Circus music
Do you hear that music? I do a great deal because my mind constantly races with homeschooling and everything that goes along with that. The zooming thoughts in my head go something like this..
Alarm sounds at 6:45. I hit the snooze button to capture a few more minutes of sleep. Then, I sleepily pray over our day. Feet hit the floor. Dress, make coffee, check email, wake children. Chores and breakfast follow. Review Bible materials and timeline over breakfast along with Classical Conversarions songs on IPad app (math facts mostly). Begin the day with Pledge and singing of the National Anthem around the piano while I play the song. Academics formally begin. I rotate among all of the kids. Oldest son is learning to look over his daily schedule and attempt most of his work independently. “Read the directions carefully. Read the directions carefully. Read the directions carefully”, and I will still need to say it again. Math, grammar, composition, and spelling must still be done with me, so I will work those subjects in with him in between the other 3 kids’ academics. The other three kids also need my full attention for many things, but in between, they are given independent work of math drills, manipulatives, copywork, listening to phonograms, calendar, computer lessons and games, and independent reading. They also play with a lot of Legos. If I sit during the day, it’s to teach or look something up on the computer. My mind races all of the time. My thoughts for the day included considering hosting a foreign exchange student, researching science fairs, reading the Maker site, are our extracurricular choices the right ones, appreciating that our Raspberry Pi needs to be used, and recognizing the need to increase their math drill requirement. It just doesn’t stop, and I feel pressure for my kids to be able to compete for colleges and careers. The music gets very loud at times.
One new experience for my oldest today was that he began a six-weeks science course at the local public school. He will be studying a variety of topics including nature journaling, birds, pond ecology, tree life, and pollution. It’ll be a nice change from doing science with just mom, and it will provide him another opportunity to potentially make new friends.
Tonight, I had the pleasure of hanging out with some superstar homeschooling moms. We get together every few weeks to discuss anything from educational trends to curricula to just simply venting. Good stuff, especially since we enjoyed conversation over birthday cake.
1:30 a.m.-time for bed.
Now to reflect…I’m so thankful that I was able to compliment my daughter on how beautifully she read as we sat on the couch together. I’m so thankful that I was able to listen to my youngest son read to me while sitting together on the kitchen bench. I’m so thankful I was able to praise my son for doing such a great job with his math problems. I’m so thankful I was able to observe my son taking the reins on his academics. I’m so thankful for the priceless moments, because they come and go in a blink of an eye.
Fake kids and Florence Nightingale
I finished math lessons with the kids tonight around 11:30. It sounds like a mad thing to do, but it really is just a necessity. Their evening hours have grown increasingly longer into the night while we are at the beach, so I’m just taking advantage of that. If I didn’t cover something during the day, then I’m trying to get to it at night. It might as well be math, and it really should be math. I use their mood and clarity of thought to tell me if they will understand their lessons, so I always stop when I see they are just done (and me,too). They did watch a mini-show on Florence Nightingale tonight just before bed. Big fan of those educational cartoons, although that meant that Pinocchio was not read.
I’ve been reading more on the admissions process into the Ivies and other upper tier colleges. Just baffling to me the lengths that some students and parents are going to in order to gain acceptance. Folks are trying to fill the squares and solve the formula. Kids are trying to start charities, volunteer hundreds of hours, be in everything and be somebody, not because they love to do that but because they have to do that. The whole process appears to be contradictory to education, in general. I imagine an educational institution would want to see an applicant’s characteristics including such things as authenticity, honesty, passion for the area of study, and responsibility. Current media seems to be highlighting a different picture of Ivy applicants, and the characteristics are quite the opposite to include fakeness and forgery. I hope these colleges see through the fallacy of those applicants who choose a win-at-all costs belief system, none of which appears to be related to the joy of learning. I don’t know. Sometimes, I feel a bit like Jekyll and Hyde. I feel myself getting caught up in the craziness, and then sometimes I just shake my head at the absurdity of it all which really makes me a hypocrite, doesn’t it?
Nevertheless, you know what would be really impressive for a university to do? Throw the whole system out the window. Get rid of the SAT mess and the break-the-code mentality. The process ruins learning for children. They should come up with an admissions process where kids could not simply fill squares and think that will get them in. No, an ideal admissions process would be one where those kids who really went after the joy of learning and pursued their true talents and interests would be rewarded for doing such. What would that look like? I’m surprised there’s been no originality with it all. Seems so boring and stale, and for institutions who say they are looking for unique individuals, their screening of individuals is the opposite of uniqueness. The two ideas do not mesh at all. It’s an interesting thought to ponder. Come on Ivies, impress us with something different!
Ivy League Homeschooling 