Things I Learned From Public School Teachers

...that are useful in home education.

Last week I taught in a Kindergarten and 1st grade classes. Each teacher had some things that are smart that I realized I could use at home. Many things in public school are not useful at home (most really), but there are things that are useful in both circumstances.

Personal Dry Erase Boards
I have a large dry erase board, which is nice in a lot of ways when teaching a concept that I want to have both of us (or all of us) write on the board together or I want to write a lot of details. The drawback is that it takes up space and in our smaller rental we don't want to a) put big holes in the walls to put it up and b) use valuable wall space that is needed for all our furniture.

These personal sized dry erase boards are much better for spelling quizzes, math computations, and grammar practice. I have tried to reduce the amount of paper we use and these dry erase boards are PERFECT! The 1st grade teacher has them for each student and has them practice math problems and spelling on them while she teaches the lesson. It made it pretty easy to have the children show me their boards so I could quickly see who needed help. The second thing she had was to use socks as erasers instead of the flimsy erasers that come with the sets. Personally, it gets a lot more of the flakes erased than the eraser anyway, and you can always throw them in the wash. (It is also very easy to find "divorced or separated" socks). She has the students store their dry erase markers in the sock.

Rolling Carts
The kindergarten teacher I subbed for (and will sub every Wednesday through the end of the year) has rolling carts for each child under their tables. I also saw this used for a special education room. If I had a home school room I would definitely use the rolling carts. Right now, I like our "cubby" solution, but if I had younger children the rolling cart would be my choice.

New Plan - Check!

With the addition of substitute teaching, I needed to come up with a new plan. I have become more of a list maker now that I am older. My brain just can't seem to store things in it's proper place as it used to. Things on the "priority list" seem to get dumped to the "things I can't remember list". Things I don't need to obsessively think about end up on the "priority list" and clog my thoughts with mundane tenacity. Thus... planners and lists have become my friends.

Planner #1
It first started with foster parenting that I began keeping a simple weekly planner for appointments and such. When we moved and stopped fostering I was happy to place that little planner in a drawer. Five months later I pulled it out when I realized that work, callings, and homeschool commitments were getting missed or I would reschedule because I couldn't remember something else was already planned. The main thing missing from my current planner is a weekly "To Do" list, a must have in next year's planner.

Mike likes to rub it in that he has a Palm (which I bought him two years ago for his birthday). I wish I could afford the fancy cell phone with data service and Blackberry apps. How sweet that would be! But, alas, our budget can't handle that kind of luxury. I guess I'll just have to cowboy up and use pen and paper. *sigh*

Planner #2

The second planner change was to add a check list type of planner for Nayna and Chris so that on the days that I am at work they do not get off track (keeps me on track too). They are both in Scholar Phase, but not all levels of Scholar Phase are the same. You can see this week's plan here. This is a form of Structure Time, not Content. They have certain criteria that needs to be done each day, but there is some choice as to fulfilling that criteria. We have been doing this for four weeks now and it is working really well. We had a few trial and error moments, but make-up work is a consequence...so my kiddos are much better at completing the list. ;-) The 2 child-planner sheet is from donnayoung.org. I filled in the basics that are the same each week and then copied the sheet. The things that change I just write in every week. I prepare this on Sunday during our Mentor Meetings (same as FEC meetings).

We still have our individual binders with student planners that I shared before. This one-page plan also has the appointments that affect them and the days that I work listed at the bottom.

Planner #3

My kids are very proficient at making meals, they have been for some time. We have come up with a system that the kids and I each make meals two nights a week, except Sunday. Mike is not home for dinner or he would take a turn in the rounds also (working 60-70 hours a week I figure makes up for it). You can see our meals listed here and who is cooking that night. The kids typically cook on the days that I work. Chris and Nayna can make a pretty awesome spaghetti from scratch.

Sunday is a day of rest for us. We typically eat left-overs or simple meals. I remember reading about Sister Kimball and that she didn't want to spend all day preparing meals on the Sabbath so she would prepare on Saturday. I felt that this applies to me, I also don't want anyone to slave away on Sunday in the kitchen.

Over time I have learned a great deal from Mike on organizing and planning. I'm thankful that I have a husband who values a "house of order" both temporally and spiritually.

Part-Time Working Homeschool Mom

I've had many questions about how I can possibly work part-time and still homeschool. Well...it is a bit tricky...

Job #1 - Kohl's
I worked a couple years ago part-time at night doing ad-set at Khol's...making a few cents above minimum wage. I often worked from 8pm until 2am two or three days a week, slept until 11am and then we did homeschool until just before dinner. That was difficult. I was always tired and sleeping was sporadic at best. However, the job was easy and I had great friends at work. I took that job to pay for court expenses and had that job when Mike was laid-off, a huge blessing as they gave me extra shifts and daytime work hours to help us get by. The main thing I miss from that job was the discount! Not that I can afford to shop there anymore.

Job #2 - Foster Care
After moving to Flagstaff we decided to become a Foster Family. This is NOT a part-time job, but a 24/7 endeavor to raise traumatized children. I spent all my time doing this and homeschooling was difficult to "fit in" sometimes. However, we learned a great deal from this, grew as a family, and learned to love and serve the less fortunate. We miss many of the children who lived with us and wish we could have kept little Bryce forever. The money was....well it is practically non-existent. Anyone who THINKS foster parents make money doing this is crazy.

Job #3 - Substitute Teaching
My current endeavor is to substitute teach part-time, one or two days a week. So far, so good. I make much more per hour than Kohl's or foster care (which I didn't make anything doing), I can choose to work or not work on any given day, and I can request more or less work days as needed. My young adults are doing the majority of their work while I am gone and I can check their progress, teach concepts that need my extra help, and oversee their education without too much being taken away from our routine. I have installed good work habits with my scholar phase kids and they are doing the same amount of work as if I was here. In fact, I think they are becoming much more responsible students.

