It Had to Happen

    We seem to have come to the "Wednesday" of the school year.  The new and shiny has worn off.  We have our routines.  We are not doing anything wrong, or different, but the kids seem to be ready for a break.
     Yesterday and today have been filled with a lack of enthusiasm.  The next field trip is not until next Friday.  Both children have multiple due dates coming up with Literature and Composition assignments that are more challenging. 
     At this point, I am considering allowing them to take an entire day off to do something special.  They can make it up during Christmas break if they would like.  I am only hesitant because I am afraid that it will be the same next week.
     The composition assignments are getting more intense.  Several days of step by step instructions on how to write different types of essays.  These are necessary skills.  I know that next year, they will breeze through these same types of assignments, they will be more familiar.  Right now, they need a lot of coaching and help. 
     My oldest was working on a persuasive essay and I saw her with a stack of books .  She was actually hidden behind the stack.  She was working diligently and taking notes, so at first, I did not interrupt her. 
    Something caught my eye.  She had just closed a book about antelopes and was opening one on climate.
    ????
    I asked her.  "What is the topic for your paper?"
     When she answered, I got a little sick, she had already been working on this for 45 minutes.  "It is about climate, pollution and wildlife."
     "What specific point are you trying to make?"  I asked.
     I just wanted to talk about pollution and climate and how it affects wildlife.
     "And...." I was hoping she had more...
     Well, she didn't.  She just wanted to go over all of these facts and describe their importance. 
     I asked her to read the first page of her assignment again.  She needed to read the description of a persuasive essay.
      She read it and still did not understand why her topic was too broad.
      I explained that she needed a very narrow focus.  She could use all of those facts to support her reason, but she needed to have one very specific point.
     I explained to her that a persuasive essay was like giving her side of the argument.   Anyway, I gave her some tips on how to weed through her information and turn it into a persuasive paper.
     Phew... She worked on this one for a while longer before I told her to take a break and work on something different.
     The writing assignments are more challenging.  My younger child is learning to write a proper book review.  It is taking her step by step through the process of what she needs in her paper.
     I can see the methodology.  I can see that when she completes three more lessons, she will simply be able to combine her simple assigned paragraphs into a nice book review.  She does not see that right now.  She is annoyed.
     As I said, because it is teaching each step of writing, drafting, editing and checking for content, I know that next year will be much easier.  The assignments may be more challenging, but they will be more comfortable with checking themselves and their direction.  For now... UGH.. they are not enjoying it.
     Soooo, hump day or not... Tomorrow is Wednesday and I am probably going to make them do something outlandish during their lesson.
    Perhaps I will get them to read their first drafts aloud in a very theatrical fashion.  Maybe we will create a quick puppet show for them to act out their assignments.  Something.  We need something to break this up.

Homeschool?

         I still get a little nervous when someone asks me if I am homeschooling my children.   I don't really know how to answer.  It seems a disservice to home school moms and groups to call this homeschooling.  I know a few home school moms who put a lot more work into education than I am currently doing. 

       I do not attend the conferences and peruse varieties of curricula and teaching methods to determine which will be the best fit for my child as well as achieve the goals of actually educating them.  I attempted to do this on my own.  I sat down with stacks of textbooks and began reading the objectives and pouring through sample lessons and worksheets.  I can honestly say that I have no idea how one person could have enough time to evaluate all that is available for one subject in one grade level, never mind building an entire well rounded curriculum.   I was quickly overwhelmed.  I guessed it would take me months of preparation to find acceptable curriculum and create lesson plans for one school year. 

       I also do not have the same reasons for doing this as many of the families I met while searching for home school information.  My children were not bullied or in danger.  I was not uncomfortable with the topics that were being taught.  I was uncomfortable with the amount of materials that were not taught, due to time constraints, budget, or merely political reasons.

      Now, I may say that I did not feel my children were bullied or in danger, but let me say that I also did not feel that the local public schools were as focused on success as I would like.  It seems an awful lot of resources and time are focused on the problems in school.  With every published report of the condition of our schools, testing, student statistics or salary requirements, there are teams of people creating tests surveys and compiling data for these reports.  Unfortunately, as much as I rely on these reports to compare and contrast information, it seems these are resources that need to be used to better prepare our children for their futures.  In this way, I did not feel that I could entrust my children to the local school.

       With this virtual school method, I am able help my children to accelerate if they wish to.  I am able to add other materials to supplement if I chose to take the time to do so.  We are free to explore many more opportunities while they are also achieving their school requirements.  

