Brain Dump

I just finished reading the general chapters of "The Well Trained Mind" By Bauer and Wise. When I picked it up from the library I literally did a double take cause it was the thickest book I have read i a long time. It was rather interesting though and it is not a book you read cover to cover, but one that you invest in purchasing and rereading sections of as you enter the grade/level that the students are entering. A lot of what they said made a lot of sense, and I am seriously thinking about it. There isn't much to the really early years except read, read, read. and not the little thin books, but starting easy chapter books as early as 4 years of age so that the kids get used to the way the words sound being read to them.

Like I said, I am thinking about the lessons that they presented. I am also looking at lapbooking. I know that it is a totally different way of doing it, but there actually are lots of similarities. Instead of grouping all the assignments together in subject order, lapbooks group them by topic, so within each unit study, there are student examples of all the subjects. Lapbooking is a much more artistic approach to the learning, and Savannah is a very visual, artistic crafty person.

You want an example? This morning I had to get after her cause within ten minutes of being out of bed she already had the glue and scissors out, cutting up her junk paper. She hadn't had breakfast, used the bathroom or anything. She literally was out of bed and crafting. I don't think I could ever do enough crafting in a day to satisfy her. By doing the lapbooking you do lots of little projects like that, then glue them in groups to the inside of folders, folded in such a way as to resemble a book.... or you take thrift store books and redecorate the pages to make a new book....

I have discovered though that a serious homeschooling families seem to NEED a computer, which my husband very graciously provided (Did I mention that I got a brand new computer one day not to long ago) and a PRINTER. We also have the printer but it is not set up with the computer.... and even if it was it is in Zoe's room/office which isn't necessarily kid proof and if Zoe is napping, well, forget the printer. Along with the printer, I can easily see a homeschooler going through lots of paper, lots of ink, and lots of crayons/markers/etc. You also NEED space.... for the completed assignments that are portfolio worthy as well as all the supplies....

Anyways, I go back and forth still about whether I desire to homeschool full time right now or wait till Kindergarten. My child is just so energetic and so social (She doesn't know how to play independently) that I still debate signing her up for part time preschool and bringing her home before the real school system schooling starts, or just keeping her home from the beginning.

The whole homeschooling issues are compounded by the fact that Savannah has vision classes. Bauer and Wise suggest that homeschoolers not contact the school system for any reason except for that required by law, as any contact and inclusion in the school system opens up opportunities for the school officials to investigate the homeschool setting, but in Savannah's case, she already receives services for vision and I don't see that ending anytime before official school starts.

Whichever our family chooses, we have over a year to prepare. The subject has just come up lately because the family across the street has a first grader that they are considering homeschooling, and other kids that are in Savannah's age group start school this year (voluntary pre-k) while others like her miss the deadline due to their birth date. So there has just been lots of talk lately about school in general. One of the benefits to homeschooling too, is that a student is not limited by their age but by their ability.... and mom's frustration level.

It's funny, but I remember, with my background college degree being education, at graduation time thinking, oh homeschooling would be easy, you just start "doing school" and you don't have to juggle all those kids. I didn't understand the full scope of what doing school meant or what it would mean to do several skill levels at a time. Now I am in the other side of the coin.... when the idea of homeschooling looms out ahead, a huge gigantic task that seems too overwhelming, but not quite ready to start taking tasks one at a time to eventually complete the larger task.

(Judging by all the words spell check caught with this post, it looks like I could benefit from all these school lessons too!)