09 August 2007

Thursday's Homeschooling Post

Thursday, August 9---If I had only known...What have you learned on your homeschooling journey? What would you/did you change? This is an opportunity to encourage others who are just starting out or who are struggling with issues that seem unsolvable. It is also a perfect opportunity to tell us about one of those days made you want to throw in the towel. A funny story? Perfect!

One thing I am in the *process* of learning is that we need to slow down a little bit. I started homeschooling the Elf last Thanksgiving, and he was behind then in first grade. Now, he is almost completely finished with second-grade math and able to look things up in the dictionary and read *almost* anything. Do I really need to push him? Does he really need to spend six hours almost straight on worksheets and drills? Did I *really* need to not give him any summer break at all?

But I am afraid of falling behind or something. Elf is *good* at sitting for long, long periods of time and cranking out the work. I need to quit it!! It's too tempting to throw the work at him and watch him GO!

It would be helpful to me if the Emperor stays home next year because oh, my goodness, that child needs breaks! He probably has to do a ten-minute break every twenty minutes. It seems that way in any event. Even while he is writing, he is squiggling in his chair and going on and on and on... Do you remember in the Anne of Green Gables books where Anne would do entire monologues about stuff that would last for about a page? She had nothing on the Emperor. You almost forget what he is talking about and start to get on the "uh-huh autopilot." Which is a dangerous place to be if he's just asked for explosives and a bungee cord. Ok, he hasn't thought of that quite yet, but I'm just saying.

You know, my circumstance may be a little unique. I've never really seriously considered sending my Elf back to public school. My first thought is always about how they locked that precious boy in the closet so often. The fights D and I would have over the Elf's school behaviour; D is more inclined to respect the school's professional judgment than I am... I am absolutely certain Elf could have functioned well if they gave him his very own aide and his own small classroom. And I am convinced he *needed* those things to function and never received them; there is no way to prove that other than to show that the child did NOT function at school at the time we pulled him out.

I'm just so glad to have my Elf home.

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