Always Changing Directions

Other than Math, my plans and curriculum choices weren't working. Lots of resistance which led to bad moods, distrust and power struggles.

I asked them, "What do you want to do?"

The boy said that he wanted more science projects. The girl said she wants to build a play house.

Well, it's January in Upstate, NY. Building a play house can happen but not right now. I told her she needed a plan or a blueprint. We'll see if she goes anywhere with this idea.

The boy's idea is a bit more reachable. I put the curriculum aside and took out the dig a dinosaur kits, some books on dinosaurs, printed up some worksheets and fun dinosaur puzzles and cued up some things on Netflix.

Today, even with me not feeling 100% and the oldest being home sick, was a pretty good school day (or unschool day?), They watched a few Dino shows and dug out dino bones. This went on for 4 hours. 4 hours of us watching and discussing topics like evolution, the impending ice age, how the continents were one huge land mass and other assorted topics.

Currently, they have pulled out various art supplies to do an art project of some sort. This is completely their spontaneous idea. I hope this spark continues!

We may be moving in an unschool type direction which is a bit scary for me. I think I need more deschooling time!

You can lead a horse to water.....

but you can't make him drink.

Sickness has been rolling through the kids this week and last.

It's possible that more deschooling time is needed before we jump in but there was a ton of resistance today.

However, they are asking for more science projects and more hands on. So, I'm going to look at what we have and go from there. 

In the meantime, I'm going to reboot with some wine! 

Math isn't literal...

We started back with academics this week after deschooling since September.

He was less than thrilled honestly. My daughter was happy to get back into it though.

He finally sat with me to do a math lesson. But, he wanted to work in the workbook and not on the computer. This surprised me but we went ahead. 

Then he got stuck. The problem was: 

6-1= _____

His answer was 6. Now, this is review and I know he has done this basic stuff before. So, I pulled out pennies and he got the answer right. But, back to the worksheet and he still says 6. 

I asked him why his answer was 6. He looked at me and then covered the number 1 with his finger and said the 6 is still there. 

He definitely sees things in a different way! 

Holidaze

Thanksgiving just blew by us! Although, we are still working on leftovers. Today's dinner was turkey enchiladas. Hard to believe we are at December already! The kids took a coin toss to see who would start the advent calendar. #2 won and so it goes.

Today was a lazy kind of day where the kids figured out how to fill their time. Tomorrow, they have an activity to go to where they will make presents for people they choose. At the end of the week, we are taking a field trip to a local animal shelter where the challenge will be not to take anymore cats home.

There will be baking and reading and math and all sorts of other stuff. A highlight last week was them receiving activity crates from Kiwi Crate. We ordered the Tinker Crate and the Doodle Crate. The boxes came addressed to the kids and were well packed with 90%-95% of items needed. I was impressed even though the motor in the Tinker Crate didn't work as expected. Extra parts were requested and sent out quickly. Hopefully, the next one goes more smoothly.

#3 who wants nothing to do yet with traditional worksheet type stuff sat and worked on his motor for 3 hours. This included following the directions (he did need some help), watching videos and looking up more info about motors. I haven't seen him that excited about a learning activity in a long time.

#1 is at the point where we need to look at school placements for 7th grade (how did that happen). I'm also taking the opportunity to see which schools are open to homeschoolers if we decide to go that route when the time comes.

In the meantime, I need to start organizing the new curriculum. It's currently in a huge cardboard box taunting me!

What are they learning today?

The new curriculum has been ordered. Planning to kick it into gear in January.

Yet, it feels like we are busier than ever. #2 is finishing up her theater class for this semester and only has 2 more sewing classes left.

Today, they played math games on the computer, rode bikes for a brief time since it is cold today, mailed their letters to Santa, cooked and played! They are getting better at filling their free time and exploring interests! #2 filled her time with drawing pictures of elves and reindeer.

