You guys rock! Did you all just feel terribly sorry for me or something? I have enjoyed reading even the briefest messages that were left over the course of the day, and just want to say that my faith in humanity has been restored!!!! . . . Okay, so that was a little over the top. But seriously, thanks to everybody who checked in!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The kids and I went to the post office this afternoon to mail our homeschool notification papers, and the clerk who helped us asked the kids the same questions they have heard countless times over the last five years: "How do you like your teacher?" "Do you ever bring your teacher an apple to class?" "Does your teacher let you have recess?" Hardee-har-har. No, this guy is pretty nice and he really zeroed in on Darcy who, incidentally, spent her time in the post office perched on a ledge with her nose in a book. Peyton was standing at the counter with me and the clerk made small talk with her, and Tyler and Sawyer were standing by the wall, exclaiming over all the Star Wars First Edition collectors' sets. The postal clerk didn't see the boys so he asked, "So you just homeschool the two?" and inclined his head toward Darcy and Peyton. I motioned toward Tyler and Sawyer and said, "No, those are mine too" but then I almost immediately corrected myself and said, "Well, of course, my youngest is only three so he's not in school yet."
For some reason, that stayed with me throughout the afternoon. I know I am always telling people that if they do something as simple as read to their children and teach them their letters, numbers, shapes, etc., they are "schooling" their children. But I also believe that sometimes people get carried away and expect too much from their kids too soon. I know that was a burden I placed on Tyler way back when. Perhaps that is why I was so quick to deny that Sawyer was being homeschooled--yet. But the reality is that the kids and I read to Sawyer ALL THE TIME, and even though I know this is not a talent peculiar to Sawyer, he has an amazing memory. It blows me away sometimes.
This afternoon after we'd come home from running errands, Sawyer waited patiently for me to do a few things around the house and then he declared, "Mom, I'm ready for my lesson now." Just yesterday he uncovered some Wraps that had been long forgotten, and he was referring to one of them as his "lesson." (For those of you not "in the know," Wraps are these hand-held thingies where you're basically matching items on the top of the page to items on the bottom of the page by wrapping a string around the whole kit and kaboodle, and if you're correct your strings will match a design on the back of the page. That's the best description I can come up with--hope it works for you!) If I may brag unabashedly for a moment, Sawyer was doing First Grade level stuff in these Wraps. Okay, so the kid's smart.
So why not just lump him into the mix and homeschool him right along with the others? He already listens in to many of the kids' lessons (he still randomly shouts "Onomatopoeia!" in moments of sheer exuberance) and will doubtless be reading within the year; I have to admit, teaching the kids to read at the age of four (if not sooner) is one goal I set for myself for no particular reason except that it sure makes schooling easier when that day comes--in fact, I was just talking to my friend Erin about that last week--and Sawyer is showing signs of readiness to read.
But then I watch him during his moments of "down time," laying on his side--always his side--on the floor with his cars, without a care in the world, while Tyler, Darcy and Peyton are churning out creative writing assignments or taking math tests or pondering over a spelling word (well, to be honest, Darcy never ponders over a spelling word--Miss Smarty Pants tested out at a 10th grade level this week--and in case you're wondering how Tyler or Peyton measured up, I don't know because I didn't test them) and I think, "Man, what a sweet deal he's got!" My kids are growing up so quickly it brings tears to my eyes sometimes, and I just want to savor every last moment of childhood before it disappears altogether.
And that's all I have to say about that!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
Sorry this comment doesn't have anything to do with homeschooling but it just made me think. The only detention I ever got in school for not bringing my materials to class was from my dad (retired teacher).
Maybe it's a good thing I didn't have him as a teacher :)
Please tell me your dad didn't use some type of medieval torture device like Professor Umbridge used on Harry in Order of the Phoenix when he gave you detention!
Of course then I thought it was totally unfair. Why hadn't he reminded me to bring my work to school since he KNEW we had class that day?! Dad's detention of choice was writing dictionary pages. I guess he figured that copying information from a dictionary might be more educational than writing "I will not forget my homework" a million times :)
Perhaps I shouldn't admit this since you didn't say whether or not you had any lasting resentment toward your dad, but I have done the same thing with my kids! Except that I didn't have them copy words from a dictionary; rather, I had them copy a couple of pages of text out of a book I had been reading to them. Now that I think about it, this was right at the beginning of last year. What prompted this action was the fact that the death of a minor character occurred and they totally missed it! There was quite a bit of action and it should have been gripping to them (or so I thought) but for whatever reason they were disengaged. My "punishment" served the dual purpose of not only underscoring the need to pay closer attention, but they did ultimately receive the pleasure of reading (and writing) and comprehending the passage. Not that the character's death was a pleasure, but the writing was.
Post a Comment