Will It Be The Big Yellow Bus or Homeschooling this year??

A while back, I was with the Homeschooled Young Man at a Civil War Re-Enactment that he was re-enacting in and my cell phone rang. It was one of my doctors calling me with a report. Of course, it was VERY loud on my end with all excitement and cannons being fired that goes on with a re-enactment. The doctor asked me where I was and I explained we had taken the day off from homeschool to participate in the re-enactment. My doctor looked out his office window and he could see the general area that we were in and he said "Wow, your son gets to do the coolest things!"

As parents, we can all offer up cool opportunities for our children to experience, but it's so much easier to just put them on that big yellow bus and let someone else handle it all for 8+ hours a day. No worries and no responsibility for our kids. Sometimes the Easy Button is not the right button to push.

Are you considering home education for your child this coming school year? It is not too late, even if you have already registered them for the big yellow school bus to take them away each day. You can do it!! Let me know how I can help you.

What School Supply Item Are You Addicted To?

STICKY NOTES!!!

I must have them in all shapes and sizes, 

not to mention all colors...lol.

LOL...this is just my secret stash in my school supplies, I've got sticky note pads in my car, date book, living room, media room, kitchen and dining room...lol.

I asked the child what school supplies we need for the school year, he says "NONE." I say "I think we need some sticky notes." (they are my weakness!!!). He yells out "With all the sticky notes we have, I think we are preparing for Sticky Note Y2K!" lol...Maybe we can just bypass my sticky note obsession and move on to the question at hand? "How on earth does the child know about Y2K?"

 

 

A Homeschoolers Experience with the Public School

I’ve had an interesting time with the Homeschooled Young Man during a volunteering opportunity. We spent 2 days with around 140 kids ages 8 ½-11 years old. These public schooled kids took part in engaging and hands on activities over the course of two school days. The presenters were upbeat and kid friendly. The kids were well behaved and quiet...too quiet actually for my liking.

Over the course of 8+ hours I spent with these adorable 8 ½-11 year olds, I did not hear the usual giggles from the girls that I am use to hearing, nor small talk amongst boys that I am use to hearing. I saw emotionless faces, frowns and blank stares from these children. But, I saw a hunger in the children for attention from the presenters, when those men and women engaged one on one with these children. Each boy and girl was eager to talk with and spend time with these adults. But after each session they became like little robots. Back to frowns and staring at the floor while being told to line up against the wall, "1-2-3 eyes on me" by their public school teacher. I know that public school teachers will say that this is a must to keep order. But it makes me think of when we had 4,000 adults and children for a homeschool meeting at the state capitol a few years ago. There had to be order and quiet voices with almost 2,000+ kids involved, there were no robot children in the group nor forced lining up against the wall, yet there was no chaos.

At 14 years old The Homeschooled Young Man was a group leader of about 25 children and 2 public school teachers. He held the door open for the group on 11 different occasions and was told “Thank you.” only 3 times over the course of 2 days each lasting 8+ hours.

I was pushed and shoved numerous times throughout the days without so much as an excuse me, sorry or anything by these students.

Then after awhile I had opportunity to sit back in a chair in the back of the room and sort of take it all in. It was then that I noticed the clothes that the teachers were wearing. Skin tight workout pants that stop at the calf, that showed panty lines and a bold written word across their backside, another one wore a similar pair of pants that were way too small and every time she bent over her pants came down and her shirt went up to expose her bare backside (she looked like a plumber, KWIM?). Yes, these were public school teachers of 8 ½-11 year olds.

I guess I could look past that, but the thing that really struck me was the manners that the teachers displayed, yes these are the people that are entrusted with most American children for 7+ hours each day, 30+ hours each week, 5 days per week, 180 days per year and nearly 1,300 hours per school year. I saw teachers not sitting properly in chairs (ya know one of the things that drives us parents crazy at the dinner table is when our kids don’t sit properly, slouching down in the chair with the rear on the edge of the seat and their neck on the back of the chair), teachers talking to each other during the presentations (ya, know it drives us crazy when our kids do this), teachers yawning like roaring lions (ya know how many times you have been trying to teach your child to yawn with their hand over their mouths?). I saw so many kids being grabbed by the arm and yanked around like dogs on a leash and teachers yelling in the face of the kids and the blank looks on the children’s faces while they have an adult standing over them yelling. This must go on often because the other teachers never even looked over to see what was going on. Think about where your kids bad habits are coming from, those things that drive you crazy when your kids do them.

The icing on the cake was the way that the teachers spoke to the children. Every time there was an instruction of “Throw your trash away, PLEASE & THANK YOU!” I thought to my self that “PLEASE & THANK YOU!” really comes out sounding snide and rude no matter how you say it. That phrase seems to be up and coming. We were eating out about a month ago and the waitress said that to us when she gave us our check. The Homeschooled Young Man commented how rude that sounded, even though he knew she was not meaning for it to be rude. 

Now mind you this is NOT a representation of all public school teachers, I happen to know some fine teachers. But this was a peek into the system and I do think this was a typical day in many school systems.

As we drove home I was thinking about all this and here was my take away. Hey Homeschool Momma, are there things that you are doing during your homeschool day that might be negatively effecting your children? Are there things that you are unknowingly passing on to your children?

This brought to light a few things I need to work on in my homeschool. Take some time to assess things that you think of and then improve your homeschool for you and your children.

What Day Is It???

Anyone else right there with me? I can't seem to remember what day it is. My husband and I walk around all day long saying "What day is it?" Everyday feels like a Saturday to me. 

What can you do to get out of this crazy brain fog?

1. Keep a regular wake/sleep cycle.
2. Get dressed everyday.
3. Make your bed everyday.
4. Make a habit of looking at the date every morning.
5. Keep on a regular meal schedule.
6. Set a limit on media usage. 
7. Exercise daily, even if you just go for a walk.

If you normally meet friends for lunch on a Tuesday, have a video chat. Do you normally run to the library on Wednesday for books? Try looking through your stash and re-read some of those treasured books. If you normally go grocery shopping on a Thursday, grab a grocery bag and shop your pantry for some meal ideas. Do you get your nails done on a Friday? Dig around and pull out your supplies for manicures and have a fun Mom/Daughter pampering day. Just the other day I pulled out all my Satin Hands from Mary Kay and revived my terribly dry hands using those products. 

Check back for more ideas to get you through this time.

Take care and stay well,