Homeschooling

So, I have already told many people, but I am firmly convinced that I am going to homeschool my son. I am not sure what approach I am going to take, but I am going to do it.

Some people think I am crazy, I am sure, and others will be shocked that I want to homeschool my son. But here's the thing - who better to teach him than I?

I cannot teach him everything, and I won't try. There are numerous distance courses and things to help with what I cannot teach him. And my son will probably do a lot of reading and visiting things, because I like to do that too. But I can certainly teach him and guide him better than school can.

Homeschooling isn't for everyone. Not everyone has the time or inclination to do it. But I have the time, the support of a husband, and the desire to do it. I want to be there for all his "Why?" questions and to watch him learn. I don't care if he learns how earth worms function, how to write cursive, or what it means if someone has two mommies (there is a book that is on the reading list for our school district called "My Two Mommies" - which is something I not anyone else, should teach him about).

I do care that he learns, and excels, to the best possible level. I can teach him to read, he is already doing some of the basic reading of "sight words" and things. He understands what a story is, and can tell them to you. He knows his letters and numbers and can count, sing, and enjoy life. Aren't these important things?

Think about your best learning experiences. Not you best school experiences, but the things you did where you really learned. What were they? Were they in school or out? Mine were all out. I had teachers who believed that the best way to deal with a smart kid was to give them more of the same, so I got bored, and then became a problem child. I don't want that for my son. If his best learning experiences are going to be outside of school, then I will make sure he learns outside.

I remember going to the opera with my grandparents and learning about opera. I remember learning about physics and motion from trying new gymnastics tricks. I remember learning about dodecahedrons and encasing carbon molecules from a special lecture my mom made me attend. I remember air and space from the Smithsonian Museum. I remember learning more from reading than from school. If these are the learning experiences I remember and learned from, then I want my son to have them all.

Not that he won't be forced to learn other things. If I can force him to eat vegetables and go get shots because they are the best things for him, even though he doesn't like them, then he can learn another language, math, science, spelling, and all the things he might not really care about, but he should still learn. If he wants to learn fractions from cooking instead of worksheets, fine by me. But he will learn them somehow.

It's going to be one heck of a ride, a fabulous one I hope, and one that is going to be filled with mistakes. But I am really looking forward to it. And I don't think I will change my mind. Especially after hearing that kids are getting in trouble at the local elementary school for talking during lunch. That just seems so ridiculous.

Anyways, this is what I am going to do. I hope it doesn't rub people the wrong way, but I am really looking forward to this journey.

San Diego 2010

We went on a family vacation to San Diego. It was Jon's family's "Cousin's Camp" where everyone gets together, and it just happened to be in San Diego. Well, it was in Palm Desert for a few days, but we didn't get there.

We had a blast. It was great to spend time as a family. Planning and packing were a pain, but it went rather well. As a side note - what did our parents do with us in car rides before DVD players? I mean, I don't know what I would've done with Nicholas if not for 6 hours of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse each way. the rest of the time he either slept or sang songs with us. I mean, it was a 12 hour car ride, each way (I blame this on LA traffic which is disgusting and makes me never want to live in LA).

So we left on Monday AM, and we stopped at a military plane museum in Atwater.



I highly recommend this as a stop for everyone. It was great. It had tons of planes to look at, and a little jet plane for Nicholas to ride in. We should've saved the little ride for last, but we did it first (silly us). He also got a t-shirt out of this visit that says "pilot in training." He also ran and grabbed a foam yellow airplane, which was under $4.00 so Jon and I bought it for him. He loves that plane. It didn't leave his hands for 4 days after we got it. It is still the most requested toy in the house (other than play-doh).



We got to San Diego late, then fell asleep. The next day we spent doing what we would do all days - the beach. Nicholas is a beach bum. He loves the beach. He loves building sand castles and having his dad fetch water for him. We built, and knocked down, lots of sand castles. This would've been the only thing Nicholas would want to do if we let him.



