We finally finished our anatomy unit.
The last project I did was make this hand to show how the tendons work. Their are elastics on the back to make the fingers move back into place. It was a pretty cool little thing but the kids weren't as into as I had hoped.
I also made a muddy buddy recipe for Vanessa with pictures so she could do it entirely herself. She did really well with minimal help from me.
Vanessa is doing really well in homeschool. It has been a huge learning experience for both of us. She is a rock star at math and we have basically completed first grade math. She is doing well in reading but she doesn't enjoy it like I would have hoped. I am still trying to figure out how to instill a love of learning and reading. I read a book that talks about the Thomas Jefferson model of education. The core of it is teaching people to love learning and to educate themselves. I love the idea and premise of this. I feel like this is something that public schools lack entirely. They teach some kids to love exceling and some kids get lost in the shuffle, but rarely do they teach you to love learning. I feel like that is something I didn't really learn until I got into college but mostly now that I am done with school.
Vanessa is so easy to teach and really does quite well. She protests at times and definitely does not like being asked to do school "on the side." I have tried a few times to do school with her while we are out and it just doesn't happen. She knows that she can protest and not cooperate and what am I going to do about it? I've got three other kids with me to keep in line in public so she can get away with that.
I still constantly worry about whether or not she is getting everything she would be getting in public school plus some. This whole ordeal is only worth it to me if it is going to make her better for it in the end. I do feel like I can push her harder than she would be pushed in public school. I think she has a pleaser personality so she would work hard to make her teacher happy. But I think she could do much more than would be expected. But there is no way for the teacher to accommodate that. She can push back much more with me than I know she would with a teacher. S far, it hasn't been too bad though.
I would love to continue homeschool next year and include Brigham and Benson but they are a huge challenge for me. Benson is very smart but he is also a bit defiant. I feel like I would have to get after him a lot and really push hard for anything to get done. I would definitely have to work on incentives and motivation for him to cooperate with me.
Benson has been attending preschool and he really enjoys it. But it is definitely one big party and I don't feel like there is much focus on ABC-123. I feel like he should be getting more than he is at 5. I need to start working with him more but I haven't figured out how to do that yet.
Homeschool is definitely a process. For mom and student. I have no idea where we will be next year and what that will be like. It's kind of intimidating but also kind of exciting. I wish I had endless time, patience, and money to make their schooling experience more of what I dream of.
