Let's see. We're at the end of one section of unit one, so we're doing a lot of review right now. Things have been a bit busy here at home this week, so haven't had time to even write in my journal each night. Deacon is doing wonderful! He knows around 40 signs in ASL, we are getting into multiplication and he's learning his 3's right now, he did his very first report today about King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain...I had to help him put it in paragraph format, but he made notes and we went off of those to write the report. I'm proud of him! He's doing really well in keyboarding, I stepped out of the room today to see if he would cheat and look at the keyboard...sure enough he did. So he will be doing today's lesson over again tomorrow. He is still doing well with the listen and obey chart. He has missed two days on it since we started using it, so not bad really. The biggest challenge we are having to overcome is concentration. He gets side tracked and distracted easily, but all he needs is a reminder to get back on task. Some days are better than others in that respect.
Scouts is about to start back up and Deacon is excited about that. He will get to see all of his friends more often than he has been over the summer. His other friend from school, Amelia, is home schooled and has been since last year. Hoping we can get with her and her mom some this year for field trips. We're still taking it just a day at a time, with the philosophy of try to survive it, then learn to thrive from it. I'll try to scan in is journal entries and his report for you guys soon. I'm low on ink right now. I think that's about it for now. Until next time!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Update
I haven't posted in a few days. Things have been so busy and by the time the kids are in the bed, I'm ready to sleep myself.
We are still working on the Columbus Unit. In math we are doing money and place values as well as addition and subtraction. The listen and obey chart is still working wonders. We've been working on his handwriting and it is getting much better. He is up to the whole home row, r, u, t, y, i, and e on keyboarding. In ASL we both have a vocabulary of about 50 words now and I'm still waiting to hear back from KCD about the ASL courses. He got a perfect 100 on his spelling test on Wednesday and is doing well on his vocabulary. I will try to scan in his journal entries tonight and put them on here. Deacon's friend Alex is coming over to spend the night tonight, so we will see if I have time to do that. I know this has been a short entry today, but time is short and we have to go to Bush's for our HRA this morning. Fun, fun, fun. I'll try to update it better next posting.
We are still working on the Columbus Unit. In math we are doing money and place values as well as addition and subtraction. The listen and obey chart is still working wonders. We've been working on his handwriting and it is getting much better. He is up to the whole home row, r, u, t, y, i, and e on keyboarding. In ASL we both have a vocabulary of about 50 words now and I'm still waiting to hear back from KCD about the ASL courses. He got a perfect 100 on his spelling test on Wednesday and is doing well on his vocabulary. I will try to scan in his journal entries tonight and put them on here. Deacon's friend Alex is coming over to spend the night tonight, so we will see if I have time to do that. I know this has been a short entry today, but time is short and we have to go to Bush's for our HRA this morning. Fun, fun, fun. I'll try to update it better next posting.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Day 4 and 5 - August 11th and 12th
I didn't write a journal entry on the 11th, so I am combining the two today.
Yesterday and today were much better with the new listen and obey chart. I didn't have to remind Deacon to stay on task at all either day, which made me extremely happy. Yesterday we finished Unit 1 part 3 of the Columbus based curriculum. We didn't work on the text book today. Today we did math, a spelling test, keyboarding, art, sign language review, language review, music, and journal. I love the use of a journal for Deacon. It helps with sentence structure, penmanship, memory, abstract thinking, and so much more. Today's math was telling time on an analog clock and placement values. Art was coloring a picture of Christopher Columbus' ship and the country of Italy. I was impressed with how well he did on both. He still bears down too hard with the crayon, but he says it is because he likes it to be bright and he likes the way it feels when he colors like that. We worked on coloring in one pattern instead of all zig-zagged. He remembered all of the signs we have learned so far, and I contacted the Knoxville Center of the Deaf about ASL courses for the both of us. They offer an 8 week course in September and another in March. They meet once a week from 6 to 8pm in South Knoxville. I think it would be a good idea to try to attend the classes. They can teach him ASL much better than I ever could. I'm also looking forward to starting Rosetta Stone Latin American Spanish in the spring. Now is the perfect time for him to learn multiple languages. The Rosetta Stone Spanish has 6 levels altogether, I believe. Daniel and I look forward to learning it with him. I'm trying to talk Daniel into attending the ASL courses with us as well. Since we don't know anyone who uses it as a main form of communication, we need some way to make sure he uses it so he doesn't lose it.
