Weaving the threads...
Our first semester of home schooling is wrapping up this week, and I find myself looking back over the last five months and evaluating how things have gone so far. The most noticeable thing for me has been the flexibility inherent in a home school curriculum. We technically started school July 2nd (which I chronicled here) and will end this Friday, Dec.19th. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed at the fact that Ben wanted to start early- while I didn't feel unprepared exactly, I felt like I wasn't quite ready. Homeschooling with babies underfoot is quite the undertaking, and I won't deny that. This was my primary fear, I think, as we began: could I keep everything balanced between the needs of my school children and the needs of my babies? I think we found a sweet spot with that about late September, early October, and we've followed a similar rhythm of routine since then. But back to the flexibility: We worked from July to the 1st of August, at which point we went on a vacation to celebrate my best friend's wedding. Unbenowst to me, I began to miscarry during that wedding weekend. By the time we returned, the roller coaster of losing the baby and the surgery began, stretching from the 11th of August to the the 23rd, with the surgery falling on the 20th of August. A whole month was "lost" (but not really, upon examination). My mother was able to pick up with the children during the last week of August, and schooled them for a week and a half until I was feeling well enough to return to teaching them. We then worked, with decent regularity, for the next two months into November. It didn't feel that way at the time, actually. Isaiah had multiple therapy appointments on different days and covering two towns in the process (vision, speech, physical, and occupational). It seemed like everything was all over the map, literally and figuratively. Looking back at my homeschool journal, though, we got through the lessons, as planned- fitted in around the multiple car trips and appointments. Our school day probably didn't look very typical, but that's fine- that's what homeschooling is all about. We stopped schooling again in the middle of November, in part due to Thanksgiving break, but also to a week of doctors' appointments and sickness. We picked back up the first week of December. All this to say, according to the 'traditional' school calendar (using our local school district for reference), we should be at week 17 in the lesson plans. Amazingly, we are right on track for the year, ending at week 17, right on schedrule. This is the beauty of homeschooling- I can't imagine what this would have looked like if Ben and Isaiah had been in a traditional school setting. Just thinking about signing Isaiah in and out of school for therapy appointments makes my eyes cross. Sonlight has been a great fit for us this semester, in so many ways.
Ben, so far, is doing very well. We are still struggling a bit with reading, but it has come along steadily. I am trying to find the balance between 'fun' and required to help encourage him in this area. Writing is similar- his handwriting is improving steadily (he's using the first grade curriculum from Handwriting Without Tears, which I can't reccomend enough.) He absolutely loves math and science, and would double or triple his math lessons regularly if I let him. (I do sometimes, but I am more concerned with mastery and understanding over speed.)
The enviornment that home schooling provides for Isaiah is so, so important. Everyday he gets highly individualized, tailored instruction from me at his skill level, something that would not be available in a traditional setting. With his Sensory Processing Disorder, he struggles with some of the basic skills: following directions, sitting erect in a chair, holding a pencil properly and applying appropriate pressure to the the paper, sequencing- all are a struggle. He lacks the muscle control that a normal kindergartner would have. We have yet to start a "math" curriculum with him but continue to do 'real-life' counting in conjuction with physical activity, like counting to ten while hopping. Both are very important for his development right now. And by helping to integrate his body with his mind on multiple dimensions, it helps with the sensory processing. (In short, SPD kids struggle with integration- where is my body, what is my body doing, what is my brain saying to my body.) He's whip smart, which you probably wouldn't notice if you could only see his failure to perform typical kindergarter skills. He is interested in science, and is almost reading (he has picked it up much faster than Ben has), and if his muscle control wasn't such an issue, would probably write stories. Right now he settles for writting long scribbles that look like sentences. (And while he thinks he's not doing anything, he's actually doing a lot. Just having the patience and control over the pencil for that long and leaning all the scribbles in the same direction says a lot for his prewriting skills.) He seems to struggle very much with sequencing both in the logical and practical sense: like beginning, middle, and end (this happened, and then this happened...), math skills often show skipped numbers or no understanding of which number comes next or before, and when you lay colored beads in a pattern, he can copy it exactly, but can't figure out which colored bead would come next in the sequence. So we're gonna keep working on that, both here at home and with his therapists.
