So is anyone else NOT fun/creative/ect.?

[Gentlemommy]

So, a dear friend sent me this article today

http://www.amongstlovelythings.com/2012/01/why-im-no-homeschool-superstar.html

And I found myself totally relating to her. I have a lot of grandiose ideas and plans, and then LIFE happens, and it just doesn't happen. Maybe it's this stage of having all young kids (one being a C.R.A.Z.Y. toddler lol). The planning, buying materials, setting up, executing, keeping little hands out of it, cleaning up, ect. It's exhausting. And generally doesn't go as planned. :glare:Most of the time, I feel like *I* am doing the project/experiment/lap book/ect. while they watch/play/mess with the materials. I'm sure that the memories and stuff are totally worth it, I'm sure it would cement their learning so much more...but :tongue_smilie:. Not to mention that by the time we get through the 3 R's I'm exhausted, the kids are ready to go play, the toddler is up from her nap, ect.

 

 

So anyway, I felt much better after reading that, but still, I have my doubts. Anyone else? :001_huh:

[boscopup]

Yep, that's me. :) My kids enjoy the way we homeschool, even if we're not doing all kinds of fun projects. Really, at this age, it's ME doing the projects. My oldest can do some science kits on his own now, so we have those. And he can sometimes find a science experiment in a book that he can do on his own, but I'm not doing all kinds of elaborate projects that are all ME. In a few years, the kids can start doing those elaborate projects themselves, I'm sure. If they want to, yay, go ahead! They can do the projects and clean up after themselves. :D I don't think my kids learn much from ME doing a project while they watch. In fact, my oldest son learns way more by just reading a book about something. And I'm totally ok with that.

 

We didn't have burnout in February either. Though we have had home renovation craziness, then a garage fire, so school has been VERY laid back since February when home renovations started - my house has been turned upside down and now I'm waiting for my vehicles to all be desmoked, so the fact that I haven't had burnout is probably bordering on miraculous. :lol:

 

My house is starting to be put back together. We bought a replacement truck yesterday for the one that self-ignited (don't park your F-150 in your garage or near your house... just sayin'). We take our rental car back today. Maybe next week we can do school fully. We'll see. :tongue_smilie:

 

Oh, and I DID do the chicken mummy... halfway. It's still sitting on my fridge in salt. It's been there over a year. :D And that was all me because I wasn't going to let my 6 year old handle raw chicken on his own.

[~Anna~]

I am not creative at all! We are starting homeschooling in the fall and my DD is older, but she enjoys doing some crafty type projects, whereas I do not. That's the part I'm not looking forward to, because I know I will have to go out of my comfort zone in order to make it the best experience I can for her.

[jar7709]

I *loved* that post. I am not "crafty" either, but some blogs make it look like thats what homeschooling should be. Luckily, it doesn't seem like my kids feel they are missing anything. My strengths are elsewhere. And that's OK. :)

[Momof3littles]

I'm like that too.

 

My kids are 8, 5, and 2. I just try to survive many days LOL.

 

I find we can get through our work in about 2-3 hours a day, sometimes a little more, sometimes a bit less. That leaves more time for outside play, free reading, creative play, nature exploration, drawing, etc. I think those things are valuable too. I try to console myself with knowing that while we don't do tons of big projects, my kids seem to benefit from having free time.

 

DH is a scientist so they do some fun, spontaneous things with him sometimes...various projects and so forth.

[justLisa]

Yep, that's me. :) My kids enjoy the way we homeschool, even if we're not doing all kinds of fun projects. Really, at this age, it's ME doing the projects. My oldest can do some science kits on his own now, so we have those. And he can sometimes find a science experiment in a book that he can do on his own, but I'm not doing all kinds of elaborate projects that are all ME. In a few years, the kids can start doing those elaborate projects themselves, I'm sure. If they want to, yay, go ahead! They can do the projects and clean up after themselves. :D I don't think my kids learn much from ME doing a project while they watch. In fact, my oldest son learns way more by just reading a book about something. And I'm totally ok with that.