He did so wonderful in keyboarding today. He really likes the dance mat typing. He did R and U today. I push the keyboard tray all the way in so he can't see the keyboard, otherwise he is tempted to cheat a bit, lol. I'm glad we found the dance mat typing course, it's been an excellent resource since it makes him want to learn to type so he can hear the song at the end of each lesson. I'm very impressed with it. For music this week we've just been singing along to radio Disney. I need to find some more things online for us to use. Maybe later in the year I can find someone local who teaches piano or guitar lessons for an affordable rate. He'd like guitar I think. The local boys and girls club offers lessons, but I can't sign him up for them. They do it on certain days and only allow so many people at a time each day they do them to attend. The good thing about the Boys and Girls club lessons is that they are free of charge, but I'd like to be there with him to see what he is learning so we can review it each day.
In bible we are still working on Psalm 23. It is a long one, and hard for him to remember anything more than "The Lord is my shepherd." I don't intend to keep going until he has it memorized, but I'd like for him to have a good handle on it before we move on to another memory verse or memory project. I'd like to find a good bible story book soon. I just need to go to the bookstore and look around. He is still reading Junie B. Jones for his independent reading, which he has been doing since before the school year started. I like the fact that he really gets into those books and I don't have to tell him he has to read for 20 minutes when he gets lost in it for an hour or more. I have been researching crafts to do online and I think we will attempt to make a globe in the next few days. I'd also like to make the milk carton Columbus ships soon. I think he will enjoy that. After he did all of his school work today he played on pbskids.com for a few hours. He loves that site, and it has a lot of educational games on it. He is doing his journal now. I told him he could write about anything he wanted to write about and he has chosen to write about "his" cat Ella. It's going to break my heart when we give her away. He is very attached to her, as am I, but we can't continue to keep her when she has an avoidance of the litter box sometimes.
Deacon has gotten all A's in everything but a few math worksheets where he got a B so far this year. I let him correct the missed problems, but I still keep the original grade. I have been told that no homeschooled child should make less than a 100 on any assignment, but I feel that is dishonest. We do work through what he has missed and work on correcting it and re-enforcing the lesson, but I don't feel comfortable giving him a 100 unless that is what he got on the paper the first time. I think he is enjoying being homeschooled. He has more freedom to work at his pace and he doesn't get told no when he asks to get a drink or use the bathroom. Lunch is when he gets hungry and we do things in the order he chooses. After this year, I am curious if I will feel comfortable trying to do preschool with Calen next year. Calen wants to do school now, but isn't able to follow directions on what to do in a preschool workbook, so I let him color in the room with us. he thinks that is school and he is proud to be going to school with Deacon. Dallin naps while we work. When Dallin wakes up, I get Daniel up. Luckily Dallin is a long napper. He will sleep from 10:30 or 11:30 until 2 or 3pm. This helps a lot with trying to get everything done and let Daniel sleep. As Dallin gets older I don't think it will be as much of a problem since he will know what I mean when I tell him he has to be quiet and I will be able to turn my back on him for more than a few seconds at a time and trust he isn't into something he shouldn't be. We are learning to adapt our plans to what works for us on a daily basis. What works on Monday may not work at all on Tuesday, but we learn, adjust, and continue on. With that I will end today's entry. Only time will tell what tomorrow will bring in our journey.
Yesterday and today were much better with the new listen and obey chart. I didn't have to remind Deacon to stay on task at all either day, which made me extremely happy. Yesterday we finished Unit 1 part 3 of the Columbus based curriculum. We didn't work on the text book today. Today we did math, a spelling test, keyboarding, art, sign language review, language review, music, and journal. I love the use of a journal for Deacon. It helps with sentence structure, penmanship, memory, abstract thinking, and so much more. Today's math was telling time on an analog clock and placement values. Art was coloring a picture of Christopher Columbus' ship and the country of Italy. I was impressed with how well he did on both. He still bears down too hard with the crayon, but he says it is because he likes it to be bright and he likes the way it feels when he colors like that. We worked on coloring in one pattern instead of all zig-zagged. He remembered all of the signs we have learned so far, and I contacted the Knoxville Center of the Deaf about ASL courses for the both of us. They offer an 8 week course in September and another in March. They meet once a week from 6 to 8pm in South Knoxville. I think it would be a good idea to try to attend the classes. They can teach him ASL much better than I ever could. I'm also looking forward to starting Rosetta Stone Latin American Spanish in the spring. Now is the perfect time for him to learn multiple languages. The Rosetta Stone Spanish has 6 levels altogether, I believe. Daniel and I look forward to learning it with him. I'm trying to talk Daniel into attending the ASL courses with us as well. Since we don't know anyone who uses it as a main form of communication, we need some way to make sure he uses it so he doesn't lose it.
