Big Sur Academy?

Our first attempt at "off-campus" homeschooling wasn't what I had hoped it would be.

We decided to take a two night camping trip down the California coast to an area called Big Sur, leaving this past Sunday morning. To those of you not familiar with Big Sur, it is truly one of the most spectacular and famous, scenic areas along the entire California coastline. Scary too (especially for those of US who have a fear of heights), as some of the roads wind above the rocky cliffs that drop hundreds of feet straight down to the crashing seashore.

Our departure on Sunday had us driving in pouring rain, the first rain of the fall season. I drove the Jeep which pulls the camper because Steve sits in the back to "help out" our forever, car-sick dog, Chloe (he catches her multiple vomit sessions in a bag, he's gotten really good at the timing). Needless to say (but I will), my nerves were absolutely shot by the time we got there.

We arrived at the campsite by noon and had to set up the tent trailer in the pouring rain, but luckily we were somewhat sheltered under the majestic coastal redwood trees. After we popped it up, cleaned up the mud that soon covered the linoleum floor, we were able to appreciate where we found ourselves. Our site was by far, the best one in the campground, as our door opened up right to the shoreline of the crystal-clear, Big Sur River (large rocky stream). The aroma of the dense, wet forest was everything we were hoping for to calm our busy, city dwelling nervous systems. The rain completely stopped by 2:00 pm, the sun came out and we fired up the grill for lunch.

As we were researching campgrounds, among other great amenities, this campground/resort boasted wifi availability as most campgrounds now offer. I figured that we would do our lessons early in the morning and head out to explore the area in the afternoons. We had brought everything we needed for two days of homeschooling for the boy.

After lunch, Steve walked over to the campground office to get the wireless info. He returned with bad news. The campground itself did NOT have wifi, however the restaurant on the grounds did. Ger-rate! What kid is going to be focused in a restaurant atmosphere? In reality, probably zero to none. And I certainly didn't want to sit in a restaurant and go through his lessons.

Thankfully, I packed a few testing workbooks for literature which didn't need the computer. I brought his math books, so we were able to work off-line and review some of his recent math lessons. I tried to throw a little of science (he's learning "ecosystems" in science) into our river-side play. He read his book each night before bed.

All and all, the actual "homeschooling" was not a complete wash, but only a disappointment as we now need to catch up with some of his skipped lessons over the few days left of this week. All was not lost as I learned my own lesson in the future to ASK if wifi is available at the campsite itself.

The camper is now being packed away for the winter months. This will give up ample time to find THE perfect spot that will allow us to cover all we need to school-wise and still have the experience of being cuddled by the glorious arms of Mother Nature.

What? Aren't the banks and Post Office closed?

Well today had an interesting start. For weeks now, I've had on Malachy's calendar that today was a school holiday (Columbus Day). Steve's daughter spent the weekend with us and had no school today as well, although she lives in a different city. However, a neighbor whose children go to the local school here, told Steve that there was school in Fremont. I thought that was strange.

Upon awakening this morning, I decided to log into Malachy's online school just to double check. The school was logging attendance. I shot off a quick email to his teacher to see if today was a school day or a holiday. She informed me that it was indeed a school day. I looked back at the scheduled days off and noticed that it's 11/11 that he has off, not today which happens to be 10/11. Gerrrr-ate! Now to break the news to my boy who was still lounging around in bed, watching an iCarly repeat.

After a brief bout of verbal disappointment (fancy way of saying he threw a little tantrum), he had his breakfast and we settled in at his desk to begin the day. I figured I would keep it easy today since I am the one that initially screwed up.

We went through his French class, spelling class and math. We also did his language arts. Then we took a break, had some Halloween costume shopping to do (fun, fun!) and enjoyed a rare lunch out to celebrate his ten star days. We came home, put away the shopping bags and are finishing up on the last of his classes today.

In the end, not too bad of a day, both school and personal. Phew! That was a close call!

My gratitude to you.

Because of my last, desperate-sounding post, I received a tremendous amount of support and I am so grateful for the lift it gave me. I wrote the post Tuesday morning and by Wednesday, because of the kind words and helpful advice I received, I felt so much better. So thank you to all of you who continue to support me on this crazy journey of mine to help educate my precious boy.

Today, being Thursday, is usually our "cram-in" day. I like to push a little harder on Thursdays so we can ease up on things for our Friday Park Day. Yesterday and today have been moving so easily because Malachy has had such a great attitude. It's barely one o'clock and we're almost done for the day.

What I'm finding out, is that it's not going to be perfect every day or every week. I just need to hang in there, take a break if I need to, and know that it WILL get better. (BREATHE!) Yet during my good days, I have to know that there is a very good chance that it will not be the same tomorrow. And I suppose, all in all, it's the way life goes.

