Thursday, January 17, 2008

In Which I Compare Homeschooling to An Ugly Medical Condition

Well, things have gotten better as we near the end of this week, I'm thankful to say! While we had a bit of a rough start Monday and Tuesday, yesterday and today could not have gone better.
I switched things around with how we do spelling and I think that helped a lot. I used to do the pre-test on Monday and have her do part of the workbook work, and then on Tuesday and Wednesday she'd choose five words each day and write them in sentences, as well as finishing up the workbook sheets. At some point, we'd have the final test and then we'd move on.
The sentence writing was, more often than not, a huge ginormous struggle, so I pretty much did away with them for this week and found other ways for her to practice the words. I made a crossword puzzle - thank you, God, for the internet - and did some things on the whiteboard, like I'd write the list of words and misspell them and she'd write them correctly. MUCH less struggle - YAY!

Here's my theory: I think that there's something about school that could be compared to a boil. I mean, things tend to build up and build up until we have some type of blowout and then things are better. So, I'll keep praying taht I handle the blowups better, because when we have days like today, I really realize how great this is!

2 comments:

Mama Teaching 3 said...

Hee hee...I was so hear a while back. The good days are so needed, they remind us that we do love this. I know that they remind me of why I do this and why it is something I am really committed to.

I too had to look at the "issues" and decide which ones were bad habits or behavorial, and which ones were really not even worth our time.

I have started reminding my oldest of his bad habits and how they hurt him and could hurt him as an adult. This has helped. I have also went back and shown how the work he thought was useless has actually made him really good at the hated task.

The blowups are so hard on the moms. We haven't had one of those in a while. I choose to see the issues and why they are there. I remind him of what is expected of him. Because really these are the best teaching moments. We show them the why's of their world, even when they would rather play the gameboy.

HUGS, and after this post I REFUSE to let you ever quit! Your a good mom and a really good teacher. :)

Sherri said...

It's always good to make it through that tunnel! The air is always so refreshing and the light so beautiful. I knew you would arrive. Some of us were there to meet you on the other side, while others where still behind you. We all come full circle at some point!!