The most important thing I've learned in my seven years of homeschooling is to capitalize on my students' natural interests. This philosophy has taken me way far out of my comfort zone, because it turns out that my children are not miniature versions of me; they have their own unique interests!
Noah's interests (like his personality) run deep and intense. When he gets into something, he dives all the way in, investigates every angle, reads all about it, centers his pretend play around it, talks constantly about it, and even dreams about it. He has a way of sucking everyone around him into it too, like a black hole. After he has completely exhausted every aspect of his area of interest, he's ready to move on to something else.
Sarah's interests are less intense. She's been into princesses and fairy tales, tea parties, and all things pink. I never had any interest in any of those, but I've embraced them for her sake.
Noah's major interests have included construction, firefighting, and NASCAR, none of which aroused my passion. I forced myself to learn about backhoes and hook-and- ladder trucks, and I knew the names of all the major NASCAR drivers, as well as their car numbers and sponsors. It wasn't exactly my thing, but at least it was all real, so I could work up a little interest in it. Unlike his latest obsession....
Star Wars. UGH! How could any child of mine become obsessed with such a thing? It started innocently enough, when he sent in for a free Lego magazine. I thought it would give him some new design ideas, but when the first magazine arrived, it was full of Lego Star Wars comics. He had lots of questions, of course, and I tried to brush them off with a flippant, "Oh, that's just weird stuff. Nothing you need to know." But he wanted to learn all about it, so I deferred his questions to his much more knowledgeable father.
His interest has grown to the point of obsession, and I can no longer ignore or resist it, so I'm embracing it and trying to find something worthwhile in it. I checked out library books on Star Wars and listened as he read them to me, so I could learn what droids and siths are. We borrowed the DVD of episode 1 from the library, and Mike and I watched it. Well, Mike watched it. I really tried, but I just couldn't stand it for more than 20 minutes.
I'm still searching for ways to reach Noah through Star Wars, teaching him about space, good and evil, playing memory games with the names of all the freaks and aliens, working on his table manners (telling him, "A Jedi always eats neatly" works better than nagging him about using his fork). I know that someday this phase will go the way of all the others, so I have to utilize it while he's into it.
Meanwhile, my darling daughter told me she wanted to learn about spiders. She knows I dislike them but has no idea of the extent of my irrational fear. I have a hard time even saying the "S" word. I think she wanted to learn about them BECAUSE she knows I don't like them, so I called her bluff and read her a very thorough (and graphically illustrated) book about spiders. She didn't know that I wasn't looking at the pictures, and I don't think she detected it when my voice quivered (only one time). I was nauseated through the whole ordeal, but I kept my outer demeanor calm and matter-of-fact. Afterwards, she drew me a picture of a tarantula. Egads!
The other big thing she learned in school today was proper handwashing technique. You might think that a five-year-old would be capable of washing her hands without instruction. I made that same mistaken assumption myself! But after struggling with her obvious lack of mastery in this area, despite repeated nagging from both parents, I decided that a step-by-step demonstration was required. Hence this morning's course: Handwashing 101. She seems to have grasped the concept, so hopefully I won't see her in the remedial course tomorrow.
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