He did so wonderful in keyboarding today. He really likes the dance mat typing. He did R and U today. I push the keyboard tray all the way in so he can't see the keyboard, otherwise he is tempted to cheat a bit, lol. I'm glad we found the dance mat typing course, it's been an excellent resource since it makes him want to learn to type so he can hear the song at the end of each lesson. I'm very impressed with it. For music this week we've just been singing along to radio Disney. I need to find some more things online for us to use. Maybe later in the year I can find someone local who teaches piano or guitar lessons for an affordable rate. He'd like guitar I think. The local boys and girls club offers lessons, but I can't sign him up for them. They do it on certain days and only allow so many people at a time each day they do them to attend. The good thing about the Boys and Girls club lessons is that they are free of charge, but I'd like to be there with him to see what he is learning so we can review it each day.
In bible we are still working on Psalm 23. It is a long one, and hard for him to remember anything more than "The Lord is my shepherd." I don't intend to keep going until he has it memorized, but I'd like for him to have a good handle on it before we move on to another memory verse or memory project. I'd like to find a good bible story book soon. I just need to go to the bookstore and look around. He is still reading Junie B. Jones for his independent reading, which he has been doing since before the school year started. I like the fact that he really gets into those books and I don't have to tell him he has to read for 20 minutes when he gets lost in it for an hour or more. I have been researching crafts to do online and I think we will attempt to make a globe in the next few days. I'd also like to make the milk carton Columbus ships soon. I think he will enjoy that. After he did all of his school work today he played on pbskids.com for a few hours. He loves that site, and it has a lot of educational games on it. He is doing his journal now. I told him he could write about anything he wanted to write about and he has chosen to write about "his" cat Ella. It's going to break my heart when we give her away. He is very attached to her, as am I, but we can't continue to keep her when she has an avoidance of the litter box sometimes.
Deacon has gotten all A's in everything but a few math worksheets where he got a B so far this year. I let him correct the missed problems, but I still keep the original grade. I have been told that no homeschooled child should make less than a 100 on any assignment, but I feel that is dishonest. We do work through what he has missed and work on correcting it and re-enforcing the lesson, but I don't feel comfortable giving him a 100 unless that is what he got on the paper the first time. I think he is enjoying being homeschooled. He has more freedom to work at his pace and he doesn't get told no when he asks to get a drink or use the bathroom. Lunch is when he gets hungry and we do things in the order he chooses. After this year, I am curious if I will feel comfortable trying to do preschool with Calen next year. Calen wants to do school now, but isn't able to follow directions on what to do in a preschool workbook, so I let him color in the room with us. he thinks that is school and he is proud to be going to school with Deacon. Dallin naps while we work. When Dallin wakes up, I get Daniel up. Luckily Dallin is a long napper. He will sleep from 10:30 or 11:30 until 2 or 3pm. This helps a lot with trying to get everything done and let Daniel sleep. As Dallin gets older I don't think it will be as much of a problem since he will know what I mean when I tell him he has to be quiet and I will be able to turn my back on him for more than a few seconds at a time and trust he isn't into something he shouldn't be. We are learning to adapt our plans to what works for us on a daily basis. What works on Monday may not work at all on Tuesday, but we learn, adjust, and continue on. With that I will end today's entry. Only time will tell what tomorrow will bring in our journey.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Day 3 - August 10th, 2009
Yesterday was such a busy day I didn't have time to write.
We started school early yesterday and I planned to make it a short day. It ended up running longer than any of them so far. Deacon just wasn't feeling it yesterday. I ended up telling him about the fair, which was going to be a surprise, to try to get him on task. That didn't even work. I guess we all have our off days.
