Thursday, September 01, 2016

Pippi School. Week one.

Before beginning home school and online school I read just about every blog out there, I read different educational theories, I spoke to some educator friends, and I plan plan planned! I had a plan and I was sticking to it. I'm about to tell you about our first week. It isn't pretty.

The Plan:

Augi's online school is completely laid out. She will log on, demonstrate her super brain, finish assignments, and be happy as a dodo bird.

Em's schooling would be a pick and choose based on his interests. He wants to study Rome, so we will do it. He likes minecraft, so I found a minecraft school. I found an all in one math and language program from STANFORD. Yee-haw. Easy peasy.

We will look like this:
Image result for homeschool

Aren't we great?

The Reality:

Day one: I stayed home from work, to be home on this special day. we completed our tradition of the back to school cone filled with school goodies. We started out strong. The morning was great.

By the evening, we were all tired and grumpy. I didn't get any work done. Em was a brat and had to go to bed early. Augi was underwhelmed and overwhelmed at the same time.

Day two: Hahahahaha! I went to work. Left it all on childminder B. I realized that the minecraft science program requires a level of direction following that Em does not yet have. I don't think I have it either. OK. Focus on the Math and Language Arts. Those are the simple subjects. Em has already completed the entire week of work. Augi seems to have caught up. She already has a fail grade. How the hell do you fail on day 2? Maybe this isn't working. I'm going to send them to school.

Day three: Work day again. I was distracted all day trying to firm up a plan in my mind. I am seriously doubting my ability to do this. Augi doesn't want my feedback or help. I don't like that I have NO input in her education. Of course I didn't in the regular school, but at least she did it inside a building and I couldn't see it happen right before my eyes. I have realized that Augi is VERY distractible at home.

I did spend some time developing a homeschool plan. I used some of the Charlotte Mason approach to guide me. The plan is separated into three areas:

1. Math, Language, and Science

2. Enrichment: art, nature study, literature, health, personal project, independence

3. Social Studies: Romans and Greeks (selected by Em)

I was so relieved to have a written plan.

Em and I created a checklist for weekly work...so I can see that he is actually doing something.

I can do this!

Day four: I can't do this. That's it.

Day five: Seriously? Em is super defiant. Augi is frustrated. We are definitely counting swimming for credit. I'm pretty sure Em spent 12 hours playing video games today. Great.

Lessons learned:

Change is hard.

It isn't an emergency.
Add a new subject each week...ease into it.

Plans change.

Friday, August 26, 2016

Pippi tries teaching.

Pippi Longstocking is one of my all time favorite children's characters. I have read the book several times as an adult and I think I enjoy it more than my children. For some reason, Chris likes to compare ME to Pippi.

I have a confession. I've started homeschooling. On purpose. When I proposed it to Chris, he said, "Well, that means the kids will be taught by Pippi Longstocking."
Wait a minute. Is that an insult, or a compliment? I remember Pippi’s words:
“I have noticed several times that people don't think I know how to behave even when I'm trying as hard as I can.”
Is that what Chris is insinuating? I know how to behave. I just choose not to.
I Googled "Pippi Longstocking" and here are some of her listed character traits:

Feminist. Optimistic. Adventurous. Outspoken.

Assertive. Unconventional.

Right on!!! That's totally me. This homeschooling thing is going to be great! I think Pippi sums it up best here:

“I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that.”

I know you think I’m nuts. Everything I have ever thought about homeschoolers is that they are odd, they wear a lot of brown prairie dresses (totally a weird look for Emmett), they break into hymns at any moment, and they are definitely hiding something. I am suspicious of them.

I went through the public school system. I worked for them. I think they can be really fun and we have always lucked out with wonderful teachers. However, for the last two years I have watched Em lose his love for learning. He has tummy and head aches every single school day. He fell apart each time he brought home worksheets with 100 multiplication tables to complete. In second grade. When does he get to go out and play outside, ride a bike, explore the yard? He didn’t. Augi finishes her work in 1/2 the time of the others, then just sits. I chaperoned a field trip to a local historical site at the end of last year. The bus got lost, so the trip started 40 minutes late. Then, the scheduled train trip missed our group so the children had to stand around for another 30 minutes. This is a place with little houses and activities and animals and playgrounds. No children…you must sit here and wait for the train. Otherwise you’ll mess up the schedule. Then we went into a house to listen to a woman in pioneer costume show us how the pioneers made things out of wool. She actually told the children there was no time for questions.

This solidified it for me.

“You understand Teacher, don't you, that when you have a mother who's an angel and a father who is a cannibal king, and when you have sailed on the ocean all your whole life, then you don't know just how to behave in school with all the apples and ibexes.” (Pippi)

I couldn’t stand it anymore. I want my kids to have experiences were they can explore and learn and love it. There are so many freakin opportunities out there for homeschoolers now. I work part time, so why not try it? The kids were nervous at first. Augi is actually doing online charter school, so I have very little control over her curriculum. However, when she finishes her science test, she can read or go out and jump on the tramp, or whatever. She finished all her work by Thursday this week. So today she went swimming with a friend, made some youtube videos, cleaned her room, and hung out. It was perfect. Em wants to write a computer game. He can now.
I’m not trying to be their teacher. I’m just trying to let them learn. Maybe it won’t work. But maybe it will. We’ll see.