      I really do not have to do much to find accomplishment with this method.  I am certainly grateful for such a strong curriculum and guidelines that are easy to follow.  I am grateful that the planning I do is so easy in comparison to creating actual lesson plans.  

     I am not comfortable with the term, "Home school mom".  It does not offend me, but it does not fit.  What we are doing does deserve its own name, free from other associations, because it is different.  It is unique.  I love this and hope we are able to continue to evolve as my childrens' educational needs evolve.  

      

   

An AMAZING Side Effect

      As we have more and more experiences with the virtual school, I am finding myself feeling a little bit like I have found a treasure.    

     I could not be more surprised myself. I had initially dismissed this as an option.  Like many others, I had pre-conceived notions of children who were educated at home.  Like many, I felt this could become to overwhelming for us and I was afraid that I would have to search for a new school during the school year.  I wondered if there would be some sort of psychological repercussions from having dual roles with my children.  I wondered if my children would suffer from loneliness.  I have been pleasantly surprised.

      I am a parent, therefore I feel that my children are extraordinary and special.  They are amazing.  I know we all feel that way about our children, that is why I am writing today.  This program has given my children the gift of feel special and extraordinary every day.  No, I do not give them rewards or prizes for completing their work.  Perhaps I should have stickers or small prizes, but I do not.  My children are getting something better every single day.  They are feeling confident and accomplished.  They are able to check on their own progress each day. They are able to take charge, get ahead and then use their progress as leverage with me.  I guess in a way, I do give rewards, but I feel these rewards fall into the "Natural Consequences" version of parenting. 

     This started a few weeks ago.  We were already quite busy, but there was one extra thing the girls wanted to do.  I informed them that we simply did not have the time.  Both girls immediately worked together on a "plan".  They both worked ahead in their assignments.  Both girls worked for longer periods of time for four days in a row before they ambushed me.   "Mom, we are both ahead in our work, we have earned medals, we have completed our hours for the week, could we please go to the _________?"

      I looked at their progress pages.  I looked on their study pages.  I reviewed their written assignments carefully to ensure they did not skip anything or miss any key points.  Incredibly, they had done it all.  They had done this in a way that would make anything other than a positive response from me seem absurd. 

      And so began a new trend.  They have both not only figured out how to get ahead, but they have both learned that staying ahead gives them a little bit of power when something special comes along.  That little gem of knowledge will last them a lot longer than any sticker I could give them.

      Sometimes I sit back and marvel at this Tom Sawyer approach to education.  Somehow, without bribes, scolding, threats or any other overt means, this program has quickly created two very self motivated, very confident little girls. 

     Friday is the last day of the first quarter.  I still have a little bit of anxiety about this milestone.  What if I missed something? What if we did something wrong?  It's a small anxiety.  I feel pretty confident that we did everything that we were supposed to do.  I cannot wait to see how this reflects on their report cards.

Tomorrows lesson will be.....

    One of the benefits of flexibility and not having to constantly move at an "average" schedule, is that the children can move ahead to the next lesson once they are finished.  They do not have to wait for the allotted time to expire.  Another benefit is that when I notice that yes, they were able to complete the lesson and even the assessment, but do not completely seem to understand, I can stop, take a break and plan a way to help them to truly understand the material.

     We are going to have one of those moments tomorrow.  I have reviewed the lessons and searched the internet for an alternate way of teaching the subject.  This took me about ten minutes. No joke.  I found a youtube video that will work nicely.  I have my large whiteboard out and ready to demonstrate.

     Mixed numbers are a bit funky to say the least.  What is a mixed number?  You don't remember the terminology?  Okay..  3 1/4 would be a mixed number.  So?  Big deal.  Okay, on your mark, get set, divide 3 1/4 by 5/12.   Now multiply your answer by 2/3.  Um... What?  Yes.  So, my child completed the lesson and even took the assessment and mastered it, but I really do not think she will be retaining it long enough to do the semester assessment, so I am going to do an extra lesson tomorrow. 

    What is the big deal?  She understands all of the other concepts well enough to explain them to anyone.  She scores 100% on her assessments, so missing that question on the semester test will still probably give her a mastery score.  Um... I know she has the ability to understand it.  I know that she just needs an extra way of looking at the problem and a little reinforcement.  I know that she will retain it and understand it if I put a little time into it. (I have scheduled approximately 45 minutes for this.)

