Nohe 5

Go Get You Some Book Learnin'

It has been like Christmas in July here the last few day.  The UPS and Fed Ex men have done a wonderful job of delivering our packages with care.  However, instead of toys and games, the boxes are filled with books, glorious books.  Our home school books for next year arrived and I am so excited by what we will be studying.

I mean just look at this list of topics in Nicholas' 1st grade curriculum: Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Three World Religions, Mexico Today, Early Civilizations of the Americas, Early Explorers and Settlers, From Colonies to Independence and Exploring the West.  Second grade should be no less interesting for Rachel with topics like Ancient India, Ancient China, Japan Today, Ancient Greece, Making the Constitution, The War of 1812, Americans Move West, The Civil War, Immigration and Citizenship, Civil Rights Leaders, and Geography of the Americas.  We will also continue studying Math and Phonics.  Plus, our curriculum stresses fine art, music, literature and poetry.

It makes me plain giddy to think about all the cool stuff that the kids are going to be exposed to this year.  I didn't learn about many of these topics, if they were ever formally introduced until Middle or High School.  Perhaps a big reason that I get so excited about the topics that we learn about is that we are all learning, myself included.  For example, I did not know that Betsy Ross had three husbands nor did I know that Corona is not just a beer but rather a part of the Sun.  Just this summer during our unit study on the Olympics, I learned that there was a separate sporting event for women since they couldn't compete in the Olympic games.  In fact, when the modern Olympics first started it was a male-only event just like in ancient Greece.

The slightly less fun aspect of the arrival of all of our homeschool material is that I will now have to make schedules and figure out how to balance teaching two grades at once.  Luckily, both children are doing Second Grade Math, so I can kill two birds with one stone there.  Plus, the fact that Rachel is such a strong reader makes it possible to give her an assignment to work on independently while I am working on a different subject with Nicholas.  We have been trying to find our balance this summer as we have continued on with our studies, just scaled back to a summer load.

As the year progresses, I have no doubt that there will be great successes and a few stumbling blocks.  Nothing worth doing comes without a bit of struggle.  Nonetheless, I know that my children are getting a first rate education...heck, I am too.

"I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn." Albert Einstein

NOTE:  For those interested, we use Saxon Math, Saxon Phonics, and Core Knowledge (this the first year that I purchased the corresponding material from Pearson Learning, but at first glance, it looks wonderful.)

We Love the Library

I am having an affair...with the library.  I love this place.  Did you know they will let your read books for free?!?!?  This is brilliant.  But seriously.  We love the library and go about once a week.  I have them gather up the books that we need for school before hand and then we just randomly pick out night time story books.  Sometimes I have a list, but mostly, I just let the kids pull books that look interesting to them.  I know, I am teaching them to judge a book by its cover, but what's a mom to do.

This week I picked out a book based solely on the title, The Wizard, The Fairy and the Magic Chicken.  I mean come on.  Could you have walked past a book with that title?  It was a very cute story about teamwork.  Check it out the next time you are at your neighborhood library.

National Library Week was last week, but don't worry, they'll still let you check out a book this week for a belated celebration.

Feeling Validated

I must say that I am feeling validated when it comes to our choice to homeschool Nicholas for Kindergarten.  I was flipping through the most recent edition of Parents when I came across an interview with Michael Thompson Ph.D talking about his new book It's A Boy: Understanding Your Son's Development from Birth to Age 18.  Below is one of the questions from the interview.

Can you discuss how the structure of the modern kindergarten class works against boys?

It used to be all about play and social development.  Now, because of the increased emphasis on state testing in the lower grades, kids are expected to read fluently, write legibly, and listen quietly.  Boys lag behind girls in these areas.  They also lack self-control compared with girls in the same age, so their more likely to be singled out for bad behavior.  And since there are fewer free-play and recess opportunities today, it's no wonder that boys are being left behind.

What's the best way to improve your son's focus in school?

Boys have always had trouble paying attention in class.  But they don't have a problem focusing for long periods of time on things they love.  The best thing you can do at home is to provide him with quiet time to engage in fantasy play with his favorite toys.  That means turning off the television, providing a clear space, playing games with your son regularly, and not scheduling too many after-school activities.  Play is his natural sanctuary, and you need to protect it.

Nicholas and I have had a great year of homeschooling.  We still have several months until the "end of the school year," however, I am already counting this year as a huge success, but that success is not just academic.

At this point, Nicholas is a good reader for a child his age (according to the state, he should not be starting kindergarten until next year but he is almost done with his Kindergarten Phonics) and he is excellent at Math (First Grade level).  And when I started homeschooling, that was the most that I hoped for.  I told myself that if Nicholas could read at the end of the year, it would have been a good year.  Oh, what low expectations I had.

Because we homeschool, Nicholas has more free time to play than other kids his age.  He sets up elaborate stories for his trains.  He can turn a stick and an hour playing outside in to a grand adventure.  And he and I have time to talk, really talk, so that I know what is going on inside that adorable little head of his.  Sure, most of the time we talk about trains, Muppets and what his brother did to him, but we also talk about the dream he had the night before or how he likes my macaroni and cheese but the kind from the box is better.  Sure, we aren't changing the world with our little chats, but I know that there is a better chance that these talks will continue in to adolescence if they start now.

I think that I feel validated by the article that I read because one of the main reasons that we chose to homeschool was to preserve Nicholas' boyhood.  I want him to have time to play, time to be a kid with all the unstructured messiness that comes with it.  Kids should have time to discover who they are before we start trying to fit them in to nice neat little molds of who we think they should be.  Please don't misread what I am saying to mean that I think that school is evil or that we are somehow above it all.  I am just saying that for our family, and for many families, we see the world a little differently and view our children's childhood as a sacred time the must be treasured and experienced beyond the morning and afternoon interactions afforded by a regular school schedule.  As Dr. Thompsom said, "Play is his natural sanctuary, and you need to protect it."