I try to be. I have reminders, sticky notes, smart phone, planners, etc....it just doesn't happen. My brain isn't wired that way. Thank you ADHD.
So, when we were first married and moved to Elizabethtown I noticed that a lot of people in our church, and people that I knew in the community, homeschooled their children. I always thought that homeschooled children were socially awkward, or that only people with super stick religious beliefs did homeschooling. I only knew of one kid being homeschool growing up (she was great). The kids I am meeting now are incredibly smart, disciplined, stylish, active in sports, love Jesus, and are very well adjusted socially! How could this be?!
The pressure began. Before I even had kids! Would I homeschool? Could I homeschool? I feel like homeschooling is now the trend, or the hip thing to do with moms. The schools are failing, kids are getting bullied, more pressure on the children, learning styles aren't appreciated; I get it. But, I also thought I had more time to make this decision about school! How are my kids already almost 2 and 3 1/2?
Ok, so I still don't have a decision on the school thing. The older they get the smaller my house becomes! I'm lucky to have a job where I can work around my husbands schedule and be home with them 90% of the day. Since I am...I realize how disorganized I really am! Would I even want to stay home and do this? Like seriously. Some days nap time is my favorite time. Would my children benefit from a frazzled mom who couldn't get it together? Will they really hate Jesus, hate their parents, and be dumb if I send them to a public school? Would they resent me if I worked and couldn't be at all their activities?!
That being said, I do want to teach them as much as I can at home! In my job I work with kids ages 0-2. I have got it together with that age group. I know what they are supposed to learn, how to support them cognitively and physically, which activities to do, etc. Imagine my horror when my son turned 3. That's where my level of knowledge stops. Now what? Kids at 3 get smart.
Abram has language delays, so I put him in preschool 3 hours 2-3 days a week so he could be around other kids to socialize. Yes, I wanted to jerk him right out :( I was already afraid of the teacher not getting his social/emotional issues, or the kids making fun of him, or leaving him out! I relaxed and he absolutley loves it and talks about it non stop.
At the beginning of the school year we got a report home showing us this testing they had done on him. Marking the levels he knows and the areas he doesn't. What?! Do other 3 year olds do all the things listed in this testing book?! Eeek! So now, i'm not working on sleeping routines and helping him learn language...I'm supposed to actually teach him stuff. Gulp. Numbers and shapes and reading and site letters and tracing and cutting and his name and opposites and rhyming words and on and on and on.
GOOD NEWS ALERT: I have found something that makes all of this so. much. easier. My mini anxiety attack and feeling of not being enough for my kid is gone.
Kumon Workbooks
That's what I don't want him to loose.! I want him to want to learn. I want him to feel confident in learning. I want him to teach himself and do well.
I ran across these workbooks at Barnes and Noble. Honestly, I was just there so my kids could play on that train track they have set up. Sneaky Barnes and Noble for putting these workbooks by that area so I would be drawn to them and buy them. On the outside they had target ages (begin at 2 and go up), so I grabbed a tracing and cutting book. Abram loves scissors; boys will be boys. I always gave him magazines or whatever for him to cut. I wanted him to learn how to use scissors properly. So, instead of letting him cut up random things, I thought the cutting book would be best to teach him to cut and follow directions. He is so active and uninterested in drawing or coloring I honestly didn't think he would be able to do the tracing workbook.
Kumon workbooks are composed of brightly colored, thick pages. The pages are attractive to kids and thick enough they can hold, cuts, erase, and write on. Kumon's philosopy is pretty much 'baby steps'. It starts with simple concept in (draw a straight line) and builds on that in manageable increments. Each page gets a little more difficult. What I found, is that by the end, Abram was confident in his skills enough to do the next. He had mastered the pages before and was ready to move on. I had that feeling we all get as parents sometimes, "My kid is so smart!!". Haha, it's just fun to see your kid learn!! I was there to encourage him and make up stories about the characters on the pages...but they kept a 3 year olds attention! You're supposed to do a couple pages a day. Stopping when they still want to do more so learning is fun and they feel successful.
Not that these workbooks replace schooling...but why not start simple and easy things at home to help your kid when it's time they learn at school?!
I kid you not, he slept with his bottle of glue last night. He promised he wouldn't open it...and he didn't...but he was that excited about it. My kid is so strange, lol! See, you don't need homeschool to be weird ;)
The glue book is targeted towards ages 4.. I think it's because some of the pieces are a little small and difficult to cut out. I help him with those; I just want him to learn to follow the picture example and learn to use glue and scissors together.
Pray. Love. Eat