 

We didn't have burnout in February either. Though we have had home renovation craziness, then a garage fire, so school has been VERY laid back since February when home renovations started - my house has been turned upside down and now I'm waiting for my vehicles to all be desmoked, so the fact that I haven't had burnout is probably bordering on miraculous. :lol:

 

My house is starting to be put back together. We bought a replacement truck yesterday for the one that self-ignited (don't park your F-150 in your garage or near your house... just sayin'). We take our rental car back today. Maybe next week we can do school fully. We'll see. :tongue_smilie:

 

Oh, and I DID do the chicken mummy... halfway. It's still sitting on my fridge in salt. It's been there over a year. :D And that was all me because I wasn't going to let my 6 year old handle raw chicken on his own.

 

OH my I'm glad you are all ok!

 

My kids and I have LOTS of conversation instead of a paper trail of "proof." Seriously at this point I'm not interested in spending tons of time doing something they cannot do at least mostly on their own. If that makes sense. We only read history and discuss it, we don't do any projects. Right now we are heavily gardening, and I consider that a great experience. DS knows a ton about organic farm methods, and environmental/sustainability topics.

[Lots of boys]

Yes, count me in. My boys are 8, 5 and 3 and the only crafts or crative things we do is the odd SOTW craft - and we ALWAYS pick the easiest one to set up. I am o.k. with it. I figure my kids spend a ton of time outside - that is the tradeoff :)

[Forget-Me-Not]

Me too, me too! That blog post was fantastic and validating!

 

Around here, the craftiest we get is copying a map out of the SOTW AG and coloring it :lol: "Art" consists of my kids having access to copious amounts of paper, markers/crayons, stickers, glue, scissors and going free-form with it.

[Parrothead]

Me! Me! Pick Me! I am not creative. I can copy someone else's creativity but won't if it will make a mess.

 

It is a saving grace that I can be lots of fun as long as fun doesn't make a mess.

 

Notice the theme there?

[ocelotmom]

I can be creative. And crafty.

 

That doesn't translate into lapbooks or mummified chickens.

[Gentlemommy]

:001_huh:It's good to know I'm not alone lol. My kids too, prefer to just go spend their time outside, playing at the lake, park, or at the farm. I DO feel like they learn a lot in those places. There's just not much to "show" for it, kwim?

For example, we volunteer at a barn 2-3 times per week. We do a LOT there. My oldest, who is having reading difficulties, READS while we are there, because she has been put in charge of feeding nine different types of animals, and within those breeds, different meal plans for certain animals. She is learning a lot about animal care and husbandry. We are incubating chicken eggs at home, raising caterpillars, have raised tadpoles, ect.

They also take riding lesson at another barn. Again, they are learning a ton about horse care. The second place is a horse rescue, so she is involved in rehabilitating horses, both physically and emotionally. In a few months, she will be given permission to have free reign, and we will be able to go ride daily if we want. We (she and I) will work to trade off for this. She knows the value of an hour of riding, and knows how much work we have to do in order to trade for that hour. ;)

We do mostly reading/workbook curriculum. She has science experiment kits that we pull out every once in a while, but nothing that is organized. We didn't do many projects for history this year...maybe 5? We just read the books. Despite having phonics game ideas and books, we just do the drill and reading. :001_huh:My vision of school being fun and interesting isn't really panning out....we both look at it as something that must be done so we can go 'work' or play. :001_huh:I guess that's where I'm unsure. Certainly she loves to learn about the things that interest her, like Equine care and farm life lol. Anything animals really. She loved history when i just read the books to her. However the other stuff? She could totally take it or leave it. :001_huh:

[ErinE]

Me! I actually made a real effort this past December to do crafts and lapbooks and Five In A Row and cookies and songs and, and, and....

 

It was a huge failure. All my kids wanted to do was go outside, go play, read a book, draw a picture, etc. Anything other than do something with me. And I was exhausted from setting up everything. Plus, it was so expensive and time consuming.

