This isn't going to be a long post, it's a quick intro to a topic I'll be blogging on at least once a week going forward.
The Little Man is 15 now, and a sophomore, and would like me to let you know that he's being homeschooled. I talked to him at the beginning of his school year (more on that timing later) and misunderstood what he said, so I wasn't putting it in the blog at first. Whenever I am going to discuss the kids here, I try to run it by them first. But he actually wants to have his experience out there, so...
We started his classes almost 6 weeks before his 'return to school' date, partly because I wanted him to show me that he was really motivated to do school at home, and also because his school district backed their start date up to accommodate... stuff. He proved that he was willing and able to work on his education with minimal supervision from me, and we filed for withdrawal from public school and brought him home formally. This was never how I thought it would go, but I'll take it. It's going to be an interesting year for us. I'm working, he's at home. We stay in touch through the day, and I monitor his weekly log of work done and poke him when he hasn't done something *coffmathlessoncoff* and he gets on it. This would not be as easy with a younger child. Much younger and it would be impossible. We got lucky.
This last spring when he suddenly went virtual was rough. Really, really rough. There was a lot of anxiety, no one had any idea what they were doing (least of all teachers) and balls got dropped. When we saw the school dithering (I think we had three plans in one day, at the peak) I knew it was going to get hairy again. And I have always wanted to homeschool the kids. The problem is...
You have to learn how to learn. And schools do not teach this skill. They teach kids how to sit quietly in classrooms, do their work, and homework? Well, they expect it, but they don't teach how to do it. Learning on your own is a skill, and it's an under-taught one. Right now? Becoming an autodidact is imperative. The key, though, is making the kids want to learn. They aren't going to pursue education without an outside force pushing them. At least... not in the traditional sense of education. I'm not, and never would be, an unschooler. But I know that you can use everyday life for so many lessons, more than are immediately obvious.
Our next door neighbor is a nice lady with her plate full of a blended family of six. Since it was three his and three hers, their ages overlap. They are all still in 'school' and hence, have one or two days at school, the others remote. We sat and chatted at length yesterday about math, and motivation. I pointed out that just writing an equation on paper is, meh, making marks. Using recipes and having the reward at the end of what you made? Works. Making change accurately? Works. Kids understand money! The kinetic learning can be a springboard into understanding the theoretical.
There are so many resources out there to supplement school. We are fortunate to have them, even as I wish we weren't going to have to rely on them so heavily. My son and I are going to be talking about what is working (or not) for him. But now I need to take a look at his daily lesson plan (he posts it, I approve it, from the curriculum we mapped out at the beginning of the year) and then I'll head off to work. Leaving him to learn on his own.
header image: The Little Man when he was actually little. He's not so small any longer!