Days off!

It has been such an encouragement to hear folks speaking about the blog!  It helps me to be accountable if nothing else and it's so good to hear other people's ideas and take on what we are doing!  Don't know how tricky it is to sign up to be a "follower" but if anyone can crack that then let me know as it seems to be a bit difficult.

Not much to write today as S has not been so well this weekend.  All the kids have been attacked by their first winter cold which has been accompanied by a sore tummy.  I reckoned it wasn't even worth trying to teach S anything today so we had a "sick day".  I have to admit that for probably the first time since having the 4 kids I really enjoyed today's "sick day"!  It happily coincided with my husband's day off which meant I could get little jobs done which included posting various things around the town too.  Not having to phone people to say where S was was so nice and he had a really good chance to rest.

Over the weekend we chatted a wee bit though and S has decided he would like to learn the 6 and 7 times table this week so that's great!  So I have spent tonight printing off numbers, number squares and multiplication tables, laminating and cutting and am all set!  On Saturday I sat and wrote out the maths curriculum for his level to get it into my head once and for all.  Interestingly enough there were several things I didn't have a clue about.  What for example is a Venn diagram, a carol diagram, the difference between a pictograph and pictogram, an R90 (and it's not an angle).... ?  I've done a wee survey of everyone who has come into the house over the weekend and not one person has been able to tell me what they all are - including our eldest who just completed that level of maths last year!!!  So - I'm not going to lose too much sleep over not teaching the names and labels of things!  Obviously I will find out what they all are and will teach the concepts but all the technical names that were scaring me somewhat I'm going to not be so phased about!!

So, we're all set now for another week.  After last week's experiments S and I have agreed that we will try to have "desk time" up until snack time where we will get things like reading, language work and maths done and then after that we will do "active learning" which are all the things he loves!  I've had a good few days off now and feel motivated again to get back into the preparation and the work with him.  Let's hope he is too! 

Great day! So excited!

Well today was fab!  After the frustrations of yesterday the contrast couldn't have been bigger!  It could have been quite different.  S's big brother was off school today.  Both the girls have been off and that's been ok.  Ultimately what they watch on tv is not really going to be a problem for S to miss as it's way to "girlie" for him.  With his brother though it could have been very different.  S adores his brother and likes watching, doing, thinking about anything he does!  It was great though!  S is clearly getting used to home school and is understanding that even with other people at home there is an expectation that he will be learning.  Phew!

Having abandoned my prep last night I felt really quite apprehensive this morning when we sat down at the desk!  One of my books on home schooling suggested letting the child along with you choose the topics that you look at so I gave it a go!  S chose ICT, then I chose maths, S chose topic work and I chose library and then S chose music.  We've agreed we will try to go for 5 things a day.

ICT just now is teaching S to touch type.  I still reckon that was the most useful thing I learnt at school!  If he could get the hang of that now that would be amazing.  I picked up a "Teach yourself touch typing" CD Rom last week and so we loaded it up and registered him.  It was great!  He did the first lesson and then went on to play one of the typing games.  He loved it!

Following that we did maths.  He moaned!  He complained at how hard he found maths and the addition and started showing signs that he'd forgotten some of the things we'd done already!  So, we went outside and did our counting up and down the garden path.  He loved it!  He ran up and down the path, happily filling in the path.  He wanted me with him all the time but hey - if I've a problem with that then what am I doing!!!!  From that we went inside and looked at "time" again using the clocks I'd made and stuck on the back of the door!  Again as soon as he saw the pencil and paper he made moves to go loopy so we abandoned them and did everything with our hands and movement.  And so the day went on!

We went to the church coffee morning for coffee where S politely spoke to some of the ladies and we also had a trip to the local library (which to my shame I'd never been in!!).  For topic work we read "The Frog Prince" which he thoroughly enjoyed.  I read it to him but we discussed it too (sneaking in some reading comprehension too!!) 

The highlight of my day was overhearing S telling his big brother all about what he'd learned about clocks!  He proceeded to explain all the different numbers!  I was so chuffed!  He was so chuffed! 

