Interesting

So, I have discovered on this homeschooling adventure of ours that there is A LOT of information out there! This is especially true now, with access to the internet. It has been a really informative and almost overwhelming time for me. Overwhelming because I just sit and go WOW I had no idea all the resources that are available.

I have always admired the people who I feel homeschool their children in a way that is advantageous to them. Their kids are smart, courteous, respectful, and in many ways ahead of the kids who go to public schools. I always felt sorry for the kids whose parents probably shouldn't have homeschooled. These are the people that I knew and know whose kids are behind public schooled children, in some cases so much so that they could be in 3rd grade and not know how to write their name. I feel like that is wrong.

If you want to homeschool your kids, great! Do it! If you think homeschooling is easy, then you are mistaken. It takes a lot of self-discipline and effort. While homeschooling can be more relaxed and set up differently than a public school, you still need to make sure that your child is being taught.

I guess this is the fear that I fight every day...am I teaching my son what he needs to know? If he decides to go back to public school will he be behind? So, it is somewhat comforting to read about others who have gone before me and write about how if you are consistent and teach your child, they will be AHEAD if they go back to public school.

I still haven't found the balance for our homeschool. I know I need to be a little more easygoing, and it is really easy for me to slip into my "everything needs to be perfect and on such and such timeframe..." Kids aren't perfect. Neither are adults. I have to keep reminding myself that he's only in 2nd grade, and that while he is super smart, I don't want to max him out and kill his thirst for knowledge. I know that there has to be a happy medium.

I am still getting over the, "wow, this is what I need him to know by the end of the year" shock. He already knows a lot of it, but it has been really interesting to see where the gaps are. A lot of his gaps are in handwriting, spelling, and English. He can read amazingly well, but his understanding of what he reads is somewhat stunted.

My biggest irritation is that he already has been molded into the "I can't think for myself" mold. I have him doing "Are they thinking?" worksheets, and WOW. These are not hard worksheets at all, but he still struggles on some of them because he has literally no creative thinking skills. When he does math, if he doesn't have a math fact memorized, he can't reason it out. Like, he has all his add facts memorized up to 7 but 8 and up he doesn't. So, whenever he gets to a problem with 8 in it he looks at me and is frustrated because he is so hung up on having it memorized that he can't add it up.

It was interesting though, because the other day I did ask him if he missed anything about going to school and he said "Yes, I miss the gym and the playground." THAT WAS ALL. He didn't say anything about missing kids that were in his class with him, or any of the other things that I thought he might say. As the days go by I can see him improving in so many ways. In only two weeks his print handwriting has already improved. I started him on cursive because he really wanted to learn it, and he loves that. He hates writing print, so learning cursive is his handwriting "reward" so to speak.

I think once we figure out our happy medium, that things will continue to go better and better. A lot of the stress that I had with him in public school, is pretty much gone. I feel like I am doing something to help him feel better about himself, and it really motivates me to do better as well. I think our relationship has improved too. I find patience where I didn't think I had any. I know that I have help with that, but it is encouraging, and helps me feel like this really is something that we can do.

So, onward and upward we go!