Fri 28 Oct 2005
I thought I would elaborate a little on our school day. Over the years I have found a few things that help me implement the things that are important to our family. Those things may not be helpful to you at all. Everyone has different priorities. By the way, my dh likes to remind me that priority really doesn’t have a plural. Think about it.
So you probably imagine me doing all the things I think are important along with all the things you think are important but that isn’t how it works. Have you ever been in a group of homeschooling mothers and listened to the conversation and come away feeling like you were failing in 6 different areas? We all want to be the composite supermom and we project that onto women we admire.
Our morning time has become a way for me to fit in the things that would slip between the cracks. As an added benefit, it promotes a family culture and leads to daily family worldview discussions. It also squeezes out some other things that I also think are important but not important enough to give up the benefits I have described.
Recently a mom asked my 12th grader if he liked science. He said simply, “no.” She explained that if she had him in her cover school he would have grown to love science but it was hard to love it without a teacher. I concede the point. BUT I did have a choice to find an outside school to teach my son to love science; I then would have had to drive 45 minutes one way several times a week. It also would have cost as much as a college course. It would have literally squeezed out of our day and our budget the course of humanities that I felt was more important. I made the choice, knowing my options, to stay home and spend more hours on humanities via Gileskirk.
And so it goes. We each have the same number of hours. We each need to find the time for what we find important. That will differ greatly from homeschool to homeschool.
Now if I was just starting out with morning time there wouldn’t be anything to review each day. So I would work on a new piece until it became my first review piece and I moved on to something new. I wouldn’t sing 2 hymns a day until I knew one very well.
My 11 yo, 10yo & 7 yo all do the same thing each day. So before and after morning meeting they work through those things: math, spelling (computer program), math drills(computer), grammar page, handwriting page, reading ( mostly free reading, some assigned or suggested).
My 14yo, 15yo & 17yo work through detailed lists that I have pre-planned in Homeschool Tracker software.
My 4yos does his best to thwart the whole show.
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I finally figured this principle out - only in the opposite direction - about three years ago, when an older woman who had been a public school teacher and raised four boys said of my homeschooling, “I just don’t see how you can get everything done that needs to be done every day.”
It finally dawned on me that folks who say they couldn’t possibly homeschool have an entirely mistaken idea of what, exactly, homeschooling is. Many of them assume that you’re duplicating a public school classroom at home, in addition to maintaining the kind of clean and orderly home that a full-time housewife who has all her kids in school does.
I didn’t say anything to this woman because I knew that doing so would be admitting that I have a much lower standard of housekeeping than she does, but it give me some insight into being able to explain better what homeschooling isn’t to young moms who express any interest.
Comment by Kelly (October 28, 2005 @ 9:23 am )
Cindy,
This really has nothing to do with morning time, but I wanted to tell you we withdrew William (1st grade) from the classical school this morning. He hated going to school and our morning time consisted of him crying on the stairs because he was still so tired (at 6:30 in the morning) and of us listening to all the reasons why he’d be better off at home. He did love it the first week or two, but when the newness wore off he quickly became bored. He was the one who did not want to go away to school with all the rest, but I was so burnt out at the time I packed him off anyway. Now my four-year-old has settled down immensely and is actually a help, and my two-year-old is behaving much better except when complaining about his two-year molars and I think I am up for my eleventh year of homeschooling.
Comment by Jeannine (October 28, 2005 @ 9:35 am )
Jeannine,
I always find homeschooling intense with a 1st grader but you are right, I think, 1st grade is one of the most stressful years in a group situation. There is such a wide span of abilities at that age. I was a 5 yo 1st grader and I still remember how stressed I felt in that grade, even though I loved my teacher.
Have fun with William. Will I see you back on Classed?
Kelly,
I think that is a great epiphany moment for the new homeschool mom. I sometimes cringe when I know what some people imagine I do all day and then I know there are others who underestimate what we do, too.
Comment by Cindy (October 28, 2005 @ 9:41 am )
Cindy,
I will probably rejoin Classed but not until December or January. I already agreed to edit a book next month and that will eat up all my spare time.
My emotions have been so up and down over this whole school thing. William is a seven-year-old first grader, and he didn’t like being the oldest and tallest (by almost a head) in the class, plus he felt things weren’t done in an efficient manner. He said they spent too much time coloring and talking about things he already knew and that he kept waiting for math to get harder so he could learn something, but it always stayed easy. He hated getting up so early and being gone so long–from 7:05 until 3:45-4:00 each day.
When I first told Richard (3rd grade) that William would be staying home, he put his head on the table and cried. He said he always played with William during the lunch recess and would miss him. Then William felt bad and said he would stay in school so he could play with Richard during that half hour. Richard finally convinced William that he could stay home and he’d play with someone else, but the whole thing made me feel very sad and full of regret. Richard loves going to school and enjoys all his classes and is learning a lot, so he wants to stay at the school until Alyssa graduates in 2007.
Comment by Jeannine (October 28, 2005 @ 11:27 am )
Jeannine, I’m a little like you (I think). I have 3 children in a small classical school, I home school one 7 year old daughter and chase my little toddler girl around the house. My 7 year old could go to school for free! But I wanted her home with me
We have a wonderful time at home and I’m so glad we made that decision. I don’t think I will put her in until 3rd or 4th grade or…. I think we could tackle Latin 1 together 
All this to say, you are not alone, these are difficult decisions to make.
Comment by Janet (October 28, 2005 @ 3:35 pm )
Janet,
Your situation is very similar to mine. I have three children at school (two at the classical one) and the 7 year old at home and two wild little boys to chase around. I am so relieved having William home again. I felt so bad for him since he was so miserable. I was afraid to bring up the topic with my husband because of all the money he’d paid for tuition, uniforms, school supplies, etc. Once we actually talked about it, we both quickly agreed to take him out asap.
Comment by Jeannine (October 28, 2005 @ 8:56 pm )
Cindy,
How long does your morning group time last?
Thanks,
Kendall
Comment by Kendall (October 29, 2005 @ 3:20 pm )
Kendall, I answered that in a bit of depth in the previous posts comments. I am too lazy to rewrite it.
Comment by Cindy (October 29, 2005 @ 4:32 pm )
Is your 4 yr old related to my 4 yr old? (and 3yo and 4 mo??!!)
What AO year are you reading through?
Ann V HolyExperience
Comment by AnnV HolyExperience (October 29, 2005 @ 8:22 pm )
Hey Cindy–I’d love to hear more about Homeschool Tracker–wanna post a blog about what that looks like for you?
Ann V.
Comment by AnnV HolyExperience (October 29, 2005 @ 8:34 pm )