Best laid plans!

[Reya]

It's kind of funny what I wanted to do with the kids I'm teaching versus what I'm doing. The kids are both bright and only 9 mo apart--and sure, they aren't related, but they seemed "close enough" in ability. I'd planned to teach only math and reading separately, but everything else, I'd do together: Bible, art, violin, singing, history, science, handwriting, spelling, grammar, and Spanish.

I haven't started up grammar yet, but overall, that was a big fat FAILURE. :-) Bible, part of handwriting, history, singing, and science can be done together as long as I hold the kids to different standards, but in spelling, copywork, violin, Spanish, and even ART, they diverged so rapidly that I'm teaching at two wholly different trajectories. I just plain didn't see that big of a difference between the kids before we started, especially with the 5yo's 2E issues. And, unfortunately, I see science and history diverging, too, in the future.

It's kind of funny. First I homeschool to give individualized instruction, and then I'm surprised that this is exactly what they need! :-P

So what were other people's surprises-that-shouldn't-have-been-surprises in homeschooling?

[swellmomma]

I can relate. My oldest 2 kids are less than 11 months apart, so I set out to homeschool them together on everything for the most part, with a few differences. Well I found that didn't work, my dd takes far to long to write anything so it was holding ds back. I finally decided (after 2 years yikes) to do things individualzed and ds has taken off and is a good chapter or more ahead in darn near everything now. I should not have been surprised that they would not be best served working at the same pace, thats part of why I pulled them out of school though I thought forsure it would be the other way around, with dd taking off and ds being slower.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Congratulations on the baby due in October! Woohoo!

But, where'd you get another boy? Did you adopt? Are you teaching someone else's child? I missed something.

[Reya]

Congratulations on the baby due in October! Woohoo!

But, where'd you get another boy? Did you adopt? Are you teaching someone else's child? I missed something.

I'm doing a large portion of the next door neighbor's kiddo's schooling! That way, DS isn't alone all day, and the kiddo gets appropriate instruction for his level, too. (He'll probably be doing 2nd grade math for K.)

And, YES, FINALLY a baby has decided to stick around! I was a complete BASKETCASE for the first 12 weeks because of my three previous miscarriages and my problems with getting pregnant in the first place (weirdly, I think what finally "fixed" it--my problem's hormonal--was going cold turkey on the dairy).

But I'm now 19+ weeks along with an absolutely GORGEOUS baby girl (DS is bitterly disappointed) who is EXACTLY the right weight, size, etc. I have felt her occasionally since 14 weeks and constantly since 18. I'm already playing tapping games with her, and she started really reacting and "playing" (totally mommy projection here) back after just three days after I could feel her from the outside (yes, at 18 weeks--she's ACTIVE!). She's roughly ten times more active than DS ever was. She was doing serious backflips at my 12 wk sonogram, even. I seriously wonder what I'm in for, here. *g* You couldn't feel DS from outside my stomach until I was at 20-something weeks, but she's already pounding on all surfaces with astonishing strength for an 8 oz little girl!

(We do have tentative plans for adoption, but that's waaaay down the road at this point...)

[FloridaLisa]

So what were other people's surprises-that-shouldn't-have-been-surprises in homeschooling?

*That I wouldn't be going bananas by 4:00 p.m. after being with my kids all day;

*That I'd really, really know my kids and wouldn't need a parent-teacher conference to discover things about my dc;

*That we'd enjoy so many blessings as a family in our home education adventure.

Congratulations, Reya! Baby girls are so sweet!
Lisa

[Reya]

Congratulations, Reya! Baby girls are so sweet!
Lisa

Unless they're like I was! *g*

I have bought ridiculous amounts of baby clothes already. Incredibly, disgustingly precious dresses by the dozen. Think--

chiffon overskirts
tulle petticoats
bloomers
gingham
grosgrain
rickrack
embroidery
smocking
seersucker
bows
bonnets

Ah, I love the clearance racks. :-) I think my biggest steal was something like 95% off. I got 90% on four or five different things.

[LanaTron]

My elder two are 21 months apart, but because of where their birthdays fall, they are only one grade level apart, at least they would be if they were in the ps. I have always tried to teach them together as much as possible, thinking that it would be easier for me. In retrospect, though, I think that with my particular two, it actually has created more stress for me and not been good for #2 dc, because they are pretty competitive with each other.

It has become very apparant to me this year, but really there were probably signs long ago, that the eldest is really pulling ahead of the #2 in many ways: skill wise, maturity, etc. So I am planning on teaching more of their subjects seperately. And I am left wondering if I should have always done it like that...I can look back and see the pressure I put on #2 trying to get her to produce the same level of work as #1...

What has really changed my thinking with these two dc is the fact that I realized that she is no where near ready for what I consider to be 6th grade level work next year...so I am calling her 5th grade again next year. That really makes me feel so much better about where she's at and where she's headed, and it has opened my mind to treating her as more of an individual academically, which is probably what she has been starving for all along. I hope it will be a good year for her, and I hope that I can help her get over comparing herself to her big brother, at least a little bit.

Home schooling is certainly a huge learning curve for me. :)

[LanaTron]

Awwww...that is so sweet! Congratulations!

[Reya]

Awwww...that is so sweet! Congratulations!

Thanks!