homeschool progress report

I have thought about writing my thoughts on our first round of homeschooling many times. What I've realized is that depending on the day you would likely read very different stories. But I do want to take the time to write my thoughts...and will likely do so every six months or so, mostly for my own record of where I was at, what I was thinking, what I was struggling with, what I was grateful for. I would imagine this would make for some interesting reading many years down the road.

My overall sentiment towards homeschooling Ivar and Elsie this year has been extremely positive. I absolutely love it. I know from many friends that this is not often the case. The first year(s) can be really exhausting, with the mom learning as much as the kids. But I had enough wise veteran homeschooler moms speak right to me and tell me from the start, "it's kindergarten. relax. more than anything you want your kids to love learning." And then so many went on to say that with their oldest kids they went so gangbusters the first few years that their kids now don't love school like their younger kids love it. It was with this relaxed view of the year that we moved into our first year of homeschool, and I am so grateful for these words.

My greatest gift this first year of home school continues to be the group of home school teachers (moms) that meet once a month at a local church and talk about everything from curriculum, field trips, meal planning, personal time, marriage care, lesson planning and challenging learners. I love this group SO MUCH. Our kids are all different ages, we are all using different curriculum, we hold our own varying reasons for home educating, but we are all doing it. They are the women who make it look doable. They don't make it look perfect. But they are exceptional at what they do. I learn so much and always feel encouraged and full of grace to keep at it.

Because some days are awesome and other days are a challenge.

Today was a great example of a lesson gone wrong. I was introducing bar graphs to the kids and genuinely excited about it. We sat at the kitchen table and made a bar graph for fruit we have in the house. They loved this project so we moved on and all three of us made a bar graph showing our animals on the farm. The lesson derailed right from the start when I told the kids to write "animals on our farm" at the top of their graph. Ivar felt he had too much of a space between the i and the m in animals and this was so frustrating for him he began to cry. Then his o in on wasn't round enough. And it basically went downhill from there.

In those moments I do wonder if an outside teacher would do a better job. I am the mom and there are certain liberties taken with the mom that wouldn't be taken with another adult. I know this because they behave splendidly in kid's church, ecfe and gym class, all with other teachers. But I'm the mom, so I am also the fall girl. I get it, but I also don't put up with much if we're in "school time" because that perfectionism is debilitating no matter who the teacher.

To calm down from this bar graph crying fit, we watched the male and female cardinals that visit our feeder each day, and then we saw the pileated woodpecker that comes once in a while and then three blue jays. I told Ivar we should graph the birds that visit our feeder. He loved this idea and came back to his normal self so I could talk to him about trying his best, but not being perfect. We had a great conversation about what it means to learn and not do things exactly right the first time. We talked a lot about Rory and how so much of what he does is trying and trying again until he solves the computer code. Ivar cheered up and we had a great rest of our morning. In those moments, I am so glad I am right there to redirect him, help him move on and continue with his lesson. I'm glad I am his teacher.

This up and down in moods and confidence is a pretty typical ebb and flow for us.

So far, my very favorite part of home schooling the kids has been the actual teaching. I really like introducing a lesson, making up math games, reading books and dreaming up coordinating projects and bringing up what we're learning all throughout the day.

There are definitely sacrifices and challenges and absolute bonuses to home schooling. I love that I don't have to wake anyone up in the morning and hustle and bustle us all out the door. I cannot imagine adding that stress to the very first part of our day. So for me, that is a huge advantage in running a peaceful and happy home. The disadvantage, of course, is that the kids never leave! Ha! All Christmas I heard the lyric, 'and mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again' and I'd think, "sheesh, no kidding." I was ready to send my kids away too! But then that first day "back to school" came and we had a normal morning at home, ate breakfast with Rory before he began his work day and then took an hour to clean their room before school started at 10. The pace of that calm morning reminded me that there are definite trade-offs.

And being responsible for breakfast LUNCH and dinner each day isn't my favorite part either. We are in the kitchen making meals three times a day every single day. I have thought about packing lunch boxes at breakfast that we would eat at lunchtime, just so that I wouldn't have to get out all the lunch supplies so quickly after breakfast. So far I've never been that organized, but I like the thought.

So these are my thoughts on home schooling our kids, half a year in. I just decided to write a second post on the particulars of what we're learning and what's working for us. I imagine there will be lots of ups and down to come, but I'm grateful we are going this route with our kids.