7th Week and Mr. Father Hates Math

We're getting into our 7th week of homeschooling.  I'm not sure if I told you that we wouldn't be taking a break this week or next week.  Since Beauty started first grade over we have to work year round to keep her on schedule.  This could change if she advances through some activities.  

This week, due to working, Mr. Father had to teach Beauty yesterday.  He usually teaches on Mondays and it's all about handwriting, creative writing, and reading.  Yesterday he got a taste of the math.  He didn't like it.  They worked their way through it.  He lived to tell the tale.

Mr. Father and I grew up with Old Math.  You know, the kind actual ancient mathematicians used.  We are not fans of Divergent Thinking.  We grew up learning 1+1=2.  End of discussion.  Accept it.  Move on.  If you want to think creatively about it you can do it when you're a grown up and have a job.  

Yesterday was Mr. Father's first exposure to this new math.  It had him confused and thinking too much about it.  "It had 1 monkey plus 1 monkey makes 2 monkeys, and 1 kitten plus 1 kitten makes 2 kittens, but what happens if you get them mixed up and then you have 1 monkey plus 1 monkey makes a kitten?!"  

I told Mr. Father this is why we do a little bit of Reasoning math but supplement a lot of drill work for math. 
It's easy.  We know how to do it.  Beauty knows how to do it.  We can move on.

This got Mr. Father and I talking about Math.  We wonder how will there be great mathematicians in the future if they are slowed down from advancing by all the possibilities of arriving at the same answer?  Maybe we don't understand the benefits of divergent thinking.  Maybe we're just too practical.  Maybe we still believe the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

http://www.funny-games.biz/pictures/1185-smart-mouse.html

New Blogs I've Found

I'm sure you've noticed my lack of color and design on this blog.  It was done for a reason.  I get a lot of blog traffic from sites that use it as an example of how not to do your blog.  That's o.k.

The reason I did things this way was for genuineness.  Just the bare bones.  I visit a lot of blogs that are entertaining and informative.  Sometimes there's too much...stuff.  Ads and flashy banners.  So much color.  It becomes distracting.  I have a hard time seeing through all that and figuring out what they are trying to say.  In the pursuit of originality they all start to look and sound the same.

I was blog hopping through the list of Top 10 Homeschool Dad Blogs 2012 Awards.  Here are the ones I decided to give a try.

Tales of a House Husband

Home School Dad

A Family Runs Through It

Enjoy!

Send A Snowflake

The Day That School Was Not

After a very long night of a cold front blowing in, no one is in the mood to get down to business. 

 We are relaxing.  The Passing Time by Steve Roach, and Concerto for Viola and Orchestra in F by Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf are helping.  

There is some slow progress on cleaning the house.  We keep getting sidetracked by contemplation.

What will be for dinner?  Hopefully something warm and filling.

Some craft projects try to take flight and after awhile land to dream away the afternoon.

There is some talk of where homeschool may take us.  Daydreams of adventures and places to see.

 

 

I hope everyone else is having a peaceful, relaxing day.

*All photos attributed to Wikimedia Commons*

Language Lessons for the Very Young

To cover language arts we are using Language Lessons for the Very Young by Sandi Queen.  It came in our curriculum kit.

 

So far we have studied this painting and a poem by Robert Frost.  The book is nicely put together and the pictures are beautiful.  We will probably cut them out when Beauty is done with the book.  This course is probably great for those kids who look like the girl in the picture.  Calm, introspective, with manners.  Not like the knuckledragging neanderthal that Beauty is on occasion.   She actually does do well with this book.  It takes a minute for her to get into art appreciation mode.  Once I start asking lots of questions she can come up with very good answers.  She decided for this painting the little girl was in trouble for taking her mother's necklace.  

Today we'll be working on understanding a poem.  This is a little more difficult for her to comprehend.  We'll also work on poem structure.

We're going on another outing today once Beauty finishes her school work.  She was invited for lunch and playing at the Jumpy Place with some other homeschool/personal friends.  

Mr. Father desperately wants to do the rocket project but the weather is not cooperating.  We need clear sunny skies and low wind.  Maybe tomorrow.

Week 6 of Homeschool Happiness

Here we are in week 6.  I can hardly believe it.  Where has the time gone?  Part of this blog is to write my real opinion and feelings about homeschooling.  So how am I feeling?

I feel like I made a pretty good decision.  I still have some lingering doubts.  I think this is probably normal and a source of inspiration to always do better and try harder.  I haven't had any moments of melt down and I haven't cried.  

