Spring is in the Air

The weather here has been simply beautiful for the last week. I finally have a method to motivate the boys. They want so badly to play outside, they will do just about anything to get there. This has led me to believe that schooling through the summer might be more beneficial than winter schooling. I doubt I can win converts with that doctrine.

With the improving weather, our thoughts are turning to gardening. JT loves plants. He's always been actively involved in my flower beds. Last year, we made our first foray into vegetables. This year, we plan to expand. Today the kids were outside with paper and markers drawing up a plan for their portions of the garden. I quickly realized we are going to need to dedicate more space to this endeavor. Pumpkins, cantaloupes, beans and cucumbers on top of what I had already planned will be way too much for our little garden.

I told the boys we would need to scout out a new location. One prime spot had questionable sun exposure. The boys came up with a plan to keep a chart of how many hours this patch of yard has sun for the next few weeks. Then we can decide if it will be acceptable. JT said, "Hey mom! This can be like a science experiment!"

Good boy!

One more thing...if you follow Pioneer Woman's blog, you may have already seen the link to FreeRice.com. If not, I highly recommend it. It is a quiz site with many different subjects available. When you answer a question correctly, rice is donated to the World Food Programme. It is highly addictive and educational. When you miss a question, it is thrown back in the mix to give you a second chance. JT was able to use the knowledge he has gained studying prefixes, suffixes and word roots to do very well in the vocabulary category. It felt good to know that not only had I provided him with a tool he could use to expand his vocabulary, I had also given him the opportunity to help others with that knowledge.

Time is at a Premium

Is it so very hard to understand if I say, "When you finish your work you can go outside," that the more time you spend delaying your work, the less time you'll have outside? I don't think so, but I could be mistaken. Apparently this concept is difficult for the six and nine year old members of our household.

It was absolutely gorgeous outside today. Sunny, 65 degrees, slight breeze... perfect weather. JT had very few things on his list to accomplish. There were no compositions or brain surgery labs. A little math, a little grammar, 15 pages of science and a worksheet to go with it, and he could be on his way. FOUR hours later he finally wrapped it up and went outside. Unfortunately, we had to leave for Odyssey of the Mind practice 45 minutes later. When the moaning and whining started, I said, "If only you had done your work more quickly earlier, you would have had more time to play."

Is this a developmental milestone he may not have reached? Should I be concerned? I played with an idea for hammering it home. What about a jar with beans representing segments of time for play that slowly deplete as the time is being wasted? That just seems like it would teach him to rush through the work. I feel like I spend too much time saying 'I told you so'. I guess I'll have to brainstorm on this one. Now that the weather is nice, it will certainly be coming up more often.

The funny thing was, when they finally got out there, he gathered up his entomology 'supplies'. He took a jar, tweezers, a magnifying glass, notebook and his field guide and loaded them into a backpack. He collected several insects and wrote very detailed journal entries including sketches into his book. He did more for his education in that time than in the 4 hours I had him. Maybe today should have been focused on the great outdoors from the start. However, I know if I had suggested he do that, it never would have happened.

One more quick thing...while the boys were outside, their differences became so apparent. EM was dribbling the basketball in the driveway while JT was lying on the sidewalk writing in the notebook. EM yelled, "Are you open, are you open?!"

The entomologist made no reply.

Whose fault is it, anyway?

"These kids are driving me nuts!"

You may be surprised to know I have said this several times this week. Maybe 'said' isn't the most descriptive word I could chose.

Shrieked, yelped, bellowed?

I can't put my finger on what did it this week. The boys were less than cooperative out of the gate Monday morning. We still use our reward system where each boy has a cup of 12 stones to start the week. Usually they lose between one and five by Friday. Tuesday, EM had 4 left in his cup. JT wasn't far behind.

I knew going into it that this might be a trouble week for many reasons. JT had to complete the composition portion of his Calvert tests by Wednesday. One was a three paragraph creative writing assignment. The other was his first attempt at a book report. Fun for all! I also knew we were pretty tightly scheduled with activities for the week, so free time would be rare.

But I think I have decided that the biggest contributor to the weeping and gnashing of teeth was me. I have not been getting to bed at a reasonable time for months. When I go to bed late, I am less than motivated to get going in the morning. When I am not motivated, big surprise(!) my kids aren't motivated. Things go downhill quickly from there.

How to solve this problem?

It seems simple enough, "Go to bed earlier, stupid!" Here's the kicker...I don't want to. I want time for me. I need time for me. Often the only time I have is late at night. After the kids are in bed and the chores that get pushed aside all day are finished, I have time for me. I don't know if this problem is worse for homeschooling moms than others. I am sure that moms who go to work all day have the same time crunch. I think they might be more likely to go to bed and skip some of the me time out of necessity. Face it, if you are homeschooling you don't have to do much to pass as 'ready for the day'. Getting up and physically going to work takes a bit more preparation.

So where will I find the balance to serve my kids and my needs which in turn will serve my kids since I won't be driven to insanity?

I'll let you know when I figure it out.

Self Motivation

Last week was the week off in our 6 week on/1 week off routine. I once again failed to spend those days making excellent plans for the next 6 weeks. In fact, I made no plans. Sunday night I shuffled some books around on the desk and said, "Hmmm. This looks good."

We had much running around to do on Monday anyway, so I knew it was pointless to plan too much. By Tuesday I did have a more concrete plan for the week. Then JT took matters into his own hands.