Jon took Nicholas, with the rest of his family, to the Wild Animal Kingdom. Why didn't I go? Well, I am seriously pregnant and not a good walker when I am pregnant. The Animal Kingdom is a lot of walking, and if you have seen it once you have seen it. It is fun once, but that's about it. I mean, it is a super large zoo :) I am sure they won't appreciate that comment, but it is. I loved it the first time, and had no desire to go back. Kind of like "It's a Small World" at Disneyland. You have to do it once, but that's all I am obligated to do. So I spent the day at the pool reading, and resting. It was a great day. We still hit the beach after dinner.

We hit the beach EVERY day after dinner or during the day.



instead of going to Sea World, we went to the Scripps Aquarium. Nicholas loved it. He got to touch and feel things - including a real live starfish. Then we hung out at the beach and waited for everyone to get back from Sea World.

Janis took Nicholas for a few hours so Jon and I could hang out. She drew him pictures of fire trucks. Now, Janis is a professional artist. I cannot draw like her. Nicholas loves the pictures and slept with them for a few days. Now they are in a special place of honor on the fridge where he can look at them and say - "fire trucks putting out the fires" - which is what Janis drew with him. I love that Janis draws, I just wish she lived a little closer so she could draw with him more often.



We had a ton of fun. The drive back was less fun, simply because all I could think about was the amount of laundry I was going to have to do. But it was still fun. And Nicholas was fabulous the whole time. He even took naps.

It was a great vacation!

Confidence Cup and first dentist visit

Friday August 6th was a big day at our house. It was Day 2 of potty training (which wasn't going so well), Confidence Cup and gymnastics, and Nicholas' first dentist visit. I did not expect all these things to go so well. Nicholas' old gymnastics teach had left, so this was our first class in the new gym (Tricks in Folsom instead of Tricks in Sacramento) and with a new teacher. Potty training had been going occasionally well, but not really well, and who likes to go to the dentist? I certainly don't.

But amazingly, everything went great!



Nicholas loved the new gym and had no trouble adjusting. His old teacher, and I, had warned the new teacher that he's an "independent spirit" - he doesn't always do what he is told, or sometimes engages in activities he is not told to do - like playing on the equipment during warm-up. Trick's doesn't discourage this, as they consider his class to be a "child-led" class, and Nicholas is happy to lead.



He did so well though! He did the warm-up just like he was supposed to, sat on a polka dot just like he was supposed to, and did everything great. His favorite activity of the day was jumping from a stack of mats to this ring, suspended from the ceiling, that he could make swing hard and swing him around depending on how hard he grabbed it when he jumped. He had a blast.

Needless to say, he did well :) He showed a lot of confidence.



He did great jumping on the trampoline with the other kids, and wouldn't hold still to get a good picture. So I got an "action shot" where he was jumping. Better than nothing right?



He didn't have a ton of patience with getting his trophy. When his name was called, I shooed him up to the platform to get his trophy. He took off running, got up there, and held his hand out to his new teacher, asking for "mine." He then proceeded to not put it down. The Confidence Cup trophy went to the dentist, in the car, to his nap, in his bed, to his grandfather's the next day, and was just left at home on Sunday for the first time - his dad didn't let him take it to church. He knows it is something cool, and he loves it.



The dentist visit went great. We went to Kid's Care Dental in Folsom. They are a great staff that loves kids. If you have a kid who needs a dentist - this is the place for you. Their waiting room is filled with kid friendly things, and the exam rooms are too. His exam room had a stuffed zebra that was bigger than him, but the dentist even examined the zebra so Nicholas could "help" before Nicholas' exam. They let me hold him, and did the whole exam while he was on my lap. It really helped keep him calm. I love this place.

Anyways, that is a smallish update on our lives. Our San Diego trip update is coming soon. And if he potty trains, I guarantee that everyone I know in the whole world is going to hear my shout of joy, no need to look to the blog for it.