Well, I haven't been back to blog in a while, but progress is happening. This summer has probably been the least academic of any in recent years, but I have been learning so much. I am finally figuring a few things out that I think will lay the foundation for a healthy home and homeschool for years to come. The first is that our home and our homeschool can and should look different than anyone else's. That is why we are homeschooling, to have freedom to tailor our experience to the needs of our family. In all my efforts to gather ideas, go to conventions and classes, and follow certain plans and philosophies, I have usually forgotten to consult my own feelings, and the preferences and leanings of myself and my family. In an effort to avoid the 'conveyor belt' type education, I have often put myself on a different conveyor belt of trying to follow someone else's plan because it works so well for their family. But my family is unique. I am finally allowing myself and my family to be 'us' and doing the hard work it takes to find just what we need and do it. I am gaining courage. It is freeing, although it is time consuming and for a little while as I do the introspection and study, by all outward accounts it probably looks like not much is happening in our homeschool. But I am becoming educated so that I can in turn educate my children. I'm learning from inspiration and study and watching my children and listening to them. I'm becoming more aware. It feels good.
The second thing I have been doing is tending to my own academic education and other areas of self care more. I am getting up and walking because it feels good and fills my need for quiet thought before the kids get up. I am continuing my classes with Art of Womanhood that feed my mind and heart. I am doing things that interest me without guilt. I am learning to know myself and how to govern my emotions and tune in to truth.
The third thing is getting my house in order. I have felt buried in laundry and housework since baby #5 was born. I finally decided it is time for things to change. My husband and I designed a chore system for our kids that requires a lot of them, and also of me while I am training them, but it is going to be so worth it once they have learned to do those chores independently. They are doing it, we are having good times together while I teach them, and the house is getting cleaner! It is amazing what a tidy house can do to clear your mind! Maybe soon I will have time to actually tackle my messes in my own room since they are taking care of so much of the rest of the house. They are starting to take a little pride in their work, too, and that is great to see. That is the main thrust of our summer right now, so I guess this is the summer of life skills.
The fourth thing is parenting - I went with my husband to a wonderful parenting class by Nicholeen Peck called Teaching your children Self Government. We went away with such wonderful ideas and inspiration. I am doing so much better governing my own self and being calm with them now, and they are learning to control themselves and choose good things by thinking through the consequences of their choices. My husband has also become more interested in taking an active role in mentoring the children and catching a vision for our family, and that is such a huge blessing!
So although we don't have a lot of the 3 Rs going on right now, I am feeling very blessed and knowing our family is growing and learning in other ways that will pave the way for academic learning to be more effective. I still want to break open a classic and read it aloud with them soon, but I am going to relax and enjoy this for now and immerse myself in preparation for a wonderful coming school year.
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2 comments:
HI - very nice blog. I can't wait to read more. This post caught my attention - I am homeschooling for the first time and have a toddler at home.
My daughter sounds much like your toddler. She only 16 months, but is providing a challenge for me this year with homeschooling.
She still naps in the morning, so I save my real "teaching" time until she is down (English and Math wait until nap time). The other subjects, handwriting, reading, science we can do with her wreaking havoc around us. :)
My daughter also steals big brother's papers. She loves crayons but perfers to color in textbooks rather than coloring books. I can't figure out the appeal.
Anyway - I am commenting to let you know that "I hear ya!" :)
Often I will let my boys take shifts with her and play while I work with the other. They love the time with sister and they love to giggle. It makes our day more "family" when we laugh, I guess.
What other tactics have you found to be effective for keeping your daughter occupied?
Jill, I am still figuring out how to keep her happy during homeschool, but some things that seem to be working are to let her do something that looks identical (or nearly so) to what the others are doing. She also likes to color in the books that are theirs rather than her coloring books. I have started using page protectors and wipe off markers on all my books that we write in (partly so we can reuse them later with younger kids) and she can draw on those if I watch closely so she doesn't remove the protector. I also let her use pencil sometimes if it is paper I can easily erase off of. She loves to do PE with us and that has been easy to involve her in. I find that she just really needs some one on one lap time for her own stories and activities or she gets very 'in your face' when we try to do things as a family. She is very difficult still during family scripture reading or any reading aloud as a family, very noisy, tries to take people's books, etc. I guess I just need to give her more attention other times of day, but also I have had to stop ignoring and letting things go that are innappropriate. She seems too little to understand sometimes but I think she does understand. I don't punish her but I do tell her 'no' now and try to redirect. Good luck! I think maybe this is just a phase we have to be patient with and it will change for the better soon.
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