I feel like I have saved Beauty, and maybe myself, from a years long battle fighting a system we just don't belong in for now.  Perhaps we have avoided an all too often traveled road of counselors and medication.  Perhaps I have jumped to conclusions or maybe I saw the future with a little too much clarity.  I don't know.  

What I do know is that we are having a time of happiness in our house.  Happiness about learning.  I'm seeing things that make me proud and my heart swell.  I see a little girl who wakes up and voluntarily picks up a school book or works on an art project of her own initiative.  The fact that Beauty does this means I'm doing something right.  She wouldn't do this if I was overbearing or too controlling.  Kids do not voluntarily do things they don't like.  

Does Beauty miss school?  Yes.  The recess part.  We have to drive by the school on our way to town.  There's usually some kids outside playing.  Her feelings don't last long.  I remind her the day is only half way over and she's already done all her work.  The benefits we have gained in exchange for the 30 minute recess are peace of mind and a classroom with no boundaries.  We are usually on the way to a play group or field trip.  She doesn't see what I see.  Those kids are surrounded by a large fence that looks like prison bars.  

I'm also happy because through my researching homeschooling I've been able to help another mom seriously consider homeschooling as a viable option.  She's running into some of the same problems we did.  Here's a link I gave her to watch:  RSA animate: Changing Education Paradigms.

How do I feel about the future?  Cautious.  I believe we'll continue to have success.  I know we are only at the beginning of climbing a very large mountain.  It's a mountain I will happily climb.

MiniLUK

I'm still not feeling well today.  This makes me happy that I wrote out the lesson plans last week.  It paid off big time today.  We were able to get through school without me hardly thinking.  

Another item Beauty received in her curriculum is the MiniLUK. 

Beauty loves to do these puzzles.  She plays with them whenever she wants to.  There are 8 books.  Each book deals with certain skills.  The skills are:  Critical Thinking, Concentration, Everyday Knowledge, Visual Perception, Math & Geometry.  It works by lining up the playboard, matching the pictures with the tiles, and then checking correctness by flipping all the tiles over to see if it made the color pattern picture.  Beauty will usually do about 3 of these before she is tired of it.  

This week I'm hoping we'll get to see some of the Geminid Meteor Shower.  I'm trying to get us talking about astronomy.  So far nothing has been heard by Mr. Father except that he gets to shoot a rocket. 

Weekend News

Friday, Mr. Father and Mrs. Mother thought it would be great to celebrate anniversary night since we were both available in our hectic schedules.  We had a wonderful brunch (that means IHOP).  I tried one of their seasonal coffees and it was very good.  The food was delicious.  The ambiance typical.

Next I had a doctor appointment for regular stuff.  So Mr. Father took me to get drugs.  Are you following this?

All that out of the way, we were on our way to the "surprise" spot for an outdoor adventure.   We visited a campground/park and hiked around in the woods.  Sans Beauty.  That's right.  Alone.  We discovered we could each still speak in complete sentences.  We fished.  We declared it would be a good camping spot to bring Beauty back. 

Mr. Father made me hike around in non-hiking shoes.  Bad Mr. Father.  So in conclusion:  He fed me, got me drugs, and then took me out into the woods.  Romantic in a hillbilly way.  I had a very nice time. 

Today, not so much.  I was sore everywhere and a little raspy in the voice.  This has progressed to the plague.  I'm pretty sure it was Dengue Fever last night due to the excruciating body aches.  I feel "better" today but I haven't really moved and I'm pretty sure I'll die if I get out of bed. 

It school news, we did look at rockets on Friday and are coming up with a plan for doing a lesson on rockets and planets. 

Block Builders and the Outside Classroom

Here is the post on Block Builders that I promised.  This is another toy manipulative from the ordered curriculum.  I keep posting links in case you might be interested in getting some of these things.  According to the site I could be earning Doodle Dollar Points, except I'm probably too lazy to fill out things properly.  This means that I am not receiving things for talking about the products blah blah blah. 

 

One thing I must say is that I love nerdy toys.  A whole lot.  I like using my brain.  When I play video games it is always things like Mah Jong.  Does that even count as a video game?  Mr. Father is always talking about getting some new game and "it's so great and it's an MMO!"  I have zero spatial skills in those kinds of games.  This is why I Beauty loves playing with these blocks.  The set of 6 blocks come in a nice sturdy box which makes storage easy.  The six blocks all form a cube shape and then open up to form other shapes.  There are 50 challenge cards.  The cards are numbered, have a picture of the shape you are to create and the number of blocks to use.  The answer is on the back of the card.  The challenges get progressively harder.  Beauty works with these whenever she wants to, which is just about every day.  

