Just pondering

I've always loved etymology. :)

School: I love the ancient Greek word skhole. It means leisure spent in pursuit of knowledge or time used for intellectual discussion. How awesome is that?

Learn: to get knowledge; to be cultivated.

And studying these words today lead to studies of words like "know", "knowledge" and "wit". So glad for my 7th grade gifted class on root words. Coolest class I think I ever had in school. Off to have "school" and hope that we can have some intellectual discussions today. :)

Curricula or not?

Now that we've started to find our way through the maze of home learning, the big question becomes curriculum. This year we've used a hodge podge of curricula. It's worked for us, sometimes really, really well. But it's been a ton of work and I've had to throw out great curricula I created because it didn't fit Haley's learning style, her interests or was too much work for the educational payoff. We've concentrated our efforts, condensed our volume of work and found true learning without all of the superfluous bells and whistles.

So what about next year? I'm currently trying to find a language arts program and a science program. Maybe a math program. Or maybe not. Which brings me to an even bigger question: How school-y are we going to be?

I know we are going to continue with our relaxed attitude. "Unschool" is not something I think will work for us--I'm not sure I can relax that much. I am, after all, a control freak. Haley is generally resistant to challenging herself. So while I believe in the concept of "unschooling", especially in children with internal motivation, we're not ready for that. Since I don't want to move backward in our educational journey, that leaves me with continuing what we are doing.

Choosing exactly what to do and how much to do and when to do it is a huge decision. I hate to waste money buying something we'll hate or that won't work. So I'm researching, researching, researching and trying to walk that fine line between following our interests and forcing a set curriculum on Haley. I'm trying to find a balance between home learning and home schooling. Schooling is unimportant to me but learning? Learning is essential. And joyfully learning is vital!

Deschooling thoughts (or, in other words, finding our way)

I know. Jason and I completely stink at updating our blog. Please don't throw tomatoes at us. We are nice people. Promise!

I've been thinking a lot about our homeschooling journey. We've gone in a huge, curving, oops-I-missed-my-turn type of journey to get from a simple point A to point B. I think our meandering journey was a necessary part of figuring all of this out.

Before we made the decision to pull Haley out of public school, I had read about the concept of "deschooling" but didn't grasp how much I needed to deschool myself. I haven't been in school since I graduated from college in 1995. Still, deschooling for me has been the somewhat long and quite difficult process of getting rid of my old ideas about "school" and replacing them with the ideas in my heart and mind about learning. I have always been a learner. Somewhat of an obsessive learner, actually. What I really needed to do was stop trying to make our home a school like the one Haley used to attend (which didn't meet her needs) and follow my heart about how she might learn best.

We started in August with all kinds of schedules and a huge list of things a second grader "needed" to know. I was obsessed about making sure we did 5-6 hours a day of hardcore "school". No extra stuff until we finished with "school". Talk about stressful! This tactic is a bit amusing in hindsight, since anxiety was a huge reason we chose to homeschool.

I felt guilty for the first few months, constantly worried that we weren't doing this "right". It's already laughable, just a few months later. There is no "right" way to homeschool. I realize that now.

Things have been hard. Within months of beginning, I had to throw out all kinds of curriculum choices, things I had worked hard to put together. I had to adapt to Haley's attention problems and extreme emotional impulsivity. I had to adjust to being with her 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I had to adapt my schedule to fit her back into it. I had to really focus on her intelligence, humor and creativity because I knew that in order to be successful, we needed to emphasize her strengths and minimize her weaknesses. But the "how" of doing that was hard to find.

After struggling for a few months, I decided to be "lazy". To relax. To watch her and listen to her and see what happened. I realized that Haley is an auditory learner. That didn't mesh with my teaching style at all. Huge problem! I had been feeling that in order to be a supermom and extraordinary teacher, we should be doing lots of hands-on activities. You know, "fun stuff". I added lots of multi-media, activities, songs, games. That stuff went over like a lead balloon.

What did Haley really want to do? Listen. She loves to be read to, she loves to listen to music, she loves to listen to shows. She even likes her worksheets (but only with music or tv noise in the background). Most of the other stuff I was hoping we would do? Nope. Nada. No interest. In fact, if I had a nickel for every time she threw a fit over something "fun", well, I'd be ready to head on a nice long European vacation by now.