So I've done nothing for tomorrow!  We will learn together!  S has transformed over these past 3 weeks.  These past 2 days alone I've learnt how active S needs to be to learn.  I'm quashing all the preconceptions I have about education.  We all talk about how good "active learning" is and it is such a big buzz word in education just now but I wonder just how many people are like me and who deep down think that the REAL learning happens sitting at a desk with a book, a pen and paper.  S is teaching me just now how wrong I am and how different we all are!  S will take me way beyond my comfort zone and I am excited to see that!  The buzz I get from seeing him understanding new concepts and learning things whilst having fun is worth more than any salary or money I could be getting working somewhere else! 

So after today - Bring on tomorrow!!

Aaargh!

What a frustrating day!  S was not in the mood!  I got frustrated!  He got frustrated! 

We had a big chat (another one!) and tonight S told me he is finding the work too hard.  So, I need to take that on board.  Tonight I was about to sit down to another night of prep when I realised that this is ridiculous really!  The whole point of whole schooling is to try to take the pressure off S not pile it onto the child!  My targets for each day are really MY targets for my pride and to know that he's doing something.  I think it is quite obvious he is learning.  We've done heaps.  But if he is playing up because it is too hard and stressing him out then that's useless!  He could be at school to have that going on!

So tomorrow I'm going to try very hard to loosen my control freak tendencies and see what S thinks we should do.  I'm going to keep our maths in as I've planned as we are learning to tell the time this week and I think he's doing really well.  I'd really like him not to lose the idea on this just now.  After maths though - it's all over to him!  We need to go to the supermarket to get some food so I'll maybe try and sneak some speech and language therapy into that visit and maybe he can write on a clock what time we get there and leave???  (Is that too contrived??)

Let's see what happens...

That Sunday night feeling!

For the first time in years I got that Sunday night feeling!  You know that feeling?  When the freedom of a weekend of no alarms and relatively little structure is at an end and responsibilities are back!  That liberating feeling of the benefits of home schooling from Friday afternoon with the other home schooling families has faded and the reality that I have to teach S is back!

Today was definitely at a slower pace and went well.  S's dad was on his day off so took him out first thing for some messages and then later in the morning did some P.E with him (football in the garden!).  We punctuated this in the house with some spelling, reading and maths but took our maths outside today to do some addition and subtraction up and down the garden path!  I had planned to do something artistic and crafty in the afternoon but the morning's maths session flagged up quite a difficulty with telling the time so I spent the time making clocks!!

Not to keep complaining about it but I am so tired once again!!  I am so hopeful that soon I will be able to prepare for S quickly, tidy my house quickly and manage to either properly relax or maybe catch up with some other people!  Just now I have a pile of books waiting to be read, thank you letters waiting to be addressed and posted (story of my life really!!), various piles of stuff to be sorted in the house and people to get in touch with!  My eyes sting and my head is buzzing in a very busy type of a way!  It reminds me of an illustration given when I started teacher training - of a person in the sea in a rubber ring; looking quite calm on the outside but under the water the person's legs are going ten to the dozen in order to keep afloat!

However in the middle of the day I had some real calming moments.  S is definitely beginning to become more content within himself.  The pressure is disappearing of having to go to school each day and survive the demands of the classroom and the playground.  That contentment is lovely to see.  I also put some music on today and listened twice to "Amazing Grace".  It is hard not to feel calm hearing that song!  It is stunning!  It puts everything into perspective for me even when I am so tired; when things can look very out of perspective! 

Mummy's learning curve!

We were so excited about today!  Another trip and a chance to meet some new friends.  The plan had been to do just a wee bit of work before heading up to the Burrell Collection for our workshop on Ancient Egypt with the home school network.  So, S was working away, I did the dishes and cleared up from breakfast and things were going great!  I decided to check the computer to confirm the time we were to meet assuming it was just before 10:30.  However, it was 10:00 it started with the families to meet 10 minutes earlier.  So, in a slight panic we dropped everything, grabbed the packed lunch and bombed out the door.  The traffic was not on our side but we made it into the Burrell around 10:10am. 

