Alrighty. It's taken over three months to find the time to write this post - mostly because we're schooling 7 children with two working parents while completing the adoption of another child from China. There's not a lot of free time around here these days.
School is not one of my favs. Over the past 12 years, I've tried a million different methods and curriculums and approaches. Well, not really a million, but you get the point, right? I've never really found anything that I like right out of the box. I've tried the whole unschooling thing, but I am WAY too uptight to be successful with this method. The kids would totally go for not schooling at all, but the fabulous State of Georgia won't let that fly, and neither would I, honestly. I'm a bit of a high achiever. I like As and all -- neat little rows of capital As in my tidy little teacher's grade book...7 subjects and 180 days, check!
As much as I like the tidy rows in my teacher's grade book, 7 little pupils and 7 different grade levels have rocked this school house. I've had to learn to chill, man....let things go. And you know what? My little pupils are thriving, even when all the boxes don't get checked. It's all good and all that jazz. I get a little freaky every now and then and standardize test everybody just to make sure we're not depriving the little scholars of all the potential that State standards ensure. Our kids are geniuses, and I've got the standardized test scores to prove it!
A typical week day is pretty full around here. I work full time. Dean works full time. The kids have a full day of school. It's a balancing act, and no two days look just alike. Both Dean and I work from home, covering for each other when one has to be out of the house. It sounds like it would be a hassle, but it's not really. It's no more complicated than figuring out who's picking Suzie up from drill team, and who's dropping Billy off at baseball. I know many a parent with kids in public school that seem to have more hectic and busy lives than we do, even without two working parents. Everyone makes choices about how to spend their time, and this is just how we divvy ours up.
We have two littles, two middles and three bigs - not necessarily in order of birthdate. I group the kids more by ability and need for oversight than I do by age. The littles require a lot of oversight and a lot of help with academic tasks. Their schoolwork isn't time intensive, though, and the middles and bigs each help out by taking time to play with a little brother. The middles are able to complete much of their assignments on their own now, and the bigs are pretty much independent learners, coming to me only when they need help with their schoolwork.
During each weekday morning, the kids work through their daily tasks, chores and independent schoolwork. They have a folder that I prepare ahead of time with certain assignments that they should be able to complete on their own. These are skills they've learned before that they can practice and reading assignments that will prepare them for our afternoon lessons. The littles usually need help, and there is nothing a kindergardener has to learn that a 5th-11th grader cannot teach him.
Developing talents is also part of our morning. Some play the piano. Some play the guitar. One likes computer programming. They like to sew and draw and cook. They play and build and color and cut and paste. They feed the cats and chickens and race each other to the barn and back. By the time 1:00 rolls around, there's a guaranteed solid hour of clean up that occupies littles and middles alike. Lunch is loud and I usually miss it. I'd love to sit at the table with them, but mostly I don't. Food is a big time babysitter for me. I can get a lot of work done during that lunch hour. And yes, they eat for an hour. I don't know about your kids, but mine can pack away the PB&J!
From 2:00 - 6:00, it's school house rock. We knock out the geography, social studies, science and math. We read about people and places and talk about God's word. We conjugate up some Spanish verbs. We discuss injustice and chickens and whether twins will be allergic to the same things. We take placement tests when I start to feel insecure about how much they're learning.
Some days we have guitar, piano, art lessons, 4H or baseball. We love loving on extras and often have more than our own children here. We love visiting with friends and neighbors and driving to town for Chick-fil-a. We can fit a whole lot more into our lives, even with two working parents, than we could if Team Robinson made the daily trek to three different schools.
So why do we go to all the trouble? Why not just let someone else fill their little noggins with all that knowledge? The truth is, we like it, y'all. It's our beat. It's our thing. It's what we do. We're buckin' the system...changing the way it's done....making academic strides. It's an amazing life, really.
If you're thinking about homeschooling, and you're thinking it might just be a bit too much, drop in on Team Robinson for a visit. This little gig we've got going is truly a blessing!
School is not one of my favs. Over the past 12 years, I've tried a million different methods and curriculums and approaches. Well, not really a million, but you get the point, right? I've never really found anything that I like right out of the box. I've tried the whole unschooling thing, but I am WAY too uptight to be successful with this method. The kids would totally go for not schooling at all, but the fabulous State of Georgia won't let that fly, and neither would I, honestly. I'm a bit of a high achiever. I like As and all -- neat little rows of capital As in my tidy little teacher's grade book...7 subjects and 180 days, check!
