School Time

It's only been half of a year that we've been officially homeschooling our kids. From what I've gathered of it thus far, the fact that we homeschool is fairly interesting to most people.  When many folks find out we do, I generally get one of two responses: 

"Oh, I could never do that.  We'd be at each other's throats."

or 

"How does that work?"

Lest anyone think my children and I have some sort of super powers of love and patience towards one another, let me just say that some days we ARE at each other's throats.  It is hard.  There are days when Jared comes home and I say, "This is it.  We're not doing it with multiple kids at a time."  But those are the days when I am trying to keep an agenda of ridiculous structure and I forget-- these kids are 5 and 3.  And really, those days are few and far between. 

When I remember that the beauty of homeschooling is the freedom within it, those are the days we have fun. 

 Telling time.  I dragged their little bodies around the rug, tick-tocking the whole way.  They thought 12 o' clock was the most fun.  Naturally. 

 Leah really likes memorizing verses.  And she soaks it up waaaaaay quicker than I do. 

Last Friday, I scrapped our standard plans of handwriting, reading, and math to do more of an interactive activity.  We started off the day at the library, and then followed up with a sewing project for both of the kids.  They've been begging me for months to learn how to use my sewing machine and I'd been dragging my feet doing it.  Sewing is one of my relaxing breaks.  It's always been something I haven't had to share with anyone.  And I was worried if I taught them how to do it, they'd be asking to use my stuff all the time.  It sounds pretty selfish when I type it out like that, but I am pretty sure that any mom out there can understand the need to have something that is just ours. 

At any rate, I came up with a simple scarf for them to make on my basic sewing machine.  And in that simple activity, we covered all the standard lessons I usually do.  They practiced using rulers and measuring lines on paper before they measured the fabric itself (Hello, Math!).  They then followed step by step instructions on how to make scarves (almost) all by themselves (There's Reading!).  The result was two incredibly happy kids who love to show off their scarves to anyone who will look at them.  

 Pinning the fabric...

 Leah wrote out her steps and once she was done, she put together a "How to Make a Scarf" booklet, complete with illustrations (There's that handwriting practice!).  I think this one will go in the files forever. 

 Yes, we had to use a bucket for them to reach the pedal. 

 I love these little hands. 

 Sir Grumpy Pants does not like having pictures taken.  I tried to make him smile.  It clearly didn't work. 

Final products.  They worked super hard on these and were into the project from start to finish.  If you see them wearing their new scarves, I'd love it if you could comment on how much work and patience it must have taken for them to finish the scarves.  Because it really did! And I was really impressed with their determination. 

As far as the "How does it work?" question?  It varies, day by day.  Sometimes we sit at the table for 2 hours straight banging stuff out.  Sometimes we trail blaze through the woods, filling our journals up with pictures of plants to compare to plant i.d. guides upon our return home.  And some days we just curl up on the couch with a really good novel and I read to them.  All. Day. Long. 

Again, I will say that it is hard.  And yet, I really, really love it.  (More than I ever thought I would.) Sometimes I worry that I am slighting them in some capacity because they aren't learning Spanish or doing crazy art projects on a daily basis, but then I remind myself that they have time to play with each other and friends, that they are being taught by someone who loves them beyond comprehension and that they are just 5 and 3.  And in the end, they are going to be fine.