This is how I am feeling lately about the early elementary school years! I feel like I have been given a second chance to 'do' them again, but this time better than I did with my older girls!! Both King Peter and Lucy are in their early elementary years and like the two older girls they will more than likely be schooled closely together. The big difference between schooling them and the older girls is ME! Time and experience over the past seven years have empowered me to not have to go on blind trust of others experiences. Now I am convicted and confidently practice the 'better late than early' philosophy. I find myself gravitating to more gentle approaches of education and I can more confidently take and adapt and apply them to fit my family's needs.
As I reflect back I can't claim I am from the first generations of homeschoolers that speak of simpler times when there were hardly any of the resources
At the time I had a big learning curve on not only who I was as a mother, homemaker and teacher, but on how to make that all work together for my family! In those beginning years my biggest trap was that I feared *academic gaps*. My homeschooling journey began shortly after the time when curriculum providers (for institutional/public school settings)
In hindsight I can now see that both my older girls had gentle beginnings but in my opinion today -- not gentle enough!! What's helped me? Well, it all began after I received Elizabeth's Foss's book into my home. I was formerly introduced to Charlotte Mason's methods and educational philosophies that have changed my homeschooling journey for the better dramatically!! By this time both my older girls were in third/fourth grade so they were past those early elementary years, and my oldest son was not quite ready to start school. I joined the CCM yahoo group and those wonderful ladies really helped me to grow as a teacher, a wife, and a mother. I also started my own CM homeschool support group which enabled me to learn more about this wonderful method of education alongside other like minded homeschoolers.
Along with my CM support group I've used several wonderful Internet resources to continue my learning. A couple of my favorites are forums like 4Reallearning, Five in a Row, and Waldorf at Home. I personally find these formats better for sharing information than the yahoo groups, but that is another posting. Another more recent trend for sharing information and resources that have been invaluable are *blogs*. This latter format has truly been a God sent for someone like me that is a strong visual learner. The ability to see how and what other homeschoolers are using and doing in their homes has been an invaluable tool. I love being inspired and creating new and improved approaches to our educational system so they meet the growing needs of my family!
Now back to my elementary years experience.... When my oldest son was old enough to begin Kindergarten, he had absolutely no interest in learning to read or write or draw, he just wanted to do math. This did not concern me too much for I knew this was not uncommon in boys. Instead he has been exposed to lots of good living books and plenty of time to *play* and re-enact.
Now, on top of King Peter's slow maturity I have quite the opposite learner coming up behind him. Lucy is very anxious to read and is practically teaching herself. She is an intellectually precocious and competitive child. I definitely don't mean that in a negative or judgmental way!!! It's just that she lacks other inner qualities (i.e. patience) that I feel are equally important in order for her to mature into a well-rounded person, that academics just don't address. These character forming qualities need to be addressed now in her early years, so that good habits maybe established before academics are implemented.
I realized it was time to further my knowledge of early childhood education. It had been so many years since I *taught* at this level and what had worked for my older girls was not going to work for the next two in our family. The *routine* I had found for my older students that had been working well for them was very out of sync for my younger students. The daily routines were too long and didn't hold attention spans. The chores were too complex and I wasn't doing a good job following up with the 'elementary kids' especially while trying to keep up with their two younger siblings. There wasn't a balanced rhythm to our days. We were surviving off organized chaos.
