Over the course of the past year, our homeschooling journey took some turns and twists. Last year I had major surgery to remove a very faulty and annoying uterus and solve some bladder issues I was having. Then, in January, we enrolled my eldest child in public high school. We have shifted curriculum multiple times and tried really hard to find a balance between all our busy schedules. We are finally finding a groove, I think and I'd like to share what changes we've made and how we are trying to be more balanced in our approach.
Before surgery, I had no idea that I was in as much pain as I really was. I discovered how little attention I had been able to devote to any of the kids in the previous three years because of the pain. It came on so gradually, that I had no idea how bad it had become. Without getting into many details, my girl parts were very very sick. Cysts, Endometriosis, and a benign growth were causing numerous problems. The doctor who did my surgery said that it was a great thing I had the surgery done. My recovery was long, I didn't feel like myself completely again until just recently, but even just a month after surgery, I was able to start making adjustments in our homeschooling schedule so that all my kids could learn the way they needed to be learning.
The transition to high school for our big kid has been mostly positive for all of us. It is allowing him the independence he was so struggling to find at home. I am adjusting from being his social and school planner to playing only taxi to the things he chooses. I am dependent upon others schedules and it is frustrating when his communication skills aren't up to par with what I need to get him and his still homeschooled siblings from one event or class to another. He has adjusted well both socially and academically for the most part with only a few bumps in the road. His teachers all like him and I like the person he is becoming. The conflicts we were having before he entered school are still there, but I think they are mostly normal teenage independence seeking and will only get worse before they get better.
In transitioning the oldest to public school and having surgery, I have been able to pay more attention to my younger kids and this has been a wonderful perk for all of us. They were really needing a few hours of my undivided attention a day and I was unable to give them much of that at all. The online curriculum that we have used off and on for years made some changes and the kids were just not learning as well with it as they had in previous years, so we made some changes.
My 12 year old daughter has made great advances on her own in Science and she was ready to transition to some high school work in other areas as well. The younger boys had made very little progress in K-2 and I was really struggling with how to approach learning with them in an effective way. We talked about it, transitioned to paper curriculum, took a break because it wasn't working either, then settled on a more child led approach around the end of summer. I've totally abandoned a formal curriculum for most subjects. We use Khan Academy for many of my daughter's subjects, along with a lot of self directed writing, reading, research projects, art projects. She is covering math, science, and history right now on Khan. She is also obsessively reading and collaboratively writing with friends about different animals based upon the different book series by Erin Hunter. Until this writing, I had no idea Erin Hunter was six people, so the collaborative writing is totally and completely a fluke, but neat, nonetheless! She is learning to use Photoshop for art projects and is also looking into using Adobe Illustrator as well. She draws both digitally and with pencil and paper in all her free time. She is also in Science Olympiad and is doing research on her topics for this. This method of self directed learning works great for her as long as I remind her she needs to cover more than just art, science, and reading.
After a failed attempt at making my wiggly boys sit down at a table to do a lot of paper school work, realizing we were all miserable, and yet still trying to push on, I shifted to more holistic approach with them as well. We cover the two basics right now - math on Khan, reading on Starfall for the youngest, and reading for the middle kid in lots of books and, believe it or not (bad parent that I am), on a video game called Destiny. Neither kid was reading on their own at all this past August. By October, the middle kid is reading nearly fluently and the youngest is sounding out things on his own really well! We cover lots of hands on science at our monthly Science Club and as they want to learn about things. They have also begun watching some of the history videos on Khan as well.
It is exciting to finally be finding a schedule that works for us. We are able to learn productively about 3-4 days a week, spend time with my mother a lot more, work on our own projects, and (gasp!) even get a few chores done around the house! I miss having my oldest at home with me, but know this is the best thing I could be doing for him right now. I hope that by the time my daughter reaches the stage where she is needing more independence, I can have her knowledgeable enough to transition directly to community college, then university instead of sending her to the local school. As for the little boys, we will keep going with homeschooling as long as we are successful and happy doing it (the majority of the time). In a year or so, we will reevaluate where we are and how we are doing and make adjustments as always. This, to me, is the beauty of homeschooling - you make adjustments as needed and allow kids the flexibility to do what is best for them.
