Tag: outside the box

Why we chose NOT to do a homeschool co-op (this year)

Co-ops are an important part of the homeschool world.  And for good reason.  Doing this homeschool thing alone is a tough gig and it’s so much easier to do it in community!

Homeschool co-ops provide opportunities for kids to learn with other kids, friendships, adult interaction for the moms, and a place where you know you’re part of the group!

Our family has been part of many different co-ops during our homeschool journey.

My first few years of homeschooling were lonely. During those early years, co-ops were my lifeline.  And they were a weak lifeline at that, mainly because I wasn’t able to fully engage as much as I wanted to.  This was due to various circumstances, such as a new baby, or one year where our middle son did a Brain Balance program.

I’m not one of those moms who can juggle it all.  I’m actually a self-admitted NON-multi-tasker.   I can have a few things on my plate at a time, and THAT’S IT.

Finding homeschool friends after moving

In 2016, we made the move from Illinois to Wisconsin.  It was a move that turned our lives more upside down than we anticipated.  We spent the first 4 months after our move doing NOTHING besides staying at home reading aloud, writing, and doing our math (and taking my son to OT).

It was glorious EXCEPT that we really had no homeschool friends.  And so, in January 2017, we decided to join a local Classical Conversations community.  I was unfamiliar with CC at first but came to discover that many of the things we did at home already, aligned with it.

We did CC for half a year.  And then I tutored (similar to a teacher role) the next year for CC.  We made some great friends and I’m thankful for our time in that community.

Ch-ch-ch changes…

Then in June we found out our community would be dissolving and so I needed to make a decision…  Would we join a different co-op?

This decision was especially difficult because of the loneliness I felt in my beginning years of homeschooling.  But after much agonizing, verbally processing my husband’s ear off, and loads of prayer, I decided we were NOT going to do a formal co-op and we would instead do our own thing.   This was the decision that gave me the most PEACE.

And this blog birthed out of that time…  When I was realizing we were going to be OK doing our own “outside-the-box” thing.

And in fact, it may have been a blessing (for us at least) that our CC community dissolved.  You see, my daughter is not a big fan of despised the rote memorization, and the writing program that CC uses.  Two pretty big parts of the program actually.  So this year we were freed up and fired up to try the Bravewriter program, which has been a much better fit for us!

God knew what this year was going to look like.  He knew that my son was going to be in Vision Therapy, which takes up one morning a week PLUS the daily exercises.  And He knew that any more on my plate might have put me over the edge…

I’m not saying we’ll never do a co-op again, BUT I think there are seasons when it’s OK to not be part of a co-op.   For us, that season is now.

Have you ever been in a season where a co-op was just not right for your family?  Please share below, in the comments!

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Why I Named My Blog ‘Outside the Box Learners’

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of starting a blog, at least for me,  is all the ideas of possible posts that come to you and then having to decide what to write about next.  Well… that and the logistics of creating a website!  But to think I originally thought I might not have enough to write about!  Ha!  This has been a fun adventure for me.  Re-discovering the joy I experience while writing has been amazing, and the fact that I get to fuse it with my everyday job of homeschooling my kids makes it even better!

My blog is still very young at this point.  Before I write any more posts, I wanted to address why I named my blog  ‘Outside the Box Learners’.  It actually was my first choice for a website name and was thrilled it was available!

Defining ‘Outside the Box’

Let’s start with a definition of ‘outside the box‘.   When I hear those words I think of anything that is not conventional, or anything different from the norm.  Not mainstream.

According to Dictionary.com, ‘outside the box’ is an idiom that means:

“in an innovative or unconventional manner; with a fresh perspective”

What is an ‘Outside the Box Learner’

This might more appropriately be stated who is an outside the box learner?  People are who’s, not what’s, after all!  Unless maybe you are a character in a Dr. Seuss book. 😉

Since we’ve already covered what ‘outside the box’ means, it should be clear what an ‘outside the box learner’ is, because we’re just tagging learner to our definition.   And thus we get: A learner who learns in an innovative or unconventional manner or a learner with a fresh perspective.

When I first got the bug to start a blog, I knew I wanted to write about my homeschooling experiences both of my son with dyspraxia and also my daughter who is gifted, especially in the creativity arena.  From the little research I did about ‘outside the box’ students, it was my guess that my daughter more readily fit the stereotype usually thought of when one hears the words ‘outside the box‘.