Yesterday we did our weekly History lesson.  We are using The Story of the World.  The book reads well and keeps Beauty's attention.  We touched on the Nile River, pharaohs, and mummies.  Early into the evening I looked around on Netflix and found IMAX Mummies:  Secrets of the Pharaohs.  We watched it and found where the largest amount of royal mummies had been located, a little info about Ramses the Great, and how to make our own mummy, sort of.  Beauty colored a map of the Nile Delta and the Nile River.

Today we ventured out to a local river.  It was time to give Beauty some real world classroom experience.

Beauty takes it literally when I say, "immerse yourself in knowledge."  She had a blast.  We saw a crawfish and pointed out different things and poked a stick at him to see the little claws work.  The crawfish soon tired of our ignorance and swam away.

A pretty bridge across the water.

All the wonderful river grass things.  If I had thought of it sooner I could have had us pretend it was the Nile River.  We could have reenacted the story of Osiris and Let and sent a "coffin" down the river.  Beauty would have liked doing that.  

Tomorrow is homeschoolers park day.  I'm hoping the weather will hold out.  We had such a great time last week. 

Hypothesis of a First Grade Volcano

The first thing I did today was kick Mr. Father and Beauty out of the house.  There is a scientific black hole as to how 2 people can get a house so messy in 1 day while I was at work.  They were therefore sent out into the world to bestow their special mess making abilities elsewhere.  

On Friday we did science.  It was the special "Volcano Day!"  Mr. Father and Beauty were amazed at my ability to keep sending them outside and around the house to gather items needed.  Once all the items were gathered we created our scene.

Here we have our baking sheet covered with a piece of green poster board.  We made small trees from sticks.  Beauty collected a few unknowing victims to hang around the volcano.  Our first hypothesis was an educated guess about what we each thought the "lava" would do.  Would it shoot up to the ceiling, flow down one side or flow out all sides?  Our second hypothesis was who was going to be wiped out by the lava.  Our third hypothesis was was about which color lava is prettiest. 

So the mermaid got it first.  Don't be alarmed!  Mermaids typically do not live next to volcanoes. 

We tried green lava next and then yellow.  We thought that was gross.  Blue was last.  I thought it was prettiest.  Beauty yelled, "Again, again!" 

This was such a fun experiment for Beauty that I received a text the next day from Mr. Father saying he was having to do the volcano again since Beauty's friend had come over to play. 

Luckily this is a super easy experiment.  Half baking soda, half vinegar, and food coloring. 

*This coming week I'll review some more items from our Timberdoodle curriculum.*

Park Day and Djeco Decouvrir les Couleurs

I am happy to report that this homeschool thing is falling into place.  At least for today.  It does feel kind of roller coastery since we have the new curriculum.  My big accomplishment was feeling confident enough to write out lesson plans for the whole next week.  In pen.  I wrote them in pen!  I'm shocked.  I know all you experienced homeschool parents are laughing at me right now.  

I did not change much with the curriculum.  It gives a certain security in all that structure.  I heard another mom saying she started first grade with nothing.  She just let her son pick whatever he wanted to read, wherever.  I saw her son and he didn't look like an illiterate serial killer, so maybe it's o.k. to relax some.  I did skip ahead 40 pages in the phonics book to where Beauty left off in public school.  Her reading is on track but she is still guessing at some of the harder words.  I could take the book she'll read next week and pull a word list from it and have Beauty work on those.  

Beauty continues to thrill me with her math skills.  Mostly when she quietly sneaks over to the homeschool bookcase and pulls down the cuisenaire rods or builder blocks.  I must remember to nurture her interest, but in a way that looks like I'm not interested.  Does that sound weird?  Beauty is one of those children who love praise and compliments, but not when you actually say it out loud.  She likes quiet recognition.  The knowing glance, slight nod of Mrs. Mother's approval.  Like this is more sincere to her than lavish praise.  

We went on a picnic Thursday to meet with the homeschool group.  We made a picnic with some extras to share.  

