(Patrick with a Star Wars plane designed by him, circa January 2006)
Every day seems like a busy day around here! What with work and homeschool, and the usual activities going on, we never really seem to stay on a schedule. Our homeschool days look a lot looser than most, I suspect (more eclectic, really). That is partly because of the need for me to work (dh was out of work for 7 months, and the job he holds now is well, not the same as the last...).
It is also partly because we have so many interests and persue lots of different things. So the boys get assignments and they need to get them done with out me nagging so much! However there is the lure of the next good book, the Lego's, planning the next scouting trip, current projects, the jeep my son is redoing..(the photo is of Mike on the right, with his friend P. on the left. They were up until 2:30 a.m. taking this apart! And P.s mom did not even know! He lives right around the corner, and was safe. But it was rather late!)
Even though I get a bit uptight about things needing to be done, I try to relax and work on the major things with the boys. Both boys read well, and can write. The things they have both learned come more from doing than text books. For Mike that is especially true because he is very hands on, visual-spatial and gets more out of life than a dry text. However being in the program we are in has forced him to do more traditional work, and that can be a good dimension of learning. For example, writing is a struggle, however he has learned to write and passed the CASEE first try in both english and math (big sigh of relief). He loves the drafting and welding classes at the local JC, and soon that will be his next round of schooling, which will open new worlds for him.
My daughter, Christina, now a Junior in college,has had successes with learning which has given me confidence that the boys will do fine. My goal is to teach them to facilitate their own learning: how to find what one needs to know, how to organize it, write it, figure it...how to search out others knowledgeable on the subject. It is these talents that will help them learn and grow. Not the memorization of facts, or the regurgitation of them at the right time. Testing is useless in a way because it only shows a limited snap shot of the person, and basing any opinion on it with out looking at the whole is just as useless..so we deal with all of that while living our lives!
Learning at home, taking each day at a time...
