Based on the blog posts I've read this evening from the link-up, I can tell you right off the bat that I am probably the example of what NOT to do. I have no schedule or routine or any semblance of order at all. It's the most haphazard mess imaginable, and still have happy and (kind of) educated children at the end of the day. It's no way to run the day, especially with a kid on the autism spectrum, but in 6 years of trying to nail down a consistent, every-day routine, I have FAILED.
No, this is not just me being mean to myself. It's a hard cold fact. One day, we start school at 9:30, the next day it's at 11. And by "start school," that could mean anything from actually getting downstairs to our school table ... but wait, it's covered in discarded drawings and bits of crayon wrapper, so we have to clean first ... and on and on it goes. I've taken to writing up the daily list of assignments, and they just get done whenever, sometimes the next day. I'm trying to get everything done by the end of the week, but that's inconsistent too. We fight tooth and nail about doing math (despite coming at it from every direction I can think of), handwriting is boooring, history is tolerated, and art means drawing on any piece of paper you can find with markers. I do not feel successful very often.
My saving grace is that my children love to READ. They all learned to read right around their 4th birthday without much coaching at all, if any. We go to the library at least once a week and our average take-home haul is around 30 books. (The record is currently 55.) They love to look at non-fiction science-y books - the more illustrations, the better. They've literally read geography atlases to pieces. They've been on mythology kick for about 2 months and have knocked out about 40 books that we've gotten from 3 different libraries. The younger girls and I are working our way up to 1000 picture books - I'm keeping a list, and we just passed 500. We've let Sunny start using the Kindle app on our tablet, and she rips through classic literature. They read ALL THE TIME. "Put the book down and eat your food," is said at least once per meal. Sometimes once per meal per kid, and that's when we've finally shouted at them to get to the table or they're not eating at all. Because they were reading. Most of what my children know is what they've read, not what I've taught them.
The one thing we have in our day that's consistent with a clock is bedtime. At 8 pm, the girls shower and get in their pajamas, and we have family scriptures and prayer. The older girls also take turns to read scriptures for their personal study with Dad at night, while I get everyone through brushing teeth and into bed. Regardless of how long all of that takes (anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes), when they finally are all in their beds, they may read until 9:30. Lights out is at 9:30.
So take heart, fellow homeschoolers! Despite our flaws and spectacular failures as parents, our kids are going to be all right.
1 comment:
It's nice to see another LDS homeschooling mom. :) All throughout my son's elementary years that was basically all we did together, read, read, read. We visited the library often (it was in walking distance back then which was fun) and he loved the non-fiction section best. He is 13 now and although our days have become a little more scheduled, mostly thanks to his online LDS-based classes which we love, we are still pretty laid back. Other than his science and history class, we tackle math together and read, read, read! So, I think you're doing GREAT!
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