As I began this homeschool journey,
my expectations and reality have clashed more times than I’d like to count.
Being a former teacher, I love to make lesson plans and think of how I can
relate a topic or subject to incite excitement and see the light of
understanding dawn on the student’s face. I love that part of teaching. (Most
teachers do.) However, the daily life of homeschooling was much different than
that of a typical school room.
My days start when I wake up and
don’t end until I go to bed. I am always “ON,” which makes each moment I spend
with my children a blessing and not so much at the same time. I’m not their
teacher; I’m their mother. They don’t revere me as most children revere their
teachers in school. I’m just the mom that swaddled them as a baby, fed them,
did their laundry, or helped them with a skinned knee, so what do I know of
multiplication tables or science? I may just be Mom, but now I’m a
homeschooling mom– ultimately responsible (along with my husband) for their
entire education. Not only do I need to education them on living life but also
on the academics for life. How will I do it all? Luckily in my first year of
homeschooling, by accident I ran across an article written by another
homeschooling mom (I can’t find her site now) that laid it all out for me.
This acronym encapsulated everything
that I wanted to bring to my homeschool. It was short, witty, and amazingly
right on target for me. That acronym was A.R.T.:
I wanted that for my homeschool, but
my next hurdle was how. I seriously thought, “How do I do all that?” I know
many people that have wonderful thoughts and theories but little knowledge or
advise on how to go about it on a daily basis. That was my challenge.
Homeschool is in essence a way of
life. It changes the way you look at your children and your conversations with
them, and basically your motivation for everything you do changes. Homeschool
is also different for everyone. No two homeschools are the same. So with that
in mind, I will try to carve out a way you can create your own homeschool with
A.R.T.
One day that’s all I did; I spent it
teaching attitude. Yes, I said teaching, because that’s what I do all day long.
Whether it is cooking, cleaning, chores, or homeschooling, before I start
anything, I check the attitude. Most days we move on from attitude quickly to a
relationship, which in turn lends itself to teaching, but this one day…. well,
it was all attitude training. From the get-go, he was in a sour mood and never
got free of it. He spent the day by himself, and occasionally he would get a
chance to interact with us, but it never lasted long before he was off by
himself again. I won’t tolerate a bad attitude. Without a good attitude, you
won’t learn anything academic in nature. Your brain is stuck– not able to
expand or bring in new ideas (or any good ideas).
How do you check the attitude?
First, I start with me. How am I approaching the day? Am I mad or upset? Why?
What are my facial expressions? What words and tone am I using towards others?
If I have a good attitude, that will create good energy in my home and permeate
to others. Most times, it works. However, like I said, this one day it didn’t.
So, then I try to talk to the offending party (my son) and coax him out of his
bad attitude. Some days it works, and others it won’t. If he won’t change his
tune, he is by himself. I figure that if I’m having a good attitude, then I
don’t deserve a bad attitude in return.
The next question is couldn’t he just
use the bad attitude to stay by himself and not get any “school work” done.
With this one, he will eventually come around. He usually does. He doesn’t like
to be alone. (No human really does.) So, eventually, he will decide to change
his attitude and join the fun of family life, which includes homeschool.
Tip #1: On a more practical level,
as part of their grades I have an attitude grade. I put it under a subject
called “Home” with “Attitude” as the course. He has to keep all his grades at
either an “A” or “B” to have house privileges. Recap: each assignment has a
number grade of how well they completed the assignment as well an attitude
grade.
Tip #2: I use Homeschool Tracker
(computer database) to keep track of grades. I print out an Assignment Sheet
each week for each student. The Assignment Sheet has two boxes for each
assignment. After each assignment is completed, I write their grade for the
work in one box and in the other box I write one of the following: a “G”
(green), which means a good attitude; a “Y” (yellow), which represents a
borderline attitude; or a “R” (red), which means they had a poor attitude. Each
green is one point, and each point is worth five minutes of video games. A
yellow is worth nothing, and a red means they owe me five points. If they ever
want to play video games I simply ask, “How many points do you have?” If
they’ve had a bad attitude and have no points, then there are no games played;
if they have points, they can spend them. It really takes the decision out of
my hands and puts it into theirs. They have complete control over whether they
get to play video games or not. Children have so little control over their
lives that I have found this is a great way to give them some control. Also, it
helps with the attitude training.
