Friday, November 7, 2008

Time to try something new...

Waking up to snow just seemed like a great day to try something new. So we did.

On the recommendation of at least four homeschoolin' friends, we are taking a look at Time4Learning.com. Not as an everyday total curriculum kind of thing, just something different for the kids to do. So today I had the kids doing things in their different accounts. Iggy had a pretty good time, although I think we might need to tweak his educational level. Ooky was bored to death, oddly enough, and we DEFINITELY need to tweak his educational level (which totally freaks me out). But I think it could be a cool thing once we get everything all figured out. I learned a lot by watching them today. Mostly, that Iggy is a total perfectionist but also wants to get through everything, like yesterday. So when he thinks he knows what the computer is going to ask of him, he just goes gung ho. And then when he gets the question wrong, he is a) all confused because he thought he knew what the computer was going to say...and he didn't, and b) he freaks out because he wasn't perfect. These are issues to work on that might make the cost of T4L completely worth it.

The other new thing was putting a little Love and Logic to work, again on the recommendation from a couple friends. I was visiting a friend yesterday and saw her using some of the L&L tactics on her kids and it was lovely. So we did a bit of that today...and it was lovely. From what I've read, the whole thing makes sense to me because its all about the kids learning to be in control of and responsible for themselves...and that all actions have consequences. And for me, its about not getting involved in a lot of things I don't need to. I tend to talk things to death, or get caught up in that senseless banter that goes on (especially when I'm amazed at the things my five year old going on fifteen year old can come up with). This, apparently, doesn't help matters. So I'm on the hunt for some books (which I can't get through my library system, if you can believe that) and looking to do a bit of overhauling with 'da system.

Other than that, more signs, more signs, more signs. Sign language is just "it" if you ask the kids. How many more signs can we learn before Dad gets home from hunting...so we can talk in code...I think I've created monsters!!

1 comment:

Ruralmama said...

I am so glad that the L&L is going well as well as the T4L. It's just nice to have those things, isn't it?

The girls and I used "code" this weekend to talk around daddy too. It was pretty funny. He's not too fooled though--he knows a few signs of his own and is willing to make up some to get by (and they are so wrong and crack me up in their wrongness!).