Here we are just four weeks into our new year of homeschooling. I have in place a much more relaxed curriculum based on each kids individual needs. It is working.....I think so anyway. We are still mostly isolated. Not sure of the world outside of our doors.
New this time around is that we have joined a Virtual Partnership. What does this mean for us? It means that we get a variety of free classes offered to us for free. It means that we can have a small school like experience. The kids can spend time away from each other. I can work one on one with each kid. Now, I bet that you are wondering what classes they chose.
For my son he is doing a class to Build Your Own Computer. It is a small computer and we have already completed the building portion of it. Thankfully his Dad could assist him with the assembly because I was completely lost. Then he is doing an Art Class, a Spanish Class, and of course a Bowling Class. Isn't that required for Homeschoolers?
Now my daughter is doing an Art Class, a social studies class based on the American Girl Dolls, a swimming class, and of course Bowling.
Week one of the virtual meetups went well. Two of my daughter's classes didn't meet this week, so it gave us a little breathing room on routine. I see where our weaknesses are are, I see how hard it will be to maintain a working routine. As for our own Science and History, I haven't been so great in this area. Here it is Hispanic Heritage Month, and I haven't shown them one video of any person yet.
Now for the fun part. We went to a playdate to meet other kids in the Partnership. It went well. I mean we are in Michigan which is an odd place to be right now. It is like being in Tennessee, but at the same time as being in a more progressive place. So, I met some nice moms and quickly realized that us being vaccinated was going to be not the norm. I should have known this after the first Zoom meeting to ask questions about the upcoming courses and start dates. Forty-Five minutes in we had still only covered the why of the mask mandate. It apparently wasn't something many people could understand. Just for the record even though my son has the option, he will be wearing a mask. Anyway, at the playdate as I listen to a mom go on and on about her husband working in some kind of lab, I was thinking "Oh bet they are vaccinated" Nope. She explained that her entire family had Covid, not big deal at all, and therefore should be mostly immune and didn't need a vaccine. Okay. Your opinion. I quietly commented that three out of four of our family were vaccinated and that my youngest is on the waiting list for the vaccine.
The First day of in person classes went pretty well. I met a mom. I liked said mom. I saw many kids throwing the playground pebbles to include throwing them down the slides. No moms in sight to correct this behavior. Naturally, I pulled my daughter aside to let her know that was not okay and she should not follow their example. I had wanted to do extra math work with her, but that playground was much too tempting, and I needed to make a phone call.
The next day was a long day. My daughter had the first class bright and early in the morning. We got up way too early. I had lunches packed. I got everyone fed and out the door early. A huge score! My daughter truly enjoyed her class, but it was during this time I realized I might be out of my league.