Outside the Box Learners Learn in Unconventional Ways

Being the analytical person I am, I really thought about those words ‘outside the box’, specifically how they mean unconventional and outside the norm.  I use unconventional methods to homeschool both my 8 and 10-year-old.

For my son, I frequently make modifications to help him succeed, specifically with handwriting, which is very hard for him.  He is very asynchronous in that his reading capabilities and handwriting capabilities are lightyears apart.  If he was in a regular classroom, he would not be your typical student.  I LOVE that I am able to meet him where he’s at and he doesn’t have to feel like he’s “less than” or just “can’t keep up” due to his difficulties with handwriting.   And he is able to maintain a love for learning!

My daughter is my creative child who definitely approaches things with a fresh perspective.  She is inventive and always thinking of something new to try (as I write this she’s making sushi, which she’s done before, but this time experimenting with new ingredients!).  She is in her happiest and most peace-filled state when she is creating something new.  Her mind is in a constant state of motion. She hates worksheets and anything conventional really and learns by doing and teaching.   In my opinion, she is a poster child for an “outside the box learner”.

Emphasis On Learners

Since I knew I would be writing a lot about my kids and our homeschool, I wanted to emphasize learners in my website name.  And really the whole reason I’ve come around to homeschooling the way I do is to meet their needs, which I talk about in this post: How We Became Outside the Box Learners.

They learn in unconventional ways, so I’ve come around to teaching in unconventional ways.

 

 

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Weekly Wrap-Up: October 1-5

Activities for kids with sensory issues

Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you).

Weekly Wrap-Up: October 1-5

I thought it would be neat to have a weekly post, that included highlights  (and possibly lowlights too…) from our week.  So, here goes!

Rocky Start

This past week had a rocky start with Daniel getting a stomach bug and missing preschool on Monday.  Since Daniel is high maintenance for me, I rely on his school days to get a lot done with the older two.  We still got a fair amount done but not as much as usual.   It may have been for the best as it definitely forced me to slow things down which was good after a weekend of camping.

Overcoming Fears

We still managed to get swimming lessons in on Monday (thanks to my parents coming over to watch Daniel).   Lydia is getting braver each week and wanted to try jumping into the 10 feet deep area.  This was HUGE for our girl.  She was a sight to behold… goggles, nose plug, earplugs and all.  God bless her swim instructor!  🙂

Read Alouds

Reading Aloud is one of the pillars of our Home School.  Unfortunately, sometimes appointments and schedules get in the way of having the time to do this.  Tuesday brought Joe’s 2nd Vision Therapy Evaluation and a lot of time in the car.  We redeemed that car time by starting the Mysterious Benedict Society on audiobook, which is our Read Aloud Revival book club book for October.  MBS is an entertaining book about “Outside the Box” kids on a mission.

Also, just yesterday, we finished “On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness”  by Andrew Peterson.  This was a delightful novel full of action, heart, and hilarious characters with a Chronicles of Narnia/Lord of the Rings feel to it.  This is Peterson’s first novel and it is part 1 of 4 books in the Wingfeather Saga.  Andrew Peterson is an amazing musical artist AND author.  He is a true “creative” (yes, I just made it a noun!) and he reminds me of my own creative child.  We will certainly be reading his other books!

Math Facts Break Through

For math facts, we use Math-It, which I really love.  It’s simple and effective AND my kids aren’t breaking out in tears when practicing their facts.   Joe finally broke 1 minute on his addition math facts this week.  He’s been working on them since February so this was extremely exciting!    We tweaked how he does his facts due to some fine-motor limitations he was running into because of his Dyspraxia.  With that adjustment, I have a feeling he’ll be getting his multiplication facts down before the end of the month.  It is so awesome to see him soar!

Bath Bombs

I’ve been promising the kids for a while that we could make bath bombs.  Every time we see them at a store, they want to buy them and they are PRICEY!  We used a recipe from The Superkids Activity Guide to make bath bombs.  As a side note – Lydia LOVES this book ( I do too, but Lydia has spent hours paging through it).  It’s colorful, well laid out and packed with outside the box  AND useful ideas for kids with various sensory challenges.

The bath bombs are meant to encourage kids who normally hate being bathed to take baths.  Thankfully my kids are all past this (though it wasn’t too long ago we were dealing with this issue!) and we just made them for the fun of it.   We used cupcake shaped molds, which I’ve had for many years, but you could use any type of mold or shape them with your hands. The bath bombs just popped right out of the molds.  The secret ingredient to making them fizzy: Citric Acid, which I learned is found in the canning section at the grocery store.

