Why arent you socializing?

Socialization:  a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position.

As a homeschool mom one of the biggest questions I face is, what do you do for socialization? I find this to be a funny question. As if my kids somehow cant be normal because they don't spend all day with kids or even kids their own ages. Lots of people think that we are isolated at home all day with no contact to the outside world except what they are "allowed" to see via internet and t.v. Not the case. I love getting out with the kids. When people ask me this question I think inside," Go to your local school and look at the behavior you see and then ask yourself which behavior you want your kids emulating?" Please do not misunderstand me. I realize not every kid is bad and not all schools are bad.

So asking a homeschool mom where her kids get "socialized" is insulting. Where is a better place to learn identity, norms, values, behavior and social skills other than at home? My oldest is 11 and I think hes acquired a nice identity. Hes learned the values that I think he should be learning, and he has great behavior. My other two are learning things the same way that he did and are coming along quite well. I dont believe that sitting all day in a classroom would make them better. Thats not to say that those that send their kids to public school are doing anything wrong. I just love having the kids home. I love being able to see them learn and grow every day. I love being able to take field trips whenever I want. I think back to when Jordan was in school and how much I missed him throughout the day and how glad I was when he had a vacation.

That being said I have been trying to find a homeschool group here in Tulsa.  All the ones I have come across were either too far away or only met at night. I would like for my kids to be able to make friends and for me to be able to meet other moms who face the same issues I do while homeschooling the kids. Homeschooling isnt easy, if it was everyone would do it. I get criticized, looked down upon, and even told Im stunting my kids. Not everyday is easy and sometimes I wonder what the heck Im doing. But I believe that God has led me to this position. I also believe that He will get me through each day.

Recently I managed to get together with a lady on facebook, she started a facebook homeschool page. We've been talking back and forth about starting a weekly meeting somewhere in Tulsa. I talked to a local library and secured a meeting room. I'm really hoping that this turns out to be a great thing. The meetings will be every Friday from 1-3. It will be nice to get out of the house and start meeting new people. I absolutely cant stand to be cooped up in the house. It will be great to be able to plan field trips with other families. To have parties for Halloween and Christmas. Maybe even have prom and graduation. Or as the rest of the world would put it "to socialize" our kids. I am excited about this new venture. I am excited to meet new moms and to have our kids meet new kids. So here goes into a new journey.

What do they do all day?

I am fairly new to the homeschool scene. In the short time that I have been homeschooling I have had some people ask: What DO you do all day? So here a little sample ofa typical day here at Clan Morrison Homeschool.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays:
4:30 am- I awake and go to the gym for my morning workout.
6:00 am- I come home and get Mike up and off to work. I clean up anything that wasn't cleaned the night before and start breakfast.
7:00 am- I get Jordan up first and feed him breakfast.
8:00 am or so- I get the Conor and Emma up if they're not up already.
8:30 am- We start school.
1030 -11 am- We usually finish school around this time. Sometimes we watch a documentary.
11:30 am- Time for lunch.
12:30 pm- Quiet time. Its time for naps and just being quiet.
2:00 pm- We go pick up the other "extra" kids from school.
3:00 pm- We get back from getting the kids and start any homework they have.
4:00 pm- I start picking up and getting ready for Mike to get home.
5:30 pm- Other kids leave, I start dinner and we start winding down for the evening. We take this time to talk about our day and watch our shows or whatever.
8:30 pm- Conor and Emma's bedtime. Mike reads a story and get them situated.
9:00 pm- Jordan's bedtime. He takes care of himself. This is also the time Mike and I lay down to talk or watch a show.

Some days are spent differently. I don't have a set schedule when its our "off" time and on Wednesdays its a little different because I clean for my mom. I also try to take several field trips a month. Whether its the park or the zoo or something special I try to get out as much as possible. We use our front porch a lot.

With that said we've had some hiccups along the way. Nothing is perfect or ever goes perfectly to plan. I like having a schedule set up but there are days where it goes out the window. I like getting up early to get things done before everyone else. Some may think its selfish for me to go the gym first thing, vanity and all, but as the one who does the majority of the housework, pays the bills, makes the menu, does all the grocery shopping and takes care of the laundry I think taking care of my body is just as important if not more so than housework. 

