Homeschooling Somewhere in Between

Jordan wanted to make a picture book based on a cardboard fold out style (we had received a very fancy invitation in this style and she wanted to try it out).   She chose the topic of unicorns and we searched for some pictures on the internet and then she created a short story around them.

She decorated each page with various papers and pictures

The text of the story:

Alex’s fascination with the story “Airman” by Eoin Colfer has introduced him to the “steampunk” aesthetic and when his dad showed him some online examples of turning an ordinary nerf gun (of which he has an arsenal), he jumped on the idea as a project.

He took an ordinary nerf gun:

Took it apart

Spray painted it:

(and yes, I realize, spray painting indoors is not recommended and I do lament the loss of brain cells.  It was simply too cold, even in our garage, to do it anywhere else)

Then came the hard part—reassembly.   He learned a lot about how the gun works and how various pieces work together.

And his new gun:

Next up, modifying the gun to shoot further.

I tried to jot down what the kids were doing this week since we didn’t have anything structured planned.    It was a rough week, lots of milling about finding nothing better to do than annoy a sibling, but it is helpful looking back to see how much they did.   Due to weather, we spent a lot more time at home than usual.  As I try to move closer to unschooling/child-directed/Inspire not require, I’m finding that the main stumbling block is the amount of time I’m having to tell my kids to find something to do.   They are victims of their culture, and if they aren’t connected to a screen then they are “bored”.  The one thing I do limit during the “school day” is tv and video games.   I know many people don’t, but for our family I find that excessive amounts of screen time for very active kids is a neurological time bomb.

So here’s my notes on what the kids managed to do in between times of antagonism and complaints of boredom.    I’m happy with the list, now to work on the in between times.

Alex:   He worked on spelling almost every day, and grammar as well.    In math, he did some mathletic challenges and we did a chapter of Life of Fred together.  Also, after snowboarding outside we had a long discussion about the measurement of angles and how that relates to “doing a 180″.    He loves the series “You Wouldn’t Want to be a….” and read through several of these that I got from the library.   He also watched several Bill Nye videos that I got from the library.    I am reading “Hatchet” to him, and we read a few chapters in that.   Also, lots of sledding, sledding, more sledding, and lego building.   He had 4 hours of gymnastics practice and built a castle out of a cardboard box and erected some sort of battle simulation across the only open area on his bedroom floor.    Friday he and his dad steampunked a nerf gun.

Jordan:  She worked on a story for a picture book, which we also made.   She did some challenges in mathletics and also asked to play several math games with me.   She read me a “My America” book based in the Civil War and also read some Geronimo Stilton books.    She also started working with her dog trying to train him to jump through a hula hoop.   And then, sledding, gymnastics, various craft projects.

Together we listened to SOTW while in the car.  We are on the Modern disk, which I’m finding quite dry but Alex seems to still enjoy.    Reading historical fiction seemed to really help Jordan connect with the time periods better than SOTW, so I plan on reading more with Jordan.   They also got into our body book and felt body parts and took turns laying down and letting the other lay the felt organs in the proper spot.  All fun and games until Jordan put the uterus (complete with baby) on Alex.

Figuring out what Aubrey does all day is more difficult, but she says she did a lot of drawing and also a few lessons on her virtual school which ends next week.   Sitting on my hands trying to stay out of it.   She starts a new class (Composition) at the community college next week.    I am curious to see what she does with her time once her virtual classes finish up.       I think she needs to take more responsibility and direction for her education and not just “cop out” by signing up for classes which she completes but doesn’t really get anything out of.

As in, the silent blog.    Long gaps in blog posts generally mean one of two things.  Either we are so busy livin’ and learnin’ that I can’t stop to catch up and post it all, or I’m operating under the “if you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all.”    Let’s just say this break has been the latter.     And though I have come to expect cyclical bouts of educational doldrums, this one hit me particularly hard because right up until the moment it started, things were going so smoothly.   I’ve finally got it figured out!  I have found the perfect balance between structure and self-directed learning!  I’ve found the right methods to help all my kids learn!    And then, quite suddenly, noone is happy.   Alex is fighting everything I try to encourage him to work on, yet when not kept busy he mills about picking fights with his sisters for entertainment and seems completely unable to find himself something productive to do.       Aubrey shows absolutely no sign of ambition or plan beyond the moment and Jordan  can’t focus on what she’s doing for more than 3 seconds unless it involves my undivided attention and is littering the house with “started” projects.

