Ever wondered how you could get to know what your kids think about what they are learning. Well that was my goal this year. We kept a mummy me journal. The boys had one each, they would write to me each day about something that they liked, did not like or did not understand. At the end of each week they gave it to me and i would write back. I found out many interesting facts about how they learn and especially how they did not learn. They were always excited to get it back to read the special message that I would write to them each week. It also gave me a chance to tell them how proud I was about something that they struggled with but achieved that week. I would also ask questions about how they wanted to change things. There were many things that I could invest more time in and there was many things that I have changed during the year. The changes were not always successful but I also learned how much they appreciated that I listened to them. Sometimes I did not have to change anything as they just needed me to have one on one time with them to explain what what they found confusing. I have to admit it was lovely to also learn how much they just wanted to tell me that they loved me. Sometime our kids just need another way to communicate, they did not have to talk about school all the time sometimes it was about something or someone we went to see. Sometimes they just would draw a picture. For two boys that hate to write they love this concept and it did also helped with their writing skills. The Journal also helped me identify the subjects they loved and things that they wanted to learn. For example they wanted to learn Italian. This is something I will do every year ....... well until think it is no longer cool to write to their mum. To be honest I hope they never get to big to write to their mum. Happy New Year bring on 2016! Time to make things relevant to learning......
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It is finally time for me to start to share our home school journey. I have learned so much about my children in the last 2 years and it has amazed me how they learn and they now have a hunger for knowledge. You know thing have change in the house when your husband comes home from work and has to ask what have you done to the boys. This comment confused me for a minute but I listened the boys were quiet and happy. Which was not our house when they were going to main stream school every day my husband was greeted with yelling and screaming tears on all fronts. Many times he has said he should just go back to work as he was not coping with the mayhem in our house. Mark now loves to come home from work. Our first step in our journey was distance education. For me it was the answer at the time. It was great to establish learning routines. Gave me time to adjust to home schooling. Most of all I feel it gave me the best opportunity to work out and establish where the boys were in the realm of learning. I have to admit I knew that they were behind but I was shocked as to how far behind they were. I quickly realised that they had many sensory issues that interfered with their ability to learn. They both have different learning styles and learn at different speeds. This type of learning is clearly set out and opened my eyes to what they needed to meet curriculum requirements. Though it was not so structured that I could not investigate other options and add other things to their learning week. This year I introduced a mummy me diary to our weekly activities. In the Diary they wrote what they liked about anything that they like. this encouraged them to write. This book has also given the boys the opportunity to tell me things that they liked doing during the week and things they struggled with. I told them they can write anything at all as mummy would never get upset about what they needed to tell me. What a valuable book it became. I wrote back to them weekly asking questions about how I can do things better and with this the way they were learning changed. It was also great to find out that there were many thing I had gotten right. We learn every day and adjust were needed the mummy me diary will be a keeper in our house. This year we are doing school through the Home Education Unit (HEU). Big step for us. I was very nervous to start, after a short call to the HUE I discovered that I can access other curriculum and have the flexibility to change how we learn even more. The boys are very technology driven and love to discover hands on. We can incorporate a lot more hands on learning even photography. The boys are excited to be continuing their schooling at home and never want to go back to mainstream school. Most important thing to remember is we finally have our family back and we are all happy and enjoying life. |
AuthorI am a home school mum and wife. Our house is filled with laughter from two wonderful boys . We have been home schooling for two years. I am loving knowing that the boys are getting a better education at home than what they could at mainstream school. Homeschooling is also fun for me I have learned so much now it is time to share. Archives
January 2019
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