Day 6 Home Education Week!

Share your children’s home education experience in their own words. What have they said about their education? What are their likes and dislikes? Share some stories, some quotes, or turn your blog over to your children for the day.

Whoo-hoo we're on the home stretch!! This has been a true blog-a-thon!

Dd16 - thinks "it's hard" - she isn't in here to ask a direct quote. She's sure she has more to do than anyone ever had. (No doubt because I've been so easy on her in the past :-) She loves to read and to learn - but just not always what is "necessary." "Math? Why should I have to do that?"

Ds 14 is gaining FLUENCY in reading, whoo-hoo, (yes, it's been a slow road for him) and he loves to read, but doesn't like reading long things or for long stretches, (and still LOVES being read to more). He told the eye dr. that he only reads what he has to for school. (Which is somewhat true --) But he always says, "I'll read the Scripture for today." or "Can I read that?" Or last week when his sisters were gone and I had an online workshop to do said, "Mom, you just go do what you need to work on and I'll read the lessons to the other boys."

Ds 10 just told me the best thing about home education was we get done earlier. (Oh, is that so?)

Dd8 loves learning. If asked what she likes about home ed, she says, "Reading!" and "spelling". But wishes she could do less math and more projects, art and music. She's usually cutting, coloring, drawing something as we read. She's read FAR more books than ds 14, and will no doubt catch up with ds10 - who, as of the beginning of last summer, had read over 70 books for the year. I don't know what his count is this year, but his books choices are getting quite long, so I'm guessing it will drop off quite a bit. She also says we could do it a lot faster if the boys weren't always messing around.

Ds3 told me a couple weeks ago, "[ds5] doesn't know how to read yet." Guess he felt it was high time he learned.

Ds5 and 3 believe that lesson time is their time to go fire up the printer and start printing coloring pages for themselves. (Ds5 knows how. Ds3 THINKS he does.) They've been kind of stuck in the Alamo, coloring page after page after page - the same ones over and over. They love Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie. But I guess before that it was Daniel Boone, over and over. I reminded them that we were studying a different war now, (I guess they were oblivious to the time between the wars) and there are plenty of pages on the civil war they could color about some of the men they are enjoying hearing about from that too. Did they pick Stonewall (5yo's fave)? No. Did they pick Lee or Stuart or Lincoln or any others we've read about? No. They asked to color the ladies in the pretty dresses, ("the big sister and the little sister." - a Southern Belles color book.)

OK, older children are in now, so I have some quotes.

Ds14 likes best about learning at home - "you don't get any F's." He said that's what he tells his friends when they ask. He likes math. He wishes we'd do more reading - like stories and such. i.e. like Lamplighters. He wishes we'd do less books. OK, we don't do textbooks, or workbooks, or anything but real books such as the above, so what is he saying? More reading - less reading, which is it? "Less books like Spurgeon." None of the children were too thrilled with the bio we picked. We quit about half way through.

Dd16 likes best that they have more options in what they do. She's not sure what she'd want more or less of. "Just perfect as it is?", I ask, knowing her better than that. "Well, I'm sure there's something." And finally said, "less messing around by the boys so we could get done sooner."

Ds3 says he like playing quietly best. Yeah right!!!

Ds5 says he likes playing best - when mom says they can go play while we work on a lesson that needs a bit of quiet!

Ds10 says he likes that he "can't get in trouble that much." Where did this kid get these ideas? He likes math best and wishes we'd do more of it. He wishes we'd do less reading. What? he loves reading. Oh, less reading together. The thing his brother wishes we'd do more of. Guess that means it's my call, and it must be close to right if one wants more and another wants less. Right?

Well, I think I've heard from everybody. On to day 7!

Cross-posted from my L.E.D. blog.