Yesterday we did 2 math worksheets, which is less than usual, one in addition and one in subtraction. We went over our spelling words in a game. I told him the meaning of the word and he had to guess which one it was and spell it correctly. He did wonderful on it! We went over our vocabulary. We did our copy work, which is one stanza of a poem called Journey of Adventure. We went in depth with our Bible memory project, Psalm 23. We read it several times each and talked about what it means to each of us. I had Deacon close his eyes and just listen as I read it. He said he pictured being in a deep, dark, scary wood surrounded by enemies and the Lord was there to protect him and he wasn't scared anymore. After bible class we did a short 30 second video on YouTube about American sign language, from a series for children called Signing time. We can't afford the DVDs so we will use the YouTube clips of it for now until we can purchase the DVDs. He learned how to sign "Nice to meet you.", "Friend", and "play". We plan to work on our ASL alphabet today. After watching the video clip a few times we went on to his typing class. We're using Dance Mat typing from the BBC until we find a better tutor. He liked it and did pretty well with the home keys. After that he played math games on the computer and had a blast. I don't think he knew math could be so fun. The last thing he needed to do was his journal and I set the assignment on Psalm 23 and what it meant to him.
In the end the school day that was supposed to be short ended up taking almost 6 hours. The majority of that time was spent procrastinating. It was the day of "My leg hurts.", "I have to go use the bathroom.", and "I'm thirsty.". After yesterday I have printed off some charts for him. We are going to do a "listen and obey" chart, where he gets rewarded after 30 days of listening and obeying the first time he is told, if he doesn't listen and obey the first time there are consequences listed as well. He now has behavior bucks, chore bucks, and school bucks. He earns the bucks, similar to money, and can then use them when he has enough for a treat. I also printed him off a checklist for him to keep track of what he has gotten done so far during the day. I'm hoping that will help him stay on task. As I said, I know we all have our off days, I just hope today isn't like yesterday.
Note:
Since I didn't get this posted yesterday, I will be posting another tonight if I have time. I have a meeting tonight for Scouts, so you never know. Thanks for following us on this journey to adventure. *smiles*
We started school early yesterday and I planned to make it a short day. It ended up running longer than any of them so far. Deacon just wasn't feeling it yesterday. I ended up telling him about the fair, which was going to be a surprise, to try to get him on task. That didn't even work. I guess we all have our off days.
Yesterday we did 2 math worksheets, which is less than usual, one in addition and one in subtraction. We went over our spelling words in a game. I told him the meaning of the word and he had to guess which one it was and spell it correctly. He did wonderful on it! We went over our vocabulary. We did our copy work, which is one stanza of a poem called Journey of Adventure. We went in depth with our Bible memory project, Psalm 23. We read it several times each and talked about what it means to each of us. I had Deacon close his eyes and just listen as I read it. He said he pictured being in a deep, dark, scary wood surrounded by enemies and the Lord was there to protect him and he wasn't scared anymore. After bible class we did a short 30 second video on YouTube about American sign language, from a series for children called Signing time. We can't afford the DVDs so we will use the YouTube clips of it for now until we can purchase the DVDs. He learned how to sign "Nice to meet you.", "Friend", and "play". We plan to work on our ASL alphabet today. After watching the video clip a few times we went on to his typing class. We're using Dance Mat typing from the BBC until we find a better tutor. He liked it and did pretty well with the home keys. After that he played math games on the computer and had a blast. I don't think he knew math could be so fun. The last thing he needed to do was his journal and I set the assignment on Psalm 23 and what it meant to him.
In the end the school day that was supposed to be short ended up taking almost 6 hours. The majority of that time was spent procrastinating. It was the day of "My leg hurts.", "I have to go use the bathroom.", and "I'm thirsty.". After yesterday I have printed off some charts for him. We are going to do a "listen and obey" chart, where he gets rewarded after 30 days of listening and obeying the first time he is told, if he doesn't listen and obey the first time there are consequences listed as well. He now has behavior bucks, chore bucks, and school bucks. He earns the bucks, similar to money, and can then use them when he has enough for a treat. I also printed him off a checklist for him to keep track of what he has gotten done so far during the day. I'm hoping that will help him stay on task. As I said, I know we all have our off days, I just hope today isn't like yesterday.
