School year winding down...

We should be through with our school curriculum in a few weeks. I find that, with each year I feel a little more comfortable and I feel a little more confident that my kids are making progress. I think that is the fear of a mom starting out homeschooling- "Can I do this?" "Are my kids going to learn?" The last few years have flown by, and I have truly been amazed at the progress they've made.

Because Josiah is two years older than Isaac, Isaac was sincerely anxious to begin doing some official school when he was around three, but his motor skills and attention span weren't ready to begin on anything too focused. Instead, I bought him some workbooks that let him trace lines. You know the ones. Where you connect the baby rabbit with it's mom, and the bees to their hive; etc. The books get a little more detailed as you go through them. I sincerely didn't think those books were doing anything for him, but I was wrong! He easily started writing letters and words this year without a hitch, something that had been a struggle for Josiah. The only other thing we worked on while Isaac was three, was just going through some shape, color, and number cards each day. We made a fun game out of it- and had a blast! I thought he had forgotten everything we had done until this year he pointed out numbers and their names to me at the start of the year. The funniest part of doing these flash cards was Isaac and the opportunity he found to be a little jokester.

(Isaac, with his hair slicked down for the tacky Christmas dress up party we attended this year)

He would always start off answering the cards correctly, but then after 4 or 5, I would hold up, say an orange circle, and say, "What is this?" He would then answer in this sloppy and goofy language that he created himself, something like, "Shhhhhmoooglishmashhhhh!!!" (His language usually used a lot of SSSSHHHHH's) Then he and I would get to laughing and not be able to stop. As you can imagine, he never would answer another card correctly after that. It was just too hard for mama to stop laughing at words like, "Wooooogshidobiees!!" But believe it or not, even with the comedy show, he learned those cards quickly!

Anyway- the casual attitude, I think makes a huge difference in whether we have a day when our kids will enjoy it or not. I look back and think I was much TOO structured and strict about our very beginnings in homeschooling. Letting go of the fear that my kids weren't going to learn anything, and watching them do the opposite- made a huge difference in all of our attitudes. It is something I have to remind myself of daily. I have to go back to remembering what did and did not work, and how my attitude helps or hurts them and their day.

 I have discovered that just being consistant with a simple number or letter game every day will teach a kid tons- when everyone is doing it in a fun and relaxed environment.

In all honesty, I have had to struggle this year with figuring out how to keep Amaus occupied, entertained, or happy so that I could give my older boys the one on one attention they needed. We started out in our little red schoolhouse, and quickly moved into the house. Amaus would dump everything out on the shelves in the schoolhouse, and then start crying and not stop until we were back in the house. Josiah and Isaac couldn't concentrate with all of the belly-aching that would go on out there. I raised the white flag of surrender and brought school back in the house where things seem to go much better right now. Why? I can start cooking lunch, fold clothes, and play with Amaus while they are doing some independant work. Amaus has his room and things available.  Josiah and Isaac ask a good bit to go back out to the schoolhouse because they really enjoy it out there. It is a cheerful little one room building-but not so much with a screaming toddler.

Anyway, I happened upon the most encouraging homeschooling blog early on in the school year, that explained the way this mother of 6 or 7 children handled schooling. It was such a God send. Basically, she just included her babies and toddlers in what the big kids were doing. Yes, the toddlers would sit at the table and scribble while their siblings do other things. They usually enjoy it because it makes them feel big and special. Yes, they can sit on mama's lap while she reads or sings the ABC's or counts objects. However, obviously toddlers require a whole lot more free running time. When they are ready to move on, they shouldn't be forced to sit and read "Red Sails to Capri" or "Marie Curie's Search for Radium", since they probably aren't catching too much of it. (They are catching some- learning new words, and simply understanding the delight and joy that can be found in hearing a story told rather than always watching a little box (tv) play out the pictures for the mind)

So Amaus began sitting with Isaac and I when we sang through the ABC's while pointing each letter out on a large, lower case, alphabet puzzle. He began counting objects with us, AND LOVED IT! I really didn't think he was picking up on much of it, until one day about two months after he turned two he pointed to a letter on our lower case alphabet puzzle, and told me it's name. Who would have thought? I then began holding up letters, and he knew most all of them! I had never even really tried to teach him, but he had just picked it up from sitting in with what Isaac and I were doing!

Not that I don't have those days where Amaus wants no part of sitting in my lap singing- or I end up letting him watch a cartoon because I cannot figure out how to keep him happy, along with everyone else. But everyone has days like that, eh? They are coming fewer now though. I have seen some very positive changes in Amaus lately. I can see that we are slowly morphing out of destructive, dump and pour everything out mode and sliding more in to big boy-dom. He has also been doing almost all of his pottying in the potty! That's always a plus!

(Amaus, on a jewelry box raid, last summer)

My prayer had been that he would be out of some of this hard stuff by the time we went to Peru, and I can see that going places is getting a whole lot easier. I am very thankful that he is becoming a little more independent, and a little more able to express how he feels or what he needs.

In a few weeks we will be going to the beach for a few days, (CANNOT WAIT!! :)) ) and when we get back I intend to get all of our school books in some kind of organized manner out in the schoolhouse. We are starting to collect several years worth of books and I need to keep all of that sorted! By the time we leave for the beach, we should be through with school, apart from some math Josiah should be able to finish up by the end of May! A few days at the beach sound like a wonderful way to celebrate another year of schooling at home!