 

Right now, we're doing a "Family Time" right after breakfast where the kids study memory work, I read aloud, and they draw something. I might gradually add in an artist study, but my kids are sooo not interested in the "beautiful life" of homeschooling.

[Kathryn]

I am neither creative nor crafty. I need instructions. I need to be told to do this at this time. And even then I might not do it.

[Deniseibase]

I'm only somewhat creative. My kids are NOT crafty at ALL - as in, "Oh, no, do we HAVE to do coloring/clay models/needlecraft/beads/you name it?" Plus, I work full-time. So, nope, very few crafts here! :D

[Cassy]

What a brilliant blog post. I do enjoy doing crafty things with my lot, but sadly I too get bogged down doing 'other things' that seem just that little bit more important. Or I feel just too exhausted to even begin thinking about getting all the arts and crafts stuff out. Rarely a week goes by without my feeling sad that I've not done more making and creating with my younger two. Thank you for posting that link, it certainly puts it all into perspective, and helps me feel just a little less regretful :001_smile:.

 

Cassy

[Tracy]

That would be me, too!

 

I don't consider myself to be particularly lazy. But I refuse to do an activity where I have to do all the work. If my kids want lapbooks, they will have to wait until they have the fine motor skills to make them themselves. I will do crafts if I find ones that are (1) simple enough for my kids to largely do themselves, and (2) have very good instructions, since I won't know what to do otherwise. And I will only do them when we don't have anywhere to go that day. And sometimes when I have skipped them for a few weeks in a row, I will pawn them off on dh. I also refuse to spend the time to go on a field trip where my kids are going to keep asking me when they can go home. (My oldest dd is like this at the zoo. She doesn't care one lick about all the cool animals. She would rather go to the park and make new friends.)

[meggie]

I am so not the crafty person. Complete opposite of my mother. Oh what that woman could accomplish with a glue gun and some glitter.

 

"Fun" things for me included doing OPGTR on the white board, using AAS's letter tiles for spelling, and coloring sheets (never mind that Pigby doesn't like to color very much. He'll color and he'll like it, by golly!)

 

I found all the lapbooks on HSS and printed out about a thousand. So now to make science "fun", we can do a lapbook about lions. I do all the cutting and pasting and writing. He does all the coloring and reading. And that is about as crafty as I get. Making my own lapbooks? :smilielol5: Yeah probably about when Hades freezes over.

[Hedgehogs4]

I am not crafty or brilliant with raw chicken or baked goods (I have never formed a vowel out of any kind of medium, edible or not), but Thank GOD, I CAN READ OUT LOUD (voices, characters and stuff like that). and my kids love that. :D

 

so, bring it. I'm a reading momma and they will have to live with that.

[KrissiK]

When I was single and taught jr. high, I was an awesome teacher. I taught science and we did so many cool experiments, we had after school Rocket Club. I was creative. The kids loved my class. I was actually pretty fun, too, after I got married. But once the kids started coming along, I am not fun at all and I mourn that. I wish I were fun. I really do. I'd love to plan fun field trips and fun activities and do all sorts of fun stuff with my kids, but I have completely lost it. I'm sorry. I feel bad for all around me.

[LittleIzumi]

Around here, the craftiest we get is copying a map out of the SOTW AG and coloring it :lol: "Art" consists of my kids having access to copious amounts of paper, markers/crayons, stickers, glue, scissors and going free-form with it.

 

:iagree::iagree:We do occasional science experiments, if I have everything & lots of mental prep time. BFSU was awesome for demonstrations instead of experiments, and now we have a science class to attend. I do LOVE Peggy Kaye's games books. They are extremely intuitive and simple.

[Mommy22alyns]

I'm not very good at it. I make myself do things for the girls because they thrive on projects. We tried SL one year and they hated it and said it wasn't fun. We did Adventures this year with frequent projects and they're happy again.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I am so not into art and projects and lap books and crafts. Luckily neither are my kids. They would usually rather get outside, invent a game or hang out to play with kids. Oh, and if I let them play a computer game I'm the " best mom ever". I keep a huge rubbermaid tote full of paper and glitter and glue and paint, etc, etc. They occasionally pull it out and create. That's pretty much it.