Note:
Since I didn't get this posted yesterday, I will be posting another tonight if I have time. I have a meeting tonight for Scouts, so you never know. Thanks for following us on this journey to adventure. *smiles*
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Happy Sunday!
Happy Sunday everyone. We had a marvelous time at church this morning. Since we didn't have school today, I thought it was the prefect time to post Deacon's journal entries so far. I hope you can read them. He has learned about more than just Christopher Columbus, but you can see what he likes to put in his journal. I'm glad the unit theme is something he enjoys. This year we will go through all kinds of themes relating to adventure. We will have the Pilgrims at one point, Lewis and Clark, Squanto, and Daniel Boone. Each year through 5th grade this curriculum set builds off of history and continues up to World War II in the 5th grade. We chose Trail Guide to Learning and Horizons Math 3 for curriculum this year and I have to say we are quite pleased with our choice. I'd say Deacon is pleased as well. I'm still having a little trouble with the teacher handbook of Horizons Math, but his work is pretty obvious to me what he needs to do. I think with a little more study, I will have the teacher's handbook figured out soon.
For all the Scouters out there, I found it quite impressive that the Boy Scout Handbook of 1910 is part of Deacon's curriculum this year. It hasn't called for us to use it yet, but we both look forward to it. If it turns out to be too hard for him to accomplish we will substitute his Bear Cub Handbook instead. That's right, I can't believe he will be a Bear this year! Only 2 more years after this year and he will be a Boy Scout! Another thing I really like about the Trail Guide to Learning is that science is nature based. We have two handbooks for science that are all about nature. Birds, plants, fruits, flowers. That ought to keep his interest and mine as well. See you all again tomorrow with the next installment of the homeschool journey.
Friday, August 7, 2009
August 6th and 7th.
August 6, 2009 - Day 1
Deacon is really excited about homeschooling this year. I admit I'm a bit nervous myself. I hope he continues to keep his enthusiasm for it and God gives me the strength and knowledge to teach him and raise him properly. Today was our first day and it took almost the whole four hours to cover everything and make sure he will retain it. I thought it would take much longer than that and the four hour guideline was just that, a guideline. We learned a lot about Christopher Columbus today and all of his lessons except for math follow a unit theme. This unit is on Columbus. I learned that Deacon really doesn't like subtraction. I think he may actually hate it with a passion. I almost dread division. He also isn't a big fan of having to write neatly, as his previous teachers didn't enforce penmanship. I'm hoping it will become second nature to him before long. He can write very neatly, but he is still in "hurry, hurry, hurry" mode and wants to rush through writing things out. Commitment....I pray that God helps us to stay committed to this course and to excel in it throughout the year and the years to come. P.S. Deacon loves his independent reading time and the books about Columbus in this unit. I think he may end up taking after me in that respect. I'm not a huge fan of math, but I love anything to do with literature. And if you were wondering, he has chosen Junie B. Jones smells something fishy as his independent reading for now. Between you and me, if Junie B. were a real person I think she would be Deacon's best buddy.
August 7, 2009 - Day 2
Second day of school and all is well. I just have to keep reminding myself and Deacon that we aren't in a hurry, that there's no rush. This isn't homework that is due tomorrow. We can take as long as we need. He gets frustrated very easily, but I hope we can work that out together. He drew a rug in art today. You should see it. It looks like a box of Crayola crayons and he is very proud of it. That is what he had chosen to sell in the bazaar. We learned more about Columbus and our spelling words with a long i sound. He amazed me with his spelling today, he was able to spell everyone of them without looking! We added telling time and rounding to the nearest 10 in math today. He loved the rounding, he said it was his favorite. Our bible verse for this unit is commitment. We are learning how Columbus and his namesake Saint Christopher showed their commitment to God and how Columbus wanted to be a Christ-bearer and take the word of God to those people across the Western Ocean who had never heard the good news before. Saint Christopher was a Giant Syrian who a hermit lead to God. The hermit had told him to build a home by the river and because of his size and the raging waters of this river, he could carry people across on his shoulders to keep them from drowning and God would be grateful and smile down on him. He did this and one night a child came to his home and asked to be carried across to the other side. Saint Christopher got his staff and started carrying the child across, the further they went across the river, the heavier the child became until he felt like he was carrying the whole world on his shoulders. When they got to the other side, Saint Christopher told the child that his weight had nearly drowned him and that he had felt like he was carrying the whole weight of the world in that one little child's body. The child told Saint Christopher that he was indeed carrying the weight of the world and the Christ child as well. The child told Saint Christopher to plant his staff in the soil by his home for proof and in the morning it would bear fruit and flowers. When Saint Christopher awoke the next morning a date palm had grown where he had planted his staff. Saint Christopher showed commitment in continuing across the river even when the burden became too heavy to bear. We are trying to be committed in our lives just like Saint Christopher. Commitment to God above all else.
