Standards

One of the things I find both interesting and challenging about homeschooling is figuring out when the boys' work is "good enough".  In the beginning, with Primo, I tended to expect too much from him in his lessons.  It was lucky for him that I started using the Story of the World history curriculum, which includes review questions and sample narrations for each story.  Before that, throughout most of his first grade year, I read ancient history books with him and then expected him to be able to answer very detailed questions and to write long, complex narrations.  I don't think it was much fun for him.  Once I saw how simple the SOW questions and narrations were, I dialed it way back.

These days, though, I often worry that I'm not asking enough of Primo and Radish academically.  For example, I have been allowing Radish to read and teach the history stories *instead* of writing narrations.  And I have Primo doing work from a number of different sources, but not doing too much in-depth reading, research, or writing.  I'm not sure if this next thing is a good example, but on Wednesday (our last day of lessons before taking an extended break), I asked the boys to collaborate on a timeline of early exploration of the New World.  Granted, this was the last lesson of the morning, on the last morning of lessons before the break.  But what they handed me was written using just a couple of sources, and included only a few of the people I thought they'd write about.  I accepted it at the time-- they were so touchingly proud of themselves, they thought they had done excellent work.  When I looked over one of the books they had used, later that day, I was surprised at how much they had left out.

And that's where the challenge comes in-- were they doing appropriate work?  Should I have encouraged them to dig deeper, or was the work 'good enough'?  I know there are external 'norms' of what kids in general are supposed to be capable of at each age or grade level (educational 'standards'), but I tend to believe that ignoring these standards is one of the joys of homeschooling-- I (theoretically at least) know my own kids and what they're capable of.  I guess my hesitation comes in because I don't know if I should expect them to work at the limit of their capacity, or to do just what feels pretty comfortable and easy to them.  Hitting just the right amount of difficulty in their work is, well, difficult.

Their Own Thirst for Knowledge

When I started reading about homeschooling years ago ( when Primo was a toddler) I gravitated right away toward eclectic, middle of the road methods, and definitely *not* unschooling.  Over the years that hasn't changed-- though some of our friends and many of our friendly acquaintances would describe themselves as unschoolers, the idea of 'child-led learning' just doesn't work for me.
But.
Even though I'm happy with so many things about the way we do 'education' in our home, I wish the boys would get more excited about learning.  They tend to be cheerful and compliant when it comes time for lessons, and they are sometimes enthusiastic about particular parts of our routine (science experiments, history and science lessons that one of them reads and then teaches to the other, taking turns reading Latin stories aloud).
But.
We are avid readers in our family, and we spend a lot of time at our local library.  I make good use of the 'interlibrary loan' service offered by our region's libraries, and yesterday was not unusual-- there were 10 books waiting for us at the check-out counter.  Said each of the boys in turn, "Are there any fun books waiting for us?"-- meaning novels, recently published middle-grade novels about fantasy or funny situations.  8 of the 10 books were about Christopher Columbus and other explorers, and I had taken great care to choose interesting, high-quality, and in some cases beautiful books.  I felt a little crushed when the boys asked about 'fun' books.  After nearly 6 years of homeschooling, don't picture and activity books about explorers count as fun?  What can I do to awaken in them their own thirst for knowledge?
There are glimmers of light at the end of this tunnel.  Several months ago the boys chose a book called Stronger Than Steel about scientists looking to replicate the properties of  spider silk.  On this recent trip to the library I brought home two science-themed books, one of them called One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science and I found Primo reading it over his dessert later that night.  It wouldn't have to be science, I'd be happy with either of them taking an interest in anything that has to do with the real world-- really, almost anything at all (I'm sure there are exceptions, I just can't think of them at the moment).                                     

Small Bites

It's not ideal, but better than nothing- many Mondays this fall, I've had a little taste of help at home, in the form of my lovely niece D coming over for a two hour window after school.  She watches all three boys while I get things done around here, the kinds of things I would otherwise let slide, and the kinds of things I must do but usually have to do in a harried, hurried, start-and-stop fashion.  With two straight hours of uninterrupted (well, sometimes a little interrupted, but not as much so as usual) time, I can get a lot done.  So far today I've planned tonight's meal (no mean feat on grocery day) and written a grocery list and meal plan for the week.  Now I still have an hour left, and nothing else I need to do.

Sometimes it's hard for me to remember that it's better to spend a little time on a task, than to let it go undone.  I tend to think that if I can't devote a long stretch of time to one activity, then it isn't worth doing it at all.  This is how I end up with a small rainbow sweater started and set aside for *months*, untouched even though I enjoy knitting and actually *can't* do more than a few minutes at a time without damaging my hands further.  And this is how I find myself going back over my day when Snorzy falls asleep at night and realizing that I didn't read to him once, all day.  I'm pretty sure that never happened with the older two, I always read to them in the little in-between moments in our daily routine.  I don't know where all those moments get to these days, though I have my suspicions (I'm looking at you, Pinterest!)

Those moments add up though, running into each other, combining and solidifying into the fabric that makes up my life thus far.  Those chunky board books read to my bright-eyed boy will become the foundation for a lifetime of literacy for him, and memories of chanting the stories to him will stay with me as he grows up and away.  And those bright eyes are always watching, his and his brothers' too- I want them to see a mama who is (almost) always intentional in how I spend my time.  I reserve the right to sometimes laze in front of the tv or page through pins in search of something pretty or fun to look at.  Most often though, I want to be able to close my eyes at the end of the day with the satisfied feeling of having done all the work that presented itself to me- in teaching my boys, being careful of my relationships, creating beautiful things, and nourishing my family.

Just As Long As There Are Two

Several days have gone by, and I've truly been too busy to write- busy with ushering, with the annual homeschool flea market and craft fair, with preparations for Sweet Hubby's birthday.  But I realized tonight, as the hour gets late and I waste my time on this and that, I'm in danger of this blog becoming one of those forlorn 'one post' abandoned blogs.  So just to prevent that outcome, here is a second post.  I promise I have more to say- lots of thoughts to come.
Future posts may contain musings on: routines in our home school, the place of music in our lives, my craft crush, philosophies of parenting, trying to be fully present for the boys and Sweet Hubby too.
I am so distractible these days, sometimes I'm surprised at myself and at how I lack the focus I had just a few years ago.  The hardest thing for me is to direct my energy toward the things that are most important to me.  Somehow I fritter away my hours and days, and only in the last moments before I sleep do I catch myself and swear that the next day I'll do better.  That is my number one motivation for writing, to keep myself "awake" so that I can live my life rather than drift along helplessly.

Out of the Gate

Primo started a blog last year.  One post, then forgot about it until a few weeks ago.  Now he's started it back up again, and posts almost every day.  He doesn't overthink it, just jumps in and rattles on about whatever is on his mind.
Here is his mama, trying to take a leaf from his book.  I've had a book on blogging out of the library for two months.  I've laid awake thinking of names for this blog, like I did when I was pregnant with Snorzy ( boy number three, but I didn't know that then and it was the thought of having to name a girl that kept me up nights).
I want to write about my adventures in homeschooling and raising my three sons.  About cooking and crafting and sometimes feeling ambivalent about my life's work.

For now, I have to take a moment to congratulate myself, just for having begun.

Primo today: duct tape creations, some for the Flea Market Craft Fair on Friday, some just for himself.

Radish today:  in the darkened back room, experimenting with a flashlight and some construction paper, learning about the color spectrum (while Primo at the same time was doing Snap Circuits experiments in the living room.  Good day for science learning in our homeschool!)

Snorzy today:  first word, "bath", while taking a rare morning bath.