{"id":141,"date":"2008-09-27T23:21:24","date_gmt":"2008-09-28T04:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aprendemos.yuriar.com\/blog\/?p=141"},"modified":"2008-09-27T23:21:24","modified_gmt":"2008-09-28T04:21:24","slug":"its-what-works-for-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/yuriar.com\/aprendemosacademy\/2008\/09\/27\/its-what-works-for-us\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s what works for us."},"content":{"rendered":"

We don’t fit in any mold.\u00a0 I don’t follow any one theroy or philosophy of education, a la Charlotte Mason.\u00a0 We aren’t as unrestricted as Unschoolers, yet are no where near as demanding as Classicals.<\/p>\n

My philosphy of education is:<\/p>\n

Do whatever works.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That said, what worked last week may not work this week. Heck, what worked yesterday may not work today!\u00a0 But we keep trying.<\/p>\n

The only problem with this approach, is that it is very easy for me to get discouraged while reading through “support group” emails and newsletters.\u00a0 Homeschool has become a big business.\u00a0 There are catalogs to look through, and advertisements every where all claiming that with this product your life as a homeschool will be so much easier.\u00a0 Don’t fall for it.\u00a0 I love this quote:<\/p>\n

“No curriculum will miraculously turn you into the happy teacher, or your children into the happy taught, because those roles are won only with much prayer and relationship-building.” – Jenni @ One Thing<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Because it’s so true!\u00a0 The same is said for approaches, methods, and educational philosophies.\u00a0 There is no one sizes fits all package.\u00a0 It gets discourageing to read about the child prodigy who was reading before he could even speak.\u00a0 (exaggeration, yes…\u00a0 but only slighty.)\u00a0 It’s like that book I read a few months ago, Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe<\/a>, I so need to re-read this one, on an almost weekly basis until the truth settles in.<\/p>\n

So while it seems so hodge-podge and so much like we aren’t doing a blessed thing…\u00a0 The proof is there.\u00a0 Whatever it is we are, or are not doing…\u00a0 It works.<\/p>\n

GeekBoy is steadily blowing through 3rd grade math and masters the concepts at an almost frightening speed.\u00a0 Keep in mind, he’s only 7, and according to the state should be in 2nd grade.\u00a0 He is requesting more Science experiments, and is a whiz at complex games.\u00a0 True, our history is sorely lacking, but he understand economics better then most of our Nation’s Senators, including the ones running for President!\u00a0 In today’s world, a firm grasp on how our country’s economy works is far more importnat then knowing who started Babylonia back in the BCs (Hammurabi, btw, we just covered that in Story of the World).<\/p>\n

ThePinkDiva can read, when she wants to.\u00a0 She can also add and even subtract, when she wants to.\u00a0 The key there is “when she wants to.”\u00a0 Believe me, if she is not feeling it right now, it will do you no good to press the matter.\u00a0 She will do it when she is good and ready and not one milli-second before that.\u00a0 She’s proven, by reading the text on her video games, that she is light years ahead of our phonics program’s sticker chart.\u00a0 But try to get her to read a book is like pulling teeth!\u00a0 She likes to just make up words instead of reading what’s on the page.\u00a0 It’s frustrating!\u00a0 It’s maddening!\u00a0 It’s just like my baby sister was at Diva’s age.\u00a0 I remember it was me who got Nani to focus on the pages in front of her to “find the fun” 20 years ago.\u00a0 Diva laughs at me.\u00a0 I think I’ve lost my touch.<\/p>\n

BigBoy.\u00a0 He’s my baby, but don’t tell him I said that.\u00a0 His little face is my solace after a morning of fighting and arguing.\u00a0 He’s also very, very physical.\u00a0 And he’s another one that can do things when he’s not really thinking about it…\u00a0 Example, I asked him to count to ten, and he couldn’t.\u00a0 He got to five, then skipped to 9, 12, 16.\u00a0 Not a big deal, I mean, he got the order correct even if he skipped a few.\u00a0 So we started working on counting to ten.\u00a0 Then, a few days later, while waiting for me to get his snack, I told him I need I minute, and he began counting super fast! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16! Well, ok he missed 13, but dangitall if he can’t count all the way to 12!!!\u00a0 And again got the order correct all the way to 16!!\u00a0 When did this happen?\u00a0 I surely have not been working on this with him.<\/p>\n

So the proof is there.\u00a0 What we are doing is working.\u00a0 If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!\u00a0 Now I just need to keep reminding myself to utilize that delete key and quit beating myself up.\u00a0 They are thriving.\u00a0 That’s what counts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We don’t fit in any mold.\u00a0 I don’t follow any one theroy or philosophy of education, a la Charlotte Mason.\u00a0 We aren’t as unrestricted as Unschoolers, yet are no where …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/yuriar.com\/aprendemosacademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/yuriar.com\/aprendemosacademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/yuriar.com\/aprendemosacademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yuriar.com\/aprendemosacademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yuriar.com\/aprendemosacademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/yuriar.com\/aprendemosacademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/yuriar.com\/aprendemosacademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yuriar.com\/aprendemosacademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/yuriar.com\/aprendemosacademy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}