Tag: homeschooling

Report on Homeschooling

Marie HaighLeave a comment

I have been homeschooling Elly and Brooke for 4 months now.

Homeschooling 2 Kindergarten-level kids while running after a toddler who is determined to win King of the Mountain game every 5 minutes is crazy. It’s not as crazy as taking 2 girls roller skating who have never roller skated in their lives while carrying a baby on my hip because yeah, I did that and it was nail biting crazy as I tried to keep my balance while everyone fell around me, but homeschooling does require a fair amount of ambition on most days.

Some days, I cheat.

at the Philadelphia zoo

OK, I cheat most days if your vision of homeschooling looks like public school taught at home.

My strategy has evolved. I started out teaching from textbooks like my college professors did. I now use my library card and Pinterest like a double edged sword. When all else fails, I search YouTube to teach the same thing but in a different way.

I schedule a field trip to a museum or a park about once a week.

at the DaVinci Science Center

We visit the Pottstown Library weekly for storytime. Friday is the highlight of our week; we visit a friend’s house and our 6 kids have Science class together. So that means, I only have to teach class all by myself 2 days out of a week.

The main reason it is working so well is because time is on my side. I noticed after introducing the planets that my kids couldn’t tell them apart, so I dedicated 2 months to learning the planets. My eldest asked Santa for a telescope and she asked Grammy for fossils. (Both Grammy and Santa made sure that Elly’s wish came true). If instilling the love of learning isn’t success, I don’t know what is.

I won’t lie and say it’s all rainbows and chocolate. I have doubted my ability and my patience on a lot of days. Kids drive you nuts. It’s their job. Plus, Elly struggles with perfectionism and Brooke struggles with laziness. Often I slip into drill sergeant mode and bark orders out because it works brilliantly.

at the Reading Museum

Despite my love for teaching and my daughters success in learning, I am unsure if I will continue Homeschooling next year. I love it so much, but am I being selfish and doing it just for me? Is this the right decision for us? For Elly? For Brooke? For Malcolm?

One thing is for certain, socialism is a non-issue. We meet wonderful people and families everywhere we go. And we talk to them. Even Malcolm tries to talk too with the three words he knows: dada which can mean anything from dog or furry animal to daddy, uh-oh and all done. What else do you need to say?

Week 2 of Homeschooling

Marie HaighLeave a comment

Week 2 had its ups and downs. I’m still not adept enough to hit anything out of the ballpark.

On what was supposed to be the 2nd day of homeschooling in Week 2, I completely dropped the ball. Instead of doing school, I drug my kids to a year-end report meeting, a homeschooling meeting and a pool date where they swung on swings, ran through a sprinkler and swam in the shallow end.

They had a marvelous time; I checked off my tasks, but no school happened. For a brief second, I entertained the idea of squeezing it between dinner and bedtime, but I was exhausted and knew I wouldn’t have the patience.

Despite redoubling my efforts in a mere 2 days, I was done with doing school at home. Cabin fever had set in. I detest being stuck indoors, so we took our school band on the road. Jake got a walk, the kids got exercise, I found peace and school was fun again.

Later that day, we went on a field trip to Upper Schuylkill Valley Park, one of our favorite parks to visit. We visited the turtles, bald eagle, owls, donkey and the crowd-pleasers, Hunter and Scout, the wolf brothers. Afterwards, we all played at the river’s edge.

As an extra bonus, we talked to the men cutting down 2 trees. Elly and Brooke were fascinated by the process and the boss man was happy to answer our many questions.

Thankfully, the next day was Friday and a good friend thought it would be fun to conduct science experiments with her 3 boys and my girls. Her enthusiasm helped me end the week on a high note. Everybody, teachers included, enjoyed experimenting with gravity and bubbles. I’m not sure which the kids loved more: blowing bubbles or dropping paper airplanes over a balcony.

The First 3 Days of Homeschooling

Marie HaighLeave a comment

It wasn’t all rainbows and puppies, but it wasn’t tear inducing either. It feels like we are slipping into a routine. Mal is learning to hover around the girls and play with all the books they read and the tools they use.

Yes, that is a paintbrush in his mouth.

For the entire recap, Day 1 was met with excitement from Elly and Brooke. They were thrilled to see the stack of books and magnet letters I laid out the night before.

Thanks to our local Pottstown Regional Public Library, the books were all new to us. After an hour of homeschooling, we jumped in the car and traveled to Weavers Orchard for their storytime and fruit picking.

We listened to them read Blueberry Shoes.

Then armed with pint containers, we were directed to rows and rows of blueberry bushes.

We all had fun picking blueberries, even Malcolm who ate a mix of blueberries, mulch, hay and dirt.

The funny thing is that we read books everyday and we pick fruit at Weaver’s Orchard on a fairy regular basis, so it felt weird to call it homeschooling. May all school days be so easy.

Day 2 was met with some griping and whining, even though I started school off with a Froot Loop sort and count activity. I even let them eat the Fruit Loops and they still complained! I truly believe Elly thought that if she complained enough, then I would forget this whole homeschooling business and she could go back to riding her bike from sunrise to sunset. Thankfully, Elly hates being sent to her room more than she hates school, so she gritted her teeth and trudged through. Brooke tried a more passive approach of just not paying attention, so I took that into account when planning for future days.

Do you believe Elly griped the loudest over making an octopus craft? It involved pipe cleaners, pom poms, googly eyes and glue, all fun stuff.

Day 3 went smoother than the previous day. I pulled out a sand art craft and dangled it over their heads for half of the school time.

Though they were excited about practicing their handwriting in the sand and then making their sand craft, they were content to continue school even after the craft was over. We ended the day with a water color painting.

All in all, I am cautiously optimistic about Week 2.