This week there were 7 other kids all ranging 1 to 2 years of Beauty's age.  She was so wonderfully happy and joyous.  Maybe this is where she fits in?  One child showed up in his Robin Hood outfit, complete with homemade bow and hat.  Another child spent the entire playtime drawing on her arm in the style of hemp tattoos.  It was actually quite pretty.  We stayed for 3 and a half hours.  I found out I had gone to school with one mother.  We laughed and reminisced about the good old days in a town we both hate.  One mom heroically killed a bee which was annoying everyone, since we were trying to talk about all natural foods and raising animals.  I felt a certain contentment as we left.  Looking in the rear view mirror I could see a sweaty, smiling 7 year old.

At home we had Art class.  I've decided to take her some of her classes and only work on them once a week:  Art, History, Language Arts, and Science.  Today was art day and we used the Djeco Decouvrir les Couleurs kit.  This kit includes brushes, paints, paint mixing cards, 8 paintings, and an instruction booklet.  Luckily the instruction booklet has picture instructions because it's written in French.  Beauty likes art and painting.  She enjoyed this activity.  She wanted to do one again the next day.  This kit is meant to be used only once a week.  I think we will use it once a week and then move on to art/painting projects of our own creation.  

I've decided to make Friday, or at least some time during the weekend, Science Day.  This week we will build a volcano.  As it turns out Mr. Father and Mrs. Mother never built a volcano.  What could possibly go wrong?

Cuisenaire Rods and Decorating

After last night's bout of insomnia I slept in till 8:30 this morning.  We had service plans but I decided to scrap it entirely and have a nice day of early school.  Beauty continues to be interested in the globe puzzle ball and worked on it with no supervision except for me being in the same room.  She is just over half done with it.  Another manipulative she likes to play with are Cuisenaire Rods.

Beauty says she knows all about these and used them at her old school.  I'm not sold on them as there seems to be a lot of them and they look like it would probably hurt if I stepped on one.  I'm sure this is just childhood memories of my brother's leggos.  Otherwise these little sticks keep Beauty occupied for quite a bit of time.

After the day's regular school work (with a rising level of resistance.  Is this normal?) and a few extra activities I decided we would go to town.  We stopped by the library and checked out some more books.  Mostly books with the words 'Pink' and 'Princess' in the titles.  Then there were just a couple of stores I hadn't been to in a long time and was having withdrawal symptoms.

I picked up that wonderfully interesting lamp and a near perfect condition 1965 Heidi book.  That one was on my list of books to read to Beauty.  The table is being replaced soon...I hope.  (It's Beauty's old IKEA kid's table.)

Tomorrow is the homeschool park day.  It looks like there are a couple of more new families we might get to meet. 

Globe Puzzle Ball

I have insomnia tonight due to the delivery of the second box of curriculum.  This was the box with all the hands on learning tools aka "toys."  I decided to go ahead and review one of the items Beauty was drawn to.  

Beauty has been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this puzzle, the Globe Puzzle Ball.  I have, too.  We have never made a sphere shaped puzzle.  The teaching instructions say to work on this once or twice per month until mastery.  I think we may finish it tomorrow.  It's pretty addicting.  

Beauty figured out the secret to putting it together.  The pieces are numbered and have an arrow showing which direction the next piece will fit.  It didn't take her long to decide to separate out pieces 1-10, then 11-20, and so on.  

The pieces are very hard plastic.  She does need help putting it together and keeping the pieces connected.  It requires a coordinated touch.  The rest she is able to think through.  I think I can literally see her brain growing.

Tomorrow I hope to use Block Builder and MiniLuk, when I figure it out...after some sleep.

Of Snowmen and Rabbits

On the weekend is when we have time to indulge in a little science.  During the week Beauty is working on all her required subjects:  readin, writin, and rithmetic.  If we have time then we'll do a science experiment which is cleverly disguised as an art project.  This past weekend Mr. Father and Beauty made artificial snow and an igloo using a kit from Dune Craft.  This was kind of cute and a little fun.  At this point there's not a lot of need for in-depth experiments.  We addressed the topic of chemistry changing water and other ingredients into solids or even a powdery substance.  

I decided since Beauty was taking on learning new things that I also need to learn or experiment with new things.  I decided to cook rabbit meat.  I was very careful with cooking and there was lots of anticipation at dinner time.  We were thoroughly disappointed.  It tastes exactly like...chicken.  It even looks like it.  Oh well, not every hypothesis is right.

Why Did You Take Me Out of School?

