Today has been a real eye-opener. Since school started in September, I have been constantly worried that I am making the right decisions. I have been worried that I don't know what I am doing, that Kaine isn't getting everything he needs for his education and that I may scar him for life! Today was the first day that I have been able to look back and see all of the progress we have actually made. It has made me feel great!
It was very hard to figure out both of our needs. He wanted to have more to do. I wanted to know how to teach it. After a few weeks of struggle (on both of our parts) we have figured out a rhythm. Learning still doesn't come easy in some subjects but, I have learned to back-off, take a breath, and reassess the situation to make it more "Kaine friendly". We are now learning at his pace, not the books pace. (I thought I had to follow the written plan TO THE "T" and not deviate. I have lightened up and now we are doing things that aren't as frustrating.)
Handwriting is still a struggle. The curriculum calls for him to be able to form all letters (Aa-Zz) and numbers up to 10 by now. This is a good idea if, for instance, he had been exposed to any form of writing before he started this structured school program. However, that is not the case. He was the type of kid that wouldn't even color ("I don't like to color."). As far as I could tell the only thing he really liked to do are "dot-to-dot" pages. So, the written word was not something he had done before. The book progresses really fast as well. (As if they assumed the child was already familiar with this type of work.) At first, we were just mustering through it (anger, tears and all). Then, I decided to call a quits to the whole thing! (I contacted the school to let them know.) Now we are just doing supplemental (dot-to-dot) worksheets that help him see how to form the letters the right way. If a worksheet has some letter formation I will take a red color pencil and make dots for him to follow. If the page is a writing page, we just skip it (hopefully to come back to it at a later date). Anyway, I have given him a break.
Reading is a little bit slower than I initially thought it would be also. Mostly, because we stopped for a time to focus on writing. Now we are getting back into the swing of things. Kaine has learned all of his letters and the sounds. We are rapidly moving onto consonant and vowel sounds. In other words, he knows what a consonant is and what a vowel is and how to recognize them. Tomorrow we will start blending sounds to form words. Next, reading simple sentences!
Math seems to be a subject Kaine just "gets". He, so far, picks things up really easily. The concepts almost seem too simple. However, I know what is coming so I am not pushing him to do more than I feel is necessary. So far we have worked on position words (up,down, left, right, on top of, bottom, below, above, etc.), shapes, colors, coloring in the lines, cutting, patterns, measuring, sequencing, counting and number recognition (I am sure there are more that is just off the top of my head). I have tried to keep pace with the book, just so we don't get so far ahead. I am sure he is ready for more (it takes him only 1-2 minutes to do a two sided worksheet). But, like I said, I don't want to do too much too soon.
Science is another subject that Kaine just "gets". I figured he would enjoy a more "hands-on" approach, so I chose to do experiments. We talk about how God made everything. How everything has a purpose. How things relate to each other. We do experiments on plants, make bird feeders, make rock candy, do soil, body and light experiments. I try to tie it to the religion lesson if I can (creation, light and darkness, etc.). I think it is a lot of fun for all of us (Matt likes to help with this part of the learning).
Art and music are the other things that Kaine does. I have to admit, I haven't really done all that much with the music curriculum. He does take a class at O2B Kids that is structured like the music classes that I used to attend when I was in Elementary school. I feel like this is enough for right now. Art (he also has an art class once a week at O2B Kids) follows our Religion lessons mostly but it is also done in math and seasonal art (Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc.). I think he gets a lot of exposure in these areas (especially for someone who isn't really all that naturally creative. Sorry Kaine.).
Books are a big part of what we do. We read, read and read some more. Books, in my opinion, are a fabulous way to introduce new topics. I have been using this resource since Kaine was a baby. If he wanted to learn about new things (or I wanted him to learn them) I would pick up some books on that particular subject and we would explore the topic. We read about everything. I also try to get as close to the real story (originals such as Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tales) as possible (I don't really approve of the dumbing down of books for little kids). When Kaine goes to bed he listens to books on CD (unabridged and original titles, as much as possible-examples: "Peter Pan", "Peter Rabbit"). Books will always be our go-to source for knowledge.
I have been able to see so much in the last 12 weeks that I am slowly beginning to love homeschooling, not fear it. Kaine responds well ("Can we do school now?") and I am learning that being such a perfectionist ins't good for anyone. I am also learning that being forced to do something isn't the way anyone learns, you have to want to do it. The biggest thing I have learned is to not fear slowing down and taking things as they come. There is still time, things will get done, learning is happening.
