{home}school:100 days-what i learned.

Wow, I can't believe we are about 100 days into our homeschool year.   I've been surprised by how smoothly it's going(..gosh, hope I didn't just jinx myself..LOL!!).  We've had some ups and downs, but overall the journey has been smooth.  But, I must admit that when it does get hectic, most of the time, I really only have one person to fault:  ME!! 
That little tidbit of information was hard(..and I mean SUPER, DUPER HARD.. ) for me to swallow, but once I embraced it, I realized how much I influenced their behaviors. When I start to freak out, they freak out right on with me.  If I change my approach to something more positive, I will get positive reaction from my kiddos.  I have learned a ton in the last 100 days about not only my children, but myself.  In no particular order, here's what I learned thus far:

1. LEARNING IS A PROCESS, NOT A RACE:  Learning is often a slow and painful  process.  I would catch myself cringing because what I thought would be easy to learn was often torturous for my kiddos. I had to find a way to relax and remove my perception from the equation.  Once I grasped that learning, in general, is a individual  process, I eased up on the stress.  Learning is not a race, it's a journey.  I've learned to slow down. When my kids struggle with a new concept( or old one ), I give them time to process the information. I want them to have those light bulb moments.  If they don't,  I literally tell them to shake it off and come back in 5 minutes.  If it is still causing concern, we will walk away, discuss a bit and address it at another time.  That's it!  Simple, huh? I don't fret because I know in time they will get it. 
2. TAKE WHAT WORKS FOR OTHERS AND MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU:  Before our school year started, I was so inspired by this and this and this.  Workboxes are a system created by Sue Patrick for her homeschooling family. Workboxes became my new obsession!  I immediately purchased everything necessary to implement this new, seemingly life altering system. I was going to have children who worked independently and silently(...my plan, not theirs....).   Okay, it wasn't life changing, but it definitely impacted how smoothly are day went.  The system does foster some independence, but since my bambinos are still young( 6 and 7 ), I find myself still helping out tons.  But, I will admit that my mini sensei rarely ask for my help now, so there is some merit to these madness. There are some cons, but not many.  One of the cons is that the workboxes can be very time consuming for the homeschooling parent.  Every night, I have to plan our entire day down to the pencil and the paper. I'll admit that it sucks at times, yet I know it needs to be done.  I'm more organized, focused and mentally prepared for our day.  That's pretty much it for the cons.  The Pros are that you are prepared for your day, your kids know what's expected of them and we tend to zoom through our day.  I must admit that we did tweak the system, so that it was more conducive to our way of homeschooling.  We  only have 6 workboxes per child, instead of the suggested 12.  The kiddos do not have scheduled breaks. They take them when they need them. We also do not assign every assignment to a box.  We have  group activities that include World Geography, History and Science which are not in the workboxes. We really dig this system! And, although my children aren't quiet nor do they work independently,  they do look forward to their day.  
3. FIND WHAT PIQUES THEIR INTEREST AND RUN WITH IT:  I've heard this before and in all honestly, I thought, "Hogwash!".  I mean, really, my kids love Phineas and Ferb cartoons, but I wouldn't indulge them with a marathon worth of P&E on the daily. Yet, I do feel compelled to indulge them when their interest are more of an academic nature.  My son loves this and this, so I tweaked our lesson plans to include them.  My hubby loves to remind me how forcing our son to watch Star Wars is actually paying off. Um, sure honey, whatever you say!!  May the force be with you!
4. TIME AT THE PARK IS MANDATORY:  Read the last part slowly..man-da-tory!! Honestly, there are days, when the kids are restless and everyone is slightly irritated due to lack of fresh air. Trust me, on days like these nothing will calm the beast of boredom like a day at the park.  Two hours of running free and wild at your park is just good for the soul.  And if I really want to drive them crazy with joy, bring food.  Food, glorious food.  Full bellies and fresh air...win-win!!  
5. JUST BECAUSE YOU PLANNED IT, DOESN'T MEAN THEY WILL LOVE IT:  This was a rude awaken for me.  I had visions of my children being enthralled with any activity I planned.  Um, no!  I've been told on several occasion that my activities are**cough** kinda boring!  Really?  Boring?  My ego was bruised, but it taught me a valuable lesson; Regardless of how much time and effort I put into an activity, I need to get input from the kiddos before preceding further.  Lesson learned. 
6. TAKE INFORMAL NOTES:  This, by far, has been the most beneficial for me.  It's a great source of information that I would have otherwise forgotten or overlooked.  I just jot down things that I think are helpful like, "Having trouble completing lesson 8.  Concept not fully understood.  Stay on lesson until mastered."  I also date the sheet and put an example of the concept not learned.  Later, I can look back to see things that I might have missed.  It also gives me an opportunity to see all the amazing progress my children make!!  Taking notes has allowed me to see progress, tweak curriculum, try different approaches and/or extend the lesson until concept is learned.  It's truly an invaluable tool.

Well that's it for now.  Next up: Curriculum

By the way, What have you learned in the past 100 days???