Field Trip to the Apple Orchard

We took a break from school today and traveled to a nearby apple orchard. The children had a blast! Henrietta Creek Apple Orchard does a wonderful job with educating children (and parents) on all things apple, including different types of insects that hurt and harm the crops, they spent a lot of time discussing the importance of bees. They also talked about how apple jelly and cider is made. And because this orchard had several gardens that grew more than just apples, they talked about cotton and how they used to make clothes. They showed the students how cotton was carded and spun with the spinning wheel. The presentation went a lot longer than my children's attention spans but they did a great job.

Wrapping it up

We are finishing up the year here, in fact this Friday we will officially call Kindergarten done!
When we started this journey I wasn't sure what this year would look like for us, I was filled with fear, anticipation, and excitement. I had all these opinions of what our kindergarten year was suppose to be and because of that I placed unneeded expectations and pressures on myself. It wasn't until I got about halfway through the year that I finally relaxed and realized that our homeschooling isn't suppose to be modeled after the public school system, if that is what I wanted to begin with, public school is where I would have put her. When I released myself from those notions I began to really enjoy teaching. Of course we have had our ups and downs but I have a different outlook and purpose for our homeschooling now. I am excited for what the rest of our years will look like.

Becoming Aware

Today as I was browsing through some blog posts from some of my favorite bloggers I came across this post. If you have some time, check it out. It really gave me something to think about. I am quite confident in our decision to homeschool, but after reading what Elizabeth had to say about her decision and especially after reading through the comments others made- I want to be cognisant of how I handle being a homeschooling mom. I homeschool out of my conviction that it is the right thing to do for our family. I want us to be the primary influence in our children's lives but on the same note I don't want our children to live a sheltered life- it's a fine line we walk. Something I have especially struggled with through this first year homeschooling is how to handle the relationships I have with other moms that have decided not to homeschool. Something one of the commenter's said has really made me question how well I have handled this.
"As a homeschooling mother, I must admit that homeschoolers-as a group come across as self-righteous snobs"
Another person posted how homeschoolers sometimes think of themselves as being elitist. These are just a few of the words that I never want to accompany my name. Although sadly I can see how easy it would be to fall into one of these categories. It's something I definitely need to give more prayer to. Relationships are important to me and I would hate for any of my convictions to become a stumbling block to someone else.

Revamping

I made today my "teacher work day." We woke up and right from the start everything started going wrong, the children seemed out of control, I was cranky, I couldn't find several things I was looking for and at that point- I felt beat and made the executive decision to take the day off and revamp our set up. I would like to believe that those who have been homeschooling a little longer than me have struggled a little with some of my issues. Although I have loved homeschooling thus far, I have struggled much with the balance of life and getting school done and I needed a moment to just breath and think through what wasn't working. We have been having schooltime in our playroom which has been working well, but because of the set up, I was keeping all my teacher materials and manipulatives in various places throughout the house. I was fed up with trying to keep track of where things were so I spent the morning moving things around, sorting and cleaning. It was a good feeling when all was done. I feel ready to have some really good productive days that will begin and end with organization that I didn't have before. I really believe that my lack of organization in most areas of my life are why I can't seem to really get control of things around here and why I get easily frustrated. I am going to work on putting a few things in place in the next couple days/weeks that will help me in this area.

Trying to get the hang of it

Well, we are now through one semester of homeschooling. As a whole I think it's gone well. I feel like we could have done more and been more productive but I'm not beating myself up for it, I know that we are still further ahead then where she would be if she was at an away from home school. But still I had hoped for more. We are using Sonlight as our curriculum but to be honest thus far I'm not loving it. I think I'm willing to give it another year before I completely ditch it, but I am leaning more toward a unit study approach. I love the Five in a Row curriculum, but I also feel like I need just a little more than what it offers. So I'm playing around with a few ideas. I have always wanted to write curriculum, planning was always my favorite thing to do as a public school teacher, so I might even put together my own curriculum for next year- who knows? Right now my focus is on trying to make school more fun while still maintaining a learning atmosphere. We won't officially start this next semester until This coming Monday- I need to get to work!

The Hundred Dresses

Our read aloud for the past 2 weeks has been The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. This is a great book that has allowed for some great discussion between Zoe and I. Although I think some of it might have been a little over Zoe's head, I'm sure that the general message was able to get through, I am also sure that it is one of those kind of stories that will stick with us for a while. The Hundred Dresses, is about Wanda, a poor immigrant girl and her way of coping with her poverty and the constant teasing she receives for wearing the same blue dress to school everyday, One of her ways of coping is to tell a story to the little girls about how she has 100 dresses in her closet. We find out by the end of the story that she is not exactly lying. The little girls in the story are not necessarily portrayed as being terrible, they are just immature and materialistic. The story ends sadly with the little girl moving away because of the treatment from the children in her class. This leaves the girls with feelings of remorse and they attempt to make it right with Wanda, but they find out that they are a little too late.
As you can imagine there are so many great discussions that can come from this book. I have decided that when Zoe is just a little older I will put together a mother, daughter book club and this is one of those books we will revisit again.