Changes

Our daughter-in-law is starting to homeschool our 4-year-old granddaughter.  She's very excited and eager to start to homeschool preschool.  Today we both searched through my shelves of books and materials for things that she could use to teach the baby to read.  I know.  At four years old she's not a baby, but it's a hard habit to break. She's still the baby in the family.   So we started pulling out the books I used with my own babies.  I showed her how I used each one, even sampling one with the baby.  Just like our kids have different learning styles, we have different teaching styles.  So I wanted her to take a look at each one and choose which would be best for her.  For our older kids we used Alpha-Phonics, and with our youngest we used Phono-Graphix. We've homeschooled for thirteen years and have made many changes over the years. We've used so many different resources.  I have my favorites.  And actually, there are some books and resources that I may have a hard time surrendering, even after I'm done homeschooling all our kids.  But I'm happy that our daughter-in-law is homeschooling and we'll be keeping my favorite ones in the family.  So I'll be sharing with her,  and hopefully someday sharing them with our other kids if they homeschool.  Of course, as I say this, I'm reminded that  there's always new homeschool curriculum coming out.  Our youngest uses Time4Learning, and that wasn't around when our older ones were little. They would've loved it!

We've used so many different things over the years. Some have stayed with us and some haven't lasted more than a few weeks.  Through our elementary years we're more eclectic.  I'll use a little of this and a little of that, even getting creative with materials at times.  When our kids reach high school, it gets a little more structured, as we're more concerned with the credits needed for high school transcripts.  I just don't want to take a chance that I may mess them up if they want to take their education further. So structure equals less freedom and more discipline with our schedules.  It means more responsibilities. Especially once they're dual enrolled in college.  If they want to dual enroll, we start with one college class to be sure they can handle it.  If they're registered for a college class and homeschool writing courses, they know that the college class takes priority over any other course, extra-curricular activity or job.  The college course grade is one that will be on their record and affect their gpa, not just for high school, but also for college. For example, one of our kids took an online college class. That was not a good idea for this particular child.  The idea was that the online class would allow more flexibility, but instead, our student often forgot to check in for assignments and tests. Of course, our student got a less than acceptable grade. That was one lesson learned by our student and by us! 

This year two of our kids became drivers, started college classes and part-time jobs.  The changes have meant we've had to adjust in different ways.  We've had to be more mindful of our schedules.  We've had less freedom to take spontaneous trips or vacations.  Also, family dinners have always been important.   However, with additional activities, classes, jobs, friends and schedules, there have been fewer family dinners.  At times I'll cook a meal for six, and it'll end up being just three of us.  Sometimes the kids have been at work, in class, or even out at an event or with friends.  Sometimes they've planned to be home, and their schedule changes when they get called in to work. This summer they didn't take college classes, so it's meant more time to be together.  We're having some sweet times together.  At times we've had to intentionally plan it, and other times it's been spontaneous.  Either way, it's always fun to have time together, whether it be a planned trip to the beach for the day, the library for a few hours, or a game or movie at home for the evening.  Even if it's only for a few minutes, they'll take time to play two-player games with Sami.  The World Cup has also afforded us more time together, since our family loves soccer. We've watched games together either at our oldest son's place or at our home.  It's been fun cheering for our favorite teams together.  Also, our kids are making new friends at work, and we've had more opportunities to be intentional to invite them over more often to get to know them.

What about your family?  Some of you may just be starting out, but some may have older kids.  What brings your family together, if you have older ones?  And if you have little ones, what traditions are you starting in your family?  

Mischievous Toddlers and Homeschool

This week I got a reminder of what it's like to homeschool preschool.  I babysat my little niece and nephew, ages three and four. Right now the kids are in preschool while mom and dad work. However, mom hopes to homeschool some day.  She's asked questions about how to homeschool and what curriculum we've used. I think she'll do a great job because already the kids are very inquisitive and bright. The oldest was continuously asking how this works or why this happens or what this word means. He'll be easy to teach because he seems to enjoy learning new things.

My kids are in upper elementary and high school.  So I think I had forgotten what it's like to have toddlers. I had to find different ways to keep the kids busy.  I found that the moment I left them to play alone, they got into mischief.  For example, we still have our Christmas tree up.  The youngest crawled under the Christmas tree and pulled out a small box. She must have been enthralled with the tiny Styrofoam balls inside the lid of the box, which are made to look like snow. Wouldn't you know she found a way to take the lid apart!  Now mind you, I only turned my back on her for a few minutes, but next thing I knew, the living room floor was covered with snow...err Styrofoam balls. When she saw the look on my face, she knew she had done something wrong.  I said, "Willow!"  And she looked up at me and said, "I sorry."  Uggh!  My heart melted.  I wanted to just pick her up and hug her.  I know. There was a huge mess of little Styrofoam balls everywhere. But she's so cute. And so sweet.  And she helped me pick up as many as we could so I could put them back in the lid and seal it back.  No harm done.  My kids are growing so fast that I can truly appreciate toddlers, even when they get into mischief.

So that happened on Monday.  This was a clue to me that I needed to plan ahead and keep them active.  We went to the library and borrowed as many books as we could fit in a bag and we read often throughout the week. But we didn't just read. We acted out scenes from the books, too.  Samantha has a lot of puppets. So we put on some skits using some of the stories from the books we read.  I want to make reading fun for the kids because I know they'll soon be learning to read.  So when Samantha or I read to them, we'd change our voices and make funny noises. The kids loved that. Samantha and I enjoyed ourselves, too.

In addition to reading books we played games, made cookies, made some crafts, colored, hand-painted, and even walked to the park. It helps that they're both close in age. It's easier to entertain two than it is to entertain one, I think.  They play well together, too.  I think it would be more challenging to have only one child to homeschool.  I'd love to hear your thoughts. Especially if you have one child now. Kids learn best through active play at this young age, and engaging as many of their senses as possible.  So what do you do with your child?