So one of the most common questions we get from families whose kids go to "away school," as we call it (seems better than "traditional school" or "regular school" or what have you), and who are familiar with our stay-at-home-dad and work-at-home-mom life, is "so who does most of the teaching?" And the answer is usually a brief blank stare, followed by "well, um, they mostly teach themselves."
Given that we have little-littles around, who are prone do making messes or yelling or needing to be changed or nursed every five minutes, and given that I work from home and need to focus on that, "teaching" just isn't going to happen. And that's not a bad thing. It forces the kids to learn how to learn, and to recognize when they need help and how to get it. Once they become independent readers and can get through material on their own - they're off to the races, and I just sit and watch and keep them on track and answer questions as they come up.
SweetPea is, age-wise, in kindergarten, but she's got a thing for math, so we've let her work ahead at her own pace, keeping an eye on things to make sure they don't go off the rails. She's midway through the second grade books now, and yesterday she started to learn addition with carrying. As she started her work and I was getting snacks for the littler ones, I called downstairs that she should come and get me when she started math, so I could help explain it to her. "Oh, I started already," came the reply, "everything is fine, mommy."
I trotted down and looked through the work she had done - and darned if she didn't have it right. I asked her to talk me through a couple of problems as she did them - and she clearly "got it." "I told you it was fine," she said, rolling her eyes as she sat back down at her desk. And the lovely thing isn't that she can carry and add, it's that she was able to pick up the book, read the explanation, follow along with an example - and presto, she was in charge of her learning. Easier for me, empowering for her, and far more useful out there in the world than listening to me ramble on about arithmetic.
If SweetPea is picking up steam, we're slowing down with Sprout. He is so bright, and such a thinker, that we've unwittingly been pushing him too hard. He can do the work - but being challenged in every subject, every day, is starting to get to him. So we're backing off a bit. He loves robots and engineering and building things - so playing with his build-a-robot kit might be plenty of science. He just came back from a "STEM Engineering Challenge" night at the local community center, beaming ear-to-ear about building boats from straws and tape. Maybe we'll ditch the books sometimes and do more of that. Playing SushiMonster, an app designed too get nine year old boys to practice their times tables by making monsters explode when they get a problem wrong (genius!), might be better than speeding through the next grade's math. He could - but if the choice is a stressed-out kid who is working way ahead of his age, or a happy kid who enjoys learning? I'll take the latter.
The second-most common question is what grade the kids are in, and I honestly don't know at this point, Sprout's books range from third through sixth grade, SweetPea's from kindergarten through second. They work where they are challenged but happy. They did their state-mandated testing at their chronological grade-level, because the tests really are a formality and just part of the requirements to legally homeschool - but they are hardly a reflection of the work we do every day. So I have no idea how to honestly answer that question, and usually say "K and third," and then one of the kids starts a long digression about how their grammar book is really for grade X, and the question-asker leaves very confused and probably wondering what we're doing at home, anyway, that we can't come up with a united front on such a simple question as "what grade is he in?"
So we're continuing to fumble our way along - much more comfortable and confident than last year, and feeling much more at home in homeschool-land. I'm listening better to the kids and what they need, and I'm far less terrified at the thought of throwing something out when it's just not working. We're counting down the days until the end of school (22 more days, people!) and figuring it out and actually looking forward to next year already when we get to start it all over again. At this point last year, I certainly never thought I'd say that - and that, more than tests or books or grade levels, means we're probably on the right path.
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