Living Overseas

Sometimes reading other homeschool blogs is good for me, and sometimes it's not. I see all the things available in metropolitan areas - libraries, clubs, sports, gyms, coops, museums, etc. - and I want that for my children. I get activity and supply envy. I wonder if we are making the right choice. This is why blog reading can be bad for me.

On the other hand, another mom wrote about poetry for kids and I thought, "I could do that with Raccoon." I love ideas.

This is the root of my fear, that I'm not a good teacher because I'm not doing that or that or that.

We may not be able to do all those things, but we do have a high-speed internet connection by God's grace. And a rainforest within driving distance. And a second language.

I am frequently scanning the horizon, but where my feet are standing is pretty nice too if I remember to look down every now and then. There is much to learn everywhere.

And I mentally shake myself. He's in K, he doesn't need everything to happen this year, good grief. I tell myself to stop worrying and being ridiculous. All I need is a little laugh at myself and to lighten up.

So I think I will continue choosing not to look and to keep marching to our drum. But every now and then, the unknown horizon still calls my name.

September Fears

There are 5 days until all of the local children head back to school. Raccoon is going to miss his favorite playmates as they will only be free on Saturdays. He's seen them a lot this summer since they live right up the road from us. Catching spiders, looking for frogs, and playing with their puppies has kept him busy for the last few weeks.

When I thought of the long days ahead that he'll have with just me and Kitty for company, I began to have homeschooling doubts. At this point, our schooling only takes about two hours a day, leaving him with a lot of free time. Being an extrovert, he wants to spend that time with other people, especially kids.

How am I going to keep him busy, in a good way? I feel like he does need a class or something once a week to make some friends, but that means commuting 30 minutes at least to our nearby town. I don't know of any other homeschoolers in my valley, nor how to meet them if they do exist. The closest homeschoolers I know of are 90 minutes away, three hours roundtrip. Raccoon's various cousins are my next best choice, but they live over an hour away and will also be busy with school and homework.

I guess I'll see how things work out and find solutions as the problems arise. Perhaps his friends will not have as much homework as their mom expects; they'll be in first and second grade. What do people with small families who homeschool in remote locations do for socialization?

Full Body School

Those three words sum up my approach to tackling homeschooling with Raccoon. We are going to be living out in the country, which I haven't had much peace about due to the King's long commute to work, but as I think more about my son, it's going to be a good thing for him.

An obstacle course.

An outdoor gym/playground.

A garden.

Water play.

Animals.

Maybe we'll build a rock wall.

I have to find peace about this move. To trust the Lord that my mission right now is not somewhere out there, but right at home, three feet and two feet tall.

A great post about this? Carissa's Blessed with Boundless Energy. I especially love this quote, "Specifically, I have him do some highly energetic movement and some relaxing focused balance type work right before we begin any seat work. We have been going in this order and it has helped a lot." This gives me hope. The nuts and bolts of how to make things work in school for Raccoon, this is what I need. Raccoon's energy is a blessing when channeled properly and not so much when it heedlessly overflows.

Where is that switch anyway!?

This sums up one of my concerns about my son...

"He didn't learn the same. WHEN he learned, he learned FASTER, and deeper than any of the kids we were around. But he also didn't learn consistently like they did. It was like someone flipped a switch and he went from dark to lit up 100 watts all at once. Seeing that he learned so fast really didn't make me worried. (...) What did kill me was waiting for him to get that switch flipped. It never seemed like it was up to me but rather to some random timer switch." from Building Wing Span

Raccoon absorbs information, and remembers it, in amazing quantities, but his perfectionism wars with the flawed repetition necessary for mastery. At this point, I'm not sure when (sometimes I whisper to myself if?) he will speak Spanish (despite living in a fully bilingual home), and many other things that he is not just uninterested in, but actively dislikes. Letters also come to mind.

Time

When I started to read books on early learning, most of them mention the "window of opportunity," or some such thing, with various ages: 0-3, 0-6, even 0-1 before the brain starts pruning!! But on another blog (sorry I can't remember which one, I browse through so many and then the ideas simmer for awhile), the mom wrote something like, "If you take a month or even longer to get organized, your child can still have a wonderful and enriching life." This helps me when I start to feel pressured, like I have to do everything RIGHT NOW in order to take advantage of Raccoon's spongy years. This probably makes me seem like a psycho parent, I can just imagine the comments, "Stop pushing your child, let him just enjoy life." But that's not it at all, he's pushing me! If I don't have something stimulating to offer, he is not a happy camper.

But once again, I'm stepping back, breathing deeply, taking a look at where we're at, and trying to enjoy every minute. Now that I have the list of what's important to me, I plan to use this time to brainstorm about what I'd like his early learning program to include.