Yes, folks, I am considering changing my name to Flaky Flake McFlaky for obvious reasons. I haven't blogged in over a month and this was supposed to be a FUN thing, not a chore! I really do love blogging. It's just tough to sit down and actually get the ridiculously silly thoughts that are in my head to flow out my fingertips. But I must press on!
So much has happened over the past few weeks regarding homeschooling. The good news is: we haven't quit. The not-as-good news is: it's such a challenge NOT to quit. While we (Mr. Armed with a Latte and I) are completely confident that homeschooling is best for both of our boys and for our family in general, it is an incredible challenge to find curriculum and teaching methods that work for both boys. They are so different from each other, it's ridiculous! Which leads me to as this crazy, conservative question: If I have only 2 children with different learning styles and needs and I struggle to meet each of their needs, how can ANY public (or private, for that matter) school do the same with 30 kids in a class? I'm absolutely, in no way dogging teachers. In fact, I feel like they are already being dogged by a system that expects them to use one method to teach everyone and if any kids don't respond to that method, the teacher is the one who is viewed as "unsuccessful." What a crock. I only have two kids in my "classroom" and even I know what works for one may not (and rarely does, in this house) work for the other.
Like I said, a lot has gone here homeschooling-wise. It's been a definite challenge, but the rewards are sweet and I know more are to come. The boys and I spend A LOT of time together (which is why many moms don't homeschool in the first place. I'm so not judging...I was one of them!) so we get on each others' nerves sometimes, but we have found that we actually LIKE being together. And one of the bonuses of the three of us always being together is that we are ready to spend time with Corey when he's not working. Any of you that are the child of or are married to shift workers know that it's a challenge to spend time with them. We've already benefited greatly from homeschooling's flexibility.
One thing (among others, don't you worry...) I struggle with is the idea that we don't just have to do "school at home," meaning that I don't have to re-create a typical classroom for the boys where we read and then answer questions or do worksheets all day. Because I am a product of public and (a year-and-a-half of) private schools, this method works with me. It also works because I am a girl. I'm not going to argue the merits of the whole "boys learn differently than girls" thing, but I will say this: They do. I can't believe that my boys will not sit long enough to finish 3 or 4 worksheets! (That's said with some sarcasm, y'all.) I remember sitting in school for long periods of time and reading something and then answering questions about it. I had no problems doing it. So, when I started homeschooling, it was very natural for me to choose curriula like those used in public schools. BIG mistake with these two boys. Well, actually, that's not true. Big mistake with one of them. One of them does just fine with this method. It's boring, but he just knocks it out. But the other one? Not so much. It will take him hours to do one worksheet. Not because he doesn't understand the content, but because he just doesn't learn that way. He's more of a "show me and let me touch it" kind of learner. The clinical term for him is "kinesthetic learner." I call him a plain old boy. How many boys do you know that can truly sit still and color for over an hour? I don't know many, but I do know plenty of girls that can...and they enjoy it! Hear me when I say that I realize not EVERY boy learns differently from EVERY girl. I realize every kid is just different from one another. But from my experience, what public school has become is not very "out-of-the box-learner" friendly. Go ahead. Send me a nasty email.
So...let's see. The kids are still playing football. They LOVE it, kind of to my dismay. I mean, I thought they would like it, but that they would be done with it after this year. Now I'm thinking we may just be a Buccaneers family until we die! That's alright. They're so flippin' cute in their little uniforms that I don't mind sitting at practice 3 nights a week for 2 hours in the either freezing cold (which is what it looks like I'll be doing tonight) or the scorching heat (like we've done for the past couple months). Poor me, right?
On another front, baseball is nearing! Y'all, I am a baseball girl. I love to watch it, listen to it, talk about it, and read about it. And I especially love watching my boys play. This year is a little different for us. It looks like Big Boy will be playing on a travel ball team (one that his daddy and papa are starting) in the spring. Well, actually, I think we're going to start having work-outs in November or something, but the tournaments really go full force in the spring. I'm really looking forward to watching him play with a bunch of his greatest friends. That's a lot of why we chose to do travel ball this year. All of the boys have such a great time during All-Stars in the summer and we hated watching them get separated when it was time for league baseball to start. So we've talked about a team for the past two years and finally, Mr. AWAL, one of his closest baseball friends, and my dad have bit the bullet and started a team from scratch. We had a meeting last Friday just to let parents know what we expect from everyone, what they can expect from their coaches, how much stuff will cost (it's never free, unfortunately!), and that kind of stuff. The whole time the parents were in the meeting, the kids were outside all playing together and having such a great time. Corey (aka Mr. AWAL) noticed it right when he was in the middle of his schpiel and said, "You guys, this is why we're doing this. You cannot make or fake the chemistry these boys have on and off the field. You can't force it or manufacture it or buy it. They just have it and we can either build on it or walk away from it." That's the truth. These boys love to be together...on and off the field. They beg to stay at each other's houses when we've just played 3 games together. It's one of the beauties of childhood friendships and I'm grateful for it.
"So if Big Boy is playing travel ball, what about Little Man?" you're asking. Worry not your troubled little hearts, my friends. Little Man has decided that he wants NOTHING to do with travel ball. Oh, except that he wants a hat and a shirt with "B-Money" on the back. That's my boy. Actually, Little Man wants to play league ball with one of his friends (who happens to have a brother on the travel ball team). They have decided that they don't want to practice as much as their brothers have to and they don't want to play in tournaments. So, they're not. We've decided that we'll do both. We'll work it out. I'll be at Little Man's games on Saturdays and then we'll go to Big Boy's games (or we'll leave Big Boy's games early, whatev.) and then we'll all be able to go to Little Man's weeknight games. Somehow, these things always work out. They have to!
OH! And
here's a shameless plug for the new ball team. Corey's learning HTML and doing it all by himself. NERD!
Coffee Cup of the Day
So this mug is totally boring, but it sits right next to my Keurig, so it's incredibly accessible. I actually have to make a conscious effort not to use one of these mugs. It's part of a set Corey bought for me at Costco because our kitchen is coffee-themed. It works.
