I'm so frustrated! I want so much more for the kids on the educational front. I know, I know, my kids do a lot but I want more. I want them to delve into Shakespeare. I want them to study artists. I want them to study and appreciate the different music genres. There is just so much I want to do and there is no time to do it!
I found a wonderful weather game online. Check this out! Its called Treehouse Weather Kids and wow it is an awesome program for teaching kids about clouds, weather, and storms etc. I would love it if Peter had the time in his day to do this. The problem is that I am a firm believer in playtime. I could have Peter doing this sort of thing in the late afternoon after his 3R's are done but I also want him to play. I love looking out the window and seeing him sneaking around behind the trees with his toy guns waiting to ambush the neighbor boy who is also sneaking around the bushes with his own gun.
And oh the joy of hearing his voice in the wind as he talks to his friend while biking down the street as fast as they can go. Something has to be said for the carefree days of childhood. I want to preserve this but I also want to press for more work on the academic side of life.
There are days I wonder if Tink will ever get it. I went to the hair salon today and left the kids with assignments to do in their books. Tink didn't finish even half of her stuff in each subject. She said it was too hard. When I checked her work I saw she wasn't even half trying. Listen, when a 12 year old writes that the US exports Kangaroos then you know for sure her heart isn't in it!
We haven't been able to get to Story of The World at all this week. That saddens me. I'm seriously thinking of cutting out the charter school next term except for the orchestra classes. It takes an entire day of our school week. I'm always thinking about what else I could be getting done on those days with the kids.
Just when I decide I will indeed quit the charter school Peter will ask excitedly when Wednesday will be here so he can go be with his friends. I'm all at sixes and sevens about this.
I have decided that I am going to have to divide things up by terms. Our days are taken up mostly be Reading, Phonics and Math. Peter does Science and Tink does Social Studies here at home. The kids I tutor don't even do that. I realize I am working with children who have disabilities at some level and that reading, math and phonics have to take precedence. But I'm just so frustrated. I want to do more. I want to do tons more.
I have this nature detective book that I printed off the Internet that I would love to have Peter work on. But there is no time. I have to find the time! I just have to. Here is another contrary thing; I don't want the charter school but the charter school is providing the fun hands on type learning that the kids love. I'm giving them the nitty gritty. So maybe it all balances out.
But oh for a 30 hour day so I could fit just a wee bit more into our schedule! I have to admit that right now I just don't have an extra half hour to do anything more in my day than I am doing. Its just not there. I had a little bit more time this week with the Christian Academy closed. That was nice. I didn't have to rush right out of here after school. But I couldn't really start anything permanently in that time because Monday it all picks up again...that is if I let Tink return this coming week. I may just hold her out another week. They shut down because of swine flu and its still making its ugly rounds out there.
Well I have to figure out something here. There is just so much out there for the kids to learn and I want them to learn it! I will have to figure out a way! The frustration builds!
You may be just be venting, but....something that has worked for us - extra art, music, and literature in the summers, snuck in on weekends, and evenings.
ReplyDeleteI recently read all of Shakespeare for Children by Charles Lamb as "night time stories" for my eleven year old. It's free to download at Google Books. We are reading Beowulf now. I also assign him extra reading - art or classic literature for spare time reading. He's reading a book of prayer with classic art - great combo.! It's a Sister Wendy book.
Currclick has some neat-o mini curricula for studies. You can cover stuff quickly in a day or a week, just here and there. I'm just discovering the usefulness of this site...fills in the gaps. :)
Alexandra scroll down to fawndear on my sidebar links of homeschoolers. Go to her blog and scroll down about two or three days andyou will see mini Utube videos of Shakespeares plays. The set costs 72 bucks but she says somebody is posting the videos on UTube. They're making me drool, - as if I wasnt frustrated enough.
ReplyDeleteGlad you mentioned evenings. I was thinking about doing just that to relieve some daytime stress- turning it into their bedtime story!
I love that you put such a high priority on playtime. Kids are only kids once, and there is so much to be learned and imagined through play! You're doing a wonderful job, even if you fell you're not doing enough. Keep up the excellent work!!!
ReplyDeleteUmm, excuse me... "feel" not "fell." Oops.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. If days were 30 hours long, the kids would want another meal and two more hours of playtime in there. :]
ReplyDeleteSometimes I feel overwhelmed with finding a good balance between solid learning and fun/exciting activities too.
ReplyDeleteI have a daughter who is very much like Tink in some ways and one thing that has worked well for us is to pulse our subjects in concentrated waves instead of splitting the day into periods. The first week of each month is devoted to science. I pick one topic per week. One week she learned about the sun and we built and used a solar oven, watched a Nova video and did the accompanying lesson plans, read books about the sun, made a poster, charted sunrise/sunset, did some experiments, etc. The other three weeks are spent on some type of main unit: history, literature, etc. We have math every day and writing 2x per week, along with reading time, both out loud and silent. This works so well for us. She is happier and retains more of the information this way.
We've also started making certain annual activities in the area a family tradition, like Shakespeare festivals and such. Sometimes we'll read a version of the play at home before we go. This is an easy way to sneak some extra things in.
Good luck to you.
Thanks!
ReplyDeletePLEASE FORGIVE ME! but OH! I am BLESSED that the woman I think has it ALL TOGETHER in a way I NEVER will also struggles to fit it all in!!! (((((HUGS))))) sandi
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