ImPerceptibility

Posts Tagged ‘Homeschool’

We started the first day of my seventh year of homeschooling today. Seven years. Wow. That’s a long time to be doing anything. Previously my longest job was two years. I left three days before my youngest was born with an arrogant, “I’ll be back in six months or when I run out of money. Which ever happens later.” Everyone laughed and said they’d see me soon. I’ve never gone back but if they haven’t changed the locks I could. I still have the front door key.

That was eleven years ago. Eleven years. Wow. That’s a long time to not be doing anything. I’d like to think I’ve made the most of it but so many of those early years were filled with getting through the day. So many of the later years were filled with getting through the night. Next year my youngest goes to middle school.

One more year. Wow. That’s not very long to decide what to do. How do you decide what to do with the rest of your life? I couldn’t figure that out when It was time for me to decide. When things were easier and uncomplicated. Now what? I don’t know. I just don’t know.

Today Youngest learned to spell 25 spelling words. We have been doing this almost every “school” day since September. Last Friday she reached day 100 and we celebrated with ice cream. Learning to spell 2500 words in 6 months is quite an accomplishment. She accomplished this because she wanted too. We talked about what was important and learning to spell was one of those things. She likes to write stories and put them on my fridge. Misspelled words make her look bad.

Then she practiced writing in cursive. There were no tears, no do I have to, and no fooling around. She did it because she wants to learn to write pretty. She likes how I use fancy letters to address letters and packages. It’s important to her.

Then we did some math. Previously we were working on multiplication but it was starting to stress her out so we switched to Geometry. I asked her to try multiplication again because it was important and she agreed once I gave her a small printed multiplication chart to find the answers. Maybe some would disagree, but this is how she learned her addition tables. After awhile it becomes easier to just memorize them then always look them up. There is no time limit on learning in this house and I don’t do tears when it come to Math. Math is fun. Math happens when it’s supposed to and not a moment earlier.

A very noisy blue jay interrupted what was to be a really cool science lesson. She ran around the yard and found his nest. Then she looked through a bird book and found the page on blue jays. She spent quite awhile watching him and studying him. She know knows more about blue jays than most college graduates. She can even imitate his song.

Then we did Science (again). Mark Hauser – Learning about animal minds. She balked at first but once I managed to draw her in she was all for it. She is observing and conducting safe experiments with her cat. She is sure the cat understands quantity and it’s possible that red is his favorite color. I expect a full write up of the results will be posted on the fridge soon. But that is totally up to her.

Then she read a story about Pandas and made a list of endangered animals in her “Book of Notes”. There are many interesting things in there. She added her panda book to the stack of books in her room. She is trying to read enough books so that the stack reached the ceiling. She’s reached about three feet so far.

All of this happened in just under two hours. All of this happened because she was ready and willing to learn. She enjoys a challenge and will work towards something that is important to her. She hasn’t even turned on the TV today and neither have I. That’s true with most mornings. That’s why we never got the chance to laugh at that Good Morning America segment about Unschooling. They just don’t understand. All children are not meant to be be corporate slaves and bean counters. Some of us can think and do for ourselves.

I think I’m busier now than I was during the holidays. I’m fine with that. I’ve been having fun. Here’s a quick preview of what I’ve been up to and what’s to come.

I’ve been working on plans for something really cool that I’m doing in July. I’ll have a post about that in the next few days. The post involves Dan and his fat ass. At least the draft does. We’ll see how the final turns out.

I decided to re-do my youngest’s entire school plan. We’ve kept the same Math (Calvert) and Spelling (Sequential Spelling) because she enjoys both of those but I’ve ditched the reading, science, and history. She’s okay with them but she’s more of a hands-on project type of learner and what I was using was becoming more of a chore than a fun learning experience. So instead of breaking everything up into subjects I’m working on projects that incorporate all the subjects into fun hands on projects. We’ll see how they go and I’ll post some if they turn out as awesome as I think they will. If you’re curious, I’ll tell you that the first project includes making a guitar out of a K’nex box. But that’s all I’m saying until I see how everything turns out!

Our family has five birthdays in three weeks. It’s a busy birthday month. Happy Birthday everyone. Bring on the cake.

I organized my office. Not the whole office, just the messiest parts. I made notebooks for all my favorite projects. They’re complete with label and everything. MyHusband bought a new shelf and left it sitting in the hall so I took it, put it together, and it is now my shelf in my office. Snooze you loose. It looks all fancy in there now. I still have to move the cat box to work at my desk but it works for me.

I’ve been learning about Type 1 diabetes. My neighbors daughter, my daughters’ good friend was diagnosed in October and since I love her and she’s over here a lot I thought I should know more about it. She spent the night here a few weeks ago and it was so hard to help her with her insulin and try to stay calm and upbeat especially when I saw all the bruises on her legs from the injections. I managed even though I sat on the couch and cried after they went to bed. Since then I have been trying recipes for low-carb after school snacks and sugar free/low sugar baking. It’s a little harder since she’s a vegetarian and a growing/constantly hungry kid but I’m getting a few good recipes together.

And that is what I’ve been up to so far in 2010. What about you?

I haven’t talked much about the H word in the last year or so. There’s a very good reason for it. I was sick and tired of all the crap. I was tired of the labeling. I was tired of feeling the need to explain or defend my choices. I didn’t want to offend anyone or make them feel I thought less of them because they chose a different path. I was also having a hard time finding a way to talk about something that was so much a part of who I am and what I believe without it sounding either self righteous or contrite. So I removed my old posts and chose to ignore a very large part of who I am and what I believe. It was a mistake. I think my dwindling posts and general lack of enthusiasm for my blog attests to that.

It doesn’t matter if I want the label, and stereotypes, and judgments, or not. I am a homeschooler. I was a homeschooler before I even knew the word homeschooler and I can’t imaging myself in any other role. I truly believe that knowledge and education is not the responsibility of the local school board. It is your responsibility to educate yourself, as you see fit, by whatever means you have available. It is a parents responsibility to ensure their children have the skills to seek out and effectively utilize those means, for their own self-chosen goals. So, I’m putting my homeschool category back on my site and I will be adding to it when and if I have something to post. If you have a problem with that, I’ll find a nice place for you in between the mail order brides and the Viagra ads in my spam queue. Have a nice day.

Educational Anarchist Logo - 2008

According to the California Teachers Union, Homeschooling leads to educational Anarchy! Ahhh run!

[Note: I created this graphic for all educational anarchists and anyone else that wants it. Share and share alike, dervived or not derived, with or without attribution, for non-commercial use :)]