Homescholing, we are going with Calvert

We are so excited about this.

Yesterday we got access to our internet accounts and my son was really happy exploring the activities on line.

We choose Calvert for the ATS, because I don't know how to get a Certificate of Compliance in any other way since we are not U. S. citizens or live there. There is no options for accredited homescholing in Mexico or Costa Rica, so will try this year and see how it works, even when I meant to follow a child oriented education I'm still pretty excited about getting the box with all the material to work.

 

Here you can see the material por pre-K and K from the Calvert website. I will have to do a lot of translating (we speak Spanish), but I think it will work and I plan to teach him English as we go.

It's really hard to be a pioneer on things, I now that maybe not all extended family are supportive of this choice, but in our countries it's much unusual and weird, so people will confront me and had try to change my mind, still, I'm sure this is the best for my boy and for us as a family, plus we have tons of fun doing it.

Therewas othet options I consider, A Beka, K12, and Epysteme, wich is in Spanish, but I think Calvert will work better for us, we will see.

I'm open to questions, specially for other Latin American families that might be in a similar situation, the Spanish version of this post was much more detailed, you can read it here.

The Rhythm of our home, or the lack of it

I like to read Nicole's blog, Frontier Dreams, and when she suggested we all write about this subject I was all excited, thinking about all the things I had to say about it. And then nothing. Because the most I wanted to say something about it, the more I felt so bad about it. The thing is that I feel our life it's just so stressful and crazy that I feel really guilty, except..., well except for the days when I allow him to stay home and skip school, those are our favorite days. And I also feel I have to hide that from everyone, or I'll be criticized and the Government will try to take my kid away from me (in this country is completely against the law to homeschool). And then I will make him go back to school, and he will be okay after that and seams happy.

But last week he get off 3 days in a row, and funny things start to happen. The first day we just play (and I felt a little guilty, but how can that be bad for a 5 year old, or any kid?), the second day he went to his art wall and decide he wanted to do all, cut, write, draw, glue, and so we did, and he didn't need me to be there at all times, just help him a little, explain the task and then leave him to do it. At night he didn't wanted to go to bed before finishing his whole book on pencil practice.

Finally, on Thursday, after art class, the teacher was amaze at how well he had worked and how focused and calm he was, and asked if any had happened, I explain her and we both look at each other with significant stares. His art that day was great, in performance and concept.

So I'm finally getting brave enough to do it, I just order our Calvert program (so we can get certificate of compliance in case legal problems arise),  and I'm picking up any bit of strength in my body to stand up for our choice when all the critics will arrive (and they will), but I'm sure now, I can see clearly and know everything will be all right. And I can spoke away the Ritalin ghost, that has been surrounding every time a teacher implies he might be Autistic, Asperger, or TDAH. He is just a bright boy, who can't be good at everything  that 5 years old are suppose to be, because is just a human being. and yes, All you need is love, and for me a lot of courage, a lot of it.

Here comes the sun

Sometimes I have moments of mental clarity.

I do not want to escape the feeling of the end of the day today.

Calm and certainty.

I want to make the most of the moments of mental clarity that I can find in my day, when I know perfectly well what is the plan and how to follow it.

Why we often lose the direction?

Ever have stayed up all night and then go to watch the sunrise?
 
That used to gave me this feeling, today it was sing to my little one, the same as when he was a baby cooing, and knowledge, where we're going to and why it is the best way of doing things for us.

I am at peace.

More small gifts

As I said earlier, in Costa Rica the end of the year and the end of the school year are both in December, and so, gifts for classmates were in order, but they were 30, so I had to keep it simple. I made them necklaces with my hand printed fabric.

And fabric flowers for the teachers.

They gave him a little present and the candy cane was introduced by the very first time with great success.

On Sunday we had the school presentation. I didn't liked it, because it was very long (90 minutes) and I felt the kids were exposed justto take a picture of them. Still I love my little one of course.