The assistants at the Burrell were very twitchy when we arrived and quickly told us the museum was closed today until 11 o'clock.  I told them what we were there for and they insisted no-one was there.  They then checked with their organiser to see if there was anything written in for the home schooling network and returned quickly to tell me it was YESTERDAY!!!!!!! 

So - I was left to break the news to my not particularly flexible, very excited son that I had big time goofed!  Not only were we 10 minutes late but a whole 24 hours on top of that!

So, not the best start!  The plan had been to go and get S new trainers after the workshop and so I decided we'd do this straight away.  I knew the home school network were doing their monthly games afternoon today and because S didn't have trainers that were fit for anybody's eyes I had decided we wouldn't be going until he had suitable footwear.  However, he was so gutted not to meet new friends at the museum I offered him the chance to go there.  Personally, after mucking the days up, the last thing I felt I had the nerve to do was to turn up at a sports afternoon but this was one of those occasions when I felt I had to swallow my pride and really put S's best interests in front of my own!

So, we trainer shopped (and sneaked in a handbag shop too - thanks to my sister's lovely birthday voucher to me! :0) ) and then headed home again where I could check my e-mail and actually get to the right thing, at the right place, on time!

We made it to the sports afternoon and it was great!  It was so good to meet other mums who were doing the same thing (although who had been at it for so much longer than me!!) and S had a fantastic time!  We met lovely mums and lovely kids who all made us feel so welcome and so part of the group!  S had a great time playing football and has been so excited to make friends that it completed our week so perfectly!

Meeting the mums was really good for me.  I am so aware I am still very much in the "teacher" mentality of being very structured with S and setting quite high targets for myself and S and really treating home schooling like school at home.  Meeting these mums was really refreshing to see how positive they all were about education and how laid back they were - and seeing how happy their kids were!  Whilst I don't think S is the sort of child who could cope with a very relaxed home schooling experience; he needs a certain element of routine that he knows and can learn - I definitely feel that home schooling will become more positive and more enjoyable if I stop putting so much pressure on myself and then by default on S!  This combined with coming back from our October family holiday in Skye, where life is at such a different pace, has really made me question why we put so much pressure on ourselves and our lifestyles!  Why do we do it?  Why do we work ourselves into the ground?  Why do we feel we need to reach perfection at every level (speaking for myself anyway!!)  Every night since we started I have been preparing until after 11 at night and fitting in normal household chores and giving time to the other children.  S has had the most successful learning days when we have done fewer tasks and the pressure has been off him!  I don't regret anything we have done these past couple of weeks but I can so see how things will change quite a lot over the next few weeks.  More and more we see the benefit of having S at home and I want us to enjoy this experience and not feel that we are "ticking the boxes" to appease other people.  That is so not what it is all about and if anything that is what I learnt today.  I want a happy child who is content within himself!

Day 8

Was trying to think of a title to sum up today and my brain seems to have stopped functionning!  For the first time since we started I am finished preparing for tomorrow, have been to Tweenagers, have spoken to my sister on the phone and feel like I've had a bit of an evening!  That is mainly thanks to the fact that tomorrow is our first trip with the local home schooling network and so there is not much time to do anything at home! 

The last couple of days have gone quite well I think.  Monday and Tuesday were hard days and S does continue to push the boundaries but I hope is beginning to work out who really pulls the strings!  I got his school work home yesterday which was actually a real encouragement.  It showed me that I'm pretty much doing the right things according to how much and what he was doing at school and that the effort he is giving me is probably the same as at school (although I guarantee the attitude was not so evident at school!).  At nearly the end of another week I think we have achieved a fair bit of learning (and here comes the boring bit!):

In maths he's learnt about "place value" - about units, tens and hundreds.  (He had done this at school but we have revised and extended this learning).
In reading he's learnt that stories have beginning, middles and ends.  We've looked at "wow" words and have looked at the characters.
In spelling we've sussed "ch" and "sh" words.
In science we've learnt that oil and water don't mix.
In language work we've worked on identifying when question marks and full stops are needed.
In topic work we've learnt more about poisonous frogs and how and what a frog eats.
We've started to learn the basics of touch typing, we've started looking at using a compass, we've finished another reading book, we've looked at newspapers and he's done football training!

