Weekly Report~ October 9, 2009

School. I always loved it. The books, the teachers, the desks (especially the kind with the lids that opened and closed), the worksheets, listening to the chalk on the chalkboard, recess, my friends, sharpening my pencils, and reading. The actual *learning* part of school was ok, but not my top priority. I was in love with the physical and social experience of "school".

D, on the other hand, seems to be in love with the actual learning and could care less about the rest of the school experience. I want to give him what is best for HIM, but that's not always an easy thing to figure out with a kid like D. He's had two more meltdowns concerning school, and continues to express the desire to be homeschooled so that he can "be taught lots of stuff and do lots of science and not just sit around playing games like I do at school". And he's so intense and adamant in his proclamations that it's hard to argue with his logic. At the same time, on an emotional level, I feel that going to school has really been helpful in teaching him to listen to/follow directions from other adults, to learn there are certain rules that need to be followed, and to learn to respect authority. He has also made a handful of friends, but he does that everywhere he goes! The other bonus of going to school is that he consistently has a well-rounded week filled with gym, art, music, reading in group settings, learning how to get along with his peers for longer periods of time, and spending less time in front of the television.

As far as afterschooling, I let him take the lead this week. The LAST thing I want to do is push him too hard, or make learning a chore. The main reason I'm supplementing with him at all is because of his love of learning and his need for moremoremore. I'd hate to kill that passion by forcing him to do a lot of unneccesary work. Here's some of what we did do throughout the week:

• Lots of nature study (October is sooooooo my favorite month!)
• Finished our books on mummies and pyramids; read about Sargon taking over Mesopotamia in SOTW1
• Writing.... this is his favorite thing at the moment. He makes books and writes stories to read to me every night. The stories are typically about a boy going on an adventure and in some way or another discovering a crystal. :)
• Two math lessons in Singapore 1A
• Reviewing common nouns & proper nouns, doing picture study & narration in FLL

No science this week. I have a few experiments planned for this weekend, as D has 4 days off of school and we'll have a lot of free time to fill. As for my little guy--B--we've had more time together with D in school all week, and it's been nice to just hang out with him. We went to the library story hour, ran errands, played together, and spent a lot of time snuggling.

Wordless Wednesday

Weekly Report~ October 2, 2009

Fall is in the air, and the leaves are changing colors before our eyes. It seems a bit early this year, perhaps due to the rainy summer? All I know is that it will be over in the blink of an eye and we want to get out and enjoy autumn in New England while we can. In the meantime, D had an *excellent* week at school. And B made it to all three days of preschool~ no more fever or snoogy nose. I am in the process of trying to find a balance between school, playtime, screen time, outdoor time, play dates, and afterschooling for D. Luckily, he has a LOT less interest in television now that his days are full, but he does still ask to play on the computer almost every day. He also wants to be outside alot, he asks for playdates almost every day, he craves 'alone time' as well as the occasional 'brother time', he wants to build with his Legos, and he wants to draw. Every day. Now, we all know there are not enough hours in a day to fit all this in, but try telling that to an argumentative six year old!!

I encourage spending time outside as well as playing indoors with or without friends/brother until dinner time, and after dinner is when we focus on afterschooling (although he chooses most of what he wants to do at this point and considers it as 'fun time', so let's not ruin things by calling it school).

Here is a taste of what we did this week:

Real Science 4 Kids Pre-Chemistry~ Unit 1 & lab; Janice Van Cleave experiment book~ two chemistry related experiments and notebooking pages.

Math~ Timed addition sheets, a "math maze", and other review problems.

SOTW~Section on Egyptian pyramids; map, maze, and built a pyramid out of Legos.

FLL~ Learned the definition of common and proper nouns; did a few pages out of a workbook I bought at the bookstore.

Independent Reading and read-alouds

This coming weekend I will give D a placement test to see which level of Singapore Math I need to order for him. Other than that, DH is working his tail off trying to get our house ready to go on the market a week from Saturday. We can't wait for that house to S.E.L.L.

Wordless Wednesday

Boys Don't Sleep.....They Recharge

My sweet little B has been sick for two weeks with two different viruses. You know it's bad when a four-year-old actually ASKS to go to the doctor. After many days and nights of some serious TLC, he woke up the other morning and declared, "No mine sore throat hurt no more!!" It's always such a huge relief when you know your kiddo is finally on the mend.

Weekly Report~ September 25, 2009

We made the decision to send D to public school this year, but not for academic reasons. He desperately needed to be a part of a structured setting where there were (non-Mom) rules to follow and (non-Mom) directions to be listened to. He needed socialization that I was unable to provide him, on a consistent and daily basis. During his K year, I joined a homeschool support group and he made a few friends, but we only got together once a month or so. I signed him up for hockey, homeschool gym class, and a homeschool art class. The only one he really liked was art, but there was only one other boy in class with him who was not only older but very quiet. So no solid, regular connections were being made. Now that he's in school, he's thriving socially and his behavior at school AND at home has already improved quite a bit. He's making friends and looks forward to seeing them every day.

However, last night he had a meltdown over something small that led to him admitting to me that he was feeling really bored with what he's learning at school, saying that they are doing stuff he did in preschool. I explained that it'll get more challenging as the year goes on, but asked him what it was he wanted to learn. He told me, "SCIENCE! And math. And how to draw. And about Egypt." Although I've been 'afterschooling' him in order to supplement his academics, I've been doing it casually. After last night's tear-fest, we spent the next hour or so doing addition drill sheets, learning the definition of a noun and memorizing the poem The Caterpillar from FLL lessons 1-4; reading a chapter in SOTW (Story of the World) about mummies and pyramids, and doing a science experiement, complete with discussion sheet. To wrap it all up, we mummified an Egyptian god.... thanks to this online BBC game: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/launch_gms_mummy_maker.shtml

We did more last night in an impromptu afterschooling session than we did on any one day of homeschooling last year (or at least without the complaining and procrastination that used to go along with it). D's attitude towards learning and his ability to focus has improved drastically in just a few months time.

I'll be posting my weekly report regardless of whether we do much afterschooling or not. It gives me that extra push to get online and keep an informal record of what we're doing, so that I can review it as the year goes on. I also hope to share my experience with other families who have also chosen to afterschool their children, as well as with homeschooling families who have been--and continue to be--an inspiration and support in my life. I'm looking forward to reading your blogs as well!!

Back For More (Blogging, that is)!

I haven't been able to bring myself to blog since my last post in May. We've been thrown one curve ball after another this summer, and haven't yet begun to feel any relief. Emphasis on the word 'yet'. It's coming, it's just around the corner, we just have to keep working hard to get where we need to be.

In the meantime, D has started first grade at his new school, and is doing much better (socially/behaviorally) than I could've hoped. That's not to say that I haven't received a phone call (or two) from his teacher. That's not to say that D hasn't come home with a note in his backpack letting me know he "had a hard time compromising during partner reading", or that his art teacher had a tough day with him last Wednesday. But these are small fish to fry compared to what I was expecting. To my pure and utter joy, he has been waking up early every morning without complaint, and getting off the school bus every afternoon with a huge smile on his face. I keep waiting for the tears to start, like they did when he attended preschool, and like they did when I'd ask him to do his deskwork while homeschooling him last year. I'm sure there will be tears, but I am grateful for this positive start to the school year.