I know I am a rookie and I know the hard days will come in homeschooling and my personality will get tired of the monotony and the discipline required to homeschool! But, I have to say that I feel like this is just as much for me as it is for my kids. The things I can do to teach him are endless and he's so excited about learning! I am having a blast! Just spending that allotted time sitting at the kitchen table concentrating on the lesson plan and reading plan for the day is so much fun! Josiah wakes up in the morning asking, "Is it time for school?"! Ava Beth is three and so wants to be a part of what we are doing. It is kind of hard because when I ask Josiah questions, she sometimes answers and he gets mad and says, "Sissy, this is not YOUR school. I'm five, not you!" The thing is, she answers my questions correctly because she's been listening. So I have decided to order stuff for her too. She has really been very jealous of the time I spend with Josiah so we are making supper a time in the kitchen for "just girls". Monday night she helped me cook supper and then told Daddy that she cooked it! Unloading the dishwasher is the highlight of her day. Oh how I wish she would stay this way but I know when I was a teenager, unloading the dishwasher was the most dreaded chore ever! You know what I am learning in this? I love being a Mom.
We are NOT early risers at all. In fact, all four of us sleep until about 8:30am or sometimes as late as 9:00am. But it does not matter! We get up, do breakfast, I sit on the couch with a cup of coffee while they watch some Noggin and I watch Kelly & Regis or check emails or blog for about an hour and then tv is off and we get going! I'm not going to set a rigid schedule because that's just not us and that will be the first thing to make me give this up. So I am doing what works best for our family. I am actually glad I don't have to get a little boy out of bed early every morning to get out the door for school and wake the other two to load up for the drive. No homework at night later down the road, we will have family time or soccer games or whatever else. We will do the things that work for us and I love that kind of freedom!
My kids are about to take a mini vacation with the grandparents and my Mother-in-law is so excited about me homeschooling that she has agreed to follow the lesson plan while she has them! That makes me so excited!!
I know I am still in the honeymoon phase of this but I gotta tell you, I KNOW that I KNOW that God brought us to Austin for this very reason and of course for more! The women I am meeting, the support group I have, it's just amazing! My hard days will come and I'm sure I will see Moms "out and about" having coffee or working out at the gym while their kids are away at school and I might be jealous but I'm not so sure. Maybe I won't.
Thanks for reading about my journey and if any of you have any awesome learning ideas that have worked for your kids or fun things we can do, please send them my way. If you have any resources that you think might help me, I am a sponge and I will soak it up! Please continue to pray for me and the pressure I put on myself. I have this fear of not fitting in with other moms, etc. So I need all the encouragement I can get!
9 comments:
Amanda!!!! I love your enthusiasim! Reading this post made me *smile*. Resources: Leapfrog is awesome. My boys learned all their letter sounds from their videos. I bought the reading and math one today. They love them and they fill in the gaps. They are also great when I'm having an off day and I don't feel guilty for not going by the "plan". You're doing awesome girl!
Josiah has been watching the Leapfrog dvd for a while and we have the letter one for the fridge and I have been using it non stop as we go through the lessons. I love it!
I've also been making up my own songs. I have this one called "Brain Food". Silly, I know but I have convinced JOsiah to try new foods by telling him that his brain needs food. Cookies make us happy but green beans make us smart and then I go into this Brain Food song! Whatever works, right?!!
Okay, I am going to get the other Leapfrog dvds this weekend!!!
I am so excited hearing about how well things are going for you! yay!
I have always wanted to homeschool my girls, but my husband hasn't been on board at all. I am thrilled with their Christian school, but the homework and rules and rigid schedule drive me CRAZY. I would love to have them home with me... so glad you are able to have this precious time with your kids.
When Hope was homeschooling we loved Five in a Row by Jane Lambert. They have Before Five in a Row for the younger ones as well. It is a literature based program and you read a precious story all week and your lessons stem from that. If you decide to try it I would recommend starting everyone on Before Five in a Row. You can do so much in the way of fun learning with it and everyone can sit together and do it. I don't remember the web address but google it and I'm sure you will find it. Another great resource if you like literature based programs (I do can you tell?) is Sonlight. That is a more boxed type of curriculum though where as five in a row gives you more freedom. Let me know if I can help. I homeschooled Hope for 3 years before putting her in elementary. OH...your making me miss it!
I used Five in a Row and liked it too. They have great books and most can be found at the library, so it is a pretty inexpensive curriculum. I'm sure he'd be ready for the vol. 1.
My kids love the Jump start computer games. Those have been good to put in when I am trying to make dinner. Books on tape from the library are also good to help w/that time of day.
Family Fun magazine (and their site)has been a big help to me to do crafty things. We don't do them a lot, but they do like when we do.
Check ebay for used curriculum too. I have found good things there from time to time.
I really like the book "The Well Trained Mind." You can probably find it at the library.
Glad you are finding what works for you. I think that is one of the greatest things about it - the flexibility and teaching your child while considering their strengths and weaknesses.
I can tell that you are very happy and excited about doing this with your kiddos. I am so very proud of you for taking on this task of homeschooling your children.
I love you Lori!!!
I'm a produkt of hom skooling and look how gud I ternd out. I'm off to go to my actressing classes. :-)
Droooo
I got your email. It's been one crazy day. I will call you in the morning and talk about it. I use a mix of things now... Ebay is the way to go so you can spend less as you find what works best for you all. I'm so excited for you! :)
Drew, you are insane! :) I mean Drooo!
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