First Week

So - I survived the first week of homeschool. Or I should say, " WE" survived. There were rough spots, as I anticipated, but there were also some surprisingly good moments. Like when I buried some little flotsam and jetsam of household items in the little sandy patch in the backyard and we simulated being archaologists on a dig. It was one of the lamest things I've EVER DONE...and yet Aiden was very entertained by it. Same thing with pretending to be nomads and constructing a "shelter" with dead branches and a couple of trees. in the backyard. He said with enthusiasm, " This is fun!" Oh my goodness - it was LAME CITY. But he loved it! I think part of this success was due to the fact that, with a new baby in the house this summer, the bar was set VERY LOW in the fun department. It doesn't take much to entertain or impress my kids these days.

This is not to say it was all rainbows and lollipops. By no means. A and I are figuring each other out as teacher and pupil and that is not always a smooth experience. I was impressed when, at one point, he was able to articulate the problem: "You're going too fast for me!" I was grateful he had the emotional intelligence and wit enough to express that. To me, he was just zoning out, becoming disengaged with the process ( which I now realize was a result of me going too fast, but at the time, I was clueless. It's so funny how we take for granted things that seem so basic to us as adults, and think that this is all review for THEM TOO. It's not. Even if some of it was covered in kindergarten, it's still Very New.) So I was getting frustrated. And more intense. Which freaked him out, I think. Blaggh. Anyway. Whatever. Live and learn. I think part of it - and this was in Phonics - was that he CAN do and already DOES these things - blending consonants and vowels - but having them couched in new ways intimidates him and he loses confidence. He actually reads pretty well for a first grader, but we're backtracking a little...so I think that has thrown him a little.

And Math. Oh my heart sinks. He is so like me - NOT a math person. It's going to be a long, harrrrd slog, I'm afraid. Oh well. At least he has a teacher who can sympathize.

But there is a plus side to his being like me! My heart was happy when he said, as I pulled out S. Wise Bauer's "Story of the World" for Social Studies, "This is my favorite part." YES! MINE TOO! A history major in the making, perhaps?!

In other news this week, W started preschool, and just today, completely unprompted, she attempted to write her own name. She got everything except the L's - and in an odd order, but it was pretty exciting stuff for me.

And in other news, J found his thumb this week. He has been sucking it assiduously.

The night before the First Day

The other day we were reading in the book of Exodus, about Pharaoh and how he wouldn't release the people of Israel. Aiden said, "It's just like North Korea." My brain raced. I guessed and wondered if I was understanding why he said that. So I said with curiosity, "How is it like North Korea?" And he said, "The government won't let the people go." Oh my heart - you could have knocked me over with a feather. I can't even remember the last time we'd talked about North Korea. I know at some point in the murky past I had explained about some of the issues in that country and what the government was like. But that he would pull that out of his brain and make the analogy between that and Pharaoh...?! I was blown away. I LOVE seeing him make connections.

It was like a thesis statement or a topic for a Humanities essay. Ancient Egypt vs North Korea. Compare and contrast Pharaoh and Kim Jong Un.

Someone asked me recently why I'm going to homeschool. I have enjoyed my son through all of his first six years. It was pure magic seeing him for the first time. I was over the moon when he started to walk and talk. Watching him grow has been a joy. But we're just getting to the good part now. Now he's asking questions - good questions. He asked the other day why there was fighting going on in Israel. Talk about opening a geo-political can of worms... But the fun thing was I could answer him - to some degree. Six year old type answers, but answers. We're starting to scratch the surface of exploring the world, life, God, all this big stuff ... It thrills me like nothing else. THIS is why I'm going to homeschool. I get to be there when he makes these connections. I get to witness his life.

Yes, it will be hard. I have no illusions about that. We've spent the summer together, me trying to motivate him in several areas and that has been a challenge. I have stared at the stark ugliness of my own limitations as a parent. This kid certainly takes after me in the "I'm going to give up! This is too harrrrd!" department. I know I'm going to pull my hair out with him. I know. Baldness, here I come.

Maybe we won't always homeschool. Maybe someday he'll go to regular school. I am going into this with the mindset that every year is different. Who knows how circumstances and providences may change our situation in the future. Life is never the straight line you thought it would be. But right now, I have this chance. I get to be here, at the beginning with him- at the foundation. And I'm almost overwhelmed with the privilege, and the potential. I pray I don't blow it.

Blog...RESURRECTED!

In order to document a new phase of our family's life...namely...having three children...and homeschooling one of them... I hereby resurrect this blog.

We're about two weeks from the start of school. I started lesson planning for reals this afternoon after church, spreading out books, planner, phone etc along with the sometimes napping babe, on our bed. I haven't used my bed as a desk like that since college. It was fun and exciting. It was time consuming. It was a little overwhelming, bringing all these different ideas, books, resources together into a coherent plan. I wanted to have the whole MONTH of August mapped out a LONG time ago...but it just didn't happen. Having a new baby has trumped most other stuff recently. But we are getting to the point of sometimes sleeping through the night now, and so more things seem possible. I know it's going to take some tweaking, this whole homeschooling thing. I know it will be a fluid, dynamic thing, a work in progress, for years to come, perhaps. But I've been looking forward to this for so long... it feels GOOD to finally start DIVING IN. Almost. Two more weeks...