Of course, at this point in my homeschooling journey, I have the depth and patience to handle these kids of days/weeks/months with grace.    You didn’t really think that did you?   Ok, so after a sustained period of family grumpiness, we seem to be shifting out of it.   Not because I did anything special, just because time has passed and kids are moving on.   And I am reminded once again that I am not really in control of their development, or their educational journey, even when I try to pretend to be.

Out of the blue my husband decides to start planning a new treehouse and Alex eagerly jumps up to help.  They’ve been planning, ciphering, shopping at huge chain home improvement stores—you know, male bonding, with math and power tools.        He’s recently had some big new experiences–first season with a competitive soccer team, first gymnastics meet, first hunting trip with dad, grandpa and uncle, and there are moments I see the young man he will soon become.   From a distance, it is easy to step back and see that in between bouts of drying me batty, he really was accomplishing and experiencing a lot.

And, I remind myself that it was really important that Aubrey not feel like she had to be miss Straight A college bound—that she felt that she had a full range of options open to her.   It smarted a bit to realize that somewhere deep down I wanted her to achieve all that college prep stuff but just have the disdain of playing the system.  But, I did my job too well and she really is a free spirit.    We did both read College Without Highschool and sit down and have a bit of a planning meeting.  Which went well, but she has not been motivated to implement any of the things we discussed.   Not sure what she’ll be doing next semester!  But, I have to learn to trust her.   She recently checked out every book she could find from the library on the Japanese language and culture.  She would really like to go to the Concordia Language Camps next summer and then travel to Japan at some point.  (This would require some sort of motivation towards earning some money on her part)    I want to step in and make her realize her dreams, but then I step back and remember that she has to believe in herself and execute these plans herself  and it wouldn’t be her journey if I made it happen.  You see, I’m a planner, an organizer, a make-things-happener.    Maybe she’ll follow this path through, and maybe she’ll switch to something else.    Though it may kill me, it is time to step back and let her become the make-things-happener in her own life.   Well, at least if she makes the choices I think she should (Kidding! Kidding!)

And, really, Jordan just wants a little attention.  Ok, nonstop attention.   When Alex was gone for the weekend on his hunting trip, Aubrey happened to be gone to a friends for almost two days and it was just Jordan and I.   Ah, the bliss–she had me all to herself.      Such a sweet and charming, engaging, clever, girl to be around!     It’s just the sharing of attention that we need to work on.   You’d think we’d have sooo much time together–but it is all split between me and whatever chore is at hand, between me and another sibling…..   I really need to work at carving out time every day devoted to giving her the attention she craves or it becomes a need I feel helpless to fulfill.

I made it through another one without putting them on the bus.  I did, eventually, come to realize that their day away at their one day a week schooly homeschool discovery program was making an unwelcome break in the flow of our lives.   Beyond that being fancy talk for us homeschoolers don’t like to wake up early, it gave them that day of institutional go from class to class on command and even that short amount of time seemed to interfere with their ability to adjust back to being self directed.  Or maybe they were just tired.   They have made lots of friends and enjoyed the program and I do think they benefited from their experiences, but the current plan is to drop the program in the new year.

So, the next lull will be handled with patience and grace, because now I really do know it all.

Last week we went on a two night field trip to Devil’s Den State Park (about a 4 hour drive from us) with a couple of other homeschooling families.  We had wonderful Autumn weather and took our time hiking and climbing the Devil’s Den trail.     When we got back, more than one relative asked, so, what did they learn?

Um, really?

Well,

They learned to appreciate the simple, unplugged beauty all around them.

They learned that any place can be a stop for quiet reflection and self expression

They learned caution

They learned to face a fear head on

And to conquer a physical challenge

They learned to help those smaller than themselves

And most of all, to enjoy a nice Autumn day.

Good enough?

This week we listened to The Time and Space of Uncle Albert.   A fictional representation through the point of view of an elementary student of Albert Einstein’s “Gedanken” experiments where he thought through the theory on relativity.  And yes,  Alex has the name down now.   Alex really enjoyed the book and was able to (sort of) tell me some of the information behind the theory of special relativity.   Jordan fell asleep, lol.

Alex is also reading Story of Inventions and he is actually enjoying it.  I have been trying to find him books that he’ll enjoy, but the fiction he’ll actually sit down and read are few and far between.  This was perfect–lots of interesting information in a sketchbook/journal format with lots of pictures.    I even convinced him to journal write a mini “report” on what he’s learning from his reading.

