Homeschools and their Families
We’ve discussed this in great depth many many times over. One would think that I would grow tired of beating this horse but for some reason, lately, I’m beating horses on all my sites. Here I am beating the homeschooling horse. On my personal blog? I’m beating the potty training and weight loss horses over there. On my Marital Talk blog I am beating the "sexual desires/hormones" horse and on my Mental & Emotional Health Blog I am beating the "ut oh I forgot to post" horse. Add in the fact that I just am lazy and my 4.1 year child is about to eat me out of home and it’s all out of boredom, I was sparked by that and a post from Principled Discovery entitled Homeschooling Family Values.
You see, my little less than 30 pound 4.1 year old that is NOT POTTY TRAINED YET FOR THE LOVE OF MARY, wants to eat and drink all day when we are home. I know he is doing it out of boredom. It drives me nuts because yes, he drinks a lot and I, I happen to drink a lot myself so I try not to complain a lot about that one. But the eating, this morning alone he spotted what he thought was a muffin in the fridge. It was really a cornbread muffin left from….yes, Christmas Day (do not judge on why it hasn’t been tossed in the trash) and he had to have it. He gnawed on it long enough to make this horrible mess and then he moved on. He saw me put cheese and crackers in Ditto Boy’s lunch. The kind that come in a little pack with the crackers and a little yellow stick and cheese in it’s own compartment.
He had one of those cheese and cracker things and threw the mother of all fits because he couldn’t have a second one. Now he is working on some peanut butter crackers which come in a package of 8 and he just walked up to me, hugged me, played in my hair and said, "but I’m thirrrrsttttty".
How can you turn that down.
So, when I think about the dynamics of homeschooling, I think about the fact that my oldest child had to FORCE me out of bed so he wouldn’t be late for school, he and his brother were cheerfully watching TV (I don’t normally sleep when I am here alone with the kids, but every now and again, they will slip out of bed (much like Christmas morning at 3 AM) and they don’t wake me up) and we had to move at break-neck speed to get him to school to 5 minutes late.
So, where would I ever find the discipline to homeschool? Where would I find the force behind getting my butt up in the mornings and making them do school work when all I really want to do is sleep?
Just curious, how do you handle these things?
January 6th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Oh, honey. That is one of the hidden bonuses of homeschooling!!! When we were in “traditional”/ “institutional” school, there was yelling. Every morning. To get the child up, fed, dressed, and to school on time. For some kooky reason all the school around here start before 8 a.m. Now at home, we can all sleep in as late as we want. We still do need the discipline of a schedule, but it doesn’t have to start at 6 a.m. Yesterday we started school at 10 a.m., after our getting up routine, our chore routine, and a trip to the bank. We ended later in the day than I would like but hey, I didn’t yell at ANYONE to get up or get dressed or get moving.
And having that schedule is going to help even with the 4 year old at home. Write down what your “dream day” would look like. Post it in a visible place for you and make it visual for the kids. Add in ACTIVITIES for the 4 year old to choose from (a board game, sweep the kitchen floor, oops it’s 9:15, time to sit on the potty for 15 minutes!) and invest in a kitchen timer to help him track the time (”you have to wait for the timer before you get another snack”).
January 6th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Get Kyrgyzstan to release our kids, give us a few months to get things roughly under control, and ask me then [smile]. My wife struggles with routine and I’m interested in how it will all turn out.
But Mamasteff is right: Homeschooling provides flexibility in ways that make this whole “school thing” a joy and not a schedule stress.
~Luke
January 6th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
The ROOT of homeschooling is it’s flexibility. You wouldn’t believe the number of days that we start about 1 or 2 in the afternoon! And every day is open to change if something comes up.
With time the kids have learned that doing “other stuff” means that we still need to come back and get seatwork done. They learn to make choices and figure out what’s really important.
January 6th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
I am the same way. The kids often wake me up in the morning. However, once I’m up, I’m the one pushing them out of the house.
It all works out. Just as it works out for you and school, homeschooling works out with all of our personality quirks. We work our schedules and habits around each other’s needs, and find a family rhythm. The beauty is that we don’t have this huge thing smack in the middle of it all adding to the mix.
It takes a while to find a good pace, just as it does when adjusting to any new lifestyle. But it eventually happens, then you wonder how you ever used to get along with school in the way.
Jeri, don’t worry so much. It’s all good.
January 7th, 2009 at 11:36 am
As far as the constant eating goes, that tends to run in cycles. Some weeks, a kid will eat a wildebeast every day, then subsist on air and cereal for what seems like weeks. In order to avoid losing it, set up an area in the fridge and cupboard where he can find his own healthy nibbles. Invest in a large water bottle for him, fill it up and leave it on the kitchen counter. He’ll probably try the old “but there’s nothing I want here!” routine, but if you stick to the shelf between meals, he’ll eventually give up. I have 5 kids who grow at different rates, and if it wasn’t for this self serve snack bar concept, I’d be a raving loon. Or at least a worse one. This is also a great time saver when some kids get done with schoolwork and want lunch, while others are still finishing. As far as the getting out of bed in the morning for school, guess what? You don’t have to! If you like to sleep in, the kids can have a later bedtime, and not be up so early. Save the adult - intensive work for the afternoon, they can do basic skills practice and computer work in the a.m. You run the show the way it suits your family best. By the way, the more time you and your kids spend together, the better you all get along. I find it harder to deal with my children when I have been spending more time away from them. When kids are in school all day, evenings, weekends, and vacations are deviations from normal. When kids learn at home, being at home is the norm. Homeschooling is not easy, there are challenges and difficulties, but they generally do not involve logistics as much as people assume. And don’t worry; your little guy will learn to use the potty. My 5th kid turned 4 in October, and steadfastedly refuses to poop anywhere but in a pull-up. We finally figured out it was due to a, shall we say, texture issue. So we’re trying out some Metamucil, and we’ll see. Just chill out about it, and accept that it’s not because you are a deficient mother. He’ll get it when he’s ready.