ABCs of Homeschooling – “C” is for…

Today is Tuesday, and that means it is the ABCs of Homeschooling with 5 Kids and a Dog.  We are on the letter “C”.

As I asked Charlie what he thought would be a good “C” word, two children piped up with their suggestions.  DD11 suggested “crowns”.  We are looking forward to watching the royal wedding, so her response made a lot of sense.  We found a website that had a Princess Kate paper doll set with Disney princess gowns to print and cut out.  {Yes, we know that she will be called Princess Catherine.}  DS8 suggested “crazy”.  Yes, “crazy” describes him perfectly.

What we finally came up with is “creativity”.  Creativity is one of the most important parts of our school.  Creativity is used when picking curriculum, changing curriculum, and day-to-day utilization of the learning material.

By the end of first grade, we realized that DD11 was just not getting her math.  The math program that we were using did not require mastery to the level that she needed.  When functions were mixed, she couldn’t retain what she was being taught.  At the beginning of second grade, we threw out the old curriculum, found new curriculum that offered the mastery that she needed, and started from scratch.  Adding a few Disney character touches to her problems helped her find the focus to master what she needed.

When DS8 started homeschooling in Kindergarten, we soon learned that we would have to widen our creative approach.  We didn’t realize some of the problems that he has (suspected Aspergers) and were quite surprised that just a couple of minutes of writing would send him into tears and screaming.  We quickly rethought and retooled our schooling approach with much success, and now he is able to do a couple of lessons at a time without tears.  We pay close attention to his non-verbal cues to take breaks when needed.

We also use creativity when deciding what to do on a given day.  We used to be more structured but have adapted a more unschooled mindset with all of the therapy appointments the kids have had this year.  On some therapy days when DS8 seems to be at the end of his rope, we take the rest of the day to “get into trouble”.  This is our term for “Mom is going to choose something education but fun, and it will be a surprise”.  We have had quite a few trips to local museums, National Parks and Monuments, and State Parks this year.  Our last “get into trouble” day was spent at a local museum learning about pioneer times in our area.  The museum was a hospital for the indigent, at one time.  It has an old-time operating room set up, as well as, an iron lung with a lesson on polio.  There is an old cabin set up with period furnishings.  It was hard to imagine a family living in anything quite so small.

So you can see the “creativity” is the important “C” letter word for us.