As much as I like the tidy rows in my teacher's grade book, 7 little pupils and 7 different grade levels have rocked this school house. I've had to learn to chill, man....let things go. And you know what? My little pupils are thriving, even when all the boxes don't get checked. It's all good and all that jazz. I get a little freaky every now and then and standardize test everybody just to make sure we're not depriving the little scholars of all the potential that State standards ensure. Our kids are geniuses, and I've got the standardized test scores to prove it!
A typical week day is pretty full around here. I work full time. Dean works full time. The kids have a full day of school. It's a balancing act, and no two days look just alike. Both Dean and I work from home, covering for each other when one has to be out of the house. It sounds like it would be a hassle, but it's not really. It's no more complicated than figuring out who's picking Suzie up from drill team, and who's dropping Billy off at baseball. I know many a parent with kids in public school that seem to have more hectic and busy lives than we do, even without two working parents. Everyone makes choices about how to spend their time, and this is just how we divvy ours up.
We have two littles, two middles and three bigs - not necessarily in order of birthdate. I group the kids more by ability and need for oversight than I do by age. The littles require a lot of oversight and a lot of help with academic tasks. Their schoolwork isn't time intensive, though, and the middles and bigs each help out by taking time to play with a little brother. The middles are able to complete much of their assignments on their own now, and the bigs are pretty much independent learners, coming to me only when they need help with their schoolwork.
During each weekday morning, the kids work through their daily tasks, chores and independent schoolwork. They have a folder that I prepare ahead of time with certain assignments that they should be able to complete on their own. These are skills they've learned before that they can practice and reading assignments that will prepare them for our afternoon lessons. The littles usually need help, and there is nothing a kindergardener has to learn that a 5th-11th grader cannot teach him.
Developing talents is also part of our morning. Some play the piano. Some play the guitar. One likes computer programming. They like to sew and draw and cook. They play and build and color and cut and paste. They feed the cats and chickens and race each other to the barn and back. By the time 1:00 rolls around, there's a guaranteed solid hour of clean up that occupies littles and middles alike. Lunch is loud and I usually miss it. I'd love to sit at the table with them, but mostly I don't. Food is a big time babysitter for me. I can get a lot of work done during that lunch hour. And yes, they eat for an hour. I don't know about your kids, but mine can pack away the PB&J!
From 2:00 - 6:00, it's school house rock. We knock out the geography, social studies, science and math. We read about people and places and talk about God's word. We conjugate up some Spanish verbs. We discuss injustice and chickens and whether twins will be allergic to the same things. We take placement tests when I start to feel insecure about how much they're learning.
Some days we have guitar, piano, art lessons, 4H or baseball. We love loving on extras and often have more than our own children here. We love visiting with friends and neighbors and driving to town for Chick-fil-a. We can fit a whole lot more into our lives, even with two working parents, than we could if Team Robinson made the daily trek to three different schools.
So why do we go to all the trouble? Why not just let someone else fill their little noggins with all that knowledge? The truth is, we like it, y'all. It's our beat. It's our thing. It's what we do. We're buckin' the system...changing the way it's done....making academic strides. It's an amazing life, really.
If you're thinking about homeschooling, and you're thinking it might just be a bit too much, drop in on Team Robinson for a visit. This little gig we've got going is truly a blessing!
Amazing! I remember your passion for the children you and I worked with when you were earning your MSW; but, that passion is nothing compared to the passion I feel in this post. (I know your empathy, too. I am still grateful for the times you allowed me to sleep in your guest room). I am soooo proud of you Tamara (and Dean and all the kids)~ Proud to know you, Pamela Bridgeman.
ReplyDeleteYour sweet words are an encouragement to me, friend. I'm sure proud to know you, too!
DeleteLove this post! I am doing a hybrid homeschool with my K daughter and love it. Our youngest, goes to preschool nw, but I am leaning hard toward homeschool Pre-k for her. Feeling free to buck the system feels like a gift!
ReplyDeleteHomeschooling is truly a blessing. It's only taken me 12 years to feel okay about bucking the system, lol. My first will finish up high school next year. It seems like just yesterday that we were working through K curriculum with a preschooler in tow. Best to you on your journey, Rebecca!
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