A staggered start

 

 

You would think that after 6 years of homeschooling under my belt, I would have this gig all figured out. Not so. Every year has consisted of different circumstances, schedules and temperaments.

I want this to be *the* year that we take the 'schooling' part of school a little more seriously. I've got my plate full now, as Owen has joined the ranks and will begin doing regular work, just like his older brother and sister. Jordan is now an eighth grader, and I've got a lot of ground to cover. Rylan is in second grade, and not quite where I had hoped she would be. So, this is the year for change.

I know from past experience that doing the full schedule on the first day is a huge mistake. The kids need to transition out of their lazy days just as much as I need to. It was surprisingly easy to put homeschool out of my mind for June and July. As much as I had planned on schooling through the summer, my heart was just not in it, and with Jordan gone and our general summer activity busyness in the way, schoolwork was just not going to happen.

So here we are. It is August (and it's almost over !?!?), and our school year is well underway. I thought about school in short snippets here and there, and one of the decisions I made was that we would do a staggered start. Each week, as August progressed, I would add another kid to the schedule. And as each day passed by, we would add another item or two to the work load.

I began with Jordan, and after three weeks, he is running at almost full tilt. The only exception is World History. Neither of us are really grooving on History Odyssey. We cannot seem to move beyond ancient history!! After six years of homeschooling, we have left all the world history beyond ancient history virtually untouched, with the exception of what we read about in the yearly Core Knowledge books. I think that of all of the school subjects, history is my absolute favorite, and so I don't know why I am struggling with this. I need to figure out what my issue is with History Odyssey is, and fix it. Quickly.

We are using Homeschool Schedtrak again this year to track our hours, and Jordan has logged over 40 for this month already, so I think we are off to an excellent start. Please don't roll your eyes or secretly hate me when I tell you this, but Jordan has remarked, on numerous occasions over these past few weeks, that he is really enjoying the work - especially Physics, and looks forward to checking off his schedule as he goes. I am only making note of it here because I understand how fleeting and remarkable it is for a 13 yr. old to say something like this in the first place, and I need it here to remind me of the good times. I know that hard and difficult times are to be expected. I just want to be prepared. Now, I am not going to lie, there is a dangling carrot for motivation here. A completed schoolwork checklist = Minecraft, so that is truly what is pushing him here, at the moment.

Rylan's turn came up, and, just as I expected, she was less than thrilled. We are working at about half the desired work load right now. I think it is going to take a while to get her into a comfortable routine. The one highlight came last week, when upon the completion of a math lesson, she remarked in an astounded and pleased voice that she was excited to be doing 'real math' at this point, 'just like Jordan'. Not sure why solving the same sort of problems all of a sudden feels like the real thing, but there you have it. Another happy customer, so I'll file it away in the Good Times folder, for later use to remind me why it was a good idea to homeschool in the first place.

Owen is officially known to the school district now, as I just added his name to the Notice of Intent to Homeschool letter we have to send to the local district each fall. Owen loves his big yellow pencils and putting stickers on things. I no longer think he will be a lefty, he is most definitely a righty. I am a little disappointed...I thought that would have been kind of cool. We have only started up two things at this point - Reading Eggs and Explode the Code, so we will just continue to work on adding stuff as we go.

It has been a very good start - our best ever, to date. I think that it has also helped us that the extra stuff doesn't really start up until next month. Jordan has joined our homeschool Lego NXT group, and will meet twice a week until the month of November, when they go to competition. The group just started up meetings this past week, and he is enjoying it. He is also doing Boy Scouts, of course. And that's it! I think that not going to karate five days a week will make a huge difference for him. I'm still sad about that, but in the big picture, it's a good thing. Rylan wrapped up her summer tumbling session a week ago, and is enjoying not having anything to do at the moment. And I hope she does, because in another week's time, she will be a busy, busy girl. She will have three nights of dance in a row - jazz, tumbling and ballet, plus violin, and then Girl Scouts starts up in October, along with extra Nutcracker practices. I am glad we are not starting up scouts in September - I still need to get my feet on solid ground before I take on seven little Brownies!

So that's it! Things have been quiet here on the blog as I got stuff rolling - not much down time as of late. I have been keeping up with how fellow homeschoolers - both local and on the blogosphere have been ramping things up, making changes here and there - always good to self-evaluate and know that we are all in the same boat, just carrying different cargo...

 

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The 4 o'clock ice cream social

 

 

 

There have been street closures due to construction surrounding our neighborhood all summer long.  Two of the main exit points are closed.  For our purposes, any time we want to travel south from our neighborhood (which we do the majority of the time), there is only one exit we can use - one way in, one way out.  That goes for everybody.  I'm not sure of the approximate size of our little enclave, but I would guesstimate about 1500 residences???  Plus a park, small lake, green space, tennis courts, ball field, soccer field and an elementary school.

 

So earlier this afternoon, at 4 pm., I ran a quick errand - going southbound.  I followed the now-customary route that meanders through the neighborhood to get to the exit street.  This route takes me right past the school.  I rounded the corner and immediately regretted it.  Cars...  Minivans...  Hundreds of them, all having to travel in the same direction - one way in, one way out.  There were parents and kids streaming down the sidewalks and crossing the streets, laden down with boxes of Kleenex, reams of printer paper, bundles of yellow pencils and newly minted crayons, in 64 different hues.  It's that time!

 

I've walked past the school every morning for the past month.  They have a little electronic message board out front that broadcasts upcoming events, and it has been advertising the day-before-school-starts ice cream social for a couple of weeks now.  It was a chance for the students to meet the teachers, see the classroom, and drop off a small fortune in school supplies.