     My goal for doing the virtual school was not simply to have the children get acceptable grades in an accredited program, it was to have them receive the best education possible.  The math curriculum provided is perfectly fine.  It is not lacking.  All lessons are covered well.  After all, she was able to complete the problems herself and master the assessment.  What makes me think I should do this? 

    I have watched her.  Math is very fluid for her.  She does not stumble at all.  She follows concepts well and understands them.  She does not just follow the steps, she actually is able to incorporate them in a practical way in her mind.  She UNDERSTANDS math in a way that most people would envy.  Her work on this lesson was disjointed.  She memorized the steps and went on.  I believe she will be more comfortable when she sees this again if she understands it rather than memorizing it. 

    Maybe I go to far.  I don't know.  I really do not this will even take 30 minutes and in my opinion, it is time well spent.  Then she can go back to racing through her lessons.

     Besides, maybe she will lose interest in science and math and decide to open a catering business.  Her recipe may call for 3/4 cup of sugar.  She may decided to mix 27 batches at once... Then she may realize that her oven will only hold 9 batches.  She may need to know how to complete 27 X 3/4 and then divide that by 3.  ?  Or it may get even more complicated.   Either way, knowing and understanding math can give her more abilities in other areas.  If she does decide to be a caterer, I would be willing to bet she has less waste and more profit, because she will know how much to purchase, the cost per item and how much to charge to make a X% of profit. 

     That is what I tell myself when I add more work to my day.

Mom's Input?

      Believe it or not, I have found another perk.  Not only do we have parent teacher conferences, but there is a lovely little addition after the parent teacher conference....
     The parent teacher conference in itself is interesting.  I was on the phone and in a virtual classroom at the same time.  I can see the power point that the teacher has prepared with all of my child's information.  We go over each subject together. I can ask questions, my daughter is there participating also and can ask questions.
    We talk about goals and other items also.  It is essentially a very detailed progress report with expectations explained also.   Then, later, the teacher emails me a copy of all of the information.   With my older child, I received a message from her teacher asking if I can think of anything that should be added as a goal...
     YES!   Please!  Yes, my children are doing well.  Yes, they are excelling, but thank you so much for asking.  My older child has recently quit using her agenda.  She has been "winging it" by looking at the lessons next in line and doing what she wants to do.  
     This has not been a major problem. She is still on track.  She is not falling behind, or skipping anything.  So what is my problem?  It seems to be working right?  NO NO NO NO... It has been more chaotic this way.  It has created confusion for me.  It has added to the time I am working.  I think it has also added to her time.  Instead of looking at the list we created together at the beginning of the week and systematically eliminating it.  I now am having to ask her what has been completed.  This may seem petty, but before, we were creating our lists, she would simply check off lessons as they were completed, and once each day, I would go through them. I could check her work, make sure she did it thoroughly and enter attendance or answer the parent questions.
    Now, I am having to have her sit with me as I do this.  I have to ask for each individual subject what was done.  I then review what was needed, check it and then enter attendance.  This is NOT better.   Our previous method meant I could do this while she finished her chores or watched TV.. Only occasionally did I need to ask her questions.  Now, she is more frustrated and so am I.  This has only been going on for a week and a half.  
    Now I can see why some parents may be frustrated with virtual school. Flexibility can be stressful too.   I love the flexibility.  I love our previous method of scheduling. It was not too rigid.  It was a simple check off list for each day.
    To be perfectly honest, it is not so much stress that I would find myself in a corner crying, but I definitely think they old way was working much better for both of us.  She is irritated that I do not just "know" what she has completed.  Yes, I could take her stack of papers, and the internet progress and figure it out.  It is not the end of the world.  However, I do think that our previous method was more enjoyable and I want it back..
    Soooo... I asked her teacher if she could add organization and goal setting to her list of expectations for this quarter.  I briefly explained what was going on and that we were by no means falling apart, but that was my request for a goal. 
     Her teacher answered me promptly.... "YES"...
      Have I said I love this?  My daughters new method was necessarily bad.   I believe there are many virtual school families who are following that particular method.  I do not know how many of them are also attempting to work outside of the home, but since I am, I need things as simple and organized as possible.   Our time together as a family is so valuable to me.  I can do either method.  I will do whatever it takes to ensure that my children are well educated.  If I have the choice to spend more time going over the work, or more time talking with her, watching a movie with her, taking a walk with her... I would rather the last three choices...
   Phew!! There!  I said it.  It's all about choices.  I love our choices.  I love my children and I am ever grateful that we found this option.