Home Schooling....

I serously used to dread that word! I know people who successfully home school their children. They are bright, wonderful, and creative. I however, though I feel I'm bright, a little wonderful, and very creative... never dreamed I would have to fill a roll in educating my child in the basics of reading, writing, and arithmatic.



Well... we've been in school over two weeks now, and we are doing pretty good if I say so myself!!


Granted, I'm cheating a bit. I don't have to prepare my own lessons, come up with creative ways to teach this boy of mine... it's done for me. I'm just here to answer questions, cheer him on, and keep track of attendance. Yes, we have attendance.



We also have Monday morning meetings, which was really fun yesterday. There were over 200 kids across Arizona that also attended the 6th grade meeting. Hmmm... and quite a few of them are living right here in Tucson, and an amazing amount of kids live right here in Vail School District. So... we are in really good company.




I am excited about learning History for the first time in a long time. Today we talked about how the "Indians" got their name, and how the Inuit's came to North America. That was a long walk! I'm finally learning algebra as well. Did you know there are properties in algebra, and can you tell me the difference between commutative, associative, distributive, symmetric and transitive properties? Well, I'm old and just learned that yesterday and today. Yesterday I was very confused, and today... I got it! I was sooo excited!



I have loved reading with Colton some of the best short stories... and have learned valuable lessons from each of them. Colton knows empathy, and kindness, and he's learned being greedy can really get you into trouble. Just ask Baba Abdalla!



So, my 6th grade school year... aka... do over... aka learning coach... is well under way. I will learn so much this year, and though at first I was dreading it... well, okay, on day 4 I contacted C's teacher and said I was through and would send him back to regular school, at which point she gave me the best pep talk a mom would need to hear on day 4 of homeschooling.... here we are on day 11 and I'm feeling pretty good about the whole idea of helping C learn from home.



I am blessed to have children, blessed to have a child willing to learn at all, and equally thankful he can work in a safe place, called home. Someday, I will look back on these days and be grateful we've had this cool time together. It's a bit of work, a bit of sacrifice, and a whole lot of adventurous fun. I hope someday HE can look back at this time together and realize how much this mom loves him.



PS: I might not always answer the phone these days, because I might be right in the middle of a science project, or reading the Rum Tum Tugger, or swimming in the pool in the middle of the day and calling it PE.


But... I will tell you... I am having fun!