Tomorrow is homeschool day at the local trampoline park and they have their Parkour class so it will be a very physical kind of day for them!

I'm also excited to see what activities we get from kiwi crate, which is a monthly activity kit that you can subscribe. I've ordered a holiday ornament decorating kit from them as well. (No, they didn't pay me.....but I wouldn't turn it down).

#1 is doing well at school. She has to work on her math grade but overall I'm happy with her progress. It was nice to have 2 days of no school this week even if they drive me crazy!

Changing Direction

I'm in the process of planning how we are going to move forward in January. We have stopped all book work for the moment. I know many will laugh at the idea of a burnt out 8 year old but that's exactly what I feel like I'm seeing right now. Reading, music practice, cooking, shopping, field trips, science projects are all still happening. I'm also looking at ways to explore how holidays are celebrated in other countries. Funny thing is, #3 asked us how blood clots happen, then he sat and watched 5 or 6 you tube videos about blood, veins, and the clotting process. He also randomly wrote a poem while sitting at the table. So, there is hope!

While the items I have now should work for 2 kids (or more), it requires a lot more organization and planning on my part. So, I'm leaning towards a boxed curriculum. Funny thing is, I was looking at 1 and it goes by age range instead of grade level. Initially I considered the 7-9 level but we have done many of the science projects and reading projects for that level. Without realizing it, I recreated the major parts of that curriculum. So, the 8-10 range it is. I'm okay with helping with the reading and adjusting assignments,

With switching in January, that kind of puts us on a different schedule. If this curriculum works for us, then we'd either keep working through some of the summer or just pick up in the fall where we stop in June.

Mending Pieces and Starting Over

I found this written in my son's school agenda. I'm not sure when he wrote it and neither is he. We discussed it and it's clear to me that he really doesn't hate the people at his school. But, the school work, his frustration at not understanding and having to be pulled out for services were all adding up to make him unhappy. He did have good moments at school and the teachers and staff there love him. I have absolutely no doubt about this. I pointed this out to him and he smiled. He definitely wrote this hoping it would be seen. I don't know what he thought would happen and he shrugged his shoulders when I asked.

Today, #2 and #3 asked me if they could write letters to Santa. We were out and about already but I said we could definitely add this to our list of work for tomorrow or next week. #3 said "no, that can't count as work because it would be something fun." My heart broke a little when he said this. It seems I have my work cut out for me for the next few months.

I loved school as a kid even when my teachers weren't great. It was a safe haven for me when I didn't have that at home. I had hoped my kids would feel a similar way about school. Indeed #1 and #2 used to wake up excited to go and sad when there wasn't school. #1 is still happy to go but doesn't complain when there isn't school either.

Call me crazy but 8-10 year olds should not have to sit for hours at a time taking tests (some of these tests are also badly written but that's an entirely different issue). They should be moving and exploring the world around them. They should be asking questions and be given the tools to find the answer. I'm not saying everything should be glitter and rainbows all the time but maybe more than not. And I certainly have no idea how this would work in a room of 22-26 students!

In some ways, we have been homeschooling or supplementing all along: Music lessons, various trips etc. What we have lost at this point is the morning battles and the homework battles. I love not having to worry that they aren't going to get enough sleep since it can be a struggle to get my kids settled at night. #2 seems to naturally fall asleep between 10 and 11 these days and wakes up around 9. #3 settles down around the same time but wakes up around 8. In the morning,I just have to to tell my oldest to get up and she does the rest. With the other 2, it was world war 3 every morning! Not that I blame them, A 6am wake up isn't fun for most of us.

On the flip side, I'm tired at the end of the day! Like exhausted mentally. I need a certain amount of  down time every day and finding that balance while home schooling and being a single parent most weeks makes me feel like I'm walking on a tight rope made of fire. Coffee has always been my friend, now it is totally my BFF!

In the meantime, I'm setting smaller goals for the rest of this school year and rethinking curriculum choices for next fall.