All this hoopla makes me a little wistful and A LOT thankful.  I have mostly good memories of those first days as a teacher - I had a total of four of those 'first days', and they were fun, crazy and flew by in an instant.  The classroom was as neat-as-a-pin when the kids and a few helicopter parents streamed in, and in a total wreck by the end of the day.

 

From the parents' perspective, I got to at least experience that first day of Kindergarten with Jordan.  Here we are, in my classroom.  My first day, ready to teach third grade, and Jordan's first day of K.

 



 

Okay, I have to admit that looking at this photo makes me miss the classroom... - *just* a little bit.  I really did love setting it all up, doing the planning, and engaging with the kids.  And look at Jordan!  Ha!  Now he is a gangly 13 yr. old.  He was soooo exited that day.  He couldn't wait to get to his classroom - but he had to hang with me until it was time.

 

A lot of time has passed.  We now have six full years of homeschooling under our belts, and have already started up with #7.  I didn't feel particularly emotional about leaving public school behind until two years ago, when Rylan was ready for Kindergarten.  All of a sudden I felt this inner panic that I was depriving her of some sort of right of passage.  I tried to picture her in a classroom setting, sitting a table with other kids, madly coloring and chatting away.  I felt very sad, and it took a while to get past it.  Now we are at a milestone again - Owen is now the Kindergartner.  Do I feel the same sense of panic?

 

When I watched all of these families walking towards the school, carrying their burdens in backpacks and shopping bags, I did feel sad.  But not quite so much.  I was almost willing to surrender my girl to my feelings of elementary school nostalgia, but not our Owen.  No way.  I don't want to miss out on a second of schooling him because his enthusiasm is absolutely precious.  The concentrated effort that he puts forth in holding his pencil 'just so', the way he colors carefully within the lines, the way he brings his workbook and stickers to me with an expectant look on his face... I am so, so, so very thankful that we are on this path.  That I know that tomorrow morning, while tons of other kids are boarding yellow buses with their brand new backpacks and lunchboxes, we will wake up, and work through our day together as a family, at a measured pace, mixing in the play with the schoolwork - a routine we know like the back of our hands.  I love our homeschool life, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

(Although I have to admit - I suddenly have the urge to decorate a bulletin board with apples and bookworms...  Just a little one... maybe put up the calendar on it.  And post some copywork or something.  And a small inspirational poster.  And a list of some sort!  Gotta have a list.  Maybe some gold stars?)





42

photo credit

 

 

 

"The answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything"

 

 

 

I turned 42 today.  I am lovin' this age and I can't wait for this year to get underway!!

 

 

Here are some awesome things about 42:

 

1. I've now got the answer to a long-forgotten question.

 

2. 42 is the angle rounded to whole degrees for which a rainbow appears.

 

3. 42 is a (2,6) perfect number.

 

4. '42' is a track on Coldplay's (my fav band) Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends

 

5. On page 42 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry discovers that he is, in fact, a wizard.  (I verified this by checking my first-edition copy of the British version that Dad gave me for my birthday, a few years back.)

 

6. The element Molybdenum has the atomic number 42, and is the 42nd most common element in the Universe.  It is used in steel alloys where it gives great strength and heat resistance.

 

7. There are 42 illustrations in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

 

8. Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear's spaceship is named '42.'

 

 

We celebrated my birthday by hiking one of my favorite trails in RMNP, in the Wild Basin area.   Dean took the day off and my dad joined us, so it was the seven of us on this adventure.  We had a great time.  Owen and Colin were wandering every which way - much like Billy does in the Family Circus cartoon, by Bil Keane.



 



Our destination was 1.8 miles up the trail: Calypso Cascades.  It was coolish, and rain threatened from time to time.  We stopped for lunch along the way, and stopped another 30 or so times to get wandering kids back on the trail.

 

 

 

After we hung out at the falls for a time, the skies looked very threatening, a cool wind blew and we put on our rain jackets.  And then it began to pour.  And pour.  And pour.  I didn't mind - I think it is kind of neat to hike in the rain.  But - it did get chilly, and by the time we were within a 1/4 mile of the car, Owen was on his last legs.  His hands were cold and he was getting miserable.  "I just don't like this trail much anymore..."  :(  We got in the car, peeled off wet rain jackets and shoes and socks, and were sorta warmed up by the time we got home.  Luckily we had already made plans with my mom for dinner, so we just changed out of wet clothing and headed over for a yummy beef roast dinner and birthday cake for dessert.  I couldn't of asked for a happier day!

 

 

Shoulder Update...

It's been awhile since I've mentioned my shoulder.  I had my *last* physical therapy session last week.  I joked with the receptionist on the way out that they should hand you a graduation certificate or something...

I feel really, really good.  The only move that hurts at this point is reaching around and touching the back side of my opposite shoulder, while applying sunscreen.  Direct pressure on my AC joint still hurts quite a bit, so my bra strap is irritating as hell.  I swear I adjust it about a 100 times a day, pulling it towards my neck to get it out of that shoulder groove.

I do my therapy exercises every day, and will continue from here on out.  I work with 3 lb. weights at the present moment, and I will increase when I am ready.  I also work with elastic bands.  The only therapy moves that are a bit tough at this point is rotating in and out, or on the diagonal.

I am really pleased with the results and I think the surgeon did a fantastic job.  I still wonder, how, at the age of (almost) 42, I could have had that much arthritis in that joint.  I am beginning to think that the 20+ years of a heavily-loaded bra strap may be the culprit.. :(  The other shoulder is not bothering me at the present moment, although it was showing signs of wear during the months I was depending on it so much as I babied the other shoulder.

It is miraculous how quickly a body can heal!