I think that's this week summed up really.

Going on his reluctance to write I scribed for him at story writing time.  He had a great time coming up with a storyline and frantically drew pictures to go with the story.  It was lovely seeing him so animated and for the first time I had to stop the activity as I needed a break more than him!  He has hated story writing, so hopefully today has been a positive step.

I've adapted the reward system.  Up until now he has been given a smiley face if he completes the activity.  Now however I am rating each activity according to how difficult I think it is.  He can now get the maximum of 3 smiley faces per activity.  This seemed to have an immediate result as his work was neater from the start (he earns a smile for neatness - something I don't think he has bothered about since we started!) and in his competitive spirit didn't want to let any smiles away!  Once he reaches 30 smiles he gets to choose something (very small treats) from the "treasure chest".  We'll see if this lasts...

Socially things are hard just now!  S (for lots of reasons) struggles in this area and since being at home more seems to be struggling even more despite the fact we are still frequently with lots of other children/people and he has 3 siblings at home.  I am finding the intensity of home schooling quite a different pressure from being at home with pre-schoolers all the time.  This weekend I don't feel nearly as caged as I did last weekend but I feel very much that I need a bit of personal space to have adult thinking time.  Thankfully my husband is very aware of the pressures that home schooling is placing on me and understands that I will need a bit of escape time each week.  I hate feeling that I'm needing away from the kids (particularly when I don't see 3 of them for most of the day) but I think I make a much better mum when I get a little bit of space! 

So - hopefully tomorrow will go well and we will meet some folks that S clicks with and is happy to be with!  Hopefully I will too! 

No permission slips needed!

My days just now seem to swing from highs to lows!  I'm writing this early tonight so that perhaps I can get a night off as I so badly need to sit and think of nothing at all for a little while!  To get 5 minutes peace to write this could be wishful thinking with the 4 kids still well and truly up and about and tired thrown into the bargain!

Home schooling today was fun after an initial stand off.  S is hating spelling!  He is hating writing!  The beginning of the day seemed to be going in the same direction as yesterday went which was a bit depressing!  So, after we'd done Click'N'Kids, reading and our treasure hunt with the compass we downed tools and went for a walk.  It was a rare beautiful morning here and so I reckoned the sunshine would do us some good!  We walked into the town and back, running some of the way (by S's request!) and got a good bit of fresh air!  It helped so much!  We had a wee chat when we got back about our attitude to the next piece of work and got our heads down and got on with it!

After our walk S completed a maths assessment (VERY interesting for me as a parent to see exactly where he is in maths in comparison to what officially he is supposed to be at!) and had great fun doing a science experiment to find out whether or not oil and water mix.  This took us nicely up to lunch.

After lunch I did a wee bit of prep while he had some time to himself and then he came outside to help me clear some leaves before a quick game of football!  Both the walk and the football game were a lovely reminder to me of the flexibility of home schooling.  We can do that!  If we need fresh air - we take it!  If we want to go out - we go out!  No consent forms, no permission slips, no counting children to check they are all there!  It was great!  We both benefitted from these breaks - a big learning curve!  On the way to collect the other 3 we chatted about what we'd been doing today and even did some spelling whilst walking! He learnt to spell "oi" words!  I don't think you'll find that strategy of spelling words in many textbooks!  

I do have lots to prepare AGAIN now that I'm a bit clearer on where he is with maths but for the first time since we started I feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel and I should be able to have some more time back for other things.  Tonight I'm going to try to nail our maths programme. 

From 3-9pm is hard work with 4 kids and to throw home schooling into the pot is definitely adding to exhaustion levels!  To not get 5 minutes without constant interaction with children I find exhausting and today I was seriously craving a dark room with some soothing piano music!  Anyway, I think all in all I will say that today was a useful day if nothing else!  I don't think S learnt a huge amount but I learnt quite a bit about him and that surely will not be a bad thing!