As the only homeschooling family in both of our extended families and among our close friends at times I feel a little alone. While we do have some wonderful supporters and a great cheering squad (who have honestly told me they would NEVER take this route but applaud us doing it) there are a large number of people in our lives who simply do not understand or only see the examples of homeschooling that are extreme and negative.
One thing I wish people would realize is that this is NOT the easy way out… in fact, sending the boys to school would be WAY easier. Instead I look at it this way – Ken and myself have decided to take on the responsibility of teaching out children. This is a great honour for us and as much as it can be frustrating or upsetting from time to time I LOVE it. We work VERY hard to ensure we get in as much learning, both practical and book in a day as we can and do it year round. We feel that this is beneficial for our WHOLE family and not just the ones we are teaching. In fact, the kids in turn teach us!
The other thing is that we DO socialize our kids. Homeschooling is NOT an excuse for us to isolate our family. We do group field trips, Sunday School, playdates, VBS, and even just going out to a park and letting them play. While the kids are not surrounded by others constantly as they are in a school setting I do not do this so they can never meet other kids OR so that they ONLY associate with other homeschooled kids. The unsocialized homeschoolers you see on tv etc are NOT the norm, HONESTLY!
I am coming to the end of our first officially registered year and I DO feel we have accomplished A LOT! The boys are well on their way to LOVING learning which is one of my first priorities. If I can get them to WANT to do their schoolwork then the rest of the education comes along all the easier. It is now time for me to start working out our goals for NEXT year… with another year behind me and a facilitator’s support I am starting to feel out a good rhythm for our kids and their learning styles. I am confident that with a new support group here I will proceed with even more confidence than before!
I realized that when I posted after Canada Day I did NOT include the instructions for the bacon covered peroghies… well you can find the ones we went with here. Again a definite hit with pretty much everyone there.
Today we jumped into our schooling with both feet… Emanuel spent a large chunk of his morning working on letters in his Pre-K book. We are hoping to finish that book this month and start him on some more difficult Kindergarten level stuff. His focus is improving at a great rate lately!
Hard at work
The boys finished off their Canada sheets and put them into a folder for saving. They also worked on both Math AND their Sight Word books. I have two different books – one for each so that they are not working together or on top of each other. I figure this way I can better gauge how each of them is doing individually.
The two new books (top is Gavin's)
Perler beads are back in full force in this house once again and along with that a desperate need to continually check the floor for dropped ones. With Echo more than a little mobile and basically having run of the upstairs I am working with the boys to make them understand how SAFE things really need to be!
BEADS
We not only worked on our newest chapter in our novel BUT found the missing chapter pages! YAY! So we continue on, now Louis is working at a nightclub…
Finished chapters
Karyn brought Victoria over for a brief visit and baby cuddle before heading out to drive her home. (She lives a short drive out of the city) Both are leaving for trips imminently – Victoria to Ontario and Manitoba and Karyn to Alaska! While Karyn is gone I plan on finishing up my crafting area so I can have space for her to help me sort out anything we can add to the stash for the scrapbooking table at the August wedding.
Speaking of weddings… I finished up Echo’s headband for her wedding outfit. I tried to make it a little more fancy while still keeping it smaller and contained.
Hopefully it works
Tonight I hope to make some more button flowers, tidy and hopefully get in some relaxing anime watching time… But there is no guarantee!
SMILE
Well, you know that we believe ‘homeschooler’s rock!’ 🙂
As for socialization – well, I do believe there are over 3,000 in our city (near yours) and your city also has a ton of them! (more now with your family LOL) Your city is home to a fantastic homeschool conference in the Spring. We’re in a fantastic Province which actually supports homeschooling in a positive way no matter the pathway chosen!! (several different types of homeschooling to choose from; some families even select a different type per child depending on the child’s need.) Surely over 30,000 in one province can’t be all that wrong! 🙂
My youngest son is now in his 2nd year of high school; although he’s probably going to take an online course (or two) next year, he does not! want to return to a brick&mortar school – until university, that is.
Socialization – my degree is in Sociology 🙂 – usually occurs in a positive, ageless atmoshpere between homeschoolers. There aren’t many kids nowadays who seem as comfortable in a mixed environment of peers, adults & lil ones as most homeschoolers we’ve met, are. Let’s see – my son is active in an ‘acting troupe’, is an expert skiier, snowmobiler …has taken archery, curling, climbing, fencing lessons (curling team next year) and recently completed a web design course equivalent to that offered at colleges. Most of those activities were with a high number of other homeschoolers his age or close to his age with many siblings of those kids around. His grade average in ‘real’ subjects is high even though he has a type of learning challenge. Did I mention he also meets up with other like-minded teens on a regular basis to play a variety of board & video games. They meet at each other’s homes & arrange these times themselves – my role is simply to drive my son to/from various homes 🙂 especially in the winter.
All the best in your love for learning journey! What’s right for your family IS the right choice for your family.
I am really looking forward to meeting people here. The egroup I joined is friendly and we have VBS in August… We are planning Tae Kwon Doe this year!!! And then of course I will hunt down anything free or cheap 🙂