“Don't you worry about me. I'll always come out on top.” (Pippi)

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Being an only child.

If someone asks about my siblings, my immediate response is, "I am an only child."
That answer is a bit complicated, though. I was my mother's only birth. I have an older 1/2 sister by my dad. I saw her a handful of times as a child. I also have a younger 1/2 sister, but we didn't meet until my 30's. I have a stepbrother who was around from the time I was 9, we are only a month apart in age, same grade in school, and sometimes went to the same school.

So, technically I was an only child for at least 10 years. Or was I? My mom has 9 siblings, and my aunt is only 3 1/2 years older than me. I spent most weekends and holidays with my grandparents. Sometimes I can relate to the youngest of a big family. I was a bit spoiled as the "youngest." My aunt had to take me EVERYWHERE she went. I imagine my young aunt has had some serious plans to choke me. No wonder we rarely see each other anymore.

Then I got older and I found a guy who I needed as my little brother. All I had to do was say it and now it's so. Families are complicated. Some more than others. My favorite psychologist said that birth order is important. Do I fit the profile of an only child? Youngest of ten? Middle of three? Oldest of two? Twin? I don't really know. Maybe all of these roles are what helped me realize that people are complicated.

First Half of 2016

In my last post, I was focusing on being mindful. Remembering to live in the moment. As I practiced this, I realized that living in the moment means that I don’t get anything accomplished, nor do I care. Hence no blog for the last 5 months.
Well, now I care. I had to decide on the best method to start again.
1. Jump right in and go from here. This blog is for my kids. I’ll tell them that we really did NOTHING for 5 months. It was the year we hibernated.
2. Try to go month by month, adventure by adventure and catch up. That feels really overwhelming and non mindful.
So, I decided to go through my pictures from December and just pull them. See below for an overview of 5 months. Don’t forget to read my witty comments.

School Performance

Augi’s 5th grade class put on a mini production of A Midsummer’s Night Dream. It was a great little show. However, it brought back memories of my 5th grade Shakespeare Production. I had the meanest 5th grade teacher in the world. Miss Jensen. If I knew her first name I’d call her and tell her what a creep she was. She insisted that I snapped my gum during the gum-chewing party. I was the narrator for our production of The Tempest. She told me I had to put my gum on my nose for the entire show. Seriously? Who does that to a 5th grader. I refused to come out of the bathroom and someone else had to read my part. Showed her. B****

Memory Grove

Hmm. I think this is when we did our family photos at Memory Grove. It was a really pretty day. I’ll have to remember to go back there soon.

Fitness

I went on an all out fitness frenzy beginning in January through April. I hiked nearly every day and walked any days in between. Miss Qrystal, (name changed to protect the privacy of the innocent…) Mr. Bubble Baby and I have stomped into territory never seen before. Most of the time….completely unprepared. This lady has taught me to stop and see the beauty.
I have to fess up. I have done hardly anything the last month. It shows on my butt and in my mood. I developed a nasty sinus infection and just wanted to sleep…

Kooks N Singleburgs. Together again.

The highlight of the last 5 months was getting together with old friends in Moab. The Kooks are some of my favorite people in the whole world. The best part? We hadn’t seen them for nearly 2 years, but it was like no time had passed. The kids immediately started playing and hanging out like buddies.

This little Kook really really really liked Augi. It was difficult to peel her from Augi’s waist.

The boys were a little more cool in their displays of friendship.

The grownups took off and left me in charge of the 4 munchkins and two dogs. I told the kids to go play in the road. They did.

Moab is so effing pretty. I could sit there all day and just watch the colors of this mountain change. Until that damn tortoise and his roommate Tom come stomping along to ruin my peace.

If you ever lose one of your kids…look around. They might be trying to join another family. Silly Kooks.

Hot Springs

On another outing, we checked out the local hot springs. The last time I was here I was around 10. Our car broke down on the way home and we spent the night in a hotel. My stepbro and I decided it would be fun to walk along the highway and pick up glass bottles. Real environmentalists. Except then we decided to throw each of them into the road. You know, to get run over by cars. It was all great until some stupid jogger came along and made us clean it all up. IN THE ROAD?! Totally not safe. We could have been hit by a car. Jerk.

Frozen Lake

Another highlight of these last months was our spring break trip to Bear Lake with Qrystal, CEO Ben, and the kids. Don’t ask about the names. We might have a fictional company. It might involve coffins.
Anyway, Bear Lake was such a wonderful get away. I haven’t laughed so much in years. Do you remember what they mined on Paradise Island…the Island from which the Linda Carter Wonder Woman came? Well…I’ll tell you. FEMINUM. Of course! how could it be anything else?
Anyway, we found a beautiful ice mountain.