Sunday, September 16, 2012

Weekend thoughts

My handsome boy! Pict. taken last week.

This week has been better than last, we have breezed through our work with little resistance. The difference? Well not the reason I would like, but Owen had a slight injury Sunday preventing him from writing. The boys were helping DH clean the truck out and he slipped getting off the back. Thankfully he did not hit his head, but his elbow did get a cut on his dominant hand. He is pretty much healed up, but nursing it and for this week I am just going with it. We have done everything orally and he has been very easy to work with. The more I work with him the more I wonder if we are not dealing with a learning disability with him. I am unsure if the issues with writing, math and reversing letters sometimes, maybe dyslexia or something along those lines. I am actively trying to research and am also meeting a group of homeschool Mom's Tuesday to talk with them about our struggles. It seems there is a name to everything you could have and it's very overwhelming.

All the kids have caught a cold, Wyatt and Pixie having the worst of it. We had to miss Church today and hope everyone is better by next week because Wyatt was so disappointed to not go. He is at such a fun age, he asks so many great questions while I am reading the bible stories to him. We started Before Five in a Row this week and read Jesse Bear what will you wear. I love this curriculum for the little ones. They have great ideas and activities to do with them and Wyatt loves having his own time.

After a difficult weekend with Owen I was happy that I received my order from I choose Virtues. I have been trying to decide if it was necessary and the further into homeschooling Owen the more I know it's necessary. I remember talking with other parents who have been homeschooled and homeschool their children at the convention. The consistent theme was discipleship and I didn't know what that meant. Now as we have been going to church and I have been reading the bible I understand what my goal is. I just need to find the right way to get there. Somewhere along the line I have stopped being the authority. Now in order to have things work we need to fix this. I got a really good book at the library:
Help for the Harried Homeschooler: A Practical Guide to Balancing Your Child's Education with the Rest of Your Life

So far it has been very informative and I feel like I have some idea of how we are going to proceed. I have to keep in mind that it is going to take time, and we need to work on one thing at a time. Using the We choose virtues program teaches one of twelve total virtues at a pace of one a week. I think the little ones will enjoy the catchy phrases and the characters. We will see how Owen responds to it. I am also tying in this book as a read aloud throughout the week.

Product Details

We are also going to implement family responsibilites charts for the boys. We have them all pitch in on things routinely, but I know I am bad for not being consistant. I am hoping this way when they are both accountable for it there will be a difference. I don't know that I agree with allowances for family responsibilities, but I do want them to learn the value of money and hard work. I think we may try to have a list of jobs that they can do to earn money. Some ideas we have are washing vehicles, cleaning the chicken coops, mowing grass, picking up trash, etc. I need to make sure I find some that Wyatt can do also.

Once again it is Sunday and my school plan is all worked out and I am hopeful that we are on the right path with this. I just keep reminding myself of the bigger picture and praying for guidance on this.