I started to title this post “I love my math books”, but then I realized that the books weren’t mine (which is probably at least a small part of why I love them).  But “Life of Fred” for geometry is wonderful.  My daughter actually said that she thought it was a trick to get her to like math.  She is enjoying it and that is a first for us!

Singapore Math is also working out for my little one.  It’s colorful and moves at just the right pace–not so fast that she can’t keep up and not so slow that she get bored.  I like it so much that I have now ordered the Singapore Science.  I hope that it is as good as the math program.

And my son is loving UL.  He’s had a half week now, and it’s going really well.  Every time one of my children is succeeding in an academic setting, I am grateful that my kids are bright and interested and do well in whatever situation they find themselves in.

It’s a great start to a new school year.

Posted: August 27th, 2008 under Resources, emotions.
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This past Saturday was the graduation ceremony for my son.  I have to say that it went incredibly well.  I introduced him (and his accomplishments) to the gathering of his friends that he had invited.  His sisters then sang a song (I Hope You Dance) that he had chosen, which made me cry–just like it had every time they rehearsed it.  Then one of his teachers and mentors gave a short, but very moving, commencement address that had me in tears.  Then we had another sweet and short address by another ones of the people whom he most respects in the world.  Then he gave a speech that had his sisters and me all in tears.  Then we just celebrated the end of one stage of his life and the beginning of the next.

It was wonderful, and exactly what Joseph wanted.  One of the beauties of homeschooling is that you can always create the exact ceremony that you want, instead of having to fit into the school’s version of what a graduation should be.

He is leaving our homeschool now to begin again at UL. 

Posted: June 9th, 2008 under celebration, emotions.
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Posted: June 1st, 2008 under emotions.
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This is the week where we make the final preparations for Joseph’s graduation.  We are trying to “formalize” the party that we had planned as just a celebration by including a couple of people to talk about him and graduation in general, and having Ruth and Martha perform a song in his honor.  I think it’s going to go pretty nicely, except that we’ve got a lot of work to do to get our house ready to receive the guests who are going to join us to celebrate this (sort of ) rite of passage.

I will only have two at home this coming year.  That in itself will be a major change for me.  And the two who are left are at very different stages in their educational journey–one will be in the ninth/tenth grade and the other in first/second grade.   I’m not sure what changes we will be making in our structure, but I’m sure that there will be some changes upcoming. 

I am thinking about the changes that will come to my son now that he is starting college.  I know that it will be very different for him–and will require him to learn some things that he doesn’t have a lot of experience with (like taking notes).  I’m sure that he will be all right, but it does make me nervous that there might be lacks in his education that I have created or failed to bridge.  He has always amazed me, though, by exceeding the (high) expectations that I have for him and doing really well when I was not confident.

One more starting a new stage of life.  It hasn’t been that long since he was too little to do school work.  Now he’ll be in college.  And another child to practice the easing into the parenting of an adult on.  I hope that I do as well as that as he will in college.

Posted: June 1st, 2008 under emotions, opportunities.
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Well….Today is one of those homeschooling days when I start to wonder why my children aren’t in school.  There is something about homeschooling–or any other seemingly countercultural position–that makes me want to present to the world a faultless exterior.  I want our homeschooling experience to be wonderful; I want my children to be happy and involved in learning complex subjects constantly; I want them to be perfectly behaved, but still playful and “edgy”.  I want our house to be absolutely spotless, but still reflect that we are learning here and not consumed with housekeeping.  I want it all.

I forget (or maybe I just want to forget) that we are all human here.  That they are still children and act in childish ways on occasion.  That I get tired and want to do what I want to do instead of what is best for them and our family.  That we can do this successfully–in our own time and with a good outcome.

It never seems to matter on days like this how successful we are.  Last week, I heard my children introduced (by someone I have a huge amount of respect for) as “some of the brightest and most talented children” he had ever met.  Not good enough today.  Not good enough that they have standardized test scores that set them apart from the average child (schooled or not).  Not good enough that they are recognized as artistically talented by professionals in the fields that they are involved in.  Not good enough that people like them and want to be around them.

Maybe writng this was the best thing I could have done for myself today.  Maybe I’ve just reminded myself  that they ARE good enough–and more.

Posted: May 6th, 2008 under emotions, learning.
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