He decided it was about time he gets faster at multiplication facts. Multiplication was not on my plan. I walked in the room Wednesday morning and EM was holding a stop watch while JT was quickly working his way through the math problems he had on the white board. They did this themselves! It took longer than I wanted to spend on math so I felt the need to rush through some other work later that day.

Again, Thursday morning....same thing. I was a bit annoyed now. I had PLANS. But then I noticed something. JT's times were HALF what they were the day before. He had found a way to motivate himself. I didn't have anything to do with this idea. He even had his brother's total cooperation. (He loves the stop watch.)

Now I can just hope he decides he'd like to write more compositions.

Big Brother is Watching

School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home.

This statement is alarming in so many ways. It is the title of an article found here.

My reason for pulling my children out of the public school system was a common one. My son was not finding challenge in his placement. Simply put...he wasn't learning. I spent time and energy trying to make it work where he was. I met with teachers. I met with administrators. I hired a lawyer. It was so much easier to homeschool. Our problem was mild. Our district did not spy on my child IN HIS OWN HOME!

I think the thing that upsets me the most about this whole situation, is the idea that the school Vice Principal that used the photo from a webcam as evidence, was trying to discipline the student for "improper behavior in his home". Since when did public schools have the right to monitor behavior in the student's homes? Did parents give them this right?

When my child went to public school, I understood that he was under their supervision while he was on their property, including the bus ride. I expected them to follow their handbook and discipline my child accordingly. But when my child got off the bus and entered my home, he was under my authority.

Some people would say the homeschoolers have too much leeway with their kids. They don't have enough supervision from the state. If my child is in my home, he's under my supervision. I have a parental responsibility to make him a productive member of society. I need to educate him so he does not become a burden on others. If I am meeting those goals, what do I lack that the public system has?

Surveillance equipment.

Polar Opposites

"I hate math!, I hate math!"

The sound of my 9 year old in the midst of a unit on decimals. I was in our classroom with my younger son. JT was out in our library chanting his mantra.

EM yelled back, "I love it!" In the meantime, EM was struggling with a card game I made for him. The cards have sets of rhyming words that need to be matched. EM has a horrible time hearing the rhymes. (I am starting to consider having him evaluated for auditory processing problems, but that's another story.) JT has always excelled in everything related to language, so for him, that game was always a piece of cake.

Five minutes later, JT burst into the room and said, "Can't I please just sit and read the dictionary all day?!"

Now, I can really relate to that sentiment. I was competent in math in elementary and middle school. When I reached high school things went down hill. I have always loved reading, language and history. I like science, if it doesn't involve too many equations. :-) Like, JT, a day with the dictionary would be far superior to math.

I believe it's okay to not like math. (Gasp! I've said it out loud!)

The question is...does he dislike this subject because he just can't relate to it, or is he honestly struggling with the math? Sometimes it's so hard to tell. He wants to be an entomologist when he grows up. Will math play such a vital role in his future? If he can pass math without honors, will it really matter? If I push him to excel at something that isn't his cup of tea, will he hate it more?

In the meantime, I have to find a way to teach these two boys with completely opposite styles and strengths. I really can't imagine how a classroom teacher has a chance at reaching a room full of a kids. I have enough trouble with only two.

Education Trends

I read an excellent article this week, recommended by Annie at Learn at Every Turn. The article, Playing to Learn, made me think how different public education would be if someone would be daring enough to think outside the box.

From the article:
What they (students) shouldn’t do is spend tedious hours learning isolated mathematical formulas or memorizing sheets of science facts that are unlikely to matter much in the long run. Scientists know that children learn best by putting experiences together in new ways. They construct knowledge; they don’t swallow it.

Not two days later, I was listening to a local radio talk show. The guests were a former school superintendent and a former school board member. They were discussing the need to allow children more time to learn through experiences. The school board member brought up the point that we have built such a structured system in education that we have made it impossible to adapt our classrooms to better serve the children. We can only serve the system.

I have good news! In my home, I can adapt day to day based on what my boys need. This week, we spent about 2 hours a day focusing on your typical 'school' activities...worksheets, math problems, spelling practice. The rest of the time we - read for enjoyment, looked up things online that we were curious about and we traveled to practices and lessons. Perhaps the most educational time all week was yesterday afternoon. I was trying to get my house cleaned up a bit and the boys were on their own. They tried going outside...too chilly. They couldn't agree on a video. Did anyone come to me and say, "We're bored!"? Nope.

They planned an expedition to Mars.

They found their sleeping bags and backpacks. They loaded up on necessary supplies. (If you ever go to Mars, don't forget your stuffed animals!) They carried it all downstairs and had a blast. When there was a question over how long night would be on Mars, I threw our copy of "Atlas of the Stars" into the room and they found their answer.

Did they pick up skills they will need someday in the corporate world planning this trip? Maybe not. But I beg to differ...

From that same article:
"During the school day, there should be extended time for play. Research has shown unequivocally that children learn best when they are interested in the material or activity they are learning. Play — from building contraptions to enacting stories to inventing games — can allow children to satisfy their curiosity about the things that interest them in their own way. It can also help them acquire higher-order thinking skills, like generating testable hypotheses, imagining situations from someone else’s perspective and thinking of alternate solutions."

Well, my classroom passes that test.