Musings on Homeschooling – The Rewards

Musings on Homeschooling
The Challenges

Ok, enough whining about my new unsolicited teaching career! So, I didn’t choose it. So I’m angry at the situation and the people who forced me here. So what…it’s not about me!

And Ladybug Elementary is not without its rewards. Here are some of the rewarding things that have happened in the last few weeks in our classroom:

- LuLu has passed from the Beginner’s level of her typing program to the Intermediate. This has been a hard fought battle for her. Typing has been both challenging and rewarding for her. She is highly accurate (OCD) in her typing, but incredibly SLOW!!! This is a theme for LuLu…she is incredibly slow in most of her work. Now she’s on to capital letters and the software has a timer requirement. That is producing a bit of frustration, but we’re working on it!

- We are having awesome social studies lessons. Somewhere along about 3rd or 4th grade, children start learning about the United States and about map reading. While LuLu was exposed to this a bit in her reading class at the public school, we’re doing even more of it here at Ladybug Elementary. She loves it. It’s a fun way to “sneak in” some extra reading that she so reluctantly does. Yesterday we did an awesome unit covering the Pacific States, where she read about each one and then synthesized it down to fill in a chart. Other 3rd & 4th graders probably do this with ease…but all that processing is a challenge for LuLu. She was excited about what she learned, and announced to others “I learned about Honolulu today. It’s the capital of Hawaii, has great weather and is fun to spell.” Those moments make a teacher’s heart sing!
- LuLu’s troublesome obsession over “perfect” handwriting — something well documented in all the public school records – is disappearing. I’ve ignored her handwriting completely, except to casually suggest one day a modification to her pencil grasp. I know from the extensive evaluations and testimony that LuLu’s pencil grasp is “abnormal” and causes her to have to work harder to form her letters. I also know it’s not totally dysfunctional and that I’m no expert in that area. However, if she does much writing, part of her problem is hand fatigue. So, I’ve taken a very laid back approach to all this. And somehow, my lack of focus on it has caused her to relax a great deal. Much of her handwriting is downright sloppy these days. But if it’s something I can’t read, I point that out to her very casually “LuLu can you read this for me, I don’t understand”, and she usually makes it neater without obsessing over perfection. So reducing her anxiety is working…on this and many levels.

So, life goes on. And I’m faced with the awareness that Ladybug Elementary may be in session for many months, even years, to come. Both of us are learning a great deal. It’s been a challenging, yet rewarding, exercise in love, commitment, tenacity, and perseverance.

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