It's been a tough couple of months here at Life and Love Learning Center...we've yet to find our rhythm since I got a job a few months ago...my house is a wreck, there's no clean laundry and in addition to that I've been feeling a bit of pressure to get my kids "caught up" academically. The unschooler in me cringes as I type that. I want to cry.
Because I tested W, the words prefix, suffix, root word, consonant blend, and compound word haunt me lately. These are the words that he didn't know and therefore he tested at a 2nd grade level in language arts. (He's in 4th grade.) It's frustrating to me because we worked so hard just getting him reading that we didn't pay any attention to this kind of thing. He knows what the prefixes tri, bi, uni, anti, etc. mean...he just doesn't know that they're called prefixes and he knows the words bookmark, baseball and sunflower...just not that they're called compound words.
So we've started doing a bit of bookwork each week...about 3 days a week. They don't mind it so much but it magnifies my own failure in my mind. I want to be creative and teach them these things with out worksheets but the truth is I haven't and I'm not sure I know how. I've considered a unit study, we've always loved unit studies, but I hesitate to try something new...again.
Unfortunately, there is no neat little bow I can wrap this post up with and end on a positive note. This is where we are and I don't really like it but with J's birthday this week and Thanksgiving the next and then Christmas I don't feel like I have time to work it out even. My house needs cleaned, the laundry needs done and in the midst of that some learning must take place as well.
I guess I can say the good news is that I know this doesn't mean I need to quit or I'm ruining my kids. It just means I'm struggling right now and need to work it out.
So off I go.
1) You are not failing, so you need to snap out of that mindset right quick or I'm going to march next door and steal you away for coffee so I can pound that into your head
ReplyDelete2) Actually...i'm probably going to do that anyway. If you have time. What are you doing in the next few days? :)
3) God has kind of proven to me in the last few weeks of stuggles and hardships that the more I pull and grasp onto control of things, the more He goes out of His way to prove to me why I need to STOP. AKA...me falling on my face (or on the side of the highway with an exploding car)
SO the best advice this 26 year old female can give you is to just let God take the reigns. He will work through you and help you to teach your children. He will not allow you to fail if you give Him the chance to guide you :)
I LOVE YOU
i wish you could come visit my house...you would feel so validated. the laundry pile is huge, there are cobwebs in the corner, and i haven't vacuumed in months...such is life! :-)
ReplyDeleteTry to think kindly of yourself, as you would think of your best friend, sister, son etc. You wouldn't judge them, you'd be patient and forgiving and love them more through the trial they're experiencing.
ReplyDeleteAnd try not to feel bound by labels of what type of homeschool you have, just use whatever works at the time. Love is the most important thing, and your children are blessed to have a mum who knows them so well and appreciates their individuality.
As for the housework ... I'm there too. : )
The biggest lesson I've learned while homeschooling is that there's always more to learn. For the kids.....and especially for me. When my kids complain that they don't see why they need to do this or that, I always say, "You just don't know what you don't know", meaning that there are things you can't know ahead of time- you're just kids. However, it's really true for me, too. There's so much I don't know and that I can't foresee. Then again, if I knew it all and could do it all, I might not feel the need for a Saviour. I figure that my job is to do my best, adapt when necessary, and trust God to fill in the gaps. (and there are MANY of those).
ReplyDeleteI'll take REAL over positive fluff anyday....He's reading...in my book that's a huge accomplishment, and all the rest will come in time.
ReplyDeleteHi Penny! I know this feeling SO well. My kids don't know those terms either, but their grammar's just fine, thank you. ;)
ReplyDeleteHang in there. This is not the season for worry, but for hope and patience as we keep our eyes on the coming King.
I, too, have been working hard to find a balance between letting them explore life and learn from it in their own way, and making room for *intentional* learning by "strewing" and sharing ideas and information they might otherwise not encounter.
Still trying to figure how to do it without it feeling like "school." And in constant debate with myself about whether a little bit of school at home is so bad, so long as I keep it fun and geared toward their interests.
Life is messy. *shrug* :)