No camera, therefore no pics, and no detailed posts on our main lessons. But that should soon be remedied, since I was told that for my birthday I can choose my own camera!
Homeschooling is such a juxtaposition of experiences and feelings. There are days when I feel so exhausted that I don't know how I can keep going, and then the very next day may well find me riding on the Cloud 9 of thinking that there is nothing more fulfilling in the world than teaching your own kids.
Formal school with two kids is kicking my rear end. The sheer amount of planning and prep... well, let's just say I can't think about it too much. I just have to take one day and one week at a time, and it all falls together. Even if pennywhistle lessons haven't happened for two months. (In my defense, she lost her pennywhistle and we had to order a new one. I have a feeling it's buried in the front yard under a mound of snow somewhere. Good thing they're cheap.)
But we are having some of the best experiences. They say that the third try is the charm... maybe that goes for the third year too? Dallin is doing North American geography. The one thing I was dreading was the fact that he'd need to be drawing maps. In Waldorf, they don't just look at maps or fill in maps or even trace maps. They draw them freehand. Drawing can be a challenge, so I was expecting tears. Well, guess who loves drawing maps? The same kid who now wants to move to Rhode Island because he's doing a report on that state. The same kid who cheerfully (for the most part) does his school work every day.
Sariah is enjoying first grade, and I'm seeing her blossom artistically as well as academically. Waldorf is gentle and slow at first. We are working on letters and their sounds. It's amazing to me that when you teach this to a preschooler, you work and work and work and after a year or so, they may only remember half the letters and their sounds. (At least, this was the case with Dallin.) You teach this to a 6.5-year-old and it is instantly grasped and retained. (At least, this is the case with Sariah so far.) I really question why there is such a push to do something early which, when done a bit later, can yield the same results in a fraction of the invested time. But to each his own.
Homeschooling is such a juxtaposition of experiences and feelings. There are days when I feel so exhausted that I don't know how I can keep going, and then the very next day may well find me riding on the Cloud 9 of thinking that there is nothing more fulfilling in the world than teaching your own kids.
Formal school with two kids is kicking my rear end. The sheer amount of planning and prep... well, let's just say I can't think about it too much. I just have to take one day and one week at a time, and it all falls together. Even if pennywhistle lessons haven't happened for two months. (In my defense, she lost her pennywhistle and we had to order a new one. I have a feeling it's buried in the front yard under a mound of snow somewhere. Good thing they're cheap.)
But we are having some of the best experiences. They say that the third try is the charm... maybe that goes for the third year too? Dallin is doing North American geography. The one thing I was dreading was the fact that he'd need to be drawing maps. In Waldorf, they don't just look at maps or fill in maps or even trace maps. They draw them freehand. Drawing can be a challenge, so I was expecting tears. Well, guess who loves drawing maps? The same kid who now wants to move to Rhode Island because he's doing a report on that state. The same kid who cheerfully (for the most part) does his school work every day.
Sariah is enjoying first grade, and I'm seeing her blossom artistically as well as academically. Waldorf is gentle and slow at first. We are working on letters and their sounds. It's amazing to me that when you teach this to a preschooler, you work and work and work and after a year or so, they may only remember half the letters and their sounds. (At least, this was the case with Dallin.) You teach this to a 6.5-year-old and it is instantly grasped and retained. (At least, this is the case with Sariah so far.) I really question why there is such a push to do something early which, when done a bit later, can yield the same results in a fraction of the invested time. But to each his own.
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