I wrote previously about what homeschooling means to our HOME- it's a lifestyle evident in every corner and on every surface. But finding our groove means figuring out the "school" part of homeschool.
When we started this about a year ago I created weekly plans for unit studies and made lots of materials from scratch. I had big plans for this little blog. That was short lived. We went on vacation and I lost some steam. When we got back I dove into preparations for my baby's first birthday party. More steam lost. Then the holidays. Then my big boy's birthday party. Then it rained. Then it was Tuesday..... excuses excuses excuses.
That's not to say we weren't learning. The kids were making great strides. When I realized how much they were soaking in on the fly I wanted to try some structure again. This time there was no big lesson plans. I threw together some sensory bins and came up with activities to begin introducing the alphabet and numbers. I called it "Pajama Preschool" and it was well documented on Instagram.
It worked for us. It made me really start considering the possibility that unschooling was the way to go for us. Not at all what I'd planned.
Still, I am having a hard time giving up on the idea of lesson planning. I see so many pinners and bloggers that have there $h!+ together and I want to be like that too. I may be the best procrastinator in history, (or I will be anyway...get it?) because I am still trying to figure out how to get plans ready and prepared for the upcoming "school year."
We are definitely still finding our groove, but the difference is that now I have a better idea of not only what to expect from the kids, but what to expect from myself. I'm now okay with being a little more laid back with my plans instead of overwhelming us all, but I know that I need to have some sort of system to work off of or I have a bad habit of saying "well eff it, I suck anyway."
I can't give up on teaching my kids at home. The idea of sending them to school breaks my heart. Especially now- now that the running tally of concerns I have silently collected for my Oliver (...my first born... my pride and joy... my gift from God...) are staring me in the face and shouting "SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER!!!!!!"
Does he have SPD? I don't know? If he does it's not high on the spectrum. His SLP gave me a short profile to fill out. I took it home so I could really look it over and score it myself. From what I gather he has a "probable difference." To me, that means if he was in public school he would be in a special classroom, and his peers would judge him. I remember thinking there was something wrong with my classmates who had to leave for special education... now I realize it could have any of a slew of learning disorders... but then I thought they were somehow defunct. It breaks my heart to think of Oliver being placed like that. He is so very intelligent and creative and logical... but from what I observe of him now, I don't think traditional schooling is the way to go.
Once again, I'm glad we decided to start this so early, so I have the time to figure it out. To fail and succeed from day to day.
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