Ruth and I are really excited for tomorrow, because tomorrow is.... Dress Rehearsal! Then, the recital is on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
We have just gotten home from buying a new garment bag for the dance recital, because this year I`m in 4 dances, and we also thing it`s time.
I`m really happy and excited, because Friday and yesterday, for the first time, I got the center-middle splits! I have been trying to get those all year!
Musings on the daily trials and triumphs of a homeschool family.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
The Highschool Decision
We spent Sunday down at Soup Kitchen (our parish provides a meal the 3rd of every month at a soup kitchen downtown) and my homeschooling came up...ugh...again. I really try to greet questions and the topic itself with cheerfulness, but it is really hard sometimes. It's like when you break your arm (or leg, etc) and at first you tell the story rather animated. After a while, you just want to put a sign around your neck cause you are so sick of repeating yourself. Of'course, each inquiry is new for the person asking it! I really feel like I should embrace every opportunity to discuss homeschooling with enthusiasm. Maybe it's because I have no interest in recruiting people. I'm not selling homeschooling, as much as I love it and believe in it. Anyway, if people didn't have a hard time supporting my decision to homeschool in grade school, they have a harder time being supportive of the decision to homeschool high school.
I think the main concern is of'course, the "S" word....Socialization. Whatever is poor Jane going to do without the experience of socializing in a high school setting; public or private.
(Picture me running around screaming with my hands pulling my hair out!!!!)
The way I started addressing this concern, when I first started homeschooling, was to list all the activities the kids were involved in. Assuring people that the kids would not be socially awkward. In reality, this does not assure that. We all remember the kid on our team who was, in fact, socially awkward. Playing on the team, being a scout, joining the club seldom "cures" social awkwardness.
Not too long into the adventure, I shortened my response to, "It would be hard to be isolated in the middle of suburbia. I might be concerned if we lived on 30 acres in the country; but that's not the case." People always quickly agreed to this and acknowledged that this was a good point.
Lately, in the last year or so, I've become more assertive in my response. It goes something like this, "Have you seen the news? Do you hear what is happening on our school buses and in our classrooms? If that's what you mean by socialization, then no, I'm not worried about her missing out on that. If on the other hand, you mean that she may not feel comfortable around people her own age....well, talk to her yourself." I find this more honestly portrays how I feel about the subject.
Still, people have concerns about how I will handle the curriculum, etc. My 3 boys went to a wonderful, well-respected catholic high school and still, I found it frustrating. When my oldest was a sophmore, there was a new teacher for chemistry. Long story short, she stunk and was let go after 3 years. Still, my oldest and second oldest both struggled through chemistry with her and their GPA's suffered for it. How frustrating! More so because so many books we use in the school setting are dependent on a classroom lesson being given. In other words, you can't take the book and "consume" it. Many, if not all, the books we use in the Tichy Homeschool are student friendly. You can read it cover to cover and teach yourself the subject. Why are we making our kids in school dependent on the teacher to learn?
I also dislike the regular practice of offering extra credit for things like donating to a charitable activity. So much in the school grading system was not related to how much my son actually knew. I encourage charitable donations but there is no grade or points connected to it. Our extra credit, if there is any, is directly related. For instance, if you just filled in a map with the names of the countries, you can earn extra credit if you know the capitals (or lakes, or mountains, etc.) I know this is done in a school setting, as well. I just don't like the none related bonus points.
I often have the kids watch videos. I used to love the series we got from the library called Families Around the World. Despite what the kids say (they used to grumble a bit), they watched them easily and it gave them an idea of what life in that part of the world was like for a kid their age. But what is with the movies at the high school level? My boys have watched Bug's Life, All Quiet on the Western Front, and Forest Gump to name just a few. Again, not against movies or videos entirely, just question the choices.
Jane and I face one big problem: working together. We have this cantankerous (did I spell that correctly?) relationship. Here's a good story to illustrate:
Jane was 6 years old and it was the beginning of first grade. I asked her to say the alphabet for me, like I had 100 times before. She tells me she can't, she doesn't know it. Well, this particular morning, I was not in the mood. I made her stand up (people think better on their feet) and begin, "Surely, you know how it begins, just start." She's mad and begins but gets to "d" and claims not to know anymore. By the time we finish, she is standing on the bench at the dining room table and SCREAMING the letters to me...in the correct order, but very mad that I won't "help" her and very mad that I am right; she did know her alphabet.
