Homeschooling Somewhere in Between

No, not mine if you can believe it. I posted about our Spring Camp Half-Blood session. When it came time to submit our summer co-op class, Alex really wanted another Camp Half-Blood session. I said it was fine, but it was his show and he needed to plan it. Then it ended up on my google calendar and I got busy and didn’t really think about it much. As it got closer I reminded Alex a couple of times about his agreement on the planning end of it. As it got even closer I started to vaguely worry that it wasn’t going to get planned–but I was busy and kept putting off dealing with it.

A couple of weeks before it was to happen Alex said he had been watching some Nick show and the main character (Ned? Drake? Carly?) was procrastinating and of course drama and hilarity ensued and it reminded him that he was procrastinating himself. He then led me to the computer where he had typed up an outline (complete with clip art) of what he wanted to do. He even had a chart listing the campers with their greek god parent. I did step in and him him firm up his exact plans, and we our second Camp Half-Blood installment went very well.

1. We decorated t-shirts. I got sticker letters and they wrote “Camp Half Blood” and/or whatever else they wanted by putting the stickers on the shirt and then with masking tape they made designs. Then we laid them flat and spray painted them with orange fabric spray paint. After they dried the kids removed the stickers and their letters and designs were left white.

2. Sword play/sword fighting lessons. Ok, admittedly this always turns to chaos and inevitably someone ends up in tears. But it is a big hit.

3. Monster trivia grab. We printed out pictures of various monsters and taped them to those orange sports cones and spread them around the yard. Then Alex would name a monster and they would “defeat” the monster by running around and finding the right one and bringing it back to the start. Nice active way to do a quiz contest. Alex did get a taste of what it is like trying to coordinate a group of rambunctious homeschoolers into standing still long enough to listen to directions. What comes around goes around son!

4. Capture the flag. This ends up being a disappointment because the group of kids ends up being on the young end. Taught Alex to be flexible in his plans.

5. Free play. Yes, that was on the agenda and was how we ended it and was mostly running around wildly with swords.

I thought he did a pretty good job. I am so glad I was distracted and busy or I’m afraid it would have become a struggle with me trying to force him to plan–when obviously I just needed to let him get to the point where he felt responsible and concerned about the time himself. Yes, some of my parenting successes are a complete accident. Probably more than I’d like to admit.

My greatest failing in home education is the inability to completely quell that squirming feeling when my kids don’t know something they “should” know.   Even though rationally my philosophy of education and home education has nothing to do with the ability to regurgitate specific facts, when the failure of my kids to pick up on irrelevant information is thrown in my face I cringe.     There, I said it.   Some small piece of my ego still revels in my kids being proper actors in the play of righteously educated.
A few weeks ago the kids were playing hangman and dh recommended they pick some vowels first because all words contained vowels.    Blank looks and chirping crickets.   And an eyebrow raised questioningly at me.  What, our 10 year olds don’t know what a vowel is?    Now, I’m sure it has come up at some point, but apparently neither child found it relevant information to store.    Yes, I cringed.
The same thing has come up over state capitals (though this one I realy couldn’t muster up enough belief in the relevance to cringe….much).

The definition of a paragraph.

My teenager’s confusion around the timing of certain key events in American History.

There’s more.

Of course, we have the opposite happen as well.   And, as part of my failing I can’t help but be the tiniest bit proud.    The subject of  the number three as an important number came up during a family conversation  and Alex piped up “like there were 3 consuls in Ancient Rome and there are the three grae sisters in Greek mythology!”   Perhaps not more relevant than the definition of a vowel, but certainly more interesting.    It is this collection of “proud moments” that quell the squirming.   Yes, some day I hope to evolve beyond the cringing but for today my son’s knowledge of ancient history makes me oddly content.