First let me start by saying the other night at Landon's baseball practice I actually had goose bumps. Not from his amazing skills, but because it was chilly. The temperature read 78 degrees. I am such a wimp.
We just completed our fourth week of homeschool and we are all pleasantly surprised by the results thus far. Seriously, it is AWESOME!!! I usually down play how excited I am by it when people ask because I always thought homeschooling was kind of granola and weird, but maybe I'm granola now. I did own Birkenstocks in high school and secretly sometimes they still appeal to me. But not with socks. I see Japanese women wearing them all the time with socks. Either those or stilettos with daisy dukes. Anyway...homeschool. Yes, we are real and there are still many kinks to work out, which I'm sure will be a work always in progress. There is whining and wailing and gnashing of teeth most days. But overall there are so many amazing things that are happening. Let me share. First a walk through our day. We are all up and starting our day by 7am. Usually I've been up for a few hours already doing my workout and scripture/journal time--on the good days. I prep breakfast and on miracle mornings, Landon will have breakfast out and served to his sisters and himself. But prior to sitting down, I gather my little chicks around the piano and we sing a little tune and kneel for prayer. We eat, read scriptures or talk about some good message. I clean up the breakfast while the children get their morning work done. Their work includes getting dressed, making beds, brushing hair and teeth, washing face, cleaning rooms, doing laundry, vacuuming the living room, doing the garbage, and practicing the piano. Then it's off to school. They say good-bye to me and leave through the front door and come around to the back door where Mrs. Palmer eagerly awaits them. Prior to homeschooling I would nag and nag and nag to get my kids to do their chores. Always reminding, always draining. I would be drained by 7:30am. By week 4 of homeschool, there is no more reminders, no more nagging. They all do it. Landon is now waking up at 6am to get all his work done early so he can have more time to play. His idea. He's starting to get competitive with Taylor--the go-getter.
Once in school, we begin with a song and flag salute and calendar. Then we review their work charts. This is their chore chart. We mark what they did before school that day (except Landon has to mark his own prior to school starting because he's 8). If they get to school on time they get a jelly bean in the jar and if they got their chores done they get to put another one in and eat one. This has been a lesson on honesty for Audra. She is learning that she can't just say she did her work and get a jelly bean if she really didn't. And she is actually learning! She now tells me "Mom, I really didn't do it and I'm sorry." So, the jelly bean jar started on the first day of school when we were talking about goals. The class set a goal to fill the jar up to a certain point by the end of September and the award would be that their teacher would take them out to lunch to a restaurant and then we'd all pig out on jelly beans. They get jelly beans in the morning if they do those 2 things and when they finish their school work--one for each subject or assignment and anytime during the day they are practicing good manners or working on a certain value like courage or self-reliance. Being their teacher and their mom means that I get to teach them character building stuff and I get to be around them and REWARD them for practicing what we are discussing. Two weeks ago I gave an assignment to Landon to figure out something special about Audra because he is just not nice to her. A week later (I'd actually forgotten the assignment) he came up to me and said "Mom, I did the assignment you gave me. I figured out that Audra is really fun to play with--when I'm nice to her." Also, as a mom and because I am their teacher, I am more conscientious of positive behavior than I have been in the past.
So after our morning huddle, we have a subject of the day with everyone together. Today was history and generally I try to blend ideas. If we are working on being more self-reliant (oh, I use valuesparenting.com--great stuff), I try to weave that topic into history. After subject of the day, Landon reads and writes in his journal (which we also use for his writing skills). During that time, I am with Taylor and Audra doing preschool/kindergarten work. Taylor is learning to read and Audra is crazy with glue and scissors. When the girls are done, they have free play time and I spend the next 1.5 hours with Landon wherever he needs me. We then have lunch and I take Landon to the regular school for art, pe, and music.
Some observations of this experiment: My children are turning into goal setters. If they hear the word "goal" they get all excited. The other day Taylor asked if she could make her own goal sheet to earn a dress she wants. My children are better behaved then they have been, hmmm....ever! We have this feeling of team now. Before I felt like Landon had so much social time. It's different living here. It's like living back when I was a kid or even before. Kids are with kids ALL DAY. So, we never saw Landon. Maybe an hour a day--that's it. I questioned who was having the most influence on my son. He was down right rotten to his sisters and his respect for us was getting to be non-exsistant. Well, it has changed. Erin came home the other night from work and said, "You know, Megan, there has been a definite, tangible change in the feeling in our home the last few weeks." Landon is more motivated, self-reliant (he makes his own meals and does his own laundry too!), and is learning how to try his best and not give up. Taylor likes homeschool, but is ready for friends--all of her girl friends, except a couple, have moved away. Today she was out on our front lawn waiting for any girls her age to be playing outside so she could go introduce herself. She is a pretty shy gal, so this was unusual. Well, she found a girl playing across the street. With Audra trailing behind, she went right over and made a new friend. Then later she said she was ready to go to school. I will most likely put her in kindergarten next year. Who knows, maybe age 8 is a good year to homeschool? For me, I get to spend more productive time with my kids. I get to practice Love and Logic (another good parenting philosophy). I get to practice at being a better parent for my kids. I get to learn who they are and what their strengths and weaknesses are. Because of this, I feel more patient, more willing to say 'yes', more apt to play, more at peace.
As far as academics...it's like trying to teach Landon piano. The tantrums get old, but they don't push my buttons anymore. They are just noise and we move past. He has learned a ton this first month, but I'm a bit more excited by the "other" things that have changed around here.
I have to say that I'm so happy that I listened to what I feel was inspiration to try this experiment this year. We'll see how the next month goes. As for now, I owe my little class lunch at a restaurant.