This was the question I heard today.  Yep.  Fully one week and one day after being out of public school Beauty has completely forgotten why.  Actually she suggested it was because of the mean kid.  This is one part true.  

One part has to do with beliefs.  We believe one way about things and most others don't believe the same.  My understanding is that a lot of class time is running interference and crowd control.  There's not a lot of time or interest in making sure activities or learning is refined to everyone's beliefs.  Once Beauty came home from school we were running interference on attitudes, etc. picked up from school.  After one week of home school we have noticed a much more pleasant Beauty.  

The second part is she was not learning to read well.  There are people in every profession who simply do not want to be there.  There's also the fact that just because a person went to college for a degree in a certain profession, means they're any good at it.  I work in a field which requires college education.  Some have more education than me and some have less.  I can tell you they are not automatically better for having more education.  In some cases worse.  I think this is probably found across the board in every profession.  While true, teachers have gone to college and have been exposed to, hopefully, the best the profession of teaching has to offer, it will not automatically make them a great teacher.  

Beauty also has a different learning style and Mr. Father and I reached a point we were moved to halt the ever onward progress of the collective group (her class) in favor of Beauty actually learning to read.  We couldn't accept Beauty being in school for 8 hours, then being asked to attend an after school tutorial session, and then coming home for more reading homework.  We couldn't rationalize Beauty being made to feel she was "behind" when maybe she isn't.  She is now reading every day and at her pace.  She feels less pressure and now likes to read.  

The third part is time.  We are no longer on a traditional schedule.  I like this a lot.  I'm still getting used to it.  As a family we are more relaxed because we don't have to follow the "It's a school night" schedule.  Things don't have to end by a certain time.  We can stay up late, which never happens because we like to go to bed early, but we could if we wanted.  Beauty can sleep according to my her schedule.  Oh sure, she still has to get up but it's not in the "night morning."  One thing we enjoyed last night without the school night schedule was a fire, roasting marshmallows, and looking at the moon and stars.  Lovely, simple, tranquility.

I'm Going To Get Fat

Another round of cooking class.  This time we made muffins using the recipe for banana bread from Paula Deen.  The recipe will make a dozen regular size muffins.  The baking time was 25 minutes. 

Curriculum Ordered!

Today was the day!  I ordered Beauty's curriculum.  

What an exciting day.  The long awaited moment of ordering actual curriculum.  I've looked at books online till I'm numb in the eyes.  I decided to get the complete 1st grade curriculum from Timberdoodle. 

I decided to order from them because I liked their reviews and a friend of a friend likes their customer service.  It looks like there is probably more than enough work to do.  I'm sure some of it is unnecessary.  There's probably some things missing.  Since this is our first go at home schooling I'll just have to deal with it.  I'll go more into it once it arrives.

By the way, we tried doing school at the library today which was a total fail.  

First Few Days

I was all ready to blog dutifully about THE first day, except I forgot I wouldn't be teaching the first day...or the second day.  I worked the first day and Mr. Father did the teaching.  Mostly it involved nervous text messages about if Beauty would do her work.  The second day I forgot I had an appointment in the morning and the rest of the day I taught her algebra slept off the pain meds.

Days 3 and 4 have gone much more according to plan.  Beauty will finish off this week with having done 50 pages of work.  Most of this is review, assessment, and getting into a routine.  Am I working her too hard?  I don't know.  Beauty did sleep ten and a half hours last night.  I think this is great.  Perhaps she is lacking enough sleep which causes her to not want to read.  I'm grateful I no longer have to get up at 6:00 to put her on the bus.  

We went to the park today to meet the home school group.  Not much of a turnout.  The weather was cold and everyone is going through the yearly sicknesses.  Beauty did get to play with a few kids.  I don't know if we'll stick with this group.  

Beauty decided to make these for her cooking class.  They were delicious and exceptionally crunchy, ahem.  

    
Tomorrow is school away from home day. 

The Letter Was Sent

This was the part I have been most nervous about.  The actual withdrawal from school.  Because this means things just got real.

Friday I printed out my lovely, concise form letters and addressed them to all the  proper people.  

Even though this state is very lenient about homeschooling, I still want to do it right the first time.  I also asked the homeschool group about proper withdrawal procedures.  Some said to just go to the school and fill out the withdrawal papers.  Others said to only send the letter.  Also, make sure it's certified, return receipt requested.  There's a myriad of legal situations where this is prudent.  One, a person shouldn't fill out forms and answer questions if it isn't required.  Two, having the certified letter fulfills legal proof of the date of your actions blah blah blah in case someone wants to drag you to court.  This includes grandparents.  

