Childhood Should be Filled with Joy, Imagination, and WONDER Inside: 6 Questions every parent, teacher, and homeschooler should ask themselves about their kids. It’s 1976. I am super excited to go to my Kindergarten class today! Mrs. House is the best teacher ever. My friend Shelley and I sit next to each other in circle time as the class sings songs and talk about what is a good nutritious breakfast. Mrs. House isn’t too happy that I had a cup of coffee again today! I’m sure she will talk to mom again later! When mom picks me up from the bus stop, I start talking. “We did the phonics circle. Mrs. House played Ferdinand the Bull for us. I laughed and laughed when he “sat on a bumblebee”. I played house with Mary during play station time. There is an iron and ironing board! I love and “ironing”. At snack time, my friend Shelley and I turned our milk cartons into little boxes so we could collect things during recess. Shelley and I played tag during recess until we couldn’t run anymore, then we plopped down in the clover patch to search for four-leaf clovers. After recess, Mrs. House quizzed us on “F, F, for Freddy Fox” and sang “This Land is my Land” with the first-grade class next door.” {I gasp for breath and start talking again} “We covered a paper with all different colors of crayons and then scribbled all over that paper with black crayon as hard as we could. Once is was black, we used a paper clip to scratch designs into our picture. I was so excited, I made two! This one’s for you mommy. We worked on counting and did some fun worksheets. I can’t wait to go to school again!” Didn’t you love kindergarten? The play, the music, the glitter, the stories, the friends, the dancing, the pretending. I turned out great. Right? I loved school, so much in fact that I grew up to ‘play school’ at home full time (by homeschooling our five boys). I fell in love with learning and exploring and music and art and people in kindergarten. I am so concerned for today’s kindergartners. … Read More »
Am I a Good Enough Homeschool Teacher? I wrestle with feelings of insecurity when it comes to homeschooling our boys. Sometimes I wonder if I am the best teacher for my children… Am I alone? Last week I picked up the novel my son was reading to help him with comprehension. He is reading Call it Courage. As I read the first chapter I realized that this book was not about a boy’s struggle with war. (That’s right! I never even noticed the cover) Good Lord, help my children! OK. I am not the most literate adult I know. In fact I did not read one book in high school. I was that student that could scan and skim, gather the right information and quotes to get an “A” in the class while never really having to read anything. I was pleasantly surprised by the plot of this tiny little book my son was reading, yet it made me question my ability to lead him. How could I possibly teach this child when I couldn’t even scan a book in advance to know it was about an island culture and their worship of courage? How could I look myself in the mirror and be confident in my ability to help my son love learning? After about three days of feeling bad, I realized my son’s interest had awakened as he read about and drew the setting of the story: an island surrounded by a beautiful coral reef. I picked up a Coral Reef book filled with fantastic photographs and we began exploring the complexity and delicacy of these living structures. Oh my, we were and continue to be captivated! In our research we discovered a new creature: The mantis shrimp. Holy smokes! This little guy is fantastic. Supposedly this creature has the fastest movement in the animal kingdom as it punches its prey. We had to learn more… A quick internet search, led us to one of my favorite YouTube Channels “Smarter Every Day” and viola, there was the beautiful, powerful, and astounding mantis shrimp. This one is worth watching with your kids! So there you go. A ride on my homeschooling merry go round. First I allow my son to read a book that I know nothing about. second, I form an opinion about the book strictly by its title. Then, I am struck “dumb” as I read to catchup with my son. next I see an opportunity to follow a rabbit trail down an area of interest. Then, we become engrossed and amazed in a little creature we didn’t even know existed. Yep, a successful homeschooling week I’d say. Of course, I failed again when I fell for the “Finding Nemo is all about a coral reef”: hook, line and sinker. How about you? Do you ever struggle with feeling like you fall short as a homeschooler?