Historical figure huh? Well, I guess I'd most like to meet the Apostle Paul and ask him how he found the strength and courage to do all he did even through adversity. Though I suspect I already know some of the answer I'd really like to hear it 'straight from the horses mouth' so to speak.
3. What is your Heart's Desire?
My Heart's Desire is simple, I want to see my children to grow both physically and spiritually and become responsible, respectable young men who love and serve the Lord.
4. What is your most irrational fear ~ & are you game to share it here?
My most irrational fear? Well, I suppose all fear could be called irrational in some way or another but I have two fears that can stop me in my tracks. One is spiders, even tiny ones, I am terrified and can not bring myself to get close enough to step on them with my shoe even, I run the other way and send my hubby in to get it. The other is thunderstorms, this I suppose is more irrational than spiders because it is my most crippling of fears. I can not drive in a thunderstorm, I can not think straight during one, and when one stirs up I can be found cowering under my dining room table with a pillow and a blanket pulled up over me.
5.Cat person or Dog lover?
Both! I love animals in general. I love cats because of their strong independence, and because if a cat greets you when you arrive home it is usually because the cat in genuinely happy to see you, where as when a dog greets you it is usually because you will now let him out to relieve himself. I love dogs because they are fiercely loyal (one could learn something from a dog) and genuinely aim to please their 'master' (again one could learn something here).
6. If you could be a tree what would you be & why?
I think I would like to be a Maple Tree because they are big and strong on the outside providing shade from the heat of the sun, and yet they are soft and sweet on the inside giving sweet sap for food.
7. When you meet Jesus what is the one thing you really, really want to say to Him?
Assuming I am even able to speak when I meet my Lord and Savior the one thing I would most like to say would be "Thank You" for loving me enough to die for me, and loving me despite my flaws and sins. Though thank you is not nearly enough for all he's done for me, and continues to do for me it is the one thing I'd most like to say.
And now as per the rules I must 'tag' 7 other people. Seeming as how I don't know 7 other people who blog I'm going to bend the rules a little and simple post 7 questions that you may answer if you so desire.
1. What one talent do you not have, that you very much wish you did?
2. What is the one thing people do that bothers you most?
3. Where is the one place you'd like most to visit before you leave this earth behind, and what about that place most draws you to it?
4. What flaw do you most dislike in yourself?
5. What career did you most want as a child, and if you are not doing that now, what changed your mind?
6. Why do you blog, what purpose to you hope to achieve by blogging?
7. What one modern invention would you mind giving up the most, and why did you choose that one?
Ok, so that's it for the questions let's see some of your answers! If you decide to play along would you please be so kind as to leave a comment letting me know you've accepted my 'challenge' as it were?
Friday, October 1, 2010
A Confession
I confess, I am not a great housekeeper. If there is an excuse to be found for not cleaning up I will find it. I have not done a very good job of keeping things orderly as of late, and I have also held onto things far too long.
This past 'weekend' (which for us is Tuesday - Thursday, the days my husband is home from work) the hubby and I decided that since our baby has decided he prefers to sleep in the room with his brothers than with us that we would clean up and clean out our bedroom and our living room. Our bedroom had become cluttered with endless amounts of laundry (clean and dirty), and things that had been displaced from their intended spaces for whatever reason, of course it also had the baby's crib until last week. Our living room had become cluttered with Cabinets and Drawers that were purchased in an attempt to declutter our space, ironic isn't it?
So we tackled our bedroom first, removing from it all things that we did not have an immediate need for or that were not important to be saved. Total we removed 2 trash bags full of stuff...shamefully I admit that at least half of it was papers and other trash that were shoved under our bed. Once we removed all that didn't need to be there we rearranged what was left to produce a more functional space. There is now enough space in my bedroom for the bean bags I've been wanting to get for the boys to do their reading in my room away from the noise of the rest of the house. My bedroom is clean, neat, and organized (though my standards are not as strict as some).
Once space was cleared in our bedroom, I was able to remove all homeschooling books and supplies from the living room and put them on a wall of my bedroom (where I originally wanted them to begin with), and that being done, My living room now has much more space for the baby to play. I prefer to keep the baby playing in the living room because it it central to the house and therefore always supervised, because we all know that 15 month olds are not to be trusted. After arranging things I discovered that I really did not have adequate storage for the baby's toys, so a quick trip to the local Goodwill yielded me a perfect cabinet for only 1.00 (SCORE!). His toys are now contained, the living room is now decluttered, and I now feel like I can breathe in my own home.
I confess I am not a housekeeper, and I tend to 'collect' things simply because I *think* they may be useful someday. These are qualities I need to work on, and with the help of constant reminding (hence this blog post), fervent prayer (my own and otherwise), and the desire to have a liveable space for my children I will get better, I have to else my children grow to be like me, and we wouldn't want that now would we *wink*?
Thank you blog readers for allowing me to share my mess with you.
This past 'weekend' (which for us is Tuesday - Thursday, the days my husband is home from work) the hubby and I decided that since our baby has decided he prefers to sleep in the room with his brothers than with us that we would clean up and clean out our bedroom and our living room. Our bedroom had become cluttered with endless amounts of laundry (clean and dirty), and things that had been displaced from their intended spaces for whatever reason, of course it also had the baby's crib until last week. Our living room had become cluttered with Cabinets and Drawers that were purchased in an attempt to declutter our space, ironic isn't it?
So we tackled our bedroom first, removing from it all things that we did not have an immediate need for or that were not important to be saved. Total we removed 2 trash bags full of stuff...shamefully I admit that at least half of it was papers and other trash that were shoved under our bed. Once we removed all that didn't need to be there we rearranged what was left to produce a more functional space. There is now enough space in my bedroom for the bean bags I've been wanting to get for the boys to do their reading in my room away from the noise of the rest of the house. My bedroom is clean, neat, and organized (though my standards are not as strict as some).
Once space was cleared in our bedroom, I was able to remove all homeschooling books and supplies from the living room and put them on a wall of my bedroom (where I originally wanted them to begin with), and that being done, My living room now has much more space for the baby to play. I prefer to keep the baby playing in the living room because it it central to the house and therefore always supervised, because we all know that 15 month olds are not to be trusted. After arranging things I discovered that I really did not have adequate storage for the baby's toys, so a quick trip to the local Goodwill yielded me a perfect cabinet for only 1.00 (SCORE!). His toys are now contained, the living room is now decluttered, and I now feel like I can breathe in my own home.
I confess I am not a housekeeper, and I tend to 'collect' things simply because I *think* they may be useful someday. These are qualities I need to work on, and with the help of constant reminding (hence this blog post), fervent prayer (my own and otherwise), and the desire to have a liveable space for my children I will get better, I have to else my children grow to be like me, and we wouldn't want that now would we *wink*?
Thank you blog readers for allowing me to share my mess with you.
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