She Likes It!

Several people I met over the last three days asked me how I liked homeschooling.  I always started my answer with, “Actually, it sucks a lot of the time.”

Which is how I have been answering since we started in September.  Like Mikey from the Life cereal commercials, I hated everything, or at least that’s how I talked, and often how I wrote.  I knew it was “supposed to be good for you,” but so much of it felt like eating wheat germ – out of the jar with a spoon.

But things continue to get better, and now, after my grumpy opener, I go on to add, “It’s also really great a lot of the time.  And sometimes, it’s even magical.”

I don’t know if it’s having the baby here, or the fact that Lent is here and I went to bed by midnight two nights in a row, or maybe it’s the fact that the last of the snow has melted in our backyard.  Whatever it was, this was a great week of homeschool.

Some highlights:

• We are reading a great picture book for older children about the lost colony of Roanoke.  And even though we know how it ends, we are all on the edge of our seat waiting for the next clue. (This book is written as a mystery, and is part of an ingenious history series for kids.)  For Zach to say, “Please, please, please read one more page,” is nothing short of a miracle.
• We read a great book about fractions today.  VERY simple.  I thought it might be too simple.  But the boys loved it, and I could tell it was in that sweet spot between too easy and too hard.  Next week, we are going to work with Hershey bars, which are easy to break into twelfths, quarters, and thirds.  Stay tuned for what I’m sure will be the best day of homeschool ever.  Anyway, after we read the book, the boys practiced their handwriting by writing out the words for 1/8, 2/7, etc.  And they didn’t even complain about having to write something.
• They had a ball writing chapter two of Two Playful Cubs.  Wait until you see how stupid it is!  But they love it, and Wendy is coming back next Tuesday to help us act it out.
• They spent two hours in their Homeschool Naturalist class, making amusement parks for ants in the woods and then coming in to draw maps of those amusement parks as well as maps of their bedroom.  They were, as always, elated when they got out of class.
• The new and improved schedule, which has big swaths of time to do activities in a more organic manner is working well.
• Both boys can now run 1/2 a mile without stopping.  In general, our vigorous exercise reform is making the difference we hoped it would.
• In addition to painting the beehive in preparation for the April 4th arrival of 10,000 bees, Zach called the pediatrician to request an epi pen, in case someone who is allergic gets stung in our yard.  He and Jeff wrote a script and Zach made the call himself.  Talk about proud.
• Both boys noted this week that they are reading better than they were in September.
• No tears from anyone but CutiePie during school hours.
• Ezra learned how to make coffee.  When I asked him what he did with the beans I asked him to clean up off of the floor, he announced, “I ate them.  They’re delicious.” That’s our boy.
• CutiePie learned to play peek-a-boo, and the boys are getting really good at caring for her.
• Not once during the entire week did I think, “I HATE THIS!”

I can’t believe it, but I really do like homeschooling.  I like being with them as they learn and grow and play.  So, yep, it’s true.  She likes it!