Back to school 2011

Last Wednesday we started back to school. Let me tell you, it was the closest I've ever come to sending my kids back into public or private school - anywhere but here! First off, I was stressed. I was enjoying the free time of my summer way too much, and the sudden invasion of my days was most unwelcome, no matter how well I had planned for it. Second was the fact that the boys felt the same way. To put it nicely, none of us was excited to start back. I tried to take the edge off the pain by buying new stickers, animal pencils with awesome erasers, new crayons, and new pencil sharpeners. But the truth is that home schooling in this family doesn't follow the all-things-new pattern that public schoolers have. My kids don't need backpacks, they don't get all-new textbooks, they don't have a new teacher, with a new set of classmates, a new homeroom, and a different desk. They get the same-old same-old. The same notebooks they were writing in last year, the same math books, the same reading books, the same dining room table with the same supplies cart stacked up with books, folders, and a small box of stickers . There just wasn't a whole lot to make it feel special. To top it off, Spencer was having his usual meltdown with all things new - and the first day was spent in misery to the point of tears over how difficult grade 3 was, even though all we had done was literally turn the page in his reading and math books and picked up where we left off. I don't even want to talk about his reaction when I introduced his new writing program. And Collin was doing his usual out-to-lunch bit, which is enough to render the most rosy-cheeked sing-song kindergarten teacher looking like a mad scientist with Albert Einstein hair by the end of the day. The icing on the cake for me was when I had been trying to get Collin to concentrate enough to just write one number on his math sheet, so he FINALLY began to write the number "7" only to stop mid-way to tell me a story. My mom got the brunt of my frustration on the phone.

Day 2 brought a blessed relief. A friend called just after we had finished our schoolwork for hte day, and invited us to spend some time at the beach for the last nice afternoon of the season. It was perfect, and just what the doctor ordered. And thank God for a friend who doesn't shy away from the big home-school family! The kids spent a few hours getting wet and dirty, catching teensy tiny catfish, playing pirates with foam swords, and generally saying good-bye to Summer in grand fashion. And I got a chat with a friend. On the way home, my self pep talk included a serious reminder that public school kids were only arriving home from school at about the same time that we came back from our beach excursion. 

Day 3 we only finished half of our schoolwork, when I called it quits mid-afternoon. I was worn out, exhausted, tired of hearing myself harp on my kids for not concentrating, tired of being frustrated with them after we had enjoyed so many weeks of quiet, contented togetherness.  The Unstoppable Force (my kids' obstinance about schoolwork) had met the Immovable Object (my stubbornness) and something had to be done. We were at an impasse. I wrote my list of home-school moms for advice and tips. They told me I was trying to do too much book work, and should take more advantage of natural learning that comes from interracting with the world. Get the kids out, do science activities, let them breed rabbits, let them hunt, build, and READ READ READ. I decided to cut the grammar/reading/writing workbooks and toss them out completely since my kids get those subjects in other places. But we were still at an impasse for the kids' work ethic.  Thus commenced Operation Motivation. Wal Mart had the solution. I marched my kids all to the kitchen section and found 2 digital timers, and my fingers tingled with such anticipation that I was almost sad the next day was Saturday and I wouldn't get to try it out until Monday. 

Day 4, Monday. We started school late, due to me being in bed too long after several interruptions to my sleep during the night. The first thing I did was pop out those timers. I put a glass of cold milk and a warm chocolate chip muffin in front of each boy, right next to their timers. Then I gave the boys a stern warning that they were going to have study time, and then break time. There was no talking during study time - only working. And then break time would give them a chance to eat their muffins, drink their milk, and talk. And when break time was over, they would go straight back to work. It was amazing. They actually did it. First we set the timer for 3 minutes, and they worked the entire three minutes with only a few reminders to concentrate rather than socialize. Then their one-minute break commenced, and they wolfed down about 1/2 of their muffins in that short amount of time. Three-one-three-one-three-one....around and around we went for an hour and a half. And we got most of their individual work done by time I was leaving for my morning walk. I was amazed that it had worked at all! Claire decided that she was missing out on a good thing, and persistently asked to "do school," so I started her back in the reading program learning her letters and sounds, and also started taking her through a preschool workbook. Nothing too serious, but enough to make her feel special and very knowledgable. :) 

Days 5 &6 were the same - the kids did well with the timers, but we were still taking too long in the mornings. Collin's work was taking over an hour for something that should really only take 1/2 hour. And the reading......OOOOOHHHH, the reading! It drove me batty. He just. won't. concentrate!!!

Spencer needed more supervision with his math because he was taking an hour and a half for one page, when he should be able to get it done in 1/2 hour! Still, the week went much smoother. We stayed on track, did all the assignments and projects we had planned, and generally things were better. Spencer had adjusted to his writing course and doesn't freak out every time he sees words without pictures anymore. We worked up to 5 minutes study time with 2 minute breaks, and the kids didn't even seem to notice. But they DID notice that they weren't doing their grammar workbooks anymore, and demanded they be reinstated. Evidently they liked those books. 

Day 7 This was the miracle day - the day that a fluke brought me the solution. Collin was still in bed when Spencer woke me up for schooltime. So I decided to flip our normal routine, and work with Spencer first instead of Collin. I also set the timer for 10 minutes with a three minute break. Spencer did his math in 1/2 hour. When Collin came down, I plopped his reading book in front of him and told him to study those words on his own until I was ready to work with him. I watched him out of the corner of my eye, and it didn't look like he was doing a darned thing. Meanwhile, Spencer flew through his other work (the only magic element being that I was sitting there with him), and by time 45 minutes had passed, he had only his writing course left to do before breakfast. It was like a miracle! Thank you, God! And Collin's reading wasn't much different. Evidently he had actually read some of those words to himself, because he was much more adept than he usually is at a first dry run of reading. We were practically done with everything by time breakfast rolled around, which only left group work to be done for the rest of the morning. Score!! Exactly what I had envisioned for our days!! 

Day 8 was yesterday. It went the same as Day 7, but with a museum trip and haircuts thrown into the mix. Finally, it seems, we have figured out how to make this home schooling thing work for us. *Grateful sigh*