Can I Do This?

Can I do this?

I've been reading everything I can get my hands on or get a link to about the many, many, ways to homeschool for nearly three years now. Wow. It's hard to believe it's been that long. My spouse always wanted to homeschool but I fought that concept as I knew it would fall to me to handle it. Lol, in getting copies of my son's medical records, even the pediatrian had documented this fact back prior to my son being of school age! (That was an interesting and unexpected tidbit to stumble over.)

I fought homeschooling as I had to work. I didn't even work normal hours so I needed the kids to be at school so I could sleep as I worked the midnight shift. So we put the youngest in school and it was terrible. My youngest was pulled out in Kindergarten, then first grade gifted, then the final straw was a private Christian school. I was being sleep deprived anyway so I'd just have to figure out how to deal with this, too, as the 'system' wasn't working.

Why wasn't the system working? Our older girls weren't having these problems. They had some, but nothing like what the littlest was going through. I've spent many hours pondering this and have come to the conclusion that girls are just wired different then boys. It also didn't help that my son was way beyond grade level. He was reading at an eighth grade level and doing math above a fourth grade level in first grade. Facts I didn't learn until I pulled him from the school and demanded his records.

We tried school at home using the kitchen table. My son was a silly little boy and did his math as he hung upside down. He did oral spelling tests while hopping around the room. Then Grandma had a stroke and the silly little boy had to stop being so bouncy in the dining room since Grandma was now there.

We moved into unschooling and it's something that I will never regret. I learned more and more about the way kids learn and I am always searching for more and more interesting things to strew about the house. I think the most powerful resource for learning has been in simple conversations. Yes, that's right, as a family, we discuss a wide and varied range of topics. I find myself constantly learning so I can answer the questions with knowledge.

But can I really keep this up? I've raised my kids to be free thinkers. I don't tell them their thoughts are wrong. I do ask them to explain and back up their thoughts. I do give them the right to choose what they would like to explore. I don't really test them. I say 'really' because sometimes that need to know if they really know does slip back in and I find myself giving an oral pop quiz of sorts.

An example of this was in discussing with my youngest what topics are normally covered in fourth grade. As we unschooled the normal fourth grade year, I was curious if he had actually learned any of the things that would have been covered had we have done a curriculum. Well the answer is yes! That really tripped me out as he had in fact learned all that he would have even though we never touched curriculum!

So here we are at the end of August. Back to school is being blared everywhere. Worse. Now I have to work 8-4 what most people consider the normal learning hours. I've been feeling so like a failure. Like I need to be home so I can make sure I can enrich my kids world. The homeschoolers are gathering at co-ops and parkdays while I'm at the office. Some days dad is home. Some days the kids are home alone with grandma. (Note: my kids are 10, 16 & 18 so not too young to be home without me.)

I feel so pulled. Then a wonderful thing happens and the Lord provides encouragement. I read a comment made on another friend's blog. It cheered me up even though it wasn't directed at me. Simple words of encouragement. Then another email slips into my inbox 'Are you qualified to homeschool?' Actually, at the moment, I'm feeling that I'm 'qualified' but not doing a bang up job at it so I go to read the article and my spirit is lifted up a bit more. I check my inbox again, (I'm waiting on a response about an order placed for stage makeup....) and a dear friend has sent me the 'I Will Survive (Homeschooling Parody)'. Wow! The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways.
Can I do this? Yes I can.

Littlest Chick

Here's a picture of the newest baby at our place.
This little cutie is actually two weeks old!

We've been raising baby birds of all types for around ten years now and this is one of the smallest chickens I've seen to date. Wish we would have gotten birthday pictures as this one fit into George's hand that day as it now fit's into my spouse's hand at two weeks.

My Kids

Caylee, eighteen, just graduated the Firefighting/EMT College and will be pursuing her Firefighting career as she also pursues her Paramedic Certificate. (And probably B.S. degree)

Next is Melissa, sixteen, and enrolled in Florida Virtual School.

Then there's George (and Rex), ten, unschooling.

Here's our new computer center. These two love sitting side by side as they work and play.

Melissa and Caylee are pursuing their Pilot's license. George says he has no interest as he is currently afraid of heights. George is pursuing computer game design and biology.

