School

I used to obsess about needing school to be rigid and hardcore all day long.  That's what I was used to!  I went to public school.  8 hours of my day was at school.  Sure, there was lunch, recess, and PE.  But for the most part, I was at a desk.  So my first week of Kindergarten last year with Abigail, I felt inadequate... that we had finished all the curriculum for the day after an hour!  All the curriculum for the week could've been pushed into one day!  It was a huge change for me.  I didn't understand.  I thought, somehow we were expecting less out of our children.  Abigail is smart, and could've done so much more than this curriculum was asking of her.  (and we started her kindergarten year with first grade material)I kept asking other HS Moms and they told me to relax.  Just have fun with her!  BUT IT'S SCHOOL!  My insides were torn.  I almost felt like I was being lazy if I didn't do school with her every minute of every day.  AND THEN... it hit me.  We do school every minute of every day.  We LIVE school. How do you LIVE school?  I teach her when it's relevant.  I have found that just being with her.  Playing, exploring, talking, cooking, cleaning.  Whatever it is, there is school involved.  Of course, we still use a solid language arts and math curriculum.  Writing out equations and spelling words just don't naturally come up like you need them to! :-)  Last night we were driving home from the studio and Abigail was like the energizer bunny with questions.  Over and over again, she asked so many questions.  Without waiting for response, she would ask another.  I found it quite humorous.  But once she got to asking about pirates, she waited for responses.  PIRATES! ha.  She wanted to know about gold.  About maps.  About boats.  About treasure.  About stealing.  I found that pirates were actually an amazing subject.  SOOOO.  Today, we went more into detail with maps.  We buried treasure in different places in our house (our treasure was an iPod- although thinking about it now, it should've been a Bible. aaaargh) and drew maps to lead each other to our treasure.  It was adorable.  That was all we did today.  And normally, that would stress me out.  But I know that isn't all we did.  WE LIVED SCHOOL.  It's not a part of our day, it is our day.  All the time.  I am falling more and more in love with homeschooling.  Even on the days I forget to relax. :-/oh, also- random, but Jude spelled the word PASTA today.  Wrote it out all by himself. :-)

Abigail's map of our living room- the couch, table, and fireplace.  Notice the X by my hand- she hid the iPod in the cushion of the couch.  :-)