The Not So Monday Post

I know it says the "not so Monday post", even though it is still technically Monday while I'm writing this.  Monday evening to be exact.  Which is a bit different than Monday morning, though not by much.  I didn't watch the Super Bowl, so anything I say can't be blamed on the greatness (or failure) of something I am completely unaware of.  Strangely enough, I didn't even know who was playing until some point in to the game.  My wife was Facebooking ,while I was doing something else.

I couldn't really tell you what I was doing at the specific time of the game, seeing as how I didn't watch the game.  What I can tell you is that I got back to teaching my kids math and reading.  I know I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how best to teach children.  I also know I've been thinking about how best to automate a good deal of the process.

The problem is I need to start teaching now.  My kids aren't learning what they need to learn while I try to figure out the entire equation before I begin.  That would be great if I could.  But it doesn't look like its going happen for the first two kids.  I've got two more years before my youngest starts school.  Hopefully, I'll have it figured out by then.  If not, then I think I'll still be okay.  At the very least, I'll have started and produced something.

I'm currently using Saxon Math for home school.  The scripting seems to work for me, as I'm not terribly sure what I should be teaching.  I guess I don't realize how much I know without any sort of background of when I started knowing it.  Sure I can read a calendar.  And a map.  And I can navigate using a compass.  Do I remember when I learned those things?  I can't narrow down the basics of compass navigation, but I can remember when I learned the final refinement.  I know it because it was relatively recently.  Reading a calendar?  That has to have been 30 years ago.

My current reading book is also script based, though my kids have gone decently off script.  It's Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  I'm currently on lesson 45, and my kids can site read most of the material.  So no need to completely follow the script.

I think the bigger part of all this discussion is that in the beginning, you must start somewhere.  Start with scripts, start with anything.  Just start.

And get some Thrive so you can make it through that teaching session after 12 hours of work.