Wow!

Wow! I can't believe that I haven't blogged in over a month! Time sure does fly when you're home-schooling. It's actually one of the biggest challenges, I find. We have so many things we want to do, and so much to learn, but the days are only 12 hours long. We "school" for triple the amount of time the state requires, yet we feel as if we barely scratch the surface sometimes. For example, after church today Connor wanted to create another web page, using the knowledge he gained from the Computer Programming class at John Hopkins. It wasn't on my "to do" list today, but when Connor is all excited about a learning activity I find that he does his best work. So this morning I let him program in HTML for 90 minutes. That is a long time for an "extra" activity, although not long for a computer programmer I'm guessing. I spent the rest of the day trying to recapture that 90 minutes. It's difficult for me to stay on schedule AND let Connor lead the learning. I wish I could totally let go of my idea of a curriculum and just "unschool." I'm certain Connor would learn just as much overall. It's not my personality though. I frequently look at the SAT test and gear my instruction towards what he is going to need to get a high SAT score. Sad, but true. On another note, we have started a new phase of our curriculum. Now that Connor finished his computer programming class and his typing program, we have time to devote to other things (theoretically). And with the semester finishing up, both of Connor's tutors have told me that they won't be available to tutor Connor after this week. So, I posted on State University of Geneseo's website for two new tutors. This time I am seeking a biology/math tutor and a Chinese tutor. I don't think I spend nearly enough time teaching Math and Science to Connor. Of course, I devote more time to English ( because of my English teacher background) and a whole lot of time to just reading. Abraham Lincoln was self-taught, as was Malcolm X, and all they did was read all day. Connor would love it if I let him just read all day! I do insist on other subjects too though. This time when I interview the candidates I'm going to request that they bring a lesson plan and teach Connor for thirty minutes. I want the tutor to be prepared to keep Connor on task and I also don't want him/her to just wing his lessons. If they take tutoring seriously, then Connor will take the tutor seriously. He often gets the unprepared teacher off-topic and off-task. Clever little guy--