The whole experience made me think again that I rather unschool, but still don't know how, the main issue is that there is not enough activities for kids were we live and he has no siblings, so he wishes to go to school, even when there are kids that are mean and teachers are do doing about it, even when it is a Montessori.

About kids sleeping hours, schooling and unschooling

I always thought it was very important to respect the sleep time for babies and children, while I think it is very important establish routines, because that makes life better for parents and children, knowing what to expect. And that is why my first advice for new parents is to bathe your baby always at the same time of day (preferably at night).

Since Itzcóatl was one or two months old, I bathed him at the same time and so was made our nightly routine, dinner, bath and bed, with maybe a story or a lullaby, and this continues until today.
I always worry for him getting enough sleep. The way I know it is that I do not ever have to wake up him in the morning. If we need to wake up at 6 and I know that his daily sleep need is for about eleven hours and he  almost never naps, that means he must be on bed at 7, so I have to start the bath like 5:30 if I don't want to be stressed with dinner.
This does not mean that there are not exceptions, isn't great to have a special evening with mom playing something, doing an art project, learning, telling stories or even watching a movie?
But these occasions are almost incompatible with schooling, who decides our times daily no matter how we feel, on the other hand my son likes to go to school and needs to be with other children. I do not think that school is the BEST place to socialize, especially the elementary with traditional system (public or private) where most of the time children must be seated and silent and have only a minimal recreation and not even in green areas. But I see no other options, my child has no siblings, perhaps if we were more,  I will unschool all together at home. In addition there aren't many groups of unschool children in my region or at least I do not know where he could meet with other children and friends to have frequent and regular activities, so give in and I'm sending him to a Montessori Kindergarten, for now.
Some days I agree when he says he does not want to go to school and I don't try to convince him. We stayed home and do a thousand things, I enjoy it deeply, do not miss the time he is away and I have the usual time to do my things, what things?, why I can't do them when he is around?, Is not it also a learning process to watch that mom really works and that he has to wait at times?, beyond being able to go to sit at a cafe and attend a yoga class once a week I do not need that.

So that's what I think, though I'm a fan of home schooling, or rather unscholing, we will have to wait, as with co-sleeping and so many things I can not give a strong and decisive opinion because not only my way of thinking and feeling decide, but my son's, and he knows what he needs and when, he is the one who knows it best and I will listen and learn, obeying, loving forever.

 

WIP's

Thanks to Sew, Mama Sew, I have rediscovered the art of embroidery, and I'm enjoying it so much.



I go to a kid's music class with my son, the other day the teacher was teaching a little bit of reading music; since then I wanted to make a Music Mat, that would be portable and versatile, and after some days of mental designing this is the result, we still need more notes, but I like it.

We are back

We had the visit of my partner for almost 3 weeks, so we went to the beach to one side and the other, Pacific and Atlantic, it was very nice, but I also enjoy to be back on the regular routine.

We are back with the teaching, I don't try to make my home into a mini school, but I'm trying to respond to my son's big interest in learning to read and write, I think if I were more desalinated, he will be reading now, however there is not rush, and we are back in track now, I have been looking for free worksheets for his age on the Internet without good results, they always look to ugly or have advertise, like Disney or other, and I didn't like them; but yesterday I found two good sites, this one, with a lot of nice working sheets, and this one were they can practice online, if you don't pay you can only make one exercise a day, but I consider it enough.
And there is also the working sheets I made myself, so we had our time this morning, and I measure the time (which I have never done before), and I realize we have 50 minutes of concentration con activities, which quite good and good information too for planing activities.

Have a good week all of you.

Identifying our first

It's so exiting to identify birds, we got our first approach at this art when we went in the trip to the PEX, and now we are more interested and it's great to see Itzcoatl getting interested too.