Are you a mom or a teacher? Well,
homeschooling moms are both. That may be confusing for some children,
especially those that have already been in public school. The relationship that
you have with your children as their mom is totally different from the
relationship your children will have with other teachers in their life. Just
remember, that as mom you aren’t as smart as the other teachers. Now, don’t get
angry with me. I’m not saying you aren’t smart; it’s just that’s how your children
probably see you. I can’t count how many times my children have said to me,
“How did you know that?” I know I said it to my mother, and I’m aware of other
moms I talk with echoing the same experience back to me, too. Our children love
us beyond measure; they just don’t think we know many “school” things. That’s
for those smart teachers. Well, hang in there. Your children will soon learn
you know a thing or two or three. Just keep a sense of humor about it all, and
you will be fine. Good relationships are built on strong foundations, and there
is no other foundation as strong as the one you will receive in homeschooling
your children.
Tip #1: Each relationship is
different as well. I always tell my children that to be fair doesn’t mean it
has to be the same. A punishment for one child may be different than the other
child’s, or a reward will be different, because each child’s needs are
different. If everything was the same, it inherently will be unfair, because
both children are not the same.
Tip #2: Admit you don’t know
everything. This will not only tear down any defenses your child may have; it
will tear yours down as well. It is okay that you don’t know everything. You
can learn right along with your child. I remember a math assignment my third
grader had, and during that assignment I learned why we carry a one to the tens
column. I always knew we did, but it was never explained to me (or I didn’t
absorb it). My ego took a great shot that day, but his ego got a huge boost. It
was worth it to see us learn it together. He probably doesn’t remember it now,
but I remember that lesson with great fondness in my heart.
Tip #3: It is your responsibility to
create learning experiences, assignments, classes, and opportunities for your
child. It is your child’s responsibility to learn. They have a job, too. They
need to engage in the lessons, learn from them, and communicate to you what
they learned. This will not only deepen your relationship, but you will learn
an awful lot about your child in the process. You will learn more about how
they think and why they say and do certain things. It’s really fascinating to
learn about my children. I am constantly amazed by reactions they may have and
to find out the reason was silly to me but not so silly to them. We’ve had some
wonderful conversations– many conversations that never would have happened had
they been in a school away from home.
Gardening, survival planning,
cooking from scratch, food preserving, camping, and similar activities are all
skills we need. If we ever do have a grid-down scenario, those are skills you
want your children to know. You won’t find a homeschool curriculum in those
subjects, but you don’t need a “homeschool curriculum” to teach them. Find some
YouTube videos, read this website, and then teach your child. Gardening can be
science; all the others can count as history. Most pioneers knew about survival
planning, cooking from scratch, food preserving, and camping. Do a unit study
on pioneer skills, and teach. Have fun, and act it out. Make costumes, and do a
pioneer day. Make it count!
There are so many resources
available to homeschoolers; it’s just too many to count. Here’s what you really
need to do:
1. Set up a work area with either a
desk or table, along with an area for his materials.
2. A file cabinet to file their
report cards, synopsis of their work, and store your teaching materials.
3. Structure each day with time for
work to be completed, play, chores, and outside obligations.
Tip #1: Your students need a work
area, but so do you. You need a place to stay organized and know what’s going
on. Besides, most children don’t like to work at a desk. One of mine likes the
couch, where the other one does like his desk.
Tip #2: Get a large four-drawer file cabinet,
if you can manage it. It is large, but you will fill it up in no time. I store art materials, games, paper, cards, and paint in mine. In my
experience, you can never have enough storage space for school. You will always
want more.
Tip #3: Structure at my home goes
like this. My students have a weekly work box. That means that I put all their
work to be completed in one box with a weekly assignment sheet. They know what
needs to be done and on which day it needs to be done. However, I don’t mind if
they switch things around a bit, as long as they stay on track to get all the
assignments done by the end of the week. Make sure you start out in a
structured manner but allow flexibility, within limits.
In the end, you need to make your
homeschool exactly that– yours! Take time to read a bit on the different
homeschool styles, to decide what will work best for you, whether it be
Classical, Charlotte Mason, Unit Studies, or Montessori. All of these have
various pros and cons. What may be a pro for one person is a con for another.
As I said before, homeschooling will look different for each home.
Lastly, remember that our children
are not empty pots to be filled with facts and figures. They are people who
live in a world with other people. We need to remember that, and educate the
whole person not just academics. Our survival depends on it.
From the Survival Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment