Home School Diaries

A few weeks ago we talked about the effects of pollution and acid rain.  This experiment was kind of a dud, but it was a starting point for a great discussion.

Home School at the Skunkboy House

Home school is going really well for us this year.  It helps that Johnny has taken on a bigger role, but I feel like (being in our 3rd year) we are all starting to learn what works and what is less successful.  Some of the approaches we've taken in the past, like having strict text-book only curriculum and very rigid schedules have almost felt like home school failures, but when you learn from those things they turn into growth. 

{Before I go any further, I would like to say this: I believe home school is a huge decision.  It's not right for every parent.  It's not right for every child.  You can read why we home school here.  I'm definitely not preachy about it-- I really think public and private schools are great.  I often feel overwhelmed blogging about home school because I feel like I'm giving advice to parents I've never met.  I hope by sharing some of our experiences, those who are curious get a few answers and those who might be on the fence about home school can weigh our successes and failures.}

We decided to go sans-curriculum this year.  I honestly feel insane saying that, but this has been our most successful year so far.  As I've mentioned before, Hope is a great hands-on learner.  I bought a lot of books this year that really get her hands in the subjects we are studying, so she has a better chance of retaining the information.  We LOVE science experiments, nature studies, and book reports where you incorporate visuals.  I bought this human anatomy doll for fun, and Hope has a great time with it.  You gotta love educational toys, am I right?  Some of our favorite hands-on books are: Biology for Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments That Really Work, Awesome Hands-On Activities for Teaching Literary Elements, The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science, Nature in a Nutshell

Over the years math has been our biggest challenge.  I apologize for it all the time, but Hope inherited my math skills.  I'm no math wizard.  This is our first year with Saxon Math, and though she isn't IN LOVE with it, there is definite math comprehension happening.  This is a big success for us.  I love how repetitive Saxon is, that way once she learns something, it doesn't slip away when she is moving onto the next.

I know a lot of you are curious about how we divvy out school responsibilities.  Moving to Springfield and being out of the house 3 days a week made it impossible for me to home school on those days.  Fortunately, Johnny works mostly from home, so he just stepped right in and made up for my absence.  I love this.  I love that A) my husband is willing (and able) to take on such a big responsibility along-side me, and B) that Hope gets to learn from both of us.  We each have our strengths and weaknesses and it's good to be a team.  I will mention, I decided to cut back on my hours at A Beautiful Mess and work only 2 (longer) days a week.  This was partially because I didn't want to be gone so much, and partially because I need those hours for Skunkboy.  Johnny still takes on that extra day as if I'm out to work, but instead I stay in my studio and sew up a storm.  He's awesome.  We have a true partnership as the leaders of our family, and that is an amazing feeling.

Living in Springfield means we have A LOT more home school opportunities than we've had in the past.  We are meeting more and more great people who home school, and places such as roller rinks and the art museum (among others) have special classes and times designated just for home school kids.  Hope just finished taking an art history class at the art museum and is starting a pottery class next week.  I'm just a liiiiiittle bit envious.  ;)

I know socialization is a big worry when someone mentions home school.  In addition to play dates and nature studies with other home school friends, Hope has gymnastics 3 times a week, an art class every Tuesday, and kids' church on Sundays.  I mentioned in my initial home school post that Hope is naturally a very shy girl, so it is important to me to keep her around other kids and adults.  Even if she was crazy outgoing, I believe I would still feel the same way.  As a girl who works from home, I know first-hand staying home and holed-up too much can make you feel trapped, cagey, anti-social, and more than anything: grumpy.

A lot of people ask if we will be home schooling Poesy.  I honestly have no idea.  Poe is the almost-opposite of Hope and I am completely clueless.  We will probably just watch her personality and her needs develop and make a decision when the time arrives.  For now I have my hands in the air on that one.

Guys, I still feel overwhelmed at times, wondering how I can hold my child's education in my own hands and be confident that I'm doing the right thing.  I have days of confidence and days of worry, but every day I know the decision I made was out of love.  I will do my best, with everything I have available, to make sure this kiddo gets the education that is so important and so needed, along with a showering of love and encouragement.  Kids are special and they need to feel that way, no matter what school they attend.

For more ideas, your local library is a GREAT resource for expanding on a subject you are studying.  Also, if you have other home school parents around, trading books is fun and a good way to discover new things!  Having someone you can talk to about your successes and failures is really important.  Parents need encouragement, too!  If you have any questions for me, you can leave them in the comments here and I will answer what I can, as well as keep them in mind when writing the next home school post.  :)

Home School Diaries

This is actually from earlier in our school year.  We've learned over the past couple of years that Hope is a hands-on kind of learner.  The more projects and experiments we do, the more excited she becomes and the easier it is for her to really remember the information.  It was a Saturday when she came over to me and said, "I can't wait until school on Monday!"  I (of course) looked at her a little dumbfounded.  She then explained the process of growing mold and how Monday was when she got to pull the various foods out to see what had sprouted.  I just remember thinking < Holy cow.  This is working.  She likes learning. >

You can see my other Home School Diaries here.

 

Home School Diaries

"Angiosperms are plants that have fruit.  The cycle of making the fruit never stops.  First there is a flower, a bee comes and eats the pollen.  Some of it will get knocked down in the flower's ovary.  Then the flower's ovary will start to swell up.  It will make an apple let's say.  An animal will come and eat the apple.  The animal will either just leave the part of the apple with the seeds, or some of the seeds will make it through the animal's digestive system and get pooped out.  The seeds will make a new plant and the plant will grow a flower and everything will happen again and again."

Hope explains angiosperms... and that is a fake smile.  ;)

Why We Home School

I've gotten a lot of questions and comments lately when I've mentioned home schooling in passing, so I thought I'd do a little post about it.  For those of you who may be new-ish to the blog, or maybe just don't log every, single thing I ever tell you (what do you mean I'm not the most important person in your life?), here's a little back story:

Hope was always a VERY shy little girl.  When she was a little one we had to force her to talk to people when they spoke to her.  If we went to the park she wouldn't play with the other little kids, instead she just quietly followed them from a distance, never speaking a word.  Getting her to socialize at all was very tough and a little worrisome.  Johnny and I are a pretty quiet, shy couple, so we were wondering if we had damaged her from the get-go.  Public school was an obvious choice for us.  We were sure it would force her to interact with other kids, talk to teachers (grown-ups!), and be around other personalities for a change.

Hope attended two years of public school.  The first year (Kindergarten) was a good stretch for her.  She made some friends, started opening up, and even loved (and spoke to) her teacher.  It made us very happy to know that even though we were without her for 7 hours a day, she was getting what she needed elsewhere.  A couple of questionable incidents occurred (I'll save those stories for another day), but we just chalked it up to public school.

The second year was a little different.  Over the summer Hope had pretty much come out of her shell.  We had lots of play dates and summertime fun with other kids.  She was excited to get back to school.  The initial separation was difficult at first, but we both adjusted pretty quickly.  (I have to say, having all day free to work was amazing!  I got so much done.)  As the school year progressed, Hope's demeanor began to change.  The kids seemed to really be getting to her.  Her self-esteem seemed to diminish and she was either angry or sad most of the time.  She was still excelling academically, but she disliked school in general and it was changing her.  Where was this vibrant, interesting little girl we had known?  It broke our hearts.

We took the entire summer after First Grade to evaluate our/her situation.  Making such a major decision was so tough.  I had questions like:  What will happen to her social skills?  Will I be able to make the time for my business and school ?  Am I making a huge mistake?  It was scary.  The whole first year of home schooling was scary terrifying.  We failed a lot.  We learned a lot.  We had to take a huge break when Poesy was born.  It was so much to have business, baby, and home school.  I am still figuring things out, honestly.

Having Hope at home for schooling has been amazing.  She is more comfortable, confident, and out-going than ever.  She talks to people like it was never an issue.  She has more friends than ever before.  We all know those "weird home school kids" and I was scared to death of making her one of those.  Hope is a little different, but that is what makes her so great.  She wears what she wants without worry of ridicule, she loves to read and she isn't ashamed, she dances all crazy-like in public and doesn't care a lick about others watching.  She lives in this confident, happy bubble that I'm glad to be a little part of.  :)  xoxo Katie

**I realize that home school is a touchy subject for a lot of people.  I would NEVER suggest that home school is better than public school, or that home school is something that every parent should do.  Every child is different, and this is what was and is right for my child.  We are part of church groups, a home school group, and have friends with children, so she gets tons of time each week with other kids.  We use a combination of the Sonlight core curriculum and some hodge-podge extras for more Math, Reading, Writing, and (extra, extra!) Science experiments.

**We'll be back soon with 10 Things I Love About Home School!