I really should not have been surprised. Haley is amazingly verbal. She remembers everything she hears. She prefers oral reporting and discussion over writing. She's very musical. She always wants sound in the background (tv, music). She rarely makes eye contact when I'm reading to her but she's soaking it all in. SHE HAS ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY. Why was I forcing her into learning in a way that made her irritated and uncomfortable. She WAS learning. Why was I stressing so much?

Now I am better able to give her what she needs. I'm letting go of those old schooling notions and learning to embrace our, quite lovely, reality. Haley is thriving. She has very little anxiety about "schoolwork" now. She is curious and loves to ask questions. More importantly, she's figuring out how to find answers to her questions. She has learned SO MUCH already this year and we still have two full months to go. That is exciting!

Deschooling has been hard for her but it's especially and surprisingly been harder for me. That wasn't what I expected at the beginning of this adventure. It's turning out to be a great lesson in patience and trusting myself.

For my non-Facebook friends

Sorry, I can't get them rearranged. Anyway, that's some of the work we've been doing. A lot still needs to be done but we're getting closer. I'm loving all of the fun colors we've used. Makes me so happy!

All I Want For Christmas, a Haley-ism, and a BONUS Picture!

My wife casually tore into one of the gifts her parents gave her for Christmas. Chaos ensued around us as kids ran here and there, playing with new toys, and adults carried on a half dozen loud conversations. However, as Kelsee let out a loud gasp, the room grew quiet. Then she let out an excited series of shrieks and squeals. I was sitting behind her, so I peered over her shoulder to see what what had her in such a tizzy. The box, which usually held a new shirt or pair of pajamas, held one tiny item. That tiny item represents HIM, a man that constantly has my wife bubbling with joy. Now, HE sits on her bedside table. She gazes adoringly at his picture every night before she goes to sleep. And she sighs contentedly. When she wakes up and sees HIM, she giggles like a schoolgirl. By the way, written on the inside of the giftbox was a simple pickup line "You got me, babe!", as well as the promise of hours of his services. Now, you might think... ...What horrid parents! Giving their married daughter a MAN who was not her husband. ...Shame on Kelsee! I mean, goodness, she's married! ...Poor Jason, a victim of all this...this...debauchary. See, the thing is, HE's visited our home before. Often. Usually, while I was at work, he was in my house rendering his services in the family room and the bedroom. I'm ecstatic that he's visiting again, and hopefully, when he's done rendering his services in the kitchen, my wife will be satisfied. Who is this man? Rick, the carpenter, who will--finally--give my wife the kitchen she desires... ---- On another note, two days ago we were sitting around the table talking about Kelsee's birthday, which was yesterday. Kelsee jokingly lamented that she had only one more day before she was as old as me. Haley, the always sweet(??) daughter, went out of her way to comfort Kelsee. "You don't look old at all, Mommy. You don't have lots of ruffles like Dad!" Thanks, Haley. ----- Here's a picture to go along with the previous post about Haley's FHE lesson...

Haley and The Rebuke

The name of a new chapter book for older kids? Nope. The story of our Family Home Evening tonight? Yep. Haley was so excited to teach our Family Home Evening lesson tonight. She worked hard, cutting out paper footprints and writing things in them like "Help Mom", "Be Naughty", "Do Good", "Say Bad Words", etc. She taped them to the floor making a pathway to a picture of Jesus, which she taped on the table. The object was when you got to a footprint, you read it. If you did the good thing on the paper, you went forward. If you did the bad thing on the paper, you went backwards, and had to start over and pick a new route to the end. Haley made it in the fewest steps. Kelsee got hung up a couple of times (I won't say which obstacles stood in her way, largely because I enjoy sleeping in my bed). I had a really hard time getting past "Listens to bad music". Cameron just kind of gave up part way through. Then Haley told us if we want to get back to Jesus, we need to be clean and pure. Ouch. Thoroughly rebuked by a seven-year-old! Seriously, though. What a wonderful kid, and what a clever activity! She's growing so much in her faith and understanding of right and wrong. She's a great example to me. I feel ashamed that I'm not a better example for her. Time to work harder!!!

