November 20, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged homeschool, home school, goals, homeschooling, achievements, Eagle Scout, Scouts, Scout, Eagle Scouts, scheduling
Just like so many mothers there are countless things that I want to do with my children and want to help them achieve. For instance, I want my sons to get their Eagle Scout award. I also want them to get a few other church related rewards. Not for the recognition but because I love the idea of helping them set goals, work toward something, and then really achieve the end result.
I believe that a lot of moms have a problem because it is hard to let the child do all of the work and to not take over at least part of it. We all want so much for our children but it is important to remember that they need to earn things for themselves. I also feel that children need some prodding but it isn’t my job to take over all the drive for the Eagle Scout award (as one example).
There is a lady that our family knows that wants her son to get his Eagle Scout and she has been the main driving force for him to get it. He whines, complains and drags his feet and she keeps him going but at the end of the day I wonder if she isn’t the one who really deserves the award, not the son. She has put so much work into his award. Not that I think it is bad to push our children because they cannot possibly have the wisdom to realize how good some programs are for them or how much some things will add to their lives. I just don’t think we should do everything but show up for them.
Then, I run into the fact that I may have overloaded a few things. It’s hard for me to keep up with all of it for four kids and then I wonder how they are fairing. If you have read my blog for long you know that I do not believe in over scheduling children. Hopefully we are not over scheduled but we have quite a few things going on all at once and today it is feeling quite overwhelming.
November 18, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged chess club, chess club for kids, home school, homeschool, homeschool chess club, leadership, teaching leadership
We had our first homeschool chess club meeting last Friday and it was a great success. We had 16 children come and we had a few parents stay to learn how to play. It was so much fun and the kids were really into it. We are hoping that we will have continued success with getting kids out to play.
This week we are putting in a President, Vice President, Secretary and a few other leadership responsibilities so that the kids all learn more leadership skills. We are hoping that in short order the kids are running the show, teaching each other, and becoming great leaders.
My challenge is that I am not very creative at finding ways for the kids to be leaders and gain these great skills that are so needed! If anyone has any suggestions that would work in a chess club setting I would love to hear from you!
November 9, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged amateur radio, chat rooms, children and internet, curriculum, daily cuurriculum, ham radio, home school, homeschool
My in-laws decided to get their ham radio certification or license or whatever it is you need to have. They now are good to go and have tons of equipment. I have never been the least bit interested in such things. My older brother is the type that loves this sort of thing and recently he decided to do the course. He asked my boys (ages 11 and 10) if they would like to do it and take the test. He even paid for their books. So, they are excited (why, I have no idea, I just don’t get it) but that means that I have to somehow fit this into things so that they study the stuff regularly and the only way I know to do it is to put it into our daily curriculum.
The other alternative is to do it on Friday’s which my husband now has off of work because his company shortened the work week. The strange thing is that since I found out he is going to have Friday’s off I have a long list of all the wonderful things that we can do with this day and the list has gotten so long that there is no way to fit it all in.
Anyway, amateur radio here we come. I am hoping that I can be consistent about it. I’m also hoping that my older son can somehow gain a Scout merit badge for doing all this work. My main worry is that I will lose interest and not prod them along. I need to just buck up and be supportive. Somehow I need to find out why it would be good for anyone to have this license and to get excited about it. My in-laws got it to help with our church as a way to get information in times of crisis in case there are no other means to communicate. I can see that but I doubt that any church is going to put a 10 year old in charge of such communication. On top of which, we have no money to buy the pricey equipment that it takes to be part of this at home.
Then it brings up the fear that you don’t know who your children could be communicating with. There is always that crazy guy or gal that lives in the mountains with animals and preys on young children (yes, my imagination is vivid and scary). My children are only allowed online with an adult in the room monitoring what goes on and they are never, never, never allowed in a chat room. They are also not permitted to use a webcam. I just think, better safe than sorry. So, yes, this communicating with strangers around the country/world worries me. I could talk myself out of this but I don’t want them to be kept from something that could be a hobby or useful down the road.
Any thoughts?
November 6, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged assemblies, election, family time, home school, homeschool, Midsummer Night's Dream, performing arts, political science, politics
On November 4th my three oldest children were allowed to stay up with all of the adults that were at our home and watch all the election news. They didn’t go to sleep until they had heard Obama’s speech. It was such a good evening for them. My family is very opinionated and yesterday we talked about hearing everyone’s opinion, educating ourselves and then making up our own minds. This was a valuable lesson for the kids as they are prone to want to fit in and think like the adults.
One thing that I loved about my family get together on election night was that everyone helps to explain things to the children. It is great for the children to be taught by someone else, especially when they are really interested. This election really had their attention. Hopefully this helps to make them more community minded and to know that their vote matters so they better know what they are doing when they go to choose people to run the country.
Needless to say that put us to bed very late. The kids are usually always in bed by 8 p.m. and are allowed to read quietly for a while before lights out. The following morning though, we had to get up really early so that we could all be ready for a play at a local performing arts based high school. They were doing a matinee of a Midsummer Night’s Dream for our group and we didn’t want to pass up the opportunity. It is a little drive to get there and we had to drop the younger two off at their grandparent’s house. The play was pretty good. The kids thought it was funny. I took them so that they could see what other kids do and to be exposed to some performing arts. We do this quite often and they really enjoy it.
We got home way after lunch which meant that not a lot of technical school work got done but I figure it is no different than public school days having assemblies and other activities.
November 2, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged behavior, behavior disorder, behavior disorders, disorder, home school, homeschool, parenting
Homeschool families have a unique opportunity in how they can deal with children or teens with behavior disorders. A behavior disorder can be hard to diagnose but a lot of families get their diagnosis and decide to keep a child out of the public school system so that they can work around a child’s needs and help to nurture them well or at least learn to cope with their behavior disorder.
I have read a lot about behavior disorders lately and have been so enlightened. I have been blessed so far that none of my children seem to show signs or symptoms of such a problem. We would cope with it if this were to happen but it would not be easy.
So, dear readers, I ask: Does your child or teen have a behavior disorder? If so, how do you make things work during your homeschool day? What do you do that works? What have you done that didn’t work? Please share!
