I have recently been feeling bummed out because we are not making much progress through Calvert. We only took one (or maybe technically 2) more days off than I planned but the last day we did school we didn't complete it before I had to get ready for work and I am depressed realizing that for the last week and a half we have been on lesson 77!
So, I was feeling like a bad homeschooling mom about that and also because I have zero interest or desire to go the annual state conference. I couldn't anyway but it seems like most of the other hs moms at my work are just dying to go to it. I wondered if I am doing a good enough job and if I will continue to be able to do a good enough job as I have more kids to educate.
Whew, writing that all out has me depressed again, but I actually came to a brighter place in all of this as I was thinking about it earlier. In the past 7 months Jossy has learned to write all her upper and lower case letters, learned all their sounds and how to read CVC words, she is learning how to spell CVC words on her own, she has learned proper sentence structure, diff between asking and telling sentences, story ideas such as main character, main idea, details, predicting, retelling stories, she has learned to follow directions to complete worksheets and had made lots of progress at sticking to tasks until they are completed (okay SOME progress!) She has also learned number concepts up to twenty, how to form numbers through 20, bigger/smaller, measuring, graphing, adding, subtracting, basic division and multiplication concepts and facts to 6 or so.
She has also learned many spanish words and can identify several different states and countries on our maps. She has taken ice skating, ceramics, gym n swim and choir. We did a really fun study of volcanoes, won an invention contest and fed lots of ducks. She has made clubhouses and forts and learned to fingerknit. She is working on a costume to be in the Mayday parade and will also be in her church choir's musical this month. She helped her grandma sew an outfit of her own design and painted an apron by herself as a gift for that grandma. She has spent long hours in our yard digging, searching for treasure and playing with her brother in their own magical imaginary world. She has made paper flowers and delivered them to our neighbors. We have brought meals to friends with new babies and done volunteer work for our block club.
So....I think it is shaping up to be an okay year. My dad told me tonight that kids are resilient and no matter what you do they'll probably turn out okay. Well, he can sit back and say that now that his kids are grown and reasonably successful! But looking back at the school year I realize that despite having a new baby and returning to work 2 mos after his birth while trying to homeschool, Joss has made lots of progress. Lots of it had nothing to do with me other than providing her with interesting toys (that abacus has been worth it's weight in gold), books and games. I guess that's a good lesson. Do my best and hope my dad's right and they'll do okay despite my inevitable fumbles and missteps! These kids are bright too, I figure that will help make up for my failings as an educator as well. :)
So, I was feeling like a bad homeschooling mom about that and also because I have zero interest or desire to go the annual state conference. I couldn't anyway but it seems like most of the other hs moms at my work are just dying to go to it. I wondered if I am doing a good enough job and if I will continue to be able to do a good enough job as I have more kids to educate.
Whew, writing that all out has me depressed again, but I actually came to a brighter place in all of this as I was thinking about it earlier. In the past 7 months Jossy has learned to write all her upper and lower case letters, learned all their sounds and how to read CVC words, she is learning how to spell CVC words on her own, she has learned proper sentence structure, diff between asking and telling sentences, story ideas such as main character, main idea, details, predicting, retelling stories, she has learned to follow directions to complete worksheets and had made lots of progress at sticking to tasks until they are completed (okay SOME progress!) She has also learned number concepts up to twenty, how to form numbers through 20, bigger/smaller, measuring, graphing, adding, subtracting, basic division and multiplication concepts and facts to 6 or so.
She has also learned many spanish words and can identify several different states and countries on our maps. She has taken ice skating, ceramics, gym n swim and choir. We did a really fun study of volcanoes, won an invention contest and fed lots of ducks. She has made clubhouses and forts and learned to fingerknit. She is working on a costume to be in the Mayday parade and will also be in her church choir's musical this month. She helped her grandma sew an outfit of her own design and painted an apron by herself as a gift for that grandma. She has spent long hours in our yard digging, searching for treasure and playing with her brother in their own magical imaginary world. She has made paper flowers and delivered them to our neighbors. We have brought meals to friends with new babies and done volunteer work for our block club.
So....I think it is shaping up to be an okay year. My dad told me tonight that kids are resilient and no matter what you do they'll probably turn out okay. Well, he can sit back and say that now that his kids are grown and reasonably successful! But looking back at the school year I realize that despite having a new baby and returning to work 2 mos after his birth while trying to homeschool, Joss has made lots of progress. Lots of it had nothing to do with me other than providing her with interesting toys (that abacus has been worth it's weight in gold), books and games. I guess that's a good lesson. Do my best and hope my dad's right and they'll do okay despite my inevitable fumbles and missteps! These kids are bright too, I figure that will help make up for my failings as an educator as well. :)
posted by KatyM @ 11:21 PM
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