Linda's Homeschool WebLog
Friday, September 13, 2002
The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook
I'm re-reading parts of this book because I don't have any new homeschooling books to read. Would you like to recommend a book to me? Email Linda
A quote from the book above:
"As adults, we demand our freedoms. Children should have some freedoms too, within the framework of adult wisdom and love. This is not indulgence, not even close to it! The greatest freedom they can enjoy is a chance to grow naturally under the guidance of their parents who do not create academic or social straightjackets, but rather move with them in creative work, study, and play which make the most of their own creative genius."
-- Dr. Raymond & Dorothy Moore
This is how our week went...
I can't believe it has been a week since I wrote in this blog! I guess that means we're developing a pretty good schedule, things are moving right along, and we're getting a lot of work done. On the other hand, it could mean that I got too busy to write and missed a lot of good opportunities to tell you how we're doing.
Aaron and I really are developing a good rapport for working one-on-one. I think this is just what he needs. Do you realize that in a room of 30 kids he would get about 12 minutes of his teacher's time in a six hour day - but here he gets up to three hours of individual attention per day.... and we're doing such great things!
You know those books about states - the ones in the juvenile non-fiction section of the library? Well, we got some of those and are reading them together, making index cards to use on a time-line. We're starting with the Mid-Atlantic states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Studying the history of these three states has led us right into a study of the Revolutionary War. By luck I found a copy of the Walt Disney movie, Johnny Tremain, at our local library and we watched that last night. I've got the book and re-read it last year but didn't read it to Aaron yet. Of course the book is better for detail, but the movie did teach Aaron a lot in just a few minutes.
We've also started reading a book called
Extreme Mountain Biking for physical education class, and because Aaron loves bikes. It has a lot of information but sometimes is too simplistic and repetitive as it really is for kids a few years younger than Aaron (he's 12 now). Recently I found out there's going to be an attempt to open the forest trails in this area up to mountain bikes, so possibly in a few years mountain bike activities will be commonplace here all summer. We're getting a jump on the activity by learning about it now. I'm having Aaron write words that come from the mountain bike book, for writing. He hates to write!!!...but it is easier if they are words that interest him. Today he nearly spelled "derailleur" without looking. I was very surprised!!! I've been keeping index cards about the history of biking for our time-line too.
For math I've been putting problems up on our pen board and having him keep score during card games. So far he hasn't missed any of the pen board problems, so I'm going to have to get tougher problems! I'm really testing him slowly to see what he does or doesn't know - and what he might have trouble with.
Tonight he was inspired to clean our living room. I just love it when he gets into the housecleaning mood because he is so very good and thorough. He doesn't just clean the surface. Tonight he took the cushions off the sofa and cleaned and vacuumed the whole thing. It is just wonderful to have his help. The only problem is that if I ask him to do something, he does a sloppy job. But if he notices that a place needs cleaning and decides on his own to do it, he does an excellent job. I try to encourage that when it happens... so maybe it will happen more often.
And now for a few words about my daughter's experiment with public school. She got sick the first week of school, at the end of August. It is 12 days later and she's still coughing. She doesn't want to take time off. I'm going to have to insist on having her rest at home this weekend and see a doctor as soon as possible. I expect this will be the first of many illnesses for her this winter if she insists on staying in public school. She's so stubborn about this! (Age 13 - go figure.) She was born premature and with a weak immune system, and has always been the first to catch anything that comes around. After our five years of homeschooling her, I had forgotten about this terrible side effect of public education.
To make matters worse, I already got a note from her teacher complaining that Cimeron is not organized enough because she hasn't used her assignment journal to keep track of homework assignments. Cimeron thinks she can remember what she's supposed to do and the teacher seems to think she's not getting enough homework done and that the journal would help. Also apparently there was a bad science test score so I got notified about that too.