It was very hard to figure out both of our needs. He wanted to have more to do. I wanted to know how to teach it. After a few weeks of struggle (on both of our parts) we have figured out a rhythm. Learning still doesn't come easy in some subjects but, I have learned to back-off, take a breath, and reassess the situation to make it more "Kaine friendly". We are now learning at his pace, not the books pace. (I thought I had to follow the written plan TO THE "T" and not deviate. I have lightened up and now we are doing things that aren't as frustrating.)
Handwriting is still a struggle. The curriculum calls for him to be able to form all letters (Aa-Zz) and numbers up to 10 by now. This is a good idea if, for instance, he had been exposed to any form of writing before he started this structured school program. However, that is not the case. He was the type of kid that wouldn't even color ("I don't like to color."). As far as I could tell the only thing he really liked to do are "dot-to-dot" pages. So, the written word was not something he had done before. The book progresses really fast as well. (As if they assumed the child was already familiar with this type of work.) At first, we were just mustering through it (anger, tears and all). Then, I decided to call a quits to the whole thing! (I contacted the school to let them know.) Now we are just doing supplemental (dot-to-dot) worksheets that help him see how to form the letters the right way. If a worksheet has some letter formation I will take a red color pencil and make dots for him to follow. If the page is a writing page, we just skip it (hopefully to come back to it at a later date). Anyway, I have given him a break.
Reading is a little bit slower than I initially thought it would be also. Mostly, because we stopped for a time to focus on writing. Now we are getting back into the swing of things. Kaine has learned all of his letters and the sounds. We are rapidly moving onto consonant and vowel sounds. In other words, he knows what a consonant is and what a vowel is and how to recognize them. Tomorrow we will start blending sounds to form words. Next, reading simple sentences!
Math seems to be a subject Kaine just "gets". He, so far, picks things up really easily. The concepts almost seem too simple. However, I know what is coming so I am not pushing him to do more than I feel is necessary. So far we have worked on position words (up,down, left, right, on top of, bottom, below, above, etc.), shapes, colors, coloring in the lines, cutting, patterns, measuring, sequencing, counting and number recognition (I am sure there are more that is just off the top of my head). I have tried to keep pace with the book, just so we don't get so far ahead. I am sure he is ready for more (it takes him only 1-2 minutes to do a two sided worksheet). But, like I said, I don't want to do too much too soon.
Science is another subject that Kaine just "gets". I figured he would enjoy a more "hands-on" approach, so I chose to do experiments. We talk about how God made everything. How everything has a purpose. How things relate to each other. We do experiments on plants, make bird feeders, make rock candy, do soil, body and light experiments. I try to tie it to the religion lesson if I can (creation, light and darkness, etc.). I think it is a lot of fun for all of us (Matt likes to help with this part of the learning).
Art and music are the other things that Kaine does. I have to admit, I haven't really done all that much with the music curriculum. He does take a class at O2B Kids that is structured like the music classes that I used to attend when I was in Elementary school. I feel like this is enough for right now. Art (he also has an art class once a week at O2B Kids) follows our Religion lessons mostly but it is also done in math and seasonal art (Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc.). I think he gets a lot of exposure in these areas (especially for someone who isn't really all that naturally creative. Sorry Kaine.).
Books are a big part of what we do. We read, read and read some more. Books, in my opinion, are a fabulous way to introduce new topics. I have been using this resource since Kaine was a baby. If he wanted to learn about new things (or I wanted him to learn them) I would pick up some books on that particular subject and we would explore the topic. We read about everything. I also try to get as close to the real story (originals such as Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tales) as possible (I don't really approve of the dumbing down of books for little kids). When Kaine goes to bed he listens to books on CD (unabridged and original titles, as much as possible-examples: "Peter Pan", "Peter Rabbit"). Books will always be our go-to source for knowledge.
I have been able to see so much in the last 12 weeks that I am slowly beginning to love homeschooling, not fear it. Kaine responds well ("Can we do school now?") and I am learning that being such a perfectionist ins't good for anyone. I am also learning that being forced to do something isn't the way anyone learns, you have to want to do it. The biggest thing I have learned is to not fear slowing down and taking things as they come. There is still time, things will get done, learning is happening.
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