Deacon is also keeping a journal. I can't wait to re-read it when he is grown. His even has pictures he has drawn in it.
Deacon is really excited about homeschooling this year. I admit I'm a bit nervous myself. I hope he continues to keep his enthusiasm for it and God gives me the strength and knowledge to teach him and raise him properly. Today was our first day and it took almost the whole four hours to cover everything and make sure he will retain it. I thought it would take much longer than that and the four hour guideline was just that, a guideline. We learned a lot about Christopher Columbus today and all of his lessons except for math follow a unit theme. This unit is on Columbus. I learned that Deacon really doesn't like subtraction. I think he may actually hate it with a passion. I almost dread division. He also isn't a big fan of having to write neatly, as his previous teachers didn't enforce penmanship. I'm hoping it will become second nature to him before long. He can write very neatly, but he is still in "hurry, hurry, hurry" mode and wants to rush through writing things out. Commitment....I pray that God helps us to stay committed to this course and to excel in it throughout the year and the years to come. P.S. Deacon loves his independent reading time and the books about Columbus in this unit. I think he may end up taking after me in that respect. I'm not a huge fan of math, but I love anything to do with literature. And if you were wondering, he has chosen Junie B. Jones smells something fishy as his independent reading for now. Between you and me, if Junie B. were a real person I think she would be Deacon's best buddy.
August 7, 2009 - Day 2
Second day of school and all is well. I just have to keep reminding myself and Deacon that we aren't in a hurry, that there's no rush. This isn't homework that is due tomorrow. We can take as long as we need. He gets frustrated very easily, but I hope we can work that out together. He drew a rug in art today. You should see it. It looks like a box of Crayola crayons and he is very proud of it. That is what he had chosen to sell in the bazaar. We learned more about Columbus and our spelling words with a long i sound. He amazed me with his spelling today, he was able to spell everyone of them without looking! We added telling time and rounding to the nearest 10 in math today. He loved the rounding, he said it was his favorite. Our bible verse for this unit is commitment. We are learning how Columbus and his namesake Saint Christopher showed their commitment to God and how Columbus wanted to be a Christ-bearer and take the word of God to those people across the Western Ocean who had never heard the good news before. Saint Christopher was a Giant Syrian who a hermit lead to God. The hermit had told him to build a home by the river and because of his size and the raging waters of this river, he could carry people across on his shoulders to keep them from drowning and God would be grateful and smile down on him. He did this and one night a child came to his home and asked to be carried across to the other side. Saint Christopher got his staff and started carrying the child across, the further they went across the river, the heavier the child became until he felt like he was carrying the whole world on his shoulders. When they got to the other side, Saint Christopher told the child that his weight had nearly drowned him and that he had felt like he was carrying the whole weight of the world in that one little child's body. The child told Saint Christopher that he was indeed carrying the weight of the world and the Christ child as well. The child told Saint Christopher to plant his staff in the soil by his home for proof and in the morning it would bear fruit and flowers. When Saint Christopher awoke the next morning a date palm had grown where he had planted his staff. Saint Christopher showed commitment in continuing across the river even when the burden became too heavy to bear. We are trying to be committed in our lives just like Saint Christopher. Commitment to God above all else.
Deacon is also keeping a journal. I can't wait to re-read it when he is grown. His even has pictures he has drawn in it.
2009-2010 school year. Deacon starts third grade
I decided to keep a journal during our first year of homeschooling. Since this is such a new and exciting (and completely terrifying) endeavor for both of us, I want to keep an account of its ups and downs along the way as we learn together this year. I may not update this everyday, but I keep a written journal and will update this blog from my written journal as often as time allows.