There are a lot of birds to watch in Costa Rica and there is a lot of resources to make it easy, like cards, books and even a CD with the voices recorded, we got the disc today and we were able to identify the Pitangus Sulphuratus, Great Kiskadee, we have seen many times, but it's nice to be able to call it by his name and also to relate the sound to the right bird.

This is the book we have, it's really good.

The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide

And this is the CD, also very good.

Costa Rican Bird Songs - An identification guide

Having some doubts

Some time I wonder about what I am doing about unschooling, I guess I should not be worrying so much about that I should have him in school already, since my s on not even 4, and unschooling feels right, my kid does not want to go, but what I worry a lot is that when we see other kids, like relatives, I feel they have a bad influence on him, if we are visiting, we see candy everywhere and at any time of day, violent kids movies, bad food (not healthy), consumism (all toys are a character addiction), and then i wonder if I am exaggerating or if I should just surrender to world mass tendency, or how should I protect my son from all this without deprive him from family. Is not easy to speak openly to adults, among our culture is consider very rude not to accept a meal or have suggestions, or limits for your son different than for the other ones.
Any ideas?

Unschooling

The other we went out and we got to see many insects, when this happens I always feel that we had a great unschooling day, we saw this spider with some fly wings coming out of his mouth, a big tarantula (as big as my hand) and a big beetle. I was fun.

Unschooling and sewing

I was reading Mackville Road blog today, I watched the interview, and I could not not say something about it. I agree whit her on everything.

I think it is very important to speak about unschooling in blogs, because when we do, we are documenting this option, and I found it particulary important to do so in Spanish, since there are no to many resources for it.

So here is some math.

And here some writing practice, he found it really fun and was so pride.

As many could say the big step into doing this is to trust, your kid and yourself.
At first you get very excited about how you are going to teach your kid to love knowledge and to be an explorer.
Then you realize that he already knows that, he was born whit it, and that your work is to not destroy that.
And then you start to really enjoy it (the process and your kid).
Well, at least I am at this point, and that is how it was for me, so let's see what happens next.

Speaking of something else, I wanted to make a gift for my cousin, who is expecting, and I have tried for weeks to make a little pair of knitted booties, it didn't work, because I wasn't in the mood for knitting, so I just sew her one of my DiaperKit diapers, and then I got really happy (but my camera had no battery).

Semi-Montessori activity

The other I reed this post by Sew Liberated and I got inspired by it.

I guess to make just separated letters would be more appropiate, but I wanted to give him a sense of time too, so he would understand better how much should he wait for Soccer practice day, and now we are having art classes, with a Montessori teacher, they are great.

I made a little picture of us a soccer ball and a painting, so we can have things in their specific day, and I plastified the lower part so we can move around with just tape.
He does like to touch the words, I just cut them out of sand paper, the tricky part was to write backwards, altough not so much for me, since I am left handed.

My moon time

So I got my moon yesterday, it's so nice now that I'm more aware of my cycle, kind of makes me sad for the lost time (all the one that pass before I knew more about myself) but just a little bit, because the joy of being in myself is greater, to understand the slowing down and present state of mind, I think that if I would meditate this would be the ideal time.

I'm feeling more connected to my son, which is great because we went to my mother's and she likes to control, and even when she try to do it in sweet kind of way, I don't like when she pass over me or tries to make herself nicer than me to my son, it hurts our relationship (mine with my son), but when we are connected like this, it just doesn't matter.

We went to soccer practice on Saturday, it was rainy, and it was the first time for both, it was great, I never practice any sport as a kid, I was able to understand how necessary this is for any child. I enjoy it, and he even more, he got soccer shoes too. When we got back we slept together so nice, warm, cozy, why should we deny our kids co-sleeping when we both want it and enjoy it?

So we are fine, still some times worry about if unschooling is the right thing to do, but not today.

Working on the house

It was very nice to work on the backyard, cleaning.

My son got really happy making bounds with his uncle, he eve end up with a hair cut made by me.

And I felt that we are finally back on tracks for the unschooling project.