It's gone a bit better than I expected, and a bit worse for the wear. I see things that I will definitely change for next semester that (hopefully) will allow things to run a bit smoother. The boys definitely need a folder to keep their language arts and Explode the Code work in, because I am so tired of trying to figure out who has done what when and how! (Especially since I make copies!) Isaiah will probably start with Math U See in January- we'll see how it goes there. It seems to make a lot more sense to his brain, than, say, Ben's Horizon (Alpha Omega) curriculum. I really want to adjust our morning routine so that we finish our 'home' routine and then move into our 'school' routine with less bumps and breaks. I think that I am going to focus most of our reading assignments during that time and then move into the individualized work from there. We'll see.
Ben, so far, is doing very well. We are still struggling a bit with reading, but it has come along steadily. I am trying to find the balance between 'fun' and required to help encourage him in this area. Writing is similar- his handwriting is improving steadily (he's using the first grade curriculum from Handwriting Without Tears, which I can't reccomend enough.) He absolutely loves math and science, and would double or triple his math lessons regularly if I let him. (I do sometimes, but I am more concerned with mastery and understanding over speed.)
The enviornment that home schooling provides for Isaiah is so, so important. Everyday he gets highly individualized, tailored instruction from me at his skill level, something that would not be available in a traditional setting. With his Sensory Processing Disorder, he struggles with some of the basic skills: following directions, sitting erect in a chair, holding a pencil properly and applying appropriate pressure to the the paper, sequencing- all are a struggle. He lacks the muscle control that a normal kindergartner would have. We have yet to start a "math" curriculum with him but continue to do 'real-life' counting in conjuction with physical activity, like counting to ten while hopping. Both are very important for his development right now. And by helping to integrate his body with his mind on multiple dimensions, it helps with the sensory processing. (In short, SPD kids struggle with integration- where is my body, what is my body doing, what is my brain saying to my body.) He's whip smart, which you probably wouldn't notice if you could only see his failure to perform typical kindergarter skills. He is interested in science, and is almost reading (he has picked it up much faster than Ben has), and if his muscle control wasn't such an issue, would probably write stories. Right now he settles for writting long scribbles that look like sentences. (And while he thinks he's not doing anything, he's actually doing a lot. Just having the patience and control over the pencil for that long and leaning all the scribbles in the same direction says a lot for his prewriting skills.) He seems to struggle very much with sequencing both in the logical and practical sense: like beginning, middle, and end (this happened, and then this happened...), math skills often show skipped numbers or no understanding of which number comes next or before, and when you lay colored beads in a pattern, he can copy it exactly, but can't figure out which colored bead would come next in the sequence. So we're gonna keep working on that, both here at home and with his therapists.
It's gone a bit better than I expected, and a bit worse for the wear. I see things that I will definitely change for next semester that (hopefully) will allow things to run a bit smoother. The boys definitely need a folder to keep their language arts and Explode the Code work in, because I am so tired of trying to figure out who has done what when and how! (Especially since I make copies!) Isaiah will probably start with Math U See in January- we'll see how it goes there. It seems to make a lot more sense to his brain, than, say, Ben's Horizon (Alpha Omega) curriculum. I really want to adjust our morning routine so that we finish our 'home' routine and then move into our 'school' routine with less bumps and breaks. I think that I am going to focus most of our reading assignments during that time and then move into the individualized work from there. We'll see.
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In a related vein:
- Kevin (Elise's husband, of A Path Made Straight) has done a great write up on how they choose literature for their boys, and gives a ton of great suggestions. I think this will definitely help me in the "fun" reading category!
- Tonia did a series of "field notes" that cover what she is currently experiencing as all of her children are moving into the middle school and high school years. She offers an important perspective from someone who has been at this adventure for a while.
- Ann has a ton, and I do mean a ton, of homeschooling posts, all of which are encouraging and inspiring. Sometimes when I have a really rough day, I go re-read the archives to get refreshed and encouraged and ready for battle again. Highly recommended.
- Molly, of Mommycoddle, wrote such a clear, concise, 'this is why I homeschool' article on Momformation that is just dead on. Great article to hand to family members and the like at those requisite holiday gatherings who are questioning your sanity for homeschooling.
