Anyone else ever feel this way?

[jewellsmommy]

I am completely convinced that classical education is the way to go! I love the concept. I love TOG. I love WWE and FLL.

 

Now, that being said, there is this disconnect that I am fighting between 2 halves of myself. While I love, not just the concept, but also the implementation of the classical approach I still feel like I am not doing 'school' right. I question rather I am being inefficient. This is so hard to explain :glare:.

 

I went to public school. There was a book for each subject. I had a 3 ring binder for each subject. They were separate and I could go down the line and check off little boxes and it was very structured and box like. I am a total left brain learner (can you tell? :D) and did well in school.

 

The way I am teaching is so different from the way I learned and excelled, I will add. Dd is a total right brain brain learner, as is dh. He totally has that "man, I wish I had been homeschooled and taught this way" type of thing. It just seems less tangible to me. Does that make sense? It seems looser. Does anyone understand what the heck I am saying?

 

I briefly considered textbooks, but I just knew it was wrong for our schooling (even though I also desired the boxy-ness of it). Instead, I started with SL because it was my first experience with non text book learning and it did not go that well (SL is an awesome program, just not for me :001_smile:). TOG has made it a little easier. Which is ironic, because everyone looked at me like I had 2 heads when I said I was going to TOG. Apparently, it has a bad rep for being way too teacher intensive :confused:. Anyway, I still have to resist the slight anxiety that rises within me saying I am doing this all wrong. Sigh.

[athena1277]

I'm like you. I need clearly defined subjects and structure. I hate unit studies. I can't feel the structure there. I know many people don't like "school-at-home" approach, but for some of us it works better. Don't feel bad if you are one of those people. Do what works for you and your dc, whatever that may be.

[jewellsmommy]

I'm like you. I need clearly defined subjects and structure. I hate unit studies. I can't feel the structure there. I know many people don't like "school-at-home" approach, but for some of us it works better. Don't feel bad if you are one of those people. Do what works for you and your dc, whatever that may be.

 

I think that might be the problem :D. I am definitely doing what works great for dd. She loves it, most of it anyway, as much as a child likes school :tongue_smilie:. I just have to constantly remind myself that it is just different from the way I learned. I am constantly re-motivating myself and tweaking to give myself that 'box checking' sensation. I check off every completed lesson to show myself what we are accomplishing. I check off every reader and read aloud on a specially made sheet that I made myself. I create so much work for myself this way. :D I am such a glutton for punishment.

[jewellsmommy]

I have also found that it helps, strangley, that I don't schedule by the day. It would drive me nuts in SL if dd wanted to defy the schedule and read extra chapters etc. Because it would cause me to be on day 2 in one area and day 3 in another. My friend was like "just ignore the days and do it horizontally instead of vertically" Good advice, but it goes against my nature :D. Maybe its a weird OCD thing?

[Chris in VA]

Does it help you to see progress or accomplishments?

I wondered if I was doing enough history this year--then I looked at the notebook dd kept, and was reassured. It wasn't as much as in second grade; we didn't do as many projects and narrations as I wanted, but, looking back thru, I really saw we've come a long, long way.

Do you have something tangible, like a writing sample from the first of the year, a notebook, or even some pictures you've taken along the way, that can help you feel like you are doing all right?

[jewellsmommy]

Does it help you to see progress or accomplishments?

I wondered if I was doing enough history this year--then I looked at the notebook dd kept, and was reassured. It wasn't as much as in second grade; we didn't do as many projects and narrations as I wanted, but, looking back thru, I really saw we've come a long, long way.

Do you have something tangible, like a writing sample from the first of the year, a notebook, or even some pictures you've taken along the way, that can help you feel like you are doing all right?

 

We make a lapbook with each 9 wk section. She keeps a grammar/writing notebook that has her wwe and fll stuff in it. Click n read gives us printouts detailing progress in each lesson (I totally love this and file each one). Plus, I can look at the ziggurat made of cereal and shoe boxes, that the ferrets are currently occupying, as proof that we did something in history. ToG has definitely added the hands on stuff that was missing last year.

 

So, yes, It does help me to look at these. I guess reading a lot of these separate little books in history and literature seems so much smaller then a giant history textbook and because of the lighter work load for a grammar age student, I just question myself. In retrospect, I remember nothing other then wearing a turkey on my head :glare: from elementary school history. I know we never covered ancients. I just need to remind myself more that there are a lot of educating years ahead. TOG looks like it will be way thorough and plenty rigorous as we progress into dialectic and beyond.

 

Right now, lapbooks and stories and giant cookie maps of Egypts are sufficient right?

