The "S" Word!!

Ok, I'm ashamed to admit I've rather slacked off over the last week. Sure, Gordy's done a bit of "school-type" work... reading, a bit of maths thrown in, but that's really about it. I've realised I've kinda been hiding from things (NOT a good start to homeschooling *sigh*), especially when it comes to Gordy's socialisation. That dreaded "S" word! I keep saying that one of the big things I want to focus on for Gordy this term, is getting him out there making new friends, learning how to socialise. And yet, I still haven't done anything about it. Sure, I've enrolled him in the local homeschooling group's swimming lessons, But I haven't gone any further than that, nor even tried getting to know any of the other parents. Why? Well, socialising Gordy, means socialising myself! Yes, I want more friends (well, who doesn't?!), but after growing up having been a solo child for almost 10 years, with a Mother who didn't tend to socialise herself, plus being quite an outcast at school and never really having any true friends for most of my life, til just after having Gordy... being around other people is still a rather scary concept for me.
How can I socialise my son, when the mere thought of meeting new people scares me? I'm all too good at hiding away at home, finding any old excuse to stay within the safety of my own 4 walls. Ugh! Like mother like daughter?! Having grown up in that kind of environment, I certainly don't want that for my son. So somehow, I need to overcome my own fears, in order to get him out there, mixing with his peers, and teaching him how to make friends.
Lately I've been devouring articles and blogs about homeschooling as fast as possible, and one of the things I've come across CONSTANTLY, is how "outsiders" are forever asking "but what about the socialising?", and so many other homeschoolers have told stories of how their kids are, if anything, OVER socialised, and have far more friends than they did before they started homeschooling. This is something I want for Gordy as well... so I guess I'm going to have to start pushing past my own barriers, and getting out there to as many events as possible, talk to as many homeschooling parents as possible, and just beat my own fears into submission so that Gordy can have what he NEEDS. This will be a very interesting journey indeed. It makes me wonder just how many other changes both Karl and I will need to make, in order to give our sons the best possible start in life. I already have trouble knowing who I REALLY am now, but I am curious to know just who I'll be in a few years from now, heck, even a few months from now. I guess I'm actually starting to see that this journey we've started, isn't just Gordy's journey, but mine, Karl's, and Xani's. I can now see why so many claim that homeschooling is a lot about family, maybe even more so than the actual educational side of things. We'll all learn things along the way, about life, maths, science, reading, etc, but I think the biggest "thing" we'll learn about is ourselves, and who we are as a family unit that shifts and changes, reshaping time and time again. In some ways this scares me, in others it downright fascinates and excites me.
Hmm... I sure hope everyone can understand what I'm trying to get at. Lol! Just thoughts that have been spinning round in my head the last couple of days that needed to be thrown somewhere else for a little while.

As for actual schooling... well, we've found a couple of online sites with some great maths games (eg: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/mathsfile/gameswheel.html and http://www.hbschool.com/activity/mmath/mmath_knack.html), that we started using last Friday (until Gordy earned himself a one week computer ban for lying... *sigh* when will he learn that lies just cause more trouble?!), and were a great success. Without having to write anything down, Gordy was able to give the answers a lot faster with these games, than when he's doing boring ol' math worksheets, and he was actually getting them (almost) all correct as well. So maybe games will be the better way to approach his maths.
Our mornings tend to be off to really late starts too, as it seems Gordy prefers to start his day lying in bed reading his current chapter book (he's currently reading (and almost finished) "The 39 Clues", which is a great series of books, online games, and cards that are fantastic for getting the brain working hard trying to solve a lot of puzzles - Gordy absolutely LOVES this sort of thing!), until either the grumbling of his stomach, or the call of 'the little boy's room" get too loud to ignore any more. Even then, it doesn't necessarily stop him wanting to head back to bed afterwards! LOL! I guess I've been a little lax in this area, letting him stay in bed as long as he wants to read, because until only a year or 2 ago, reading was a huge chore for him, and one that brought about many a nasty tantrum. Watching him pouring through chapter book after chapter book is such a wonderful thing (especially with Karl and I both being bookworms!), that I don't want to do anything to hold him back. Just need to find ways to thread in other bits of regular learning along the way.
Our science "plant" experiment hasn't really gotten anywhere either, other than finding a large tub where the plants that survive the experiment can be shifted to afterwards... as I said, a rather slack week. *blush*
So my aim for this week... get more done than last week! LOL!
Right, time to go drag my boy's nose out of his book, and get him busy on something else. Hmmm... there's dishes that need doing! :-P