The homeschool group I belong to has been abuzz the last week or two, planning and discussing activities to commence next month. I noticed a common phrase in emails - "early elementary ages". That means kindergarteners through 2nd or 3rd graders. B is a 4th grader. He gets along with and enjoys the company of kids of all ages. He wants to go on field trips and he loves making crafts. These picture are of things he made this Summer at Michaels craft events. But outside of these Summer events, B has very little craft opportunities.
I emailed a friend and asked her why the elementary aged kids have to be broken up. Why are activities planned for "early elementary" and not all of them? She responded with a rather long email about the age difference, what a 6 year old is interested in/capable of is quite different from what a 10 year old is interested in/capable of, blah, blah, blah... She went on to say that there are plenty of activities and field trips out there for the older elementary aged kids and I should "...take that bull by the horns and round up our older elementary kids." @@ I responded to her with, "I don't want to take the bull by the horns; I want to sit here and complain! ;o)" But even though I put a winky emoticon after that sentence, I really didn't want to do anything. I wanted someone else to coordinate field trips and set up craft dates because I can't do that. I'm not that type of person.
Then I realized I sounded just like I did 3 years ago when I told myself I could never homeschool B. And if I wasn't going to do it, no one else would. As Mr. Big Weld in Robots said, "See a need, fill a need!" so I decided I am going to start a craft club for the "older" elementary aged kids. I cannot believe the number of craft ideas I found online for B's age! I wasted a couple of hours this afternoon going through the options on one website alone and pinning them. I finally had to stop because the pages kept going on and on.
B and I are excited but I need to make sure I don't get carried away and that I define "rules" and contributions. Wish me luck!
So glad you're up for it! Our homeschooling experiences will only be as great as we make them...and if we wait for others to create opportunities for our children, well, it ain't gonna happen. Excited to hear what you have planned!
ReplyDeleteThe email response wasn't THAT long :P lolol! You are going to be great at doing a craft group, the kids are going to love it, you are quite the artistic person despite your modesty and a natural leader despite your resistance. You are creative, charismatic, and you are obviously a wonderful teacher...one only has to meet Ben for 10 minutes to realize that! I'm excited you're taking the bull by the horns, you're going to be awesome :)
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