I really like being home all day with the kids even though I may complain about it. There are days where all I feel like is someones maid, cook or servant. Homeschooling is a challenge but few things worth it are easy. I'm not saying anything bad about those who don't homeschool please don't think that. I'm just saying that it works for us and I wouldn't have it any other way.

First 6 weeks Down

We finished the first six weeks about a month ago but Im just now taking the time to sit down and talk about it.

We started school in mid-July. I had everything ready. I had plans to start Conor on pre-school but we havent progressed very far. I can get to that more in a bit. We started out the school year pretty strong. We had a few set backs and have taken less field trips than I would have liked but all in all the first 6 weeks were good. I use a free homeschool tracking system that lets me grade his work and track it too. Jordan did good for the first 6 weeks. Averaging A's and B's. I know a lot of homeschool families dont use grades for various reasons. I like to use them because it gives me a clear vision of how hes progressing. If hes passing the tests I feel like hes "getting it."

As far as Conor goes we started out okay but he slowly lost interest in what we were doing. About a month after we started school I started a babysitting job. The boy that Im watching during the day is 3 1/2. He is really not interested in school so Ive just been letting Conor and him play. For now that is working. I have some hooked on phonics stuff and some websites I plan on using in the next few months for him.

My husband and I had a long discussion about whether or not I should be homeschooling the kids into highschool. He thinks that I wont be able to do it because I dont know high level math and science. But I am trying to get into a local homeschool group to have help in this department. I truly believe this is what I am supposed to be doing. Hes also concerned about them having a childhood. I told him that compared to most homeschooled children my kids get a lot more than others. I try to make a point to get out as often as I can. Winter will be a little challenging because of the weather but I still want to get out and do things. Thats why I want to join the group. They have all kinds of activities and parties and such. All ages and lots of fun. I dont want my kids stuck in the house or only in the backyard. Theres a whole world out there I want to explore it.

Well thats the first 6 weeks. Ill try to get the next 6 weeks down as soon as we get done. That should be around the first of November or so.

New School Year 2012

Its the beginning of the new school here at Clan Morrison Homeschool. Ive decided that year round schooling would be better because I think kids lost too much having almost 3 months off. We took June off but now its time to get back on track.

This year Ive added a kindergarten "curriculum" for Conor. Im using the Letter of the Week curriculum. Its very easy and it doesnt take very long to get through, which is great for one who wont sit still for any great length of time.

 I have been trying to eliminate tv and video games so much during the day I decided to make a sand box on the porch for Conor and Emma to play in. It was cheap and he loves it. I also put up a dry erase board at their level to write on while Jordan and I are working.

The first day went off without a hitch. Heres to hoping the rest of the year follows suit.

End of year 2012

 This was our first "official year" of homeschooling. We finished this past Monday. Jordan got good grades. He got a "B" in spelling, "C" in English and a "B" in Math. We arent really finished with the English so we'll finish it when we start again in July. The newest things for next year will be that I was actually able to get science and history curriculum for next year so we'll have a rounded year. Also Conor starts kindergarten! I cant believe he'll be 5 in November! Time is flying by so fast.

We are taking the month of June off and well be spending it getting out and going to parks and maybe some field trips as well. Its been a semi-hard year. We had a lot of things happen this past year. My mother in law had a bought with cancer, my grandpa passed away and moved. But we had some positives happen too. My mother in laws cancer is doing well and Mike got a job promotion that has really been a blessing. My father in law also found love again.

I'm looking forward to the coming year. I really looking forward to the curriculum Jordan picked out. I think it will be lots of fun and I'm looking forward to watching Conor learn things too. Here's to the next year, I know it will be interesting if nothing else.

Winding Down

Its been awhile since I last posted here so here whats been going on. I started a blog about a month ago called Field Trip Fridays in Oklahoma. Ill be taking the kids on weekly field trips and then telling people about where we went and giving a little history about the place we went to.

Jordan is doing good in school. We're winding down the year with plans to end June 1st. We're taking a month off and starting back in July. Im looking forward to the month off. I have lots of plans set for that month.

