Will She Keep it Up?

I'm on to something. I just know it. Super excited. High hopes. question to me: will I keep it up?

How could I not? It's so simple, so helpful, so...organized.

I'm talking, of course, about my newly revised calendar on iCal. There's been lots of discussions on the homeschool blogs regarding organization as we ramp up for the new school year. Seems that time management is an area most of us never master. I've used iCal for years but more as a supplement to my wall calendar. Because we can sync it, I used it to inform my husband of family events, mostly.

Now, I have made it my very own. Check this out:

I made an orange calendar for Independent Work and a green calendar for Together Work (work that requires me). I sync those two calendars and the pink Kids calendar to SJ's computer so he can print it out complete with the notes to the right that tell him exactly what he needs to be doing. He uses it like a checklist. A further benefit is that we can pop these in our Log Binder and hand them over to The Handler and she can easily see exactly what we have done. I can use the URL link to add websites pertinent to the lessons or recipes for my dinner schedule.

You can also view the calendar in weekly or monthly formats although they are a lot less detailed. 

Today I feel very organized. God give me the grace to continue.

First Day Done

I'm going to have to say the first day of our homeschool was a success.

SJ sauntered out around 8 a.m. and took his time having breakfast. I wondered how he would react when the bus stopped (right in front of our house) to pick up a former schoolmate. I needn't have worried. Rather than feeling left out, he felt lucky to be home.

After getting dressed and feeding the neighbor's cat, we got started. It was 10:00 a.m. Nice. We talked for a few minutes about how this would work and then reviewed what I think we might be able to accomplish this week.

Here is what we did:

• Vision therapy. We plan to start each day with a few exercises we learned during his VT program. I can see I need a refresher on some of them.
• Math. The challenge here was to figure out where he left off in school and then find the similar section in the book we chose for home. I think we landed in the right spot but it will continue to be a searchy, learny thing to discover what he "got" and what he didn't. 
• Computer. Crash course on internet browsers and how to organize bookmarks and files. I let him choose his "headings" and we loaded them with several fun-looking (but educational) sites. We played around on a few of them, such as PBS' Nova site that has endless videos, podcasts, and activities.
• Lunch. Gotta eat.
• Reading comprehension disguised as Bible devotions. It occurred to me that SJ knows how to "look up" verses but doesn't really know how to "use" his bible. There are all kinds of great little resources in his NIV Adventure Bible so we started at the front where we looked at each icon, read what it represented, then looked for examples within the text. 
• PE. An hour and a half of no school bell telling him to stop playing. He loved this.
• Facebook set-up with Dad. Halfway done. (Don't friend him yet!)
• Reading. He will read tonight. I told him he can read anything that has real text (as in, not Calvin and Hobbes).
• Writing. Low-key end of day exercise where I asked him to write what he liked and what he did not like about his day. Here is what he said: "I enjoyed today because it was easier than school because it only took two hours instead of 6 (sic). Everything was easy and so that is why I enjoyed it so much." (Disclaimer for the sake of his teacher: It took about three hours. :-) ) 

It looks like alot of work and it looks like not enough at the same time but I'm happy with what we did. When he worked, he was engaged and what he didn't understand, I explained. So he thought it was easy, isn't that the objective? Does learning have to be hard to be good? What do you think?

A few challenges:

• S was bored by 3:00 p.m. No homework. Done with school. He was a little adrift.
• Hubbie and I have to change our Monday "dates" for awhile. That one is harder to swallow because we enjoy our bike rides and lunches but both of us realize we need to be a little more "present" for awhile before we let SJ work independently. I need to remember to schedule "our" time to make sure we get it.
• Tomorrow I have bible study which is a non-negotiable time for me. How will he do for two and half hours? How will I feel, knowing I have another responsibility while trying to enjoy my own social life?

First Week "Detox" Goals

As I look ahead to Week #1, I can see right away where the two of us might conflict. I'm amped. He's not.

Since embarking on this journey, I have immersed myself in a crash course of homeschooling, joining Yahoo Groups, reading books, scouring websites. All of this serves to excite the possibilities. I practically drooled as I perused our curriculum choices, so satisfied was I with the plethora of learning stimuli. Couple that with the uber cool interactive websites I keep finding and the thousand unbidden thoughts per second I have on ways we can study [whatever I happen to be reading/seeing]. It's like the sleeping giant awakened. I am ready to go after this thing, to instill in my son a new love of learning, to share with him the wonders of life.

One problem. Him.

Lest I forget, he is my student. And for the all the reasons listed in my first post I need to give him time to detox (or decompress) from his traditional school environment.

Challenge #1:

• Do school. But do it laid back-like. His pace, not mine.
• Set foundations. Subtly discover what he knows and what he is missing. Watch for hot points and be sensitive to what shuts him down.
• Slow down and go at his rhythm.

Here are some ways I think I can do this:

• Back away from the textbooks. I have them but I'm guessing the quickest way to produce eye glaze in my student will be to open the same textbook he currently "hates" and resume the same old lessons he thought he was leaving behind. I realize he needs to learn much of what is in the text, but throwing the book at him is precisely what has not worked. 
• Computer groundwork. I can see that the computer will be a fabulous tool. It can also be dangerous and overwhelming. Right now, he has a sum total of two sites he visits: Lego and Freeride (a game). I would like to be able to leave him with safe site choices when I have Mom errands and appointments. 
• Does he know how to make Folders and Bookmarks in the browser? We'll make Folders such as "Anytime" and "Funtime" and maybe a few more serious sounding ones like "Research" or "Text support." Then, we will load the "Anytime" folder with approved sites that offer educational videos and interactive games. It will give him the freedom to choose his activities and free me from having to set boundaries each time we hit the computer.
• Create a Facebook account. I know there are lots of opinions on this. My son is 13 and making the choice to leave his current social network. Getting a Facebook account was a dealmaker for him when deciding to homeschool. Of course, we (the parents) will stipulate the security settings, keep the password, and monitor his usage, but really, it's the way of his future (and ours) and gives him the illusion he has not left his social life behind.
• Set some ground rules.  Erasing History record will be grounds for computer banishment. Facebook is for fun, as in after goals have been completed. We will set time limits and parameters for surfing.
• Evaluate the flow of our days. Both of us will be making adjustments to school outside the confines of school hours. I tend to charge forth in the a.m. but need to sit back and feel his vibe without giving him all power in scheduling. Does it matter if he doesn't do math first? For me, yes. For him, who knows? Perhaps he will be best served by playing an interactive game or doing an art project first. I know this will be a challenge for me--being open to free flow yet not letting the day be a complete wash. 
• Rearrange furniture. This might seem odd, but I can already see that we need to think through our work spaces and storage issues. If he spends any amount of time on the computer, I would like to be able to sit near him and either assist him or work on my laptop. Right now, there is no comfortable place in the office for a second person. Also, I hate clutter. How will we tame the books, papers, projects, supplies, and whatnot? We will think this through together and make adjustments.
• Remember that we have lots of time. We are committed to homeschool through his eighth grade year. That is almost a year and a half. Breathe. Take it slow.

While none of the above feels like school, I need to remember that it is. He will be using critical thinking to solve problems, visualizing spaces, learning to categorize, and using technology--all worthwhile skills.  I will let you know how it goes.