Since I opted for the letter notification, we are now officially homeschooling.  I'm still in the I-can't-believe-it stage.  

Over the weekend Mr. Father and I have been reminiscing about all the times we sent her off to school.  In the end we don't like to send her to school.  We actually like her and love to spend time with her.  Beauty also likes us and loves to do things with us.  We are actually a happy family.  

Today I will look over her books and decide what we will work on this week.  I enjoy this kind of stuff.  Mr. Father looks at me and shakes his head in the way that says, "You are so nerdy."  

First Trial Day

Last week we saw one of the usual school illnesses:  sore throat and fever.  Beauty stayed home and looked flushed, then normal, then flush.  She took her medicine and still looked a little puny that night.  I resolved that I would let her stay home one more day.

The next day Beauty told me very seriously that she was sure her throat was still sore and really would need to stay home and play outside.  

Mr. Father and Mrs. Mother were already on to her game and quite sure that Beauty was faking it.  *Gasp*

Mrs. Mother decided we would pull out ALL the books she had bought during the summer and would just have a trial of homeschool for the sickly child.  The worst that could happen is she would fall asleep.  

Beauty thought this was a wonderful idea.  She still had homework from regular school to complete so we did that first.  I had determined that we would work for 3 hours to see if we could really do a solid day's work.  She practiced her handwriting, read, and did math worksheets.  

     I even gave her buttons to use to help her with math.  It turns out she doesn't need them.  This is a huge relief to me.  She's further ahead in math than I suspected.  She spent her time dividing all the buttons into matching piles.  This led Mr. Father to look at me and shake his head in the way that implies she is a little more organized than he prefers, like her mother.  

At the end of the day I told Mr. Father, "You know, I didn't realize it but we have everything we need.  We are ordering her official curriculum next week, but we have all the subjects she needs right now and we could pursue those more intensively till the curriculum arrives.  We could pull her out of school."

Mr. Father said, "Then pull her out of school."

And that's exactly what I did. 

It's Almost Real

I was taking a break, and giving you a break, from all the election...stuff.  Now that it has passed I can move on with my life.  This in no way negates any feelings I have about said election. 

To finish off my reading list is this book:  A Survivor's Guide to Home Schooling by Shackelford/White.

Again a 1988 version.  I sense a theme.  I exited the public education scene in the 80's and this is where I pick up when trying to research it?  Sort of.  This is a book at Half Price Book Store.  What should I say about this book?  It nailed it.  It is almost real.  Just the schedules, assessments of your neighbors inferior children, and discipline caught my eye.  I appreciated the many examples of how other moms/dads are inflicting their curriculum. 

I talked with several parents after reading this book.  One who has home schooled and one who has not.  The one who home schooled was supportive but focused more on websites that have helped her kids get ahead in reading and math.  She gave me websites to find grade appropriate wholesome reading,  I'm following her advice and we are 10 chapters deep into Charlotte's Web.  Beauty still doesn't know if Charlotte is really Wilbur's friend or just a bloodthirsty killer.  Our next selections will be Alice In Wonderland, Through The Looking Glass, Little House In The Big Woods, and Little House on the Prairie.  Mr. Father says we need to include Moby Dick.  And so we shall.

My other friend has her child in a private school.  The child cannot follow the rules of being still.  The parents are wondering if it's time to pull her out due to the child acting like a regular child or do they tough it out another semester.  I'm passing on my websites to see if it will help them.  Their daughter also plays violin and so is gifted in that area.  *Have We Outgrown The Public School System?*  That is a big question I have. 

Everyone else I have talked to have been supportive.  Even the couple we had over for dinner on Sunday.  They home schooled their son many years ago.  At some point I mentioned, "How can a person actually fail kindergarten?"  Apparently one of them had.  So, foot in mouth, I accepted defeat. 

But It's Tony Danza...

Another part of home schooling I sort of knew about was conventions.  I haven't been to any yet.  I think they must be sort of like craft fairs.  Lots of booths with curriculum face painting and school things to sell.  The home school group posted this yesterday.  Texas Book Festival.  So many interesting topics.  I would love to go.  Alas, I cannot.

