After two weeks of the most horrendous weather, I woke early this morning to find the clearest of clear skies. Our mountains sharp, snow capped peaked against the crisp blank of the blue sky…. Just glorious!

Our mood around here has without doubt been influenced by this seemingly endless string of cold, rainy, windy weather. All of us have been overcome by procrastination, lethargy and just a profound case of the blues. Interesting how it manifests itself in the kids as unlimited, uncontained misdirected and dare I say, somewhat aggressive energy… and in me, well, I just want to lay on my couch. Did somebody say Oprah?

Anyways, today was deliriously lovely. Our new work place, our school-room, our library was flooded in blinding sunlight and my little miscreants all sat in a perfect row… quietly engaged in their work. OMG. I was overcome with joy. It was just the best beginning to a day!

And each child had fresh content for their respective notebooks.

I am loving the notebooking. And I think the kids are all enamoured with having their own big old binder to fill up with their stuff. We’re in the very beginning of getting into a routine with them, but the creative aspect to notebooking seems like it might help us all keep better on track. Regardless the weather.

I love the concept of Notebooking. And given our commitment- or lack thereof- to diligently following the modules of our BC Curriculum, I’m looking at it as a really fun alternative!

I think the kids will appreciate the creative collection of their work and it should encourage them towards filling it up- a tangible, daily record of what we do- of what they do.

It will be particularly useful in keeping Beasley’s new hobby organized. He has taken an interest in my camera. The big SLR, with the big lens. Oh and did I mention, expensive?

So, when he is using big, expensive camera, he is required to wear it around his little neck. At. All. Times.

And so, notebooking will allow us to keep a fun, ongoing record, safely archiving his prints, while also having something tangible to show lady liason with our district. She was concerned in our lack of art- Samson does not like art, per se. Sitting, painting, drawing… as he doesn’t feel it is something he can do. Well, now he has an outlet. A way to make art that he enjoys…

He’s off to a great start!

Husband recently spoke with a colleague about our homeschooling.
Well, holy schmoly. You’d think he’d announced he was newly initiated member of FLDS, taking on new wives and handing off underage daughter child to middle aged prophet, while also busy campaigning for immediate release and pardon for Charles Manson.

The questions. The doubt. The concern. We are obviously off proverbial rockers, engaging in mad, misguided experiment with children’s precious futures. Ack!

In response: No, other than knowing my children and their needs, academically and otherwise, I am absolutely not qualified. And no, trying not to be concerned with not being qualified. Ill prepared? Oh yeah… without a doubt! Do I know calculus? Um… nope. Will I? Probably not. How will they be appropriately socialized? They won’t. Part of our program is locking children in cage in deepest, darkest corner of basement… feeding them cracker crumbs and Kool Aid and making them watch Three’s Company on continuous loop. Mad experiment, remember….

And the kicker: “shielding them from reality”… right. Seeing up close and personal what happens in a day full of work, expectation, working through conflict with us and each other, chores, how we make our money, going to the bank, shopping for groceries, demands of the day, etc., etc., etc., leaves them blind to the realities of life. Ahem. Believe me, they see it all. We are merely shielding them from the daily grind of classroom management with disruptive delinquents, fruitless stress of trying to keep up with peers, and Christmas concerts. Daaaay-ummmmb.
Structured? Hell, no! But, this winter we sure put in an earnest effort. Since? Out. Window.

Our schedule? Play. Exercise. Lots of gardening. Taking pictures- Beasley has recently caught the bug. Errands. Chores. Outings. Reading. Art. TutorVista sessions. A workbook here or there. Travel. Camping. Time to discover new and varied passions.
OK… so there’s a bit of mad experiment involved. But my eldest, previously non-reading, child… is now reading. Voraciously! OK, so they’re graphic novels. But they still have words. And he’s reading them. Voraciously! Honestly, on this issue… I don’t care if he’s reading Penthouse Forum- just as long as he’s reading.

It’s another Heart of the Matter Meme… today addressing the issue of socialization.

Yay! Despite the fact we’re relatively new to homeschooling, I do love this topic… specifically, defending it. This is the popular contention, the last ditch argument, the last leg anyone- still incredibly limited in their thinking- feels they have to stand on, in expressing their discomfort/misunderstanding in the concept of homeschooling.

In all honesty, it is the last thing we are concerned about in this journey through curriculum and lesson planning decisions, procrastination, frustration, patience- or lack thereof, time management and just sheer busy-ness and sometimes, in the spirit of “all honesty”, truth be told, lazy-ness (mine and theirs). The adequacy of my children’s socialization just doesn’t make the short list. The issue of socialization, unlike the many other aspects of our lives, homeschool or otherwise, is truly a non-concern.
And here’s why: we have neighbor kids they play with- a lot, swim team, ski team, soccer, karate… and the neighbor kids they play with- alot. We are also connecting with other homeschool families and will likely be arranging collective field trips and other outings.

As with other homeschoolers, my kids accompany me on various daily errands that require social skills and their development- just the mere act of participating out and about in life…

Oh my… I do believe I sound a little defensive. It’s just really the least of our challenges as we try to be effective homeschoolers.

As I’ve previously posted, we are feeling as though we are finding the right path for us.

Friday, we met with our homeschool/district liason and she offered a lot of encouragement, reminding us that we are free to pick and choose programs, including the Province’s own, and approach this whole process as works best for us.

As long as we are registered with our local school district we just have to be able to periodically show, and/or tell, her what we’re doing.  Beasley and Zip will just demonstrate that skills are developing and their progress is recorded.  And they advance.

I was so pleased when she asked if he was enjoying learning at home.  His response was an enthusiastic, resounding, “yeah!”