[momtoamiracle]

my son doesn't really care for crafts - he wants ME to do it all. We've done a few projects this year, but not near as many that were in the curriculum.

 

 

I wondered if my son missed out on us not doing them, but really, he'd rather go play on his swing or ride his bike.

 

 

I'm just as happy not to do them.:)

[thefragile7393]

This is me. With my schedule I am so tired all of the time....I don't have the time or energy to do such awesome stuff sadly. If I could be a stay at home mom that would be different but....I can't. I have a hard enough time doing science demonstrations/experiments and my son adores them. Lapbooks are nice but can be very time consuming. I would love to be a better homeschool teacher but for now...this is it. Although I really do want to mummify that chicken next year!

Edited May 6, 2012 by thefragile7393

[TeaCookiesBears]

It was a huge failure...... And I was exhausted from setting up everything. Plus, it was so expensive and time consuming.

 

:iagree: That was me few times and it was a major failure every time. I have come to realize arts and crafts are not me at all my creativity shines thru out of need and necessity to make due with what I have, guess I am too left brained.The sight on my girls handling certain MESSEY things makes me cringe.

[Critterfixer]

I've not read the post, but I wonder how one draws the line between arts and crafts and the dreaded "busy work." So many craft projects I look at seem like busy work to me: for the boys, and then for me. To be fair, a number of the projects in the SOTW activity book don't seem like busy work.

 

I don't feel that it is particularly important that I be the fun and creative one, but it is important that I set the stage for creativity to play out. For me, this means keeping a good stock of things to build with, clay to model, paper and more paper to draw on, good art supplies, fresh notebooks for writing, and making sure that the toys available require imagination to be interactive. I limit any television time to weekends only. I keep music going, and vary it from classical to jazz to rock to percussion only. I encourage a lot of outdoor time up trees and in the creek, and I involve my children in the care of the gardens and the animals, and in the work around the house.

 

I think some of the best fun and creativity comes spontaneously from just being there waiting for it, and not from trying to organize it or force it into flower. Sort of like waiting for seeds to sprout.

 

So that's my two cents for what it's worth.

[NotSoObvious]

ME! I hate projects. I'd rather go on a field trip.

 

However, in a moment of pure newbie excitement, we did mummify the chicken last year. So, I think I'm good for the next five years. :tongue_smilie:

[laughing lioness]

That's why we do co-op. My kids get art/crafts every week, for 24 weeks a year, taught by crafters/artists extraordinairre. The great thing is all of the mess stays there:001_smile:.

They also do a unit study. This year my 9 yo studied bio from a bio major. They dissected a heart, eye and owl pellet.

My 9 yo loves crafts and stuff and I have been getting more crafts supplies again but my 12 yo can't stand projects- he's a get-er-done kinda guy. He doesn't like activity guides or coloring pages either.

And, I totally burned out on glitter and glue with my oldest 2-- years ago.

[PeterPan]

It's the age. (Our kids', not ours, haha!!!) As they get older, they're able to do a lot of the hands-on for themselves.

[mudboots]

Oh, I love that post!

 

And her photos are beautiful!

 

She mentions knowing what your homeschooling strengths are. I have no idea what mine are. They aren't things I could put on a blog - definitely not crafty... It would probably the consistent ability to grab a random moment and teach a new concept. I wish I could follow all my elaborate plans - I want very badly to keep a schedule - but if I'm honest, our real success happens in the random moments.

 

Not exactly good blog material...

[PeterPan]

Oh, I love that post!

 

And her photos are beautiful!

 

She mentions knowing what your homeschooling strengths are. I have no idea what mine are. They aren't things I could put on a blog - definitely not crafty... It would probably the consistent ability to grab a random moment and teach a new concept. I wish I could follow all my elaborate plans - I want very badly to keep a schedule - but if I'm honest, our real success happens in the random moments.