Mr. Father and I were settling in for the night and I was skimming through messages on my phone and thought I would look at the schedule.  On Saturday in the Paramount Theatre at 10:00 is...TONY DANZA!  Cue the little girl squeals.  "Oh why, do I have to work that day?  It's so unfair," I tell Mr. Father.  He doesn't seem the least bit bothered that I'm talking about Tony Danza in bed.  In fact, he is acting like he doesn't even know who Tony Danza is.  I go on to explain that he was only the cutest guy on that show Taxi and Who's The Boss when I was growing up.  He is one of several reasons I would have moved to a city.  Because I might have taken a cab one day and he would have been the driver.  Or someone like him.  Mr. Father still doesn't care.  I say, "But it's Tony Daaaaaaanza."  Hmmph.

I had seen an article in a Sunday paper done some in-depth research a few months ago and read how Tony Danza taught in high school for a year and wrote a book about it.  I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High.  I think it's wonderful that he went and worked as a teacher.  The reviews are decent.  I hope I get a chance to read this one.

 

 (Amazon photo)

 

Latest Steps

O.k.  So where did we leave off?  I was reading a book.  I'm on page 97 of The How And Why of Home Schooling.  It's pretty good.  There have been a few spots that are a little leading and probably done to inspire fear.  Looking at some data from other web sites, the stats in the book are in line with other sources.  I'll move on to the next book soon.

My husband, Mr. Father, got an app today for home schooling.  It's called My Home School Monitor.  He says, "it's a 5 star app for $.99."  He also says it has "everything."  That will be his way of tracking and organizing the things he will be teaching.  I will keep a record on ancient papyrus while he has the latest techno-gadgetry. 

Today I received an email from Homeschool.com.  Did I or didn't I want to receive a free manual and links to free videos from superchargedscience?  Sure, why not.  Having no idea what we're doing for science we might as well look at everything.  This could work for us in the beginning.  I'll let you know if we come back to it.

I talked with a few more people I know and they seem understanding.  I said a lot of things like, "This is what's right for our family for right now."  That seems to go over better than saying, "The public school system is going down the toilet."  I still have to be very cautious what I say at work, or what Mr. Father says at his work.   

I was told to look up a "reading calculator" on Google.  I picked one and typed in word for word the book Beauty is reading in school.  It analyzed it and revealed it has easy readability.  For the grade level it said....7th grade.  That's fantastic!  I'm not sure if this info is trustworthy.  Beauty's school says she's reading on a C level which is the bottom for 1st grade.  Which of these should I believe? 

Mr. Father was asked by Mrs. Mother (me) to do a sort of review of tablets, ipads, Kindles, and the new ipad mini(?).  The public school has started using Ipads.  The time is limited and I'm not sure what they are using to clean them between uses.  Cootie-germ fest!  At home, Beauty has been using an Itouch for several years, a netbook and PC.  I'd like her to either get the Ipad or the Ipad mini.  Update sometime in November.

My big progress for today was asking to join a local home schooling Yahoo group.  We got accepted and now we can begin to meet other local kids and families.  This group so far likes to meet at the local library and the park, except the other day where they met at the glass spinning factory.  That sounds very neat!  Exactly the kind of adventure I think Beauty should try. 

I believe tomorrow I'll be ready to dive in and navigate around one of the important web sites I'll need.  The Texas Home School Coalition.

Why I Read Ancient Texts On Homeschooling

I've completed the first book and have moved on to this one.  I'm not particularly happy with the picture but that's what Amazon is showing.  Do not click to look inside!

It's not that I feel savvy and have picked the right books, that I am telling you about them.  I'm posting books I seem to have bought somewhere and thought they would be helpful.  Happily they have been helpful.

Along the path of trying to justify homeschooling to myself, I will have to justify it to others.  This is where reasoning is important.  If I can't convince myself, I can't convince others.  This is what I'm looking for in these books.  So when people ask, "Why in tarnation would you want to homeschool?"  I can spout off a hundredy-thousand statistics about how homeschoolers do better on tests, are higher developed in all areas of life, and the public school system has essentially been around for less than 2 hundred years.

I will need this arsenal of information to go into battle, as it were, and pivot through a debate successfully.  I'm finding friends on my side are supportive, hesitant, and in some cases obstinate.  So faithfully has the public school model worked on them.  

