Upside:
She can flit from one subject to another, so she never gets bored with any one thing.
Downside:
Are we encouraging ADD here? Focus, girl, focus.
Upside:
We can decide it’s a beach day and spend the morning snorkeling and catch up on schoolwork later.
Downside:
Chances of actually catching up: zilch.
Upside:
She thrives on the one-on-one attention.
Downside:
One-on-one attention is exhausting for the parent side of the equation. Talk about a crash course in patience.
Upside:
It’s an excuse for field trips to the Mauna Kea Observatory for stargazing.
Downside:
Field trip nearly killed our truck.
Upside:
We get LOTS of quality time with the kid.
Downside:
She’s jonesing for some friend-time. It’s possible she’s getting sick of us.
Upside:
She can go to Circus Camp a couple afternoons a week and learn valuable life skills such as stilt-walking and unicycle-riding.
Downside:
Not sure stilt-walking will help with No Child Left Behind school testing.
 |
| Learning to walk on stilts |
So … the jury’s still out on this brief home-schooling experience. It’s fun, but it does take lots of time and attention from either me or her father. Overall, I think it’s a wonderful experience for her, though my own writing has taken a hit. (You probably haven’t seen me as much on Twitter lately.) But it’s worth it to spare her a few weeks of neverending winter. If you've had experience with home-schooling and would like to offer up some tips, I'd love to hear them!
Love from the hammock --
Jennifer Bernard
9 comments:
You are a trooper! My advice for homeschooling: Don't do it! Let her learn from life. She's learning everyday your in Hawaii about things she can't learn in the classroom. Make her write a paper when she's done. When she returns to Alaska, there will be nothing but snow and staying indoors. She can catch up then. Come on, let her play. Then you can play too. :)
LOL, Jenny, this is awesome. I think it sounds like you're doing a great job. And are you kidding me? Circus skills will be fantabulous things for her to have if not for the unicycling then for the self-confidence. It sounds like a way cooler version of, say, TaeKwonDo.
I don't think it's a bad thing for Indigo to do a little schoolwork--since it's the school year. But, it's also just fine for her to get those amazing field trips. And field trips with the 'rents are way better than field trips with a whole class.
I've never homeschooled, but I think I'd come to your classes--they sound cool. Enjoy--these times won't last!
PS - Now that I think about it, watch out for the guys she brings home when she's of age and says, "Hey wanna try my unicycle?"
Liz - OMG - lol!
Jenny, I admire you for making sure she stays on track for school. I chose not to homeschool for precisely all those negative reasons you gave. I'm not a social enough person to assure my kids would get the friend time they need.
But if I had to do it, I guess being in Hawaii might take some of the edge off :)
Great post, Jennifer. I haven't homeschooled myself, but have heard many of the pros and cons you listed from other parents. I think it's good to find the balance between "fun" enrichment and traditional schoolwork. Every kid needs both.
Great post, Jennifer. I haven't homeschooled myself, but have heard all the pros and cons you listed from other parents. I think like anyting else, it's good to find the balance between "fun" enrichment and traditional schoolwork. Every kid needs both.
Thanks for posting, Jennifer! (and for reminding us you were in Hawaii - and we were here! :o)
As for home schooling - my daughter in Fairbanks tried it....my granddaughter thought she would get to stay home and watch t.v. all day (daughter works from home, too) It was a rude awakening for them both! But hey, Circus Life Skills are good.....you might need her to get that unreachable spice from the top shelf sometime when your husband's not available.
And - 'love from the hammock'....really?!! :o)
LOL, this is so funny, but sounds wonderful. I think I need to give homeschooling in Hawaii a try. You lucky girl.
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