Baby Steps

My son is what I call a reluctant schooler.  He loves to learn, he just likes to learn things in a way that is not conducive to "schooling."  That is why I decided to unschool.  Unschooling is actually an incorrect label if you ask me.  A more accurate label, is self-directed learning.  With this model, the student decides what they want to learn about and the parent helps them do so in such a way that works with the child's learning style.  For my son, that often means as little writing or reading as possible.

Before I decided to go this route I'd signed up my kids for a Lego class that is held once a week.  The thought was that it would get my son to do some reading and writing and would get my daughter to make some friends (she's a bit shy).  At first I forced the issue of homework, but I realized that was really bothering my son so I stopped.  I ended up asking if he wanted to do it and more often than not he said no.  I found it was because of the writing aspect, so I offered to do the writing for him.

Since then, he's been reading more (he even called me out when we didn't read before bed last night).  He's also been reading more of the homework questions on his own (and let me tell you - some of those words are HARD), and today he even did some research on my computer by himself! 

I'm still trying to figure out the writing issue, but at this point, I'm just glad to see he's reading (pretty much at grade level from what I can tell) and is learning to type well (which in this day and age is probably more important than actually writing).

I've found that my daughter is a bit more like me, in that she likes to actually have worksheets to do.  For a while I wasn't having her do any, figuring she was just content to be more like her brother.  When she came up to me and said, "Mommy, I want to do school." and explained that she meant worksheets, I immediately got out something for her.

Now, she's working on writing her letters and numbers (they aren't perfect by any means but she's working on it) as well as sounding out and spelling words.  We've even been doing sight word flash cards.  Today she told me she wanted to write a story, so we got out a composition book and she drew a picture and then wrote a few "words" about it.

Days like today help prove to me that we're heading in the right direction, even if it does seem a bit slow at times.

Educational Success

In addition to buying a new car yesterday, we went to what was called a "Knowledge Faire."  It was aimed at homeschoolers and was designed to give the kids some fun things to do as well as give parents the opportunity to look at some books, games, and curriculum that could be useful to their family.  It cost a few dollars per person to get in, but I decided if it meant I could look at and touch some of these things it would be worth it.

I loved that my kids could do some of the fun yet educational things.  Among other things, they had a First robot team which my son LOVES and they had some representatives from Busch Gardens there with a few animals which my daughter loves. 

But the main reason I was there was to see if I could find some games that would help me get my son reading as well as something to help my daughter recognize a few numbers and letters she's still having problems with.   I did find a few things that I'm considering, but if anything what I found was that I am not giving myself enough credit.  Some of the ideas that have been made into games are very simple.  If someone else can do it, why can't I?  Give me some time and maybe the kids and I can come up with a game we can sell.

As great as all the game ideas were, the thing that I really enjoyed was watching the surprise on someone's face when my son answered a rather tough question correctly.  To be honest, I didn't think he remembered the answer, but he did.  It feels so good knowing that although the method I've chosen to use to teach my son is what some would consider unconventional, it seems to be working.

It made yesterday go from a good day to a great day.

Slow and Steady

My son is what I would call a reluctant reader and writer.  I'm not sure if it started because of how much of it his kindergarten teacher had him do or if it's just in his DNA (his Dad was the same way till he was 8 or 9).  Whatever the case, this is one of the primary reasons I have decided to homeschool this year and it is also the reason I have decided to unschool.

My son loves to learn.  He just loves to watch and hear about things rather than read and write about them.  Luckily our new library has all kinds of resources which have made this easier.  Not only do they have LOADS of educational DVD's they also have these small video sets (think portable DVD player but with the information pre-loaded) that he thinks are SO cool.  My son has also participated in the Dog Tales program and wants to do it again (score one for me!).  Unfortunately we are on the wait list for the next session (first on the list, so I'm hopeful).

Before I decided to unschool, I had signed my kids up for 2 classes with a local homeschool group.  I decided not to pull them out of these classes because I figured it would give them an opportunity to interact with other kids, but would also force a little structure into their schooling in the form of homework.  The fact that the class that has the homework was Lego's was a plus because I figured it would give my son some added incentive. 

It has not worked quite as well as I'd hoped, but we are slowly finding our groove.  I've found that I need to stretch it out over a few days and break it up into chunks within the day as well.  For whatever reason, my son really dislikes to write so I am also allowing him to type rather than write.  Oddly enough this has made it much more bearable for him (and in my opinion is much more useful since most people correspond on a computer anyway).

I have had a little more success with the reading however.  Besides enjoying the Dog Tales program, I have also been able to get him to read to me just about every night before bed for the last 2 weeks.  The only reason it hasn't been every night is usually because it's late and I tell him no.  He's not reading a lot, but it is certainly a start.

Each time I run into a problem, I tell myself "Slow and Steady Wins the Race."  He is a VERY smart kid and I know we will get past this phase.  I just can't wait for him to realize it himself.

Success!

Anyone who knows me well, knows I like to bake.  And not just so I can eat the fruits of my labors, but because for some inexplicable reason, baking brings me a sense of peace and joy.

Well, the last few weeks in the camper have been a bit rough for me.  You see, I don't have my stand mixer with us (couldn't justify the space or weight).  That means that what I can do is quite limited.  A week or so ago I purchased a package of pre-made cookie dough.  We were all so excited to have fresh baked cookies for dessert.  Unfortunately, the bottoms burned before the tops even cooked all the way.  I ended up finding a way to salvage them but needless to say they were a disappointment.  The up side... the oven is so small I can only cook 6 cookies at a time so I still had plenty more for a later date. 

Being that I love to bake, and my husband loves to eat what I bake, we went in search of the problem.  Luckily it was an easy fix and we were able to bake up the rest of the cookie dough a few days later with no burning.  And today I baked cupcakes in preparation for my daughter's 5th birthday on Sunday (we have plans for tomorrow and I figured that if they didn't turn out, this would give me time to buy some).  Good news!  They turned out pretty good (I had to test one of course to make sure).

At one point, we were thinking of pulling out the oven and putting in a dishwasher.  As much as I love that idea; now that I can bake again...tough decision.