Mary Alice

I thought that a small group of people might like to know how our schooling is going. If not, sorry to bore you. :)

We have finally settled into a school routine that works for us here at the Smith house. If you read my posts a few months ago, you might remember how stressed I was about choosing "the right" curriculum. I had read many books and done lots of research and had finally settled on a mixture of curriculums that I thought might be the best fit for Mary Alice. It was silly for me to stress so much over this, I know. After all, she's only in Kindergarten, right?

We started off with a bang about a month ago. Almost immediately I knew that something wasn't right. Other than the Math curriculum, I felt like this new super-structured approach was actually a bit of a hindrance to the girl's learning process. It was like, just as she was becoming interested in something it was time to move on to the next subject. It was almost as if she would be learning more if we'd simply not purchased any textbooks and used the library only. I didn't decide to throw out the textbooks, but did have to make some alterations to some of the teachers manuals/textbooks that we were using. Much of the suggestions in the books were, quite frankly, a waste of time. Anyway, we've made a few switches, alterations, additions, and gotten rid of things that weren't working. Now that we did this, I think she will enjoy learning more, as I will enjoy teaching her much much more.

I am still covering all subjects and am sticking with somewhat of a structured approach (completing all subjects daily, etc.) but am now using more common sense. Now that we are rid of the time wasters and rigidity, we have time for more real learning. We are making a trip to the library tomorrow for more resources. I guess I should have known I would do this. I guess changing things up is something that I nearly always have to do.

Right now, the girl is studying basic addition facts through ten. I am in love with her Math curriculum! It is very thorough. We are bumbling through Phonics and Spelling. Lots the activities I consider to be the biggest time wasters. She does love English and is learning some things about sentence structure, etc. She seriously dislikes Handwriting, probably because it is the most difficult for her. She is learning about flowers and plants in science. We are about to begin a study on William Tell and Switzerland for History. This should be fun. I am learning so much!

Don't worry, my blog posts will not become novels about Mary Alice's school activities. This is just what we have going on right now. Figuring out what to do with Major has been a bit of a challenge. He wants to interrupt and begs me (or Mary Alice) to play with him at the most inopportune times! I try to read to him and let him have time with me a little bit, but he has really had quite a rude awakening now that school is in session. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do with Major during school?

The saddest thing happened to me last night at church. Actually, it didn't happen to me, it happened to Mary Alice. It might as well have happened to me. It hurt my heart so badly that I wanted to cry. I witnessed Mary Alice being totally rejected by two little girls. They were being ugly to her, ignoring her completely. I stood by and watched her run after them, trying so hard to be their friend. It was absolutely pitiful. I know that this one incident is really not that big of a deal. I guess the reason it hurt me so badly is that I knew it has already started. By "it" I am referring to the incredible meanness that seems to come over young girls. I, myself, was a mean girl at times in elementary school. I am so ashamed of how I treated some girls back in those days! I certainly did not act as Jesus would've acted during this time in my childhood. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that the girls who were ugly to Mary Alice are mean girls. These girls are sweet girls and will undoubtedly be the best of friends with Mary Alice next week. It was just that I caught a glimpse of a pain that I can hardly bear. Most parents have to watch their child be rejected by their peers at least once. It is absolutely the worst! I talked to my mother about it and we discussed how hard it can be to see your child being rejected and how part of you wants to do anything that you can to make sure that your child doesn't have to feel that pain. We are going to have to make some hard decisions over the next few years. I really hope that we can instill enough confidence in her so that she will not be too badly affected by the rejection that she will undoubtedly face. I pray that she can remember whose she is and not take part in being a mean girl, although I know that she probably will take part in this ugly behavior at some point. Hard stuff.

It seems like the hard stuff is getting your child to sleep through the night when they are babies. When they are toddlers, it gets just a little bit harder as you start worrying about what foods they eat, keeping them out of danger, and potty training. I cried last night because I watched my sweet precious baby get hurt, but really it was because I saw that a new phase of parenting is beginning, and I can see it being even harder than before.