Namaste.

Where's the escape hatch?

Irritability is setting in.

Malachy's friend from his previous school, Montana, had a birthday party over the weekend. It was the first time I saw the moms of some of his little friends from that school in a very long time (months and months). It was such a nice visit and made me realize how much I miss seeing them and sharing laughter. In the past, Montana's mom Susan and I shared Room Mom duties in kindergarten and saw each other twice a day for three years. During the summer months, we'd all get together once a week for a park day. Susan moved away last December and we have only been together once since. Life gets in the way.

So here I am, feeling more than a bit isolated and my plate is so full of responsibilities that I can't just abandon. I'm so involved with teaching Malachy, but all my regular chores are starting to pile up. Literally. The dogs are annoying me with their constant barking at everything. The cat is incessantly meowing in the garage (time to go out!). Malachy's need to do cartwheels every five minutes right alongside me is driving me batty. He talks to me in his made up-language or is constantly giving me facts about rollercoasters. I just don't want to deal with any of this today but I know I have made the choice and can't back out of it. There are times I just want to run away (Bonnie fantasy) and be free of everything.

Today is one of those days where I'm wondering "WHAT WAS I THINKING?". I am losing my individuality a little more each day.

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. - Stanley Horowitz

Last week was one hot week for the San Francisco Bay area and beyond! All summer long, we experienced one of the coolest and breeziest summers on record which was a big disappointment for me as I love summer heat. And because of the unseasonably brisk weather, we decided to drain the pool a week ago. Go figure!

On Monday, the local temps hit over 90 degrees. Tuesday, it hit 101, Wednesday it was still 100. Thursday cooled down to about 95 and by Friday, it was down to 80 degrees. All over the Bay Area records were broken.

Like a lot of people living so close to the San Francisco Bay, we don't have air conditioning in our two story house. Downstairs, the thermostat read 85 degrees every day last week. Although we have ceiling fans and regular oscillating fans (ooOOOOoooh!), we baked. I would get up early and prepare the house to keep it as cool as possible through the day. My effort was not obvious, until you stepped outside and felt as if you walked straight into a burning oven. 85 degrees was definitely more tolerable than one might realize.

And as you might imagine, extreme heat is not conducive to learning. No amount of popsicles or iced lemonade drinks rescued us. I had a brilliant idea and decided to see if we could work in the Main library downtown. Upon driving there, we realized that everyone in the city must have been thinking the same thing, because there was not one parking space available in the entire lot! Bummer! So we stopped, got a smoothie and came back home. The dogs were happy to see us return because they too could then escape the torturous heat and come inside.

We worked through our most important subjects in the mornings, took long breaks during the hottest parts of the day and then as the evening began, we'd catch up with the rest. One of the very best assets of homeschooling is that we set our own schedules. Even still, this wasn't one of the easiest weeks to homeschool.

And as I remember the famous quote, "Patience is a Virtue", I am reminded again how important it is to have an abundance of patience during these stressful times. Gratefully, the notorious San Francisco fog once again graciously rolled in from the ocean, over the hills and through the sweltering cities persuading everyone that, no we weren't dreaming, Autumn really did arrive last week.

Just saying.....

I have to believe that I grew up in an era that promoted children's imaginations. Of course this was prior to television cable with a zillion and one channels, fast computers, video games, cell phones and texting, Gameboys, iPods, etc. This was a time when kids played with other kids outside, all day "until the street lights come on". Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, we were almost always out there. Playing with the neighborhood kids was the highlight of my childhood. The parents were on board as well and everyone kept their eyes out for all.

Our mothers would send us outside as soon as we were done breakfast, were dressed and our teeth and hair brushed. Or, because there were no fences in our neighborhood, we'd go out as soon as we'd see another kid out in their backyard. Soon at least a half a dozen kids would be playing together, sometimes as many as fifteen kids consisting of many different age groups. Sometimes we'd play school in our carport, or we'd all be riding bikes up and down the street, playing cops and robbers. The older kids would write plays and the younger ones would act them out. There were times we'd make magic shows and charge the adults pennies to come and watch. And they would come! Sometimes a small group of us would play with our Matchbox cars in a large sandbox. Very often, we'd pull out our beloved baby dolls and doll strollers and play house,which was always my favorite activity. We'd sometimes even take picnic lunches through the woods to the beaver dam or walk "The Bumblebee Trail" with the bigger kids in charge. In the dead of the winter, the kids dragged their sleds and toboggans to the neighborhood hill and we'd be sliding until the sky was pink with the sunset. We'd all look out for each other and if memory serves me right, it seems we all got along pretty well.