Ive already made the plans for the curriculum. I allowed Jordan to choose which history and science this year and he chose world geography and culture from LifePac and LifePac science of plants, animals, electricity and weather. We'll also have math, english, spelling, Oklahoma history and all the documentaries we can handle. I also have plans to read several books. Im thinking we may do a science fiction theme with our books this year.

All in all Im looking forward to the "new" year. This year we'll have a "real" history and science curriculum and Im really excited about it. Thats all for now. Ill try to keep up with this more.

Out and About In Shawnee

It was a beautiful, sunny day here in Oklahoma. A few days ago when I realized how nice it was going to be I started thinking about where I could take the kids. I didn't want to just take them to the park so I decided we should take a short road trip. So I got out the atlas and opened it to Oklahoma. I took a compass and drew a circle around what I thought was a two hour radius outside of Tulsa. I started looking up cities inside that radius. Some had websites, other did not. After looking at about four cities I settled on Shawnee. I had never been there before and the website offered many different attractions that sounded fun.

We left at 8 a.m. I made a quick stop at QT and then we were on the road. We went through Sapulpa, Bristow, Chandler (which looked neat and we may have to go back and actually stop in), and finally ended in Shawnee. I had a map and of course my atlas but I also have GPS on my phone so I felt confident that we wouldn't get too lost. 

As we arrived in Shawnee I noticed several horse statues in front of different businesses. According to the website they're called "Horse in the City" statues. They are life size fiberglass horses painted by local artists. They are beautiful. I didn't get to see all of them but here are two of the four we did see. I will post the other ones in my facebook photos folder. 

Our first stop was the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art. Its located on St. Gregory's Campus. Which is beautiful! The museum is small but has great exhibits. We saw an Egyptian sarcophagus, and a real mummy,The Mummy Tutu! We also saw a real suit of armor and a Samurai helmet. There were also various Indian and religious artifacts and paintings. In one area they had a room full of pictorial carpets. 

Our next stop was lunch. We were all hungry and Jordan thought we should try to find a diner instead of eating somewhere we could eat here in town. I agreed and headed for main street because I figured there's always a diner on main street. I was right. We ended up at the Hamburger King. We found a booth and looked at the menu which told an interesting way of ordering, we had to order by picking up the red phone in our booth. The food was good as was the atmosphere.

After we ate we went down to The Sante Fe Depot Museum. The Sante Fe Railroad Company built the depot as a passenger station for Pottawatomie County. Passengers could ride from Newkirk, Shawnee or Cushing and then to Paul's Valley before joining the Texas line. They had so many neat things to look at, Native American items, train artifacts and even an old Model-T Ford pickup and a 100 year old horse statue from the St. Louis Worlds Fair. They were also hosting a quilt show and they were gorgeous. On the grounds there was a cabin that was the first home built in Shawnee after the land run. The Beard Cabin was built in 1891. As most of you know Conor loves trains. Located behind the depot was a set of train tracks so I let Conor walk right up to them and check them out. He seemed to be having a good time.

At this point it was getting late in the afternoon and I still had one stop I really wanted to make. I had heard about a local kids park that was supposed to be out of this world. I got directions and we set out to find it. We got there and they were right, it was out of this world. It was called Kid Space Park. It was so cool.

All the kids enjoyed the park. Its really spacious and theres lots to do. We let Emma down and she was able to run around and explore too. Its so much fun to watch them all find things they love about the park. Jordan likes to swing, Conor likes to climb and Emma likes to just be out of her car seat! I walked around taking pictures then sat in the swing with Emma for a bit. After about 40 minutes I was hot and getting tired and the park was filling with older kids so we opted to leave and go get ice cream.

Off to Braums we went. Then it was time to load up and head home. All in all it wasn't a bad day. They kids were happy and I love being able to take all of them on a field trip to wherever we want to go. I'm thinking that Mike would like to go next time so Ill have to plan something for a weekend when he can go too.

Homeschooling and independence  gives me the luxury to do this, and that's what it is, a luxury. I love the idea of just loading up and going somewhere. I am blessed to have a car that runs good, a husband that supports me and the time to do this. We're building memories that will last a lifetime. Stay tuned for more adventures from Morrison Homeschool.