I don't know if George will ever do FLVS or not as he is so hard to place per grade which seems to be needed for these types of education. Sometimes I wonder just where he has picked up his learning styles but I figure some are unique to him and his DNA, some he learns from his older sisters. He's my only 'unschooler' and he loves it. (The girls love format to their education.)

Sometimes, second guessing yourself can become an issue.

Unschooling is soooo differant then the main stream thought towards education most of us have been raised with. Myself and my spouse included. It implies that the same way a child learns till age five, then contunies to learn after the "schooling years", doesn't need to have this twelve year blip. The learning happens naturally and continuously, through those twelve years without 'forced learning' being inflicted on the child. If you looked at George for an example, well, one would say unschooling works. He is well ahead of his age level of learning even though he still has his silly 'boy' moments, lol.

When doubt or questions enter my head, I look up Curriculum Standards. It helps me know what is considered the average learning and subjects that George should have a grasp of. So far, so good. George is way ahead of these, so I'm just going to keep feeding his interests and see where it leads.

Vicki

Thai Vegetable Stir Fry With Creole Salmon

JoAnn suggested I post a few of the healthy meals we've been making lately. So here's what we had for dinner tonight.

Thai Vegetable Stir Fry and Fresh baked Salmon with Creole Seasoning over Brown Rice

Melissa started the rice first as it takes so long to cook. I prefer Minute Rice but since we are working towards changing habits to the more healthy options, we went for the long cooking brown rice. Caylee and I started chopping the veggies. Here's the recipe. (We usually ad-lib it to suit our taste each time we make it and what we're in the mood for.)

1 can (14 oz) light coconut milk (we used fresh)
2 cloves of garlic chopped up
dash of lemon peel to taste
dash of lime peel to taste
1 cup sliced mushrooms (we skipped these tonight but not every time we make this)
2 cups asparagus tips
1 can baby corn
1 red pepper sliced
1 small head of bok choy stems sliced & leaves left whole
1/4 cup unsalted peanuts (Caylee doesn't like so she skips these)
red pepper flakes per taste buds
1 tbs light low sodium soy sauce
1 tbs fresh lime juice
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
fresh basil slivered

We throw the coconut milk, garlic, lemon and lime into a large wok and add heat. Then we add the veggies, peanuts (if I'm cooking, lol), and red pepper flakes. Simmer for ten minutes or so. Add the soy sauce, lime juice, lemon juice and basil, simmer while stirring constantly for a few minutes. Skip the red pepper flakes if you don't like spice.
After the veggies were chopped, I prepared the fresh salmon by rinsing and patting it dry then lightly coating it with olive oil. Tonight's choice of spice was creole seasoning so I sprinkled it on the fish then slipped the salmon into the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes. You know it's ready when it flakes nicely.

I served this on my small retangular Oriental plates. A small portion of Salmon next to a small portion of rice covered in the Thai Vegetables dribbled with the coconut sauce. Yum! George ate his with a side of fresh Sushi. Caylee just wanted the Thai Vegetables with a small nibble of salmon. Melissa doesn't eat fish or anything else that sounds Oriental, so she had a chicken breast with baked beans cooked with pineapple. Grandma ate a heaping normal dinner plate loaded with everything. ( I mention this as Grandma isn't holding weight yet she eats huge amounts. I'm just the opposite.) And for those who are wondering, my spouse is on duty so he gets leftovers tomorrow if he wants to try it. I didn't think about pictures till after the kitchen was all cleaned up.

Olympic Learning

The Olympics are off to a great start and this is the first year that the Summer games have held much importance to my ten year old. We gathered as a family on our big comfy couch and watched the opening ceremony. We set the DVR to record all the games and have dedicated the next two weeks to cheering on the American athletes. Along with watching the games, many questions get asked so we've been keeping a laptop close so we can quickly get the answers. (I love the internet!)

Just thought I'd share a couple of these Olympic links. ;-)

http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/GL/95A/GL0000000.shtml

http://en.beijing2008.cn/

http://en.beijing2008.cn/education/

http://www.schoolexpress.com/ishop/software/olympic_9tge.pdf

http://www.china.org.cn/olympic/node_1114380.htm

http://www.scottosplace.com/OlympicsEduMaterials08.shtml