Conclusion
Anyway, with our current status financially, I doubt I will be jobless again. We have missions and weddings to prepare for even after all our debts are paid. I miss the stay-at-home days. I had hoped to adopt and continue to be a mom at home, but it appears that this is not to be. **sigh**

My Week in Special Ed.

I spent the early part of this week (and will be there tomorrow as well) substituting in a special education pre-K class for autistic children. Needless to say, it has been very interesting. Early intervention is for some parents a saving grace, but I wonder how parents would feel if they knew what was really going on in the classrooms.

I've seen children forced to play with shaving cream while they are screaming, "No, please! Too sticky!" or forced to lay on their tummy rather than sit on their bum to read a book. Some of it is so excessive for silly reasons that I just can't imagine why it happens. What is the purpose? So, I decided to ask a few questions about why the children have to lay on their tummy rather than sit on their bum. I got an explanation of how the child's muscles need to be built in their necks and lower jaw.

But still, I'm wondering why force them? Why not inspire them to follow our lead to lay on their tummy and play a fun game to strengthen those muscles? Do we have to practically sit on kids (yes, I've seen this) and make them do what we want just because they are autistic? Now, I have not spent a lot of time with autistic kids and I KNOW they all have behavior issues (this is part of how they are diagnosed).

My question is...can the Leadership Education model work with autistic children? I believe it can and will even be better for the children. The problem then becomes an issue of wanting results NOW rather than taking the time to inspire the kids. So it seems to be a matter of quick results over allowing time to make the changes in a more loving and respectful way.

I was reminded by a friend about how Helen Keller needed to be forced somewhat in order to learn to communicate. I observed, however, that the conformity was in behavior mostly...eating with utensils instead of hands, eating from her own plate, not being rewarded candy for bad behavior, etc. The people around Helen had created these bad behaviors in the first place. Ann Sulivan only reversed these bad behaviors and replaced them with good ones.

Also, Helen Keller was not autistic and had the ability to learn these behaviors. I don't believe that the comparison is a good one, but still I can see that sometimes force is a matter of getting the child's attention long enough to inspire them. For the children in the class I'm working in they do have "mainstream" kids coming in to be an example, which I think is excellent in teaching them to communicate and model preferred behaviors. I just don't agree with the extreme force some of these kids are put through at times.

Behaviorism in the Schools

I started my Substitute Teacher training today. Well, all of one hour of it that they provide. The rest was handing us a manual and telling us to study it on our own if we want to be called to sub. I'm fine with that. Basically, the substitute positions are very competitive. They are telling us we should have "business cards" and to "market ourselves" to the schools and teachers so that they will request us often. Hmmpf!

I got to page 5 of my manual and was already stewing about the content.

Students behave or misbehave due to what it happening in the classroom more than the influence of outside factors. If the teacher changes the environment in the classroom, the behavior of the students will change. ~ "Substitute Teacher" manual page 2

So - no students misbehave because they have not been taught to behave? I know it says "more than", but as I read on I found more evidence of behaviorism and less about teaching children what is "right" and what is "wrong." In fact, you cannot categorize any behaviors as "good" or bad".

Do not allow yourself to be led off task by students protests and long, useless discussions. ~ "Substitute Teacher" manual page 5

I guess students must conform...no protesting allowed..."resistance is futile." I'm not saying students should be allowed to do whatever they want. What I am saying is that shouldn't students know why they need to know these things and why they need to participate in class. Discussing these things is useless?

I think I'm going to have a harder time with this than I thought. I hope that I can still take what I know about how people learn and be useful in the classroom without snuffing all forms of discussions. Hopefully I can somehow inspire the students I come in contact with and still perform to a level as to not get fired. LOL!

Working, Court, & Being a Homeschool Mom

Working
I started a job a couple weeks ago setting ads at night at Kohl's. It is easy and does not require working much with customers. I tried applying at other stores in our area, but since I cannot lift more than 25 lbs. I could not get hired. This position was the only one I could get at this time in the same city where I live. It is a little frustrating because I am making half of what I have made before as far as hourly wages go.

Court
I have not posted this information in my blog before, but I am currently in a custody dispute with my ex-husband over my oldest daughter Sam. It is ugly. It is costing us a fortune and I hate the whole process. Anyone who has ever gone to court or been divorced knows that the full truth never seems to come out in court. It is always a "he said" "she said" situation with a judge trying to determine who is telling the truth. It is even worse when the other party is completely dishonest and submitting lies to the court. I refuse to stoop to that level and so we are under constant attack. It is a difficult time for our family. Sam is staying with her dad because I have allowed her to choose until our next court date towards the end of August. She has decided she wants to go live with her dad and I am respecting her choice even though I know it is not what is best for her. She has her agency and at nearly 17 years old is old enough to make these choices. Please keep us in your prayers so that we can make it through this difficult time.

Homeschooling
Many have asked me when we are going to start homeschooling (did we ever stop?) or if I am putting the kids back in school because I am working now. I am definitely a homeschooler. LOL! I know most of my family and friends cannot understand it and I really cannot explain it other than we love it! I have felt "called" to homeschool my children. We have found a method of homeschooling and curriculum that is fun for both me and the kids. I love having my kids around (most days) and enjoy knowing exacting where they are in their education and where they are going.

We follow the schedule Sam has at high school so we start on August 6th. If she stays with her dad indefinitely we may change our schedule a little.