A little about me and my family:
I'm a married mother of 3 boys, aged 8, almost 4, and 2. I have been married for 5 years this October to the best man on this Earth. God has truly blessed me in this life with so many people to love. Deacon, my oldest, has spent the last 3 years in a public school. The reasons for pulling him out are many, but the main ones were because they did not follow my wishes on him not celebrating certain holidays with his class, lack of communication, and my not being allowed to take his brothers with me to accompany him on field trips, even if I drove us myself. He has done well in public school and I have nothing against it as a whole. I think his teachers have just been overwhelmed with such big classes. He was being picked on, physically picked on and the teacher wouldn't or couldn't do anything about it because she didn't see it happen any of the times it did. I want my children to know values and morals and see them implemented in everyday life.
I will admit, one of the reasons (even if it is just a small part of all the reasons) we chose to homeschool is because of the time constraints forced upon us by a typical school day. Each day was rush, rush, rush, hurry, hurry, hurry. Get it done, come on, come on! No time to waste! Deacon was not doing well under the time pressure of getting work finished, getting dinner eaten, getting a bath, and still having some time to play before bedtime. Also along the lines of time constraints, I had a 2 hour block right in the middle of the day where I was unavailable for anything and everything except picking him and his cousin up from school. My husband is a good man and he works hard on a midnight shift, but it has gotten to where only one person working with a family of 5 is just not feasible anymore. With homeschool our school day is flexible. We can have school bright and early, or in the afternoon. It doesn't matter what time of day we choose to learn, as long as we learn. So that takes a lot of pressure off of all of us.
Another reason, and perhaps one of the most important, for our choice to homeschool is the hope of our son going above and beyond what he can accomplish in a public school setting because we don't have to slow down for others or speed up even though he hasn't grasped the concept. He can learn at his pace, no matter how slow or fast it may be. He gets to decide. I won't say we do it for purely religious reasons because we can teach him about our Father and Christ even with him in a public school, but it is nice to have more time to teach him about our God besides just on Sunday during Sunday school.
This will be a learning process for both of us, and if you have chosen to join us on this journey then you might want to brace yourself in advance, because I can't tell you how this is going to end. *smiles* Take Care and God bless!
A little about me and my family:
I'm a married mother of 3 boys, aged 8, almost 4, and 2. I have been married for 5 years this October to the best man on this Earth. God has truly blessed me in this life with so many people to love. Deacon, my oldest, has spent the last 3 years in a public school. The reasons for pulling him out are many, but the main ones were because they did not follow my wishes on him not celebrating certain holidays with his class, lack of communication, and my not being allowed to take his brothers with me to accompany him on field trips, even if I drove us myself. He has done well in public school and I have nothing against it as a whole. I think his teachers have just been overwhelmed with such big classes. He was being picked on, physically picked on and the teacher wouldn't or couldn't do anything about it because she didn't see it happen any of the times it did. I want my children to know values and morals and see them implemented in everyday life.
I will admit, one of the reasons (even if it is just a small part of all the reasons) we chose to homeschool is because of the time constraints forced upon us by a typical school day. Each day was rush, rush, rush, hurry, hurry, hurry. Get it done, come on, come on! No time to waste! Deacon was not doing well under the time pressure of getting work finished, getting dinner eaten, getting a bath, and still having some time to play before bedtime. Also along the lines of time constraints, I had a 2 hour block right in the middle of the day where I was unavailable for anything and everything except picking him and his cousin up from school. My husband is a good man and he works hard on a midnight shift, but it has gotten to where only one person working with a family of 5 is just not feasible anymore. With homeschool our school day is flexible. We can have school bright and early, or in the afternoon. It doesn't matter what time of day we choose to learn, as long as we learn. So that takes a lot of pressure off of all of us.
Another reason, and perhaps one of the most important, for our choice to homeschool is the hope of our son going above and beyond what he can accomplish in a public school setting because we don't have to slow down for others or speed up even though he hasn't grasped the concept. He can learn at his pace, no matter how slow or fast it may be. He gets to decide. I won't say we do it for purely religious reasons because we can teach him about our Father and Christ even with him in a public school, but it is nice to have more time to teach him about our God besides just on Sunday during Sunday school.
This will be a learning process for both of us, and if you have chosen to join us on this journey then you might want to brace yourself in advance, because I can't tell you how this is going to end. *smiles* Take Care and God bless!
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