Activities for kids with sensory issues
Our bath bombs drying in the cupcake molds

And that’s our Weekly Wrap-Up!

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Letting Go of Normal: Homeschool vs. School at Home

Normal.  What is normal anyway? I don’t have the answer to that.  I know our current version of normal, and it probably looks different from yours, and that’s ok!

Homeschool vs. School at Home

This post is as much for me as it is for anyone reading this.  Writing helps me process my thoughts.  It helps me sort them out.  And I’m needing a heavy dose of reminding of what homeschooling is all about.  And it is NOT the same as school at home!

I am a recovering “School at Home-er”.  Is that a thing?  Part of it stems from my few years in the classroom as a 4th-grade teacher.  And part of it just stems from my rule-following, slightly rigid personality.   If you’ve read my post: How We Became Outside the Box Learners, then you already know that our homeschool has transformed from what it originally was.  I’ve had to tweak things over the years to find a rhythm that works for our family.  It is a constant work in progress by the way.  And it’s been a bumpy road at times getting here.

A Unique Start to the Year

We had a unique start to this school year.   The first few weeks of the year were spent out west in Yellowstone National Park!  That actually stressed me out a bit.  I mean, I wanted to start strong with our routine here at home.   It’s part of my rule-following nature.  But truly, what nature experience can compare to Yellowstone.  My kids learned a ton – a ton of info that will actually stick since it was interesting and in the context of real life, not just a textbook.  

When the kids arrived home from the trip, I got sick and we lost a couple of days.  The days were not really lost but I had to command the ship from the bed  – which shouldn’t have but did leave me to feel defeated.    Then we had a few days with appointments and such.   And now, it’s October!  Aaaagh!

Breathe Katie, breathe…

Checking or NOT checking the boxes

So, here I am reminding myself that homeschool is not the same as school at home.  It’s ok if the boxes aren’t all checked each day…  It’s ok that the first few weeks of the year were not at our house.  It’s ok if some days we spend a few hours on math, but zero on reading.  Or if we spend the day or part of the day serving together as a family, but don’t get to read as much.   Or if handwriting for the day is writing something completely unrelated to what’s in our handwriting workbook.  I am constantly learning to watch for cues of my kiddo’s brains being engaged and then trying to run with that.

After all, “Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire”.  

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How We Became “Outside the Box Learners”?

Isn’t it funny how so often things in life come about from what DOESN’T work? We can make plans but must adjust if we are hitting a wall.  

Homeschooling Outside the Box Was Not the Original Plan

I did not set out to be “outside the box” in regards to homeschooling my kids. I’m a planner and there are plenty of well-planned out homeschool curriculums. I would prefer to be using one of those lovely well planned out curriculums. I’m a list person. A box checker. I prefer to have my plan and stick to it. However a lot of methods that SHOULD work and DO work for most families, simply are the not the best way of learning in our home.

We have a wall hanging in our school rooms that says “Mistakes are lessons inside out.“ I had it custom-made for my daughter – to remind her it’s OK and NECESSARY to make mistakes! It’s part of the learning process!

Our family has come around to this “outside the box” approach to learning in an inside-out way. And it has been downright frustrating for me at times. There have been tears shed by more than one person…..including myself! And definitely more than once!

And the truth of the matter is my kids did not become “outside the box learners”. They always were. It just took me a few years and to catch on and have the confidence to do things in less conventional ways.

Finding What Works With Our Outside the Box Learners

After years of trying things that “should have” worked, I’ve learned to follow my kids’ lead more. Sometimes that means stopping what we’re doing, and continuing at night while drinking hot chocolate after younger siblings have gone to bed. Sometimes
it means switching between different types of math curriculum throughout the year. Often it means checking out loads of books at the library on whatever is interesting to them that week…..or decade! For my creative child, it frequently means letting her get her inventive ideas out of her head in the morning so she can more fully focus on her work later in the day.

Ultimately it means letting go of the idea of doing “school at home” (as a former 4th-grade teacher this is hard for me!) and remembering one of the beautiful things about homeschool is the flexibility it offers. This attitude/philosophy is a work in progress for me. I have certainly not arrived. And I am too much of a list/plan person to let all routine go to the wayside. I do have things I expect my kids to accomplish each day.

However, every day I also try to give them time to create, imagine, play and read. And the great thing is, when we’re in the rhythm of this, it doesn’t feel like school. It’s enjoyable and there’s plenty of learning happening. Just not the way I expected it to.

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