My mom's computer has a virus, so I can't post any pictures...but as soon as my favorite Geek gets it all fixed up, they will be forthcoming...so many adventures. We've been having a blast....and rumor has it that more than a few people have asked to be adopted for Grandma Camp next year after seeing the pictures on Facebook. Ha ha ha ha. I'm not sharing! *laughter*
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Just a short little note today (all that fun we're having, of course):
This weekend marks the end of my first year homeschooling my kids. (In case you haven't read here long, I was home schooled myself.) I have a feeling of both accomplishment and trepidation. Two things I am thankful for in the tough year we have had: the flexibility of homeschooling, and secondly, the way homeschooling has brought us together as a family. I've known these benefits to homeschooling intellectually for years (how could I not?), but this year is the first year I knew what a benefit they were on a much deeper level. We strive for an atmosphere of learning always, but I was so thankful that we could pick up and go while we waited in endless doctor's waiting rooms...how we could car school as we took Daddy to endless interviews...how it was okay if we just needed a rest from the craziness and take a day a day off. And how, at the end of a discouraging tough day for us all, we would all curl up on the couches and disappear into far off lands via our reading together, and all that stress would fall away. We've had shared adventures together in conjunction with our learning that have knit us together in a time that would commonly divide and scatter a family. It has been such a integral component of our family surviving, even thriving, through a difficult time. I am so grateful.
I am amazed at the ground Isaiah has covered. Ben is such a curious kid that we almost have to tell him to stop learning and exploring and discovering some days...about the only thing he even sort of struggles with is writing, mostly because he doesn't want to have to stop 'doing' for those short few minutes. But Isaiah? Due to his Sensory Processing Disorder, he could barely sit up straight in a chair, let alone hold a pencil and write. Again, teaching him at home is uniquely suited, as his therapy didn't stop when he walked out the therapist's door- we brought it right home and kept working with him, kept providing him the tools he needed- attention that just would not be possible in a more formal school setting. Could you imagine a teacher letting him doing his handwriting upside down underneath a table facing up, because he could 'feel' his shoulder, arm, and wrist that much the better with his body pushed into the floor? Incidentally, I cannot recommend Handwriting Without Tears enough for any kid, but especially kids with gross and fine motor skills difficulties, sensory issues, etc. And what incredible improvements he has made over the year! I am excited to see where he will head next. I'm excited to see where they both will head next.
I've been thinking about my 'philosophy' of home schooling a lot this last month or so, as I've evaluated what went well this year, what hasn't, and on and on. I think I am still in the formulating stage, but I ran across two posts yesterday that just resonated. I can relate very much to this post by Elizabeth, except that in my case I was recovering from a life-threatening miscarriage and she was healing from a life threatening labor... I was so very struck by the fact that we have come to many of the same conclusions, but the endings were very much different. I just can't agree with what she had to say more. I am at peace, and I am grateful. And that's what I want to remember, first and foremost, about this homeschooling adventure- I need to leave it in God's hands...He will direct and guide and it will be okay. The second piece was by Susan of High Desert Home. I can't tell you how much I shall miss Susan blogging, but I am praying that she leaves her archives up because if I started to print off all the articles that have encouraged me over the years, I'd need a few notebooks...one of her next to last posts was sort of an outlining of her learning philosophy. James (my husband) and I both read it and found ourselves nodding at so much of what she has said...and again, as James summarized, it's not about us educating, it's about God teaching...and we need to keep ourselves out of the way. That's where the trepidation comes in- I know myself enough to know that I often get ahead and get to going to much and get a bit crazy, and that's the last thing I want to do. So that's my prayer for this next year- that I'll stay in my own lane, going the speed that God wants me to go, avoiding the potholes that so easily entangle me. (To paraphrase a verse.)
First stop, the refueling station. At last year's convention, even though I was very familiar with it all, I felt like a deer in the headlights...there was just way too much too absorb. This year I am excited- I know much more about what I want to learn about, and books I want to add to our family library. There's a couple of workshops specifically about teaching multiple age groups and with toddlers underfoot that I can't wait to attend.
See you next week!