Here's One I Forgot

Look! Haley did pretty good on this spelling test. She only missed one... This is funny on so many levels, not the least is the fact that Haley is the naughty word police in our house...

Haley Is a Gem...Plus Anniversaring in NY

This post is a hodge podge of items, but they are all interesting. Really. Just ask me. BTW, can you pick out the made up word in the title of this post? Winner gets to eat dinner tonight. Moving on... The clever narratives below apply to the picture immediately following them. -------------- The funniest thing about this picture is Haley's tooth. You know the one. You can't miss it. The tooth that used to occupy the hole on the right moved out and the tooth on the left tried to move in. Needless to say, Haley wasn't the only one grateful when the offending tooth fell out, even if it did happen at 4:00 in the morning. Haley's photographic talent on display again in this beautifully framed shot. This is a view from one of the examining rooms at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. I think she was going for a visual representation of the depressed inner city economy. And we see why seven-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to wear makeup! Seriously though, Haley and Kelsee decided to go for a spa day, complete with mud mask. Notice no picture of Kelsee? Curious... Another of Haley's famous photographs. This one was either going for the motion blur (she was swinging in her indoor therapy swing at the time) or was just trying to embarrass Cameron. The effect of all the Christmas specials on network television. (Ignore the hole in the ceiling, please. Leaking pipes in the kitchen above; it was not a failed attempt at decorating.) It's obvious this picture is fake. The clothes are too fancy and there's too much hair. Just so's you know, this was taken inside the Albany Visitor's Center during our 15th anniversary trip this past weekend. A miracle, huh, that Kelsee would stick with me for that long, you know, considering I apparently have no neck. The final stop before we boarded the plan to return home was at the first Shaker site in the United States. This location is the burial site of the founder of Shakerism, which is a dying movement. Once there were 300 believers at this site alone. Now, the only active Shaker site in the US (in Pennsylvania) has only seven believers. Hung outside the gift shop was this Shaker recruitment poster.

Fashionista Extraordinaire

I have nothing of value to add to this post, unlike all my other posts which are full of wit, humor and intelligence. Right. Anyway, these pictures speak for themselves. What a kid...

Love Me Tender...

I have Haley-isms! I do. Just bear with me while I get there... You know, you haven't lived unless you've seen and heard an Elvis impersonator live. I'm not kidding. Actually, you haven't lived until you watch your seven-year-old music nut of a daughter watching an Elvis impersonator live. My stepdad, TC, used to be an Elvis impersonator, back in the day. He's still a HUGE Elvis fan. I've heard some recordings of him singing Elvis, and it was pretty impressive. Anyway, his 70th birthday bash was last weekend. It was a surprise party, but the biggest surprise came just after the meal. His kids planted him in a chair in front of the whole group, turned down the lights, turned on some disco strobe and out comes Elvis!!! He lives!!! Actually, Mom said it was an in-law of TC's or something (I met a lot of folks that day; it's hard to remember who belongs to whom). I have to admit, I found myself smiling. A lot. It was funnier than... well, it was funny. However, Haley's reaction was the best. She was leaning forward, her elbow on the table, her chin resting on her hand, with a huge grin and wide eyes as she watched it unfold. At one point she leaned over and asked: "Do you think Papaw knows that's not the real Elvis? We should tell Papaw that it IS the real Elvis." Her expression was priceless. Unfortunately, the room was dark and I have no flash on my camera phone, so I couldn't capture Haley. However, here are a few pictures. The brightened circle-looking spot is highlighting my stepdad. Good times. ---------- Speaking of my camera phone, when I'm uploading pictures from that device to my computer, I often come across a random series of pictures, like below. Wonder how those got there... ---------- Haley-ism time... So, we visited Bowling Green and Mammoth Cave National Park a couple of weekends ago. As we were driving the curvy roads through the park towards the visitors center, we hear the curly-headed wonder pipe up from the backseat. "This road is soooo curvy, I'm getting sick. I think I'm going to hurdle." Dang, I love that kid.