Around the country and the world

I have been procrastinating all summer long on the homeschooling thing. I'll wake up and tell myself that Jacob and I are going to do such-and-such an activity complete with a little theme and other relevant activities. Then other things happen and we don't do it. I feel like this is pretty much the moment of truth for me. What I do now is going to set the tone for the rest of the homeschooling experience.

Most of Jacob's friends are starting pre-schooling - actually did start it last week. Some of the programs are actually really nice, and I think right up my alley. It would be cool to send him to something like that just for the experience. I guess one thing that's making me feel a lot of pressure now is that Jacob has been going through another phase where he doesn't want to do anything with other kids. I think he really does
though and just acts like he doesn't care because maybe he's a little nervous about it. So it's like this is my first big challenge in terms of the socialization argument that everyone always uses against homeschooling.

I have to say that I did a really good job of proving myself this week. Jacob and I got along greatly, which helped alleviate my fear that he might need to go to school so the two of us could have a break from each other. I got Jacob re-enrolled in gymnastics and we went to the first class of the session on Tuesday. I plowed through the embarrassment of the first half of the class where he clung to me and refused to do anything, and I was afraid everyone might think me crazy for bringing this child to a class he so obviously doesn't want to be at. But I think I must have done something right because eventually he jumped right in and has been talking about it ever since. Perhaps Zach and I got just the right mix of encouraging Jacob in this pursuit and backing off?

I'm noting the pre-school schedules of Jacob's friends and sort of 'drafting their tailwind' by the fact that I'm basing our schedule around when they are no longer available to us. I'm really trying to condense errands and household chores so that there's more time for the 'homeschooling lessons'. And basically I just have to remember now that these little lessons are something that's on the chart now. I have to remember to take the time.

I've had some scares lately...like when I was reading the blog of a friend who is going to do kindergarten homeschooling with her five year old. Holy freaking organized! And motivated, and enjoying of the process of creating lesson plans. I can't do that. At least not yet. This is just
pre-school stuff here. And my whole point of homeschooling is that I want us to be able to delve into whatever it is Jacob is feeling at the moment. I hope I can remember that so I don't ever get freaked out that I don't have the whole year planned out ahead of time. I think if we can just go into the day knowing there will be a lesson, or lessons, ahead of us, we can relax and let the lessons come to us. Like yesterday when I finally sat down to look at the two books we got out of the library a few days prior. They were both random books: Chickens May Not Cross the Road and Other Crazy (But True) Laws, by Kathi Linz and Can You Say Peace?, by Karen Katz. The first book is about non-nonsensical laws around the country and the second book introduces children from countries around the world and tells you how they say 'peace' in their language. It was by accident that both of these books cover many different geographic areas but I went with it. I set up a little table with placemats, one with a world map and the other with a United States map, a hand-me-down light-up globe and both books. We set to work reading, finding the places the books talk about, pointing to them and naming them. Jacob was totally into it and I was very pleased with our self-discipline.