 

Not exactly good blog material...

 

Well if you keep slamming yourself about not being like someone else, you're only going to be a crappy version of yourself. :lol: I think when kids are *5* like yours are and you have even more littles underfoot, SPONTANEITY and the ability to be fun rules the day! OF COURSE you're not following ornate lesson plans, my stinkin' lands!!! That's totally unrealistic.

 

There's a stage for each teaching style. If you needed to be formal and all planned right now, you WOULD BE. You're doing what fits the age. In a few years you'll have to change to something more structured and scheduled, just to get everything in and deal with going so many directions at once, and you're going to wonder what happened to these days. Just embrace what you're doing now. If it doesn't blog well, ditch the blog. :)

[warneral]

I don't like preparing for them, but my kids love crafty activities. We did a ton in the beginning but as the year progressed I lost the drive/initiative/motivation. I hope to be more balanced next year. IF I had all of the supplies available, I'm sure I would find it much easier so I might do some preplanning .

[Walking-Iris]

I don't like preparing for them, but my kids love crafty activities. We did a ton in the beginning but as the year progressed I lost the drive/initiative/motivation. I hope to be more balanced next year. IF I had all of the supplies available, I'm sure I would find it much easier so I might do some preplanning .

 

This is me. I actually love doing activities and crafts and projects. But the daily 3 r's and house and yard work and keeping every one clean and fed. Having young children as well. It usually translates into me not having enough time or being unorganized in finding the supplies. I'm going to try harder next year to plan these fun things. I've been thinking a lot about making it a higher priority. My kids like them. I like them. So why do we let other mundane routine daily life get in the way?

[MeganW]

Y'all are making me feel so much better! I feel like I *must* craft just b/c my kids are kindergartners, but I HATE it and avoid it whenever possible!

[laundrycrisis]

Well if you keep slamming yourself about not being like someone else, you're only going to be a crappy version of yourself. :lol:

 

:iagree: I love this !

 

 

I am not crafty for educational stuff and I don't do "projects" or encourage them. I outsource that type of activity to the park district. I provide our kids lots of art/craft supplies and any assistance they want. They come up with their own ideas which are really cool ! This plus the crafty stuff they make in occasional classes is enough. If either of them ever wants to make a lapbook, shadow box etc, fine, I will support that. But I won't ever suggest or require it. I do not think these types of projects are necessary for education. They are fine as leisure activities.

[ocelotmom]

I've not read the post, but I wonder how one draws the line between arts and crafts and the dreaded "busy work." So many craft projects I look at seem like busy work to me: for the boys, and then for me. To be fair, a number of the projects in the SOTW activity book don't seem like busy work.

This is me, too. Same with lapbooks - I can kind of see the appeal, and I'm sure that people who do them implement them effectively, and mean no offense to those people.. but to me they look like a lot of cutting and pasting busywork and I just can't see myself (or my kids) doing them.

[mom2koh]

I start each school year saying we will do more with crafts and such. I set up the arts and crafts corner. We have tons of glitter, pipe cleaners and even googly eyes! But, the crafts never seem to happen! I'm the mom who's too busy taking her kids to activities after the school work is done. My kids would rather be at an activity than cutting paper for minutes on end. :lol:

 

Great article! Loved reading it.

[Enough]

I am not crafty or brilliant with raw chicken or baked goods (I have never formed a vowel out of any kind of medium, edible or not), but Thank GOD, I CAN READ OUT LOUD (voices, characters and stuff like that). and my kids love that. :D

 

so, bring it. I'm a reading momma and they will have to live with that.

 

This is me, to a T. :seeya:

[Enough]

I can be creative. And crafty.

 

That doesn't translate into lapbooks or mummified chickens.

 

This is a good point. The way many in the homeschooling community define creative, crafty, and fun is most certainly NOT how I define them- but I *do* consider myself to be creative, crafty, and fun.