With all that must be done to teach little ones the basics, it is very important for our homeschool that the older ones must be self directed. so I put together checklists with the older girls so they can just go from one activity to another. If they need me, (two needs me every day for piano and one needs me to accompany her when she practices the violin) they need to schedule it around the needs of the younger ones. At the beginning of each month, I give them the empty checklist. the checklist has a table of daily assignments, a list of when weekly assignments are due, places for four monthly goals to be written and a space for them to write the books they are reading. This checklist helps them organize their day and if I see them just milling around, I can check their list to see if they are, indeed, done with all I expect them to do.
Checklists have been a very successful tool for our homeschool, plus, I have a documentation of their learning in case I am ever asked for it by the school district.
I don't mean this to sound rude even though it probably will; I am genuinely curious and not trying to be critical. Your oldest is practically a teenager, and I was about her age when I no longer permitted my parents to see my grades. I would have resented my mother giving me a checklist for anything or seeing any of my goals. Is One really that acquiescent?
ReplyDeleteWhen I started junior high at the age of twelve, the most valuable aspect of the whole experience was finding a mentor - an adult who was not my parent yet cared for me and guided me. We still communicate now, almost a decade later. In fact, today is his birthday.... The most important thing to my twelve-year-old self about that mentor was that he was not my parent. That was very empowering. Is One content answering to her mother in so many aspects for her life? Especially on the brink of adolescence?
I don't mean to belittle the role of any mother. I know if I were a mother that I would love to be fully informed on these things in my daughter's life, but I also know that as a teenager I would not have had a harmonious relationship with my mother if she tried to be that involved. I recognize that every child is different and needs to be raised differently, but in your case, how do you balance that?
I was a lot like you, Izzy, in that I resented my mom being involved in my learning. I hear a lot of moms say they could never homeschool because their children do not see their mothers as their teachers. I am thrilled when One finds people she looks up to and can trust. And I think that through the teen age years it is very important for children to begin to pull away from their parents so that they will be ready to be independant when the time comes. So I see your point.
ReplyDeleteWhen the kids were little, I recognized something in our family had to be different if we were to be successfull at homeschooling so I started praying about it and teaching the kids that I am their first and most important teacher and that I did not put myself here but God did. They needed to understand that mother and teacher are not exclusive domains. Occasionally, One balks the authority and I think that will get more pronounced as she gets older but at those times, I have sat down with her and we have talked about her goals and I have turned more over to her. I really try hard to keep the relationship open so when she is dissatisfied with what we are doing, we can talk about it and I will listen.