Hi.
So, we're two weeks into our school year now. Figured I'd do a quick check in. Mostly, things are going pretty well...for instance:
- Here's the new game the boys and I played this week during our school work:
It's called Prime Climb and they were both darn happy with it (enough so that they pleaded with the rest of us to play with them again later in the evening). Since it encouraged practice in arithmetic and prime numbers and such, I'm calling that a win. :) Working on incorporating more fun into our homeschooling this year...
- We're enjoying our new ASL curriculum! Asher, Micah and I have completed four lessons so far and have been practicing having conversations with each other, to the chagrin of Nathan and Noah who have no idea what we're saying. ;)
- The boys won't admit it, but they've liked hearing the abridged versions of Shakespeare that I've read to them so far (as part of our early modern history unit). Micah, in fact, would strongly prefer that his Kids on Stage class at Options do Hamlet instead of Cinderella for the winter program, as is currently the plan, lol.
- An unexpected benefit of our new geography curriculum (which I like!) is that it's providing practice in note-taking. My plans already had including working specifically on note-taking skills later so this is extra. Yay!
I'm not going to say that it's all been peachy, though. Two weeks is enough to have started learning what our challenges are...specifically:
- Historically, I know that language arts is the subject the boys most dislike...which, in the past, has meant that I've eventually given up on pushing it, deciding it wasn't worth the struggle. I can feel it happening already, lol. But. Boys are getting older and this is important. So. We're going to need patience and perseverance. We're going to need to push. Wish me luck!
- I'm trying to find my chauffeur zen, lol. I counted and I'm spending about 8 hours a week in the car just driving boys to and from things (and everything is only 5-15 minutes away, and that doesn't include the time at the things or any extras that aren't weekly). I know others spend even more time (which is crazy!) and could use any suggestions and hints on how to better deal with this. To date, driving hasn't bothered me...I have boys' schedules pretty organized and do a decent job of making use of my time during things like karate and gymnastics. It's Noah's schedule that's making this semester overwhelming. With his classes at FRCC, I need to make TWELVE trips to and from (one trip is both to and from) the community college each week. We looked into public transportation, but that's not great. (The bus schedule is such that it would take too long by bus...45 minutes not counting the walking time to and from the bus stops...for an otherwise 10-15 minute trip.)
- Trying to look on the bright side, I'm using those trips to FRCC as part of the required driving time Noah needs toward his drivers permit. (He needs to log 50 hours and a full year from the time he got the permit before he can get his license.) Even so, it's going to take deliberate work to get the required hours, and it's unlikely we'll make it by his birthday. I'm aiming for at least before spring semester starts. :)
(This is because we haven't really done any of the hours between last December and this past month. It's at least partially Subaru's fault. You see...back at the start of the year, we got one of those lovely notices about the passenger seat airbag recall--you've probably heard about it; it affected LOTS of vehicles, not just Subarus. The recall notice basically said we shouldn't ride in that seat until the airbag was replaced (or risk being impaled by shrapnel should the airbag go off)...which they would do...as soon as they got the replacement airbag. So. We waited. Because it's difficult to be the instructing ride-along parent when you can't ride in the passenger seat. After numerous "updates" on when the replacement would happen, we finally got it fixed on Monday. Yes, this past Monday! Sigh. Anyhow, that's part of the reason.)
- And, finally, attitude. We're really going to work this year on attitude...on two fronts. First, we're working on decreasing the eye rolls and heavy sighs when it's time to do schoolwork. I'm trying to emphasize to the boys that homeschooling is a choice and a privilege. They know this; they do. What they don't always remember is how their actions make me feel. :)
Second, we're going to work on editing. In my head, again, this has two parts. First, I need them to continue working on understanding that editing is not evil...that offering correction or marking something as wrong is not the end of the world and should not be taken personally...that, in fact, it's a good thing showing that you have something to learn, which should be embraced. (Certain sons have more trouble with this than others...) Second, I need them to learn the value of editing and making mistakes and improving on something. I want them to move past claiming that they've "got" something sufficiently and understand the benefit of practice. I found a quote that may become a mantra: "Don't practice until you get it right, practice until you can't get it wrong."
Whew. Just needed to record this somewhere. Thanks for reading if you got this far! ;)
And that's how our school year is going...
Tuesday, September 20, 2016 at 09:51PM ;)
;)