She spends a lot of time doing homework. Today she had her math book out on her lap, supposedly doing homework problems from about 4 pm to 9 pm. I think this is outrageous! Math shouldn't be torture! Cimeron, however, is undaunted and still very enthusiastic about attending public school. She didn't want to go to sleep at 10 because her homework wasn't done. So... I'm very concerned about her. She's sick, not getting enough sleep, and under stress from excess homework. Since when is being in a pressure cooker a good preparation for normal life?
One other thing Aaron and I did this week - for our Ancient Wisdom class... we got a book of Chinese proverbs. I read these to him and he tells me what he thinks they mean. Then we discuss them. It has been fun. :) Here's an example: "Yellow gold has its price; learning is priceless."
Aaron is having intense growing pains in his lower legs tonight. He is getting taller and thinner as the days go by.
I can't believe it has been a week since I wrote in this blog! I guess that means we're developing a pretty good schedule, things are moving right along, and we're getting a lot of work done. On the other hand, it could mean that I got too busy to write and missed a lot of good opportunities to tell you how we're doing.
Aaron and I really are developing a good rapport for working one-on-one. I think this is just what he needs. Do you realize that in a room of 30 kids he would get about 12 minutes of his teacher's time in a six hour day - but here he gets up to three hours of individual attention per day.... and we're doing such great things!
You know those books about states - the ones in the juvenile non-fiction section of the library? Well, we got some of those and are reading them together, making index cards to use on a time-line. We're starting with the Mid-Atlantic states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Studying the history of these three states has led us right into a study of the Revolutionary War. By luck I found a copy of the Walt Disney movie, Johnny Tremain, at our local library and we watched that last night. I've got the book and re-read it last year but didn't read it to Aaron yet. Of course the book is better for detail, but the movie did teach Aaron a lot in just a few minutes.
We've also started reading a book called
For math I've been putting problems up on our pen board and having him keep score during card games. So far he hasn't missed any of the pen board problems, so I'm going to have to get tougher problems! I'm really testing him slowly to see what he does or doesn't know - and what he might have trouble with.
Tonight he was inspired to clean our living room. I just love it when he gets into the housecleaning mood because he is so very good and thorough. He doesn't just clean the surface. Tonight he took the cushions off the sofa and cleaned and vacuumed the whole thing. It is just wonderful to have his help. The only problem is that if I ask him to do something, he does a sloppy job. But if he notices that a place needs cleaning and decides on his own to do it, he does an excellent job. I try to encourage that when it happens... so maybe it will happen more often.
And now for a few words about my daughter's experiment with public school. She got sick the first week of school, at the end of August. It is 12 days later and she's still coughing. She doesn't want to take time off. I'm going to have to insist on having her rest at home this weekend and see a doctor as soon as possible. I expect this will be the first of many illnesses for her this winter if she insists on staying in public school. She's so stubborn about this! (Age 13 - go figure.) She was born premature and with a weak immune system, and has always been the first to catch anything that comes around. After our five years of homeschooling her, I had forgotten about this terrible side effect of public education.
To make matters worse, I already got a note from her teacher complaining that Cimeron is not organized enough because she hasn't used her assignment journal to keep track of homework assignments. Cimeron thinks she can remember what she's supposed to do and the teacher seems to think she's not getting enough homework done and that the journal would help. Also apparently there was a bad science test score so I got notified about that too.
She spends a lot of time doing homework. Today she had her math book out on her lap, supposedly doing homework problems from about 4 pm to 9 pm. I think this is outrageous! Math shouldn't be torture! Cimeron, however, is undaunted and still very enthusiastic about attending public school. She didn't want to go to sleep at 10 because her homework wasn't done. So... I'm very concerned about her. She's sick, not getting enough sleep, and under stress from excess homework. Since when is being in a pressure cooker a good preparation for normal life?
One other thing Aaron and I did this week - for our Ancient Wisdom class... we got a book of Chinese proverbs. I read these to him and he tells me what he thinks they mean. Then we discuss them. It has been fun. :) Here's an example: "Yellow gold has its price; learning is priceless."
Aaron is having intense growing pains in his lower legs tonight. He is getting taller and thinner as the days go by.