I picked up a couple of those 3D foam puzzles from the craft store and jordan and Alex and I spent some time assembling and decorating a haunted pirate ship and a haunted storefront.

Jordan has been reading Poppy and Rye by Avi to me and also wrote a poem which she submitted to the online  homeschoolingkidsmagazine.   She is also working on learning simple division with remainders and did several math mammoth pages.

On Thursday we went to the student series of a professional production of the musical  Into the Woods.     Alex especially has been into fairy tales lately and we’ve read several versions of favorite stories.  This edgy reinterpretation kept them entranced.  After the show the actors came out in their regular clothes and chatted and answered questions.     After watching it I was doubly sad that Aubrey missed it because she was at her community college classes today.   These are really getting in the way of our homeschooling lately.  Next week she is missing a roadtrip.  It is even worse than public school because I never hesitated pulling her out if I thought there was something more worthwhile (a trip to Australia, a new Harry Potter movie…) but she feels like she can’t miss even one day because the classes cover so much.

This week we haven’t really done anything structured and I decided to just jot down what my kids do to occupy their time.

Monday they spent a lot of time divvying up and trading a batch of Magic, The Gathering cards handed down to them from my little brother.   They also had gymnastics.  Jordan worked some on a reader’s theater adaptation of the Frog Princess that she has been working on.   Jordan rode to a friend’s house in the evening and her friend taught her to knit and finger knit.

Tuesday was pretty much taken up by their homeschool academy program, but we went swimming afterwards and Alex had soccer.

Wednesday has been more laid back.   Jordan has been practicing a lot on finger knitting.  While playing outside we found an interesting looking caterpillar.  She got on to my favorite bug site–What’sThatBug and determined it was a Hickory Tussock Moth.  He is currently residing in our critter keeper and she is hoping he’ll form a caccoon and overwinter there.    Alex and I played an electricity circuit card game and then he got out the macroscope and we worked at fixing the light (the connection was loose).   Then they started gathering treasures from the backyard to look at.   Alex had watched a Bill Nye episode that discussed money counterfeiting so we then looked at some bills under the scope.  Then off to gymnastics again.

Thursday… Jordan has been reading the Poppy series (by Avi) to me and she read to me in the car after dropping Aubrey off at the community college.  Then she did some math challenges on Matheletics and was excited that her ranking on her current level has been upgraded to “speed demon”.     Alex and I worked on an electricity kit and made an electromagnet and a telegraph.  Next up, a buzzer and a bell, but something wasn’t working and we decided we needed a break before doing some troubleshooting.     Jordan spent quite a bit of time working quietly in her room on a puzzle and Alex did his normal legos with an audiobook (The Thief Lord).     He also did some science activity modules on electricity on our adaptive curriculum subscription.

I find it harder to keep track of what Aubrey is doing with her time, but I know she did do some work on her online classes and spent all day Tues/Thurs on campus for her two community college classes.   She’s shown me some new artwork, and I know she is working on some stories.

We finished out the week going to a friend’s house to play awhile and they chased after snakes and frogs around their pond.    Alex spent a lot of time last night and today creating airplanes and spaceships with his aircraft designer workshop.   Jordan went to a pre-teen ice cream social while Alex had soccer.  Tomorrow all of the kids are excited about going to a Japanese culture festival–one for the anime, one for the samurai displays and one for the food.      I bet it wouldn’t be hard to guess which is which!

Looking back it seems like we did so much, but I’m wondering how much I would have remembered if I hadn’t made a concious effort to write down what they were doing.

Alex saw a picture of “that one dude” and said, “You know, Albert Frankenstein.  The one with the time machine.”

Endless supply of material, I tell ya.

You know the theory of TJ ed that says your teen will spend hours and hours and hours studying?     Mine is doing lots and lots of digital art.     That would be her form of studying. On top of her two formal art classes (one on drawing and one on computer animation), any waking moment not consumed by something else is spent creating digital art.   Here are a couple of tutorials she created recently.  I like how she broke the process down and how the pictures evolve.   And yes, I did point out some spelling and grammatical issues, but I’m calling that “style”, lol.

Jordan and Alex started a one day a week “homeschool enrichment program” where they will get to experience standing in lines, eating in a cafeteria, large groups of unruly and loud children being managed by an outnumbered teacher…. Oh, and Spanish, Science, Music, Art, Science and Computers.  They were excited enough to lay out their clothes and pack their lunch the night before and they even got up on time!  Wonder how long that will last.