At this point Beauty is still enrolled in public school.  She's receiving the statistical average of 7 minutes of individual attention per day in her class.  We haven't even gotten to the hard parts.  Withdrawing her from school and then actually telling everyone we did.  I believe we shall reap a whirlwind.  Forget talking about curriculum!  No, really, the choice is about 95% made and I don't want to risk being talked out of it.  I'll reveal my choice when I receive it in it's glorious brown box from UPS.  (Please don't hold your breath, it's not being ordered till December.)

Books I've Had For 3 Years

I distinctly remember going to Half Price Books and buying a book about home schooling.  When I got home I put it up on a shelf and it sat.  And sat.  And sat.  I pulled the book down last week and also found I had 2 other home school books stashed on the book shelf.  I blew the dust off and coughed and sneezed.  

                                                             (amazon.com)
I am now on page 93.  There's lots of good information and some where I may have dozed off because being immersed in the legislative process does not appeal to me, though I know it's a necessary part of the "machine" of home schooling.  Don't jump on me just yet for calling it a machine.  I'm new, remember?

What bothers me most is the picture.  I'm sure that was a great family photo in 1996, but there's nothing that could scare me away from home schooling more than seeing photos of people who qualify to be the Stepford Wives of home schooling.  

If I home school is that what I'll become?  I don't think I'm alone in fearing that mental image.  Thankfully, every home school mom I know doesn't come close to that image.  With home school's increasing popularity there's quite a few moms and dads from which to gather an opinion of what I'll be like.

                                                         (Google Images)
Here's another picture that some imaginations will associate with home schooling.  A cult-like organization where you get to wear homemade clothes.  So far I only know one home school family that looks similar to this, but only similar not exactly like this.  I have yet to meet the home school co-op, though.  I'm sure this is where any weirdness will be found. 

                                                                      (google images)
Here's a last picture for today.  I think it pretty much sums it all up. Yes we will sleep later.  In public school Beauty has to get up at 6 a.m.  We will be pushing that back to 7:30 a.m.  Beauty will dress in costume if she wants.  She already knows that 1+1=2.  Beauty loves to cook!  Beauty will ride a roller coaster, as her reward for finishing and passing the first grade.  My book shelves don't resemble the picture above, yet.  

I'm still fighting this cold but feeling better.  I'll finish reading the book I listed above and let you know anything pertinent.  I'll introduce 2 websites that will be crucial for this family.  

Putting A Toe In The Water

I'm laying here feeling all plague-y with a cold.  In the interim I haven't forgotten about this blog, just didn't know quite what to do with it.  Today it has occurred.

For the past, oh eight years or so, we have toyed with the notion of homeschooling.  This was even before Beauty was born.  It was a lovely notion.  A dream that for all its good intentions refused to take flight.

Beauty was born and we knew we still had 5 years before worrying too much about school.  Then it was four and then three, then two.  At this point we were given preschool on a silver platter.  We said, "Well, it's just preschool for a couple of years."  Beauty is now in first grade.

After having 3 years of public school we know that something is not fitting right.  It may be that Beauty's teacher has a resume of teaching 42 years.  Did you ever think it might be a good idea if your first grader knew CPR?  I mean honestly, retire lady!

Beauty isn't the best reader, but neither is she the worst.  We have a real problem with hearing how she can't read, yet has read us Dr. Seuss the night before.  That seems kind of conflicting.  Is this what they tell Beauty?  She's even going to start going to a reading tutorial.  The name of it sounds an awful lot like dyslexia.  Do they think she's dyslexic?  I can tell you she isn't. 

Then there's the other problems.  I know we are all partial to not seeing the faults of our kids, but come on.  Have you seen the way these kids act?  I feel like we're sending her off to the insane asylum.  Or training ground for future prison inmates.  

After much thought and prayer, my husband and I have decided that it is time.   We are now able to juggle schedules, etc. to make this work.  We are letting her finish the semester in order for us to have time to research legality issues, home school groups, and curriculum choices. 

What a feeling of freedom!  Once we made the choice, suddenly there seem to be no boundaries to the size of Beauty's classroom.  No longer will we be hemmed in by the school calendar.  We can take a vacation, or not, any time we want.  If we want to go on a field trip, we will go on a field trip.  We won't even sign a permission slip.  Best of all, no more fundraisers.  Ever.  We are getting rid of all the worst aspects and retaining the best. 

So now I've decided that this blog will be this journey.  I'll post books I've read and steps I'm taking.  I will put the joys, sorrows, and frustrations.  Sure it's another homeschooling/who knows what else blog, but from a newbie's perspective.  Everyone buckled in?  I'm sure this is going to be quite a ride.