She’s also hooking us up with another homeschool family, recently abandoned by their previous group (families moved, kids transitioned to conventional school).  This family has really enjoyed a network as well as others to enjoy fieldtrips and outings with.  So, it could be fun…  it sounds like she’s pretty committed to the BC Curriculum- not so much relaxed… like us.

I do believe we are falling into something of a routine… a routine relaxed, working with how our family operates best- which tends towards the unstructured- taking cues from the kids and what they are interested in learning.

Certainly, we are still working with our Provincial curriculum and their regimen of spoon feeding, it still provides us with a tangible outline, but at our own pace.  It seems to be working.  As in my previous post, we are beginning to experience learning in a natural, organic sort of manner with a focus on interest rather than catching up.

Every window sill, or surface in the vicinity of a window, is inhabited by a tray of germinating/sprouting plants.  Honestly, Samson’s passion.  He waters and tends to them diligently.  Our greenhouse friend believes he has an intuitive sense of the process.

He couldn’t lay out a direction for where he’d like to focus his learning any clearer, really.  And despite the fact that I have been blessed with a somewhat grey thumb, I have to jump on this and take him as far as he’d like to take it.

Samson’s Herb-O-Rama!

One never knows….

We are now beginning to experience the fruits of our labours.

Beasley Bean is showing such huge improvements: more fluidity in his reading, writing more readily with fewer errors and he is beginning to take some independent initiative when he sits down for our scheduled work times.

Not to mention the development that makes me most deliriously happy:  he is actually DEVOURING a series of books.

Bone!

Our story is perhaps not that unique. Simply put, our recent fourth grader, who had struggled with the basics since the very first day of Kindergarten, as a four year old, was stressed out and profoundly unhappy at school. For the first time ever.

Despite his difficulties throughout his conventional education experience, he loved being there. Loved it! As a bright child, he had also developed means of coping with the increasing academic demands and continued to progress from grade to grade, though was consistently considered to be “not meeting expectations”. However, the teachers acknowledging his intelligence and potential were unconcerned, certain it was just an issue of maturity.

Well, unfortunately these earlier platitudes weren’t of much help as he embarked upon fourth grade. The demands were great and whatever tools he had come up with in earlier years just weren’t enough to keep his head above water.

Finally, after many years presented with the option (turning it down flat each time), he came to us, “I want to be homeschooled.” Christmas break was still several weeks off and we told him to stick it out until Christmas and be sure in his decision. He did. And he was.

So, here, almost four months later, despite our unpreparedness/overwhelmedness/largely down right freaked outedness/ we are all immensely satisfied with the decision. In fact our son in kindergarten at the same school joined us a couple of months later. They will likely never set foot in a conventional school again. My four year old daughter will probably never experience a conventional education at all.

Feel free to read more in my Guest Contribution, New Kids on the Block.

So, after the better part of a month, yesterday we resumed visits to the lady… it always goes well. I come away with all kinds of great, creative ways to help Beasley with engraining the sight words as well as any other spelling and reading of words that are helpful for modules as well as just functioning as a nine year old.

However, on the way out, after Beasley had bolted for the van, lady and I had our usual, recap/evaluate/sum-up the day, see you next week conversation except that today she added an interesting little variation.

“There is certainly the issue of ADD.”

“… dkshmkfrklahgaungh…. huh?”

Ignoring my incoherence she proceeded to offer a brief run-down on his various distracted/scattered/wiggling behaviours at sessions. Equating them to signs of ADD.

Signs I had only ever equated to bored school-aged boy rather out on his bike than sitting here playing word games with an old lady.

Now, I am not disputing anything she is saying. Certainly, she comes to this with nearly four centuries decades of experience with all kinds of children, challenged and otherwise, under her belt. But Beasley’s capacity for sitting still, sharply attentive, during story times, movies and TV, and video games and the fact that at no time in his conventional academic career had this acronym EVER, EVER, EVER been used; pretty much flew in the face of her interesting characterization.

So, what to do… she was adament in her distrust of meds in but only the most severe cases, so was not encouraging us to run off to the Ridillin store… but she was certain in her evaluation of the signs.

Do I ignore the lady… I know my child and am not about to go flying off based on this single evaluation, no matter how much I have appreciated her assistance… or do we try to implement her suggestions (a small bit of coffee… or hot chocolate) and see if it helps in his being able to settle and focus during structured learning times (which has, without doubt, also been an issue here at home)?

Hmmmmm……………………………………… what harm, a little hot chocolate?

I’ve been poking around these internets for the past couple of hours moments and have come upon the most glorious of concepts. Deschooling.

Apparently, when transitioning a child from the rigours of the conventional school system into homeschooling, an effective way of doing so, while reinvigorating self-confidence, self-esteem and an enjoyment of learning is through a process of deschooling. Or, essentially taking time off from school. Recommended: one month for every year a child has been in school.

This process acts as a period of decompression for the child and parent(s), allowing for a cleansing of the negative effects of the conventional system and allowing for an opening of the mind and spirit so as to prepare for a new, more intuitive and ultimately, more effective approach to education and learning.

Whew. As we stumble along, here, new to this journey, this insight comes as a monstrous relief. We- mainly, I- have still been struggling with the idea of keeping up, or catching up. And the point to counter that would be, with whom, exactly? We are now on our own to accomplish and enjoy learning as works best for child. That was the purpose of our transition from school over there. The freedom in our learning.

We have jumped into another structured system, as dictated by the province and our local school district, and have yet to really unload the expectations, standards and constraints of what we experienced over there.

Anyways, a new and very attractive concept to open our minds to. Take a little pressure off.