Moving right along
Life is moving quickly and recording it seems low on priority list right now! This morning we finished the throughly absorbing Princess Academy. Scott came home from work and saw my sweaty armpits and asked what was up. I said, "This book had us laughing, crying and clutching each other--of course I am sweating!"
Evie really hurt her foot last night (just a wrong step) so she is hobbling around today and just went to get dressed (yes, it is 12:30 pm) and is off to find friends. We have plans for a Big Bang project but they might not happen today--or this week!
And now for an admission of homeschooling uncertainty. Each new school year brings, for me, a few moments of panic. Are we doing this right? Am I scarring her for life? Does she know what schooled kids her age know? Do I care? So, each year I usually peruse curricula, usually math. I even go so far as to order the introductory video (or workbook or whatever) and then I get it and say "WHAT!!?!? I don't want this!" Then I am okay for a few days and then I start to worry all over again--is she gaining the skills she needs in life? That's when I usually search the internet for some worksheet or test to give her to assuage my worry--I know, not my best parenting moment. She never seems bothered and today I gave her a sheet of word problems from a pre-test for placement in a math curriculum (I will refrain from naming the curriculum to protect the guilty--wait that's me). She easily completed it and looked at my strangely as I praised her work. Here is the thing. . . I don't teach her math. I think I once showed her the idea of borrowing in subtraction because she asked but. . . how does she learn all this stuff? How does she learn to do the basic computation AND know when to use what kind of math. She regularly multiplies in her head, uses fractions all the time and comes with elegant building solutions using what is commonly know as geometry--amazing! I think I will have to reread this post in a few months when the bogey-thoughts are back in my head--for now I guess I will just be happy that I haven't screwed up too badly yet!
2 comments:
My kids actually do go to public school (I don't have the time or patience to homeschool, at least not now, maybe for middle school) and the way they teach math these days is a very open-ended, figure it out for themselves, type of thing.
It's much more creative and artistic that the way I was taught, but I guess they finally realized that most kids understand it better that way.
Good for you. Maybe homeschoolers are setting the standard for public schools. (cept they'll never be able to achieve the great student/teacher ratio.)
>>Each new school year brings, for me, a few moments of panic. Are we doing this right? Am I scarring her for life? Does she know what schooled kids her age know? Do I care? So, each year I usually peruse curricula, usually math.<<<
Hahahaha I have to laugh at this part.. it probably describes alot of us, whether we choose to admnit it or not. But I know with each year I feel more confident..uhhh I think .
-livefreeinharmony(on xanga)
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