In addition to our homeschooling changes, several of us have become Taekwondo instructors and have continued adding to those skills and that schedule. We are also attending our homeschool enrichment classes, attending acrobatic classes for one kid, getting ready to begin Capoeira classes for three of us and more... Shoo! Busy life.
Before surgery, I had no idea that I was in as much pain as I really was. I discovered how little attention I had been able to devote to any of the kids in the previous three years because of the pain. It came on so gradually, that I had no idea how bad it had become. Without getting into many details, my girl parts were very very sick. Cysts, Endometriosis, and a benign growth were causing numerous problems. The doctor who did my surgery said that it was a great thing I had the surgery done. My recovery was long, I didn't feel like myself completely again until just recently, but even just a month after surgery, I was able to start making adjustments in our homeschooling schedule so that all my kids could learn the way they needed to be learning.
The transition to high school for our big kid has been mostly positive for all of us. It is allowing him the independence he was so struggling to find at home. I am adjusting from being his social and school planner to playing only taxi to the things he chooses. I am dependent upon others schedules and it is frustrating when his communication skills aren't up to par with what I need to get him and his still homeschooled siblings from one event or class to another. He has adjusted well both socially and academically for the most part with only a few bumps in the road. His teachers all like him and I like the person he is becoming. The conflicts we were having before he entered school are still there, but I think they are mostly normal teenage independence seeking and will only get worse before they get better.
In transitioning the oldest to public school and having surgery, I have been able to pay more attention to my younger kids and this has been a wonderful perk for all of us. They were really needing a few hours of my undivided attention a day and I was unable to give them much of that at all. The online curriculum that we have used off and on for years made some changes and the kids were just not learning as well with it as they had in previous years, so we made some changes.
My 12 year old daughter has made great advances on her own in Science and she was ready to transition to some high school work in other areas as well. The younger boys had made very little progress in K-2 and I was really struggling with how to approach learning with them in an effective way. We talked about it, transitioned to paper curriculum, took a break because it wasn't working either, then settled on a more child led approach around the end of summer. I've totally abandoned a formal curriculum for most subjects. We use Khan Academy for many of my daughter's subjects, along with a lot of self directed writing, reading, research projects, art projects. She is covering math, science, and history right now on Khan. She is also obsessively reading and collaboratively writing with friends about different animals based upon the different book series by Erin Hunter. Until this writing, I had no idea Erin Hunter was six people, so the collaborative writing is totally and completely a fluke, but neat, nonetheless! She is learning to use Photoshop for art projects and is also looking into using Adobe Illustrator as well. She draws both digitally and with pencil and paper in all her free time. She is also in Science Olympiad and is doing research on her topics for this. This method of self directed learning works great for her as long as I remind her she needs to cover more than just art, science, and reading.
After a failed attempt at making my wiggly boys sit down at a table to do a lot of paper school work, realizing we were all miserable, and yet still trying to push on, I shifted to more holistic approach with them as well. We cover the two basics right now - math on Khan, reading on Starfall for the youngest, and reading for the middle kid in lots of books and, believe it or not (bad parent that I am), on a video game called Destiny. Neither kid was reading on their own at all this past August. By October, the middle kid is reading nearly fluently and the youngest is sounding out things on his own really well! We cover lots of hands on science at our monthly Science Club and as they want to learn about things. They have also begun watching some of the history videos on Khan as well.
It is exciting to finally be finding a schedule that works for us. We are able to learn productively about 3-4 days a week, spend time with my mother a lot more, work on our own projects, and (gasp!) even get a few chores done around the house! I miss having my oldest at home with me, but know this is the best thing I could be doing for him right now. I hope that by the time my daughter reaches the stage where she is needing more independence, I can have her knowledgeable enough to transition directly to community college, then university instead of sending her to the local school. As for the little boys, we will keep going with homeschooling as long as we are successful and happy doing it (the majority of the time). In a year or so, we will reevaluate where we are and how we are doing and make adjustments as always. This, to me, is the beauty of homeschooling - you make adjustments as needed and allow kids the flexibility to do what is best for them.
In addition to our homeschooling changes, several of us have become Taekwondo instructors and have continued adding to those skills and that schedule. We are also attending our homeschool enrichment classes, attending acrobatic classes for one kid, getting ready to begin Capoeira classes for three of us and more... Shoo! Busy life.