[MamaSheep]

Yes, I get that feeling too. A lot. It helps me to sit myself down and remind myself that when my kids were in school, with "real" teachers, the "professionals", doing things "right", they weren't learning anything except to loathe learning. (Seriously. Ds has actual post-traumatic stress issues regarding school and learning, and dd's 1st grade teacher told me with a perfectly straight face that dd's complete inability to read anything--not even 3 letter short vowel words--by the end of 1st grade was not a problem because she's "clearly very bright". Yeah...) At home, doing things "wrong" (ie. my hodge-podgy way) my kids are both actually making progress AND learning to love it (in dd's case) or at least tolerate it without hysterics (in ds's case). Dd has actually been BEGGING to do extra Time Travel Tuesdays this summer (we're doing one school subject per day to keep us on schedule (schedules are important for ds's autistic nature, and therefore to my own sanity) and to cut down on the amount of "review" that will be necessary come August.) But yeah, "real" school worked well for me and I was good at it. Dh hated it and got abysmal grades until college, where he graduated with a 4.0 average. Go figure. He tells me he wishes he could have learned like the kids are learning now. I kind of wish the kids could learn like I did--you know, the "normal" way...lol. But that SO doesn't work for them. Sigh.

Edited July 3, 2010 by MamaSheep

[jewellsmommy]

Yes, I get that feeling too. A lot. It helps me to sit myself down and remind myself that when my kids were in school, with "real" teachers, the "professionals", doing things "right", they weren't learning anything except to loathe learning. (Seriously. Ds has actual post-traumatic stress issues regarding school and learning,

 

YIPE, poor little guy!

and dd's 1st grade teacher told me with a perfectly straight face that dd's complete inability to read anything--not even 3 letter short vowel words--by the end of 1st grade was not a problem because she's "clearly very bright". Yeah...) At home, doing things "wrong" (ie. my hodge-podgy way) my kids are both actually making progress AND learning to love it (in dd's case) or at least tolerate it without hysterics (in ds's case). Dd has actually been BEGGING to do extra Time Travel Tuesdays this summer (we're doing one school subject per day to keep us on schedule (schedules are important for ds's autistic nature, and therefore to my own sanity) and to cut down on the amount of "review" that will be necessary come August.) But yeah, "real" school worked well for me and I was good at it. Dh hated it and got abysmal grades until college, where he graduated with a 4.0 average. Go figure. He tells me he wishes he could have learned like the kids are learning now. I kind of wish the kids could learn like I did--you know, the "normal" way...lol. But that SO doesn't work for them. Sigh.

 

I am glad that there are some other people like me on here. :D

 

We are also working through the summer. Reading (because she needs it) and math (because she likes it and I think it makes her feel smart) mostly.

 

We have homeschooled from the beginning, so I don't know how dd would have done in ps, for sure. But, I highly suspect that it would not have been pretty.

 

She had hearing loss from a MRSA infection in both middle ears. The infection was there from 15 months to 2 yrs of age. She had her 6th and hopefully last surgery Sept '09 where they made a new tympanic membrane in her right ear. Her hearing is almost normal now. She always compensated well, but is distractable and doesn't always focus well. The ramifications have included reading problems: lack of auditory discrimination and lack of auditory memory. Her reading is not quite to grade level yet. She does well in math, though. I think that she would have been "lost" in ps even though I think she is quite smart.

[Garga]

You know how when you read books about teaching the way you are, you're all gung-ho to keep at it? And then, after a few weeks, you start to question yourself? (Like you are today by posting your post.)

 

My solution would be to constantly re-read books that praise and showcase the benefits of teaching the way you're teaching. Buy copies of them (instead of just checking them out of the library). Maybe you could just read a chapter or two from those types of books every week or so to remind you why you're doing what you're doing. It'll keep all the benefits fresh in your mind all the time.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

 

I went to public school. There was a book for each subject. I had a 3 ring binder for each subject. They were separate and I could go down the line and check off little boxes and it was very structured and box like. I am a total left brain learner (can you tell? :D) and did well in school.

 

 

Did you really have a textbooks and 3-ring binders in elementary school? I know I didn't. We had lots of worksheets that were torn from workbooks. We had lots of handwritten ditto sheets. We had lots of construction paper, and 3-lined handwriting paper, and crayons and stuff like that. We didn't have textbooks, except for reading.

 

Don't worry. There will be PLENTY of notebooks and big books in the upper grades. Relax. Enjoy learning. I'm sure your children are getting a wonderful education!

[jewellsmommy]

Did you really have a textbooks and 3-ring binders in elementary school? I know I didn't. We had lots of worksheets that were torn from workbooks. We had lots of handwritten ditto sheets. We had lots of construction paper, and 3-lined handwriting paper, and crayons and stuff like that. We didn't have textbooks, except for reading.

 

Don't worry. There will be PLENTY of notebooks and big books in the upper grades. Relax. Enjoy learning. I'm sure your children are getting a wonderful education!

 

I had 1 3 ring binder in 4th that held all subjects. In 5th grade we used 1 for math and science and and 1 for everything else. By 6th, we were expected to have a separate binder for each subject with dividers where appropriate. I was in 'talented & gifted' classes from 3rd grade on. I am not trying to put that kind of pressure on dd. I was totally neurotic by 9th grade. :glare:

 

Plus, I fully recognize that dd learns entirely different from myself.

That is the weird part, though part of me desires a very structured, boxy teaching/learning style, I WANT to follow a more classical approach.

 

I guess what I want is the way the boxy/structured workbooky method makes me feel but while actually using the classical/real living books approach.