Nowadays, I have to pull my son off his computer as he could spend hours creating rollercoasters or watching goofy YouTube videos about a crazy, annoying animated orange! He would watch cartoon after cartoon and then play his Wii games until the cows came home if I didn't object. But I do object, and I do force him out to play. But it's not the same. And he is almost always alone.

Once outside, he'll happily swing on his swing set and I watch him from the kitchen window and gasp as his eyes are closed and he makes himself go all crazy and upside down on it. I can only assume he is pretending to be on a rollercoaster. He'll take his bike out and ride around in circles, again sometimes closing his eyes for short moments and screaming as if he's on an amusement ride. He'll round up the two dogs and try to teach them tricks or grab their leashes and walk them around the back yard. But this all tends to be short-lived. When he would come in, he'd want to head right back to the computer.

Since we've started school, I made a rule that there is to be no TV before and during the school day. There is to be no video game playing and no computer usage (except for supervised studies). At first, he had a hard time adjusting to finding alternate things to do with his free time. What I have noticed recently, is that he has been pulling out his toys from his past. Toys that have rarely been used and long-sinced packed away in his closet, like Lego blocks and Tinker Toys. His Matchbox cars, road & street carpet and toy buildings have come out. I see him playing with his Woody doll and making it do gymnastics. And I hear him talking to himself, immersed in his imagination. He's beginning to choose these activities over the computer games.

This is what childhood should be about. Free play. Why is it so rare to see the neighborhood kids out and playing together these days? In our current society, is it easier for a parent to feel secure that their child is tucked away in the next room, hooked on his video game than it is to worry about his personal safety outside? Has it become too difficult in this busy, stressful world for the parents to find time to supervise the kids outside? Is the world that much more dangerous than it was 40 years ago? Childhood health issues, obesity, cyber bullying, gang activity, teen drug and pregnancy, and childhood depression seems to have sky-rocketed since that bygone era.

If I had one wish, I would turn back the clock for my boy. If only he could experience just one weekend day of what we had as kids. I am convinced he'd leave the Gameboy stashed in his dresser, grab a cookie and run outside to join the gang waiting for him on the front step. That would the one kind of gang I'd be happy for him to join!

Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless. Bill Watterson

Fridays are our social day. In the mornings, I have a dance class with some very lovely ladies. I laugh the entire time as well as exercise. It's what I look forward to each week. Along with the other kids, Malachy watches whatever cartoon is on in the gym's daycare.

On Friday afternoons, we head over to a local park to meet with the other homeschooling families for a few hours of letting loose. The kids run and play and the moms (and sometimes dads) chat and compare notes. This is usually just after lunch, so the actual time we have for lessons in between the two events is a tiny window. Malachy has a great time with Zoe and Perry, and is making more friends each week.

In order to make both events, our Fridays are very loose. We usually get in the essentials. Yesterday, because I also had to run some errands, we were only able to accomplish his french lesson. It was agreed yesterday that we'd play catch up today (Saturday). Daddy is at an all day bicycle event and we had no prior plans. We talked about it yesterday, we talked about it last night before bed. Everyone was on board.

This morning, we slept in until almost 9:00 (a rarity in the home as we are all up at the crack of dawn each morning, and if we aren't, the dogs will make sure we are). The extra sleep felt so good, I felt so well rested. Upon waking, Malachy was cheery and bright. Breakfast was out on the patio since it is an incredibly beautiful morning. Birds are singing, dogs are NOT barking, bunnies are hopping about....ah, life is good!

The joy de vivre was too short-lived. The boy has decided and is adamant that weekends are NOT for studying and he has refused to do any school work. I countered and reminded him that Fridays ARE for school, so Park Day will be out next week. He looks forward to his Park Day as much as I look forward to my dance class. Some colorful mouthing off to me and he's been sent to his room without the privilege of his TV or computer games. He'll be staying in there until he has a change of attitude, even if it takes all day. And while he's quiet now and the house is once again calm, I realize I've been played.

It reminded me of a time when I was very pregnant for him. Steve and I offered Kelley (a freshman at the time) and Winter (in elementary school) to go see the new Harry Potter movie at the theaters if they promised that when we got back, they'd go rake up a certain section of the back yard. Both were very excited and happily agreed. We left and enjoyed the movie and snacks. Upon our return, neither girl was interested in holding up their end of the bargain. We insisted they do their share. Reluctantly they went out with rakes dragging behind them. One sat on the ground, tossing around leaves, while the other bitched and moaned the entire time and went on about how unfair we were.

I thought I had learned my lesson when it comes to kids and compromises. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.