---------
Just a short little note today (all that fun we're having, of course):
This weekend marks the end of my first year homeschooling my kids. (In case you haven't read here long, I was home schooled myself.) I have a feeling of both accomplishment and trepidation. Two things I am thankful for in the tough year we have had: the flexibility of homeschooling, and secondly, the way homeschooling has brought us together as a family. I've known these benefits to homeschooling intellectually for years (how could I not?), but this year is the first year I knew what a benefit they were on a much deeper level. We strive for an atmosphere of learning always, but I was so thankful that we could pick up and go while we waited in endless doctor's waiting rooms...how we could car school as we took Daddy to endless interviews...how it was okay if we just needed a rest from the craziness and take a day a day off. And how, at the end of a discouraging tough day for us all, we would all curl up on the couches and disappear into far off lands via our reading together, and all that stress would fall away. We've had shared adventures together in conjunction with our learning that have knit us together in a time that would commonly divide and scatter a family. It has been such a integral component of our family surviving, even thriving, through a difficult time. I am so grateful.
I am amazed at the ground Isaiah has covered. Ben is such a curious kid that we almost have to tell him to stop learning and exploring and discovering some days...about the only thing he even sort of struggles with is writing, mostly because he doesn't want to have to stop 'doing' for those short few minutes. But Isaiah? Due to his Sensory Processing Disorder, he could barely sit up straight in a chair, let alone hold a pencil and write. Again, teaching him at home is uniquely suited, as his therapy didn't stop when he walked out the therapist's door- we brought it right home and kept working with him, kept providing him the tools he needed- attention that just would not be possible in a more formal school setting. Could you imagine a teacher letting him doing his handwriting upside down underneath a table facing up, because he could 'feel' his shoulder, arm, and wrist that much the better with his body pushed into the floor? Incidentally, I cannot recommend Handwriting Without Tears enough for any kid, but especially kids with gross and fine motor skills difficulties, sensory issues, etc. And what incredible improvements he has made over the year! I am excited to see where he will head next. I'm excited to see where they both will head next.
I've been thinking about my 'philosophy' of home schooling a lot this last month or so, as I've evaluated what went well this year, what hasn't, and on and on. I think I am still in the formulating stage, but I ran across two posts yesterday that just resonated. I can relate very much to this post by Elizabeth, except that in my case I was recovering from a life-threatening miscarriage and she was healing from a life threatening labor... I was so very struck by the fact that we have come to many of the same conclusions, but the endings were very much different. I just can't agree with what she had to say more. I am at peace, and I am grateful. And that's what I want to remember, first and foremost, about this homeschooling adventure- I need to leave it in God's hands...He will direct and guide and it will be okay. The second piece was by Susan of High Desert Home. I can't tell you how much I shall miss Susan blogging, but I am praying that she leaves her archives up because if I started to print off all the articles that have encouraged me over the years, I'd need a few notebooks...one of her next to last posts was sort of an outlining of her learning philosophy. James (my husband) and I both read it and found ourselves nodding at so much of what she has said...and again, as James summarized, it's not about us educating, it's about God teaching...and we need to keep ourselves out of the way. That's where the trepidation comes in- I know myself enough to know that I often get ahead and get to going to much and get a bit crazy, and that's the last thing I want to do. So that's my prayer for this next year- that I'll stay in my own lane, going the speed that God wants me to go, avoiding the potholes that so easily entangle me. (To paraphrase a verse.)
First stop, the refueling station. At last year's convention, even though I was very familiar with it all, I felt like a deer in the headlights...there was just way too much too absorb. This year I am excited- I know much more about what I want to learn about, and books I want to add to our family library. There's a couple of workshops specifically about teaching multiple age groups and with toddlers underfoot that I can't wait to attend.
See you next week!
I really enjoyed this post. We are finishing our 4th year of home educating...this being our first year schooling two children at the same time.
It had it's challenges with having a baby via c-section, my hubby lossing his job weeks before the birth and discovering that my Isaac couldn't sit still. He has always been on the move and had struggles but when formal learning started well...it didn't go so well. Anyway, we are in the throws of many long doctors appts ourselves and working toward some solutions for him. It is unknown ground for me.
I wouldn't have it any other way though. Our kids are best friends and my husband commutes for work so our family life would be nil if the kids were in school. I just like having them around. I love the that 9 yr old has to be told to stop reading to do other things. That my very busy son has room to be himself and not be ridiculed or looked over.And there is the baby....that makes us all smile ear to ear.
Posted by: Sandi | June 16, 2009 at 11:23 PM