That's us. She and I laugh about these things later and we have made much progress over the years. I love her dearly and admire her spirit, but this will be our biggest challenge for the next four years. I have a few ideas about how to handle/manage this that I will blog about next time.
I hope these entries aren't too long? - Miss Mary
I think the main concern is of'course, the "S" word....Socialization. Whatever is poor Jane going to do without the experience of socializing in a high school setting; public or private.
(Picture me running around screaming with my hands pulling my hair out!!!!)
The way I started addressing this concern, when I first started homeschooling, was to list all the activities the kids were involved in. Assuring people that the kids would not be socially awkward. In reality, this does not assure that. We all remember the kid on our team who was, in fact, socially awkward. Playing on the team, being a scout, joining the club seldom "cures" social awkwardness.
Not too long into the adventure, I shortened my response to, "It would be hard to be isolated in the middle of suburbia. I might be concerned if we lived on 30 acres in the country; but that's not the case." People always quickly agreed to this and acknowledged that this was a good point.
Lately, in the last year or so, I've become more assertive in my response. It goes something like this, "Have you seen the news? Do you hear what is happening on our school buses and in our classrooms? If that's what you mean by socialization, then no, I'm not worried about her missing out on that. If on the other hand, you mean that she may not feel comfortable around people her own age....well, talk to her yourself." I find this more honestly portrays how I feel about the subject.
Still, people have concerns about how I will handle the curriculum, etc. My 3 boys went to a wonderful, well-respected catholic high school and still, I found it frustrating. When my oldest was a sophmore, there was a new teacher for chemistry. Long story short, she stunk and was let go after 3 years. Still, my oldest and second oldest both struggled through chemistry with her and their GPA's suffered for it. How frustrating! More so because so many books we use in the school setting are dependent on a classroom lesson being given. In other words, you can't take the book and "consume" it. Many, if not all, the books we use in the Tichy Homeschool are student friendly. You can read it cover to cover and teach yourself the subject. Why are we making our kids in school dependent on the teacher to learn?
I also dislike the regular practice of offering extra credit for things like donating to a charitable activity. So much in the school grading system was not related to how much my son actually knew. I encourage charitable donations but there is no grade or points connected to it. Our extra credit, if there is any, is directly related. For instance, if you just filled in a map with the names of the countries, you can earn extra credit if you know the capitals (or lakes, or mountains, etc.) I know this is done in a school setting, as well. I just don't like the none related bonus points.
I often have the kids watch videos. I used to love the series we got from the library called Families Around the World. Despite what the kids say (they used to grumble a bit), they watched them easily and it gave them an idea of what life in that part of the world was like for a kid their age. But what is with the movies at the high school level? My boys have watched Bug's Life, All Quiet on the Western Front, and Forest Gump to name just a few. Again, not against movies or videos entirely, just question the choices.
Jane and I face one big problem: working together. We have this cantankerous (did I spell that correctly?) relationship. Here's a good story to illustrate:
Jane was 6 years old and it was the beginning of first grade. I asked her to say the alphabet for me, like I had 100 times before. She tells me she can't, she doesn't know it. Well, this particular morning, I was not in the mood. I made her stand up (people think better on their feet) and begin, "Surely, you know how it begins, just start." She's mad and begins but gets to "d" and claims not to know anymore. By the time we finish, she is standing on the bench at the dining room table and SCREAMING the letters to me...in the correct order, but very mad that I won't "help" her and very mad that I am right; she did know her alphabet.
That's us. She and I laugh about these things later and we have made much progress over the years. I love her dearly and admire her spirit, but this will be our biggest challenge for the next four years. I have a few ideas about how to handle/manage this that I will blog about next time.
I hope these entries aren't too long? - Miss Mary
Friday, June 1, 2012
What`s coming up
Hi I am so excited about Ruth`s and my dance recital. Which is a little less then two weeks away! Ruth only has one more dance class before the show! I have three more ballet classes, two more jazz, two more tap, and two more modern!
My goal this summer, in dance, is to get my legs up higher and get my center-middle splits.
To help pay for dance I`m cutting my grandpa`s grass, babysitting, and dog sitting. I`m actually dog sitting this week, and the dog is so so so cute!
My goal this summer, in dance, is to get my legs up higher and get my center-middle splits.
To help pay for dance I`m cutting my grandpa`s grass, babysitting, and dog sitting. I`m actually dog sitting this week, and the dog is so so so cute!
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