Tales from Cat's House of Homeschooled Kits!

I was thinking about it the other day, thinking about when I tell people I let my kids lead the way. I wrote a post about following your learners interests, needs, and passions. People often say to me, “My kid needs more structure”  or “My kid needs a schedule.”

That’s valuable need to know information! Take note!

These ideas are not contrary to following your child’s lead. If your kids need structure, or unstructrure, schedule, no schedule, honoring these things IS following your child’s lead. You are observing your child and making adjustments to help them learn more deeply, with more passion, and continued interest. If they need a schedule or all unplanned time, and you incorporate that into your homeschooling style, you ARE engaged in student directed learning.

Simply put, student directed learning means providing the setting, resources, subejcts, and opportunities your child needs to succeed. That is why this approach is so amazingly successful. You are always giving your student exactly what they require to learn. Trust the process, trust your kids, trust yourself!

I hear that often when I talk to people who aren’t homeschoolers. They are so earnest and concerned. “How could you possibly do it all, all by yourself?” The answer is, I don’t. In truth, I don’t know anyone who does. 

Today is a good place to start and a great example. I am laid up with chronic pain and can’t drive. My husband is taking the guys to their English classes. At 12 and 14 we opted to have them attend classes with another teacher. She has moved them well beyond where they were in terms of concept, outlining, and body. 

Wednesday, is baseball day. Another home school parent wanted her kids to have the opportunity to play team sports. She put it out there, as in announcing that she was interested in this happening, WHOA! the kids and families that came out. There are enough kids for two full teams over 9 players each.

Friday is Piano and Judo. The morning is greeted by the sweet melodies and comical circus moods of beginning piano. The lessons are across our small town and at the home another mom. In the afternoon, one hour of Judo gives release to pent up anything. 

In another event by a mom who wanted to try something new, trash was the focus. Our guys worked with a family in a nearby town and cleaned up a river. They charted the kinds of trash they found. They collected trash, hauled it away, and even provided cans and bags! Now cleaning up is easier. They can just change the bags and be done. 

I hate to be corny, but if you build it, they will come. If you offer a class, arrange an outing, coach a team, clean a river, plant a tree, whatever, someone else will be interested in that too. Ask yourselves two questions: What do I want for my kids? What am I willing to do to make that happen? Now get your friends and family to ask those too. I bet your calendar will be full before you know it!

I’ve had difficulties getting online and logging on to the blog to post. I’ve gone over and over stuff. I couldn’t think of what I was doing wrong. Ironically, this wasn’t the only part of my life I was having trouble with. My kids were getting rebellious about getting things done. My eating was out of control. My sleep was non-existent. 

One afternoon, I was talking to my son because I was  frustrated. He is 14 and he didn’t want to do anything that I wanted him to do. I’d tried the “You won’t get to play video games” approach to gain compliance. At wits end, I said in plain talk, “I’m frustrated. I don’t know how to talk to you to make sure this work gets done. ”

*insert magical transformation here*

My son got up and did what he needed to do to be done. That night I had a dream about over eating. Two days later I can log in with no issues and write a post. Sometimes it’s the acknowledging  that something isn’t working and letting it go that gets things done. 

Another great day! My kids did all their work with no hassle. I’m online. I’m not hungry.

Teens are hard and I’m hoping rewarding. No, I know they are. I have a 14 year old son. He is smart, funny, kind, clever, silly, and every now and then insufferable. My sweet birght eye baby is now a fuming, sulking, beligerant, young man. This has been the hardest year so far.

It seems that I am always wrong now. He isn’t afraid to let me know either. It’s not just me. He’s hard on his Dad too. I know he is learning to differentiate himself. I know all the stuff about developmental landmarks, and maturity. I miss being needed and hugged and all that.

Still, I follow his lead. He needs to pull away a little more, so be it. It has rewarded me with a smile, a joke, and a few hugs. This year he’ll turn 15 and next year he’ll be driving. Ugh! I love him and I’m so proud of the teen that he is. I look forward to young man he’s becoming.

This is the presentation that I gave at the 2008 HomeSchool Association of California (HSC) conference at the Radisson in Sacramento. There was an audio recording made of this but I don’t have a copy. I think the recordings for all the recorded speakers are available from HSC. You can check them out at www.hsc.org.

This is pretty fast. You can hit the pause button, it looks like this ll, to stop it. Then you can take your time to read the slides that have more information on them.

Click here: 4 steps to keeping your learner’s interest