Annoyed By the Letter X

As a homeschooling mom who has taught phonics to five children so far, I find the letter X annoying! I like to provide my kids with words that begin with each letter of the alphabet, as a point of reference. There is simply no appropriate English word that begins with the letter X!

The word "Xray" is often used, but it's a poor choice. Although it begins with the letter X, it doesn't properly demonstrate X's phonetic sound, which is /ks/, not /eks/.

I once Googled "Words beginning with x". I didn't recognize ninety percent of the words on the list myself, so they didn't seem to be appropriate to put on my kindergartner's Thomas the Tank Engine flashcards.

"Xylophone" is a possibility, but my goal is to demonstrate the phonetic sound my children are most likely to encounter for the letter, and /z/ isn't it, unless they're planning a career as a biologist.

I've settled for giving them words that end with the letter X. Those are the words they'll use in their daily reading: fox, sox, box. By the time we get to X, they've been asked to identify beginning sounds hundreds of times, and they usually ask why we're suddenly identifying the final sound instead. Including words like "xanthophyll" in my explanation usually halts further discussion.

The English language has so many of these inconsistencies. Maybe that's why I've always found it fascinating! My children seem to share my fascination for language, and we enjoy playing English language games, even during non-school hours.

I've made peace with the letter X, but it's a truce, at best.

What spelling or language concept do you find challenging to teach?

How do they socialize?

Having just completed our sixteenth year of homeschooling (with at least a dozen more to follow), I can smile at my early concerns about my children's social life. Even in our small town of 11,000, we have so many social opportunities that we couldn't possibly take advantage of them all.

It's mostly a matter of keeping our eyes open. I subscribe to our five-page local newspaper for the sole purpose of learning about classes, clubs, and other community offerings.

It's also a matter of keeping our DOOR open. It's not unusual for me to arrive home from one of these activities with an extra child or two. I have had to get past feeling my house has to be perfect (or even "clean") for my children to invite friends over. The kids don't seem to notice, and they're usually happy to contribute an additional mess or two.

I love how community activities provide my children with exposure to all different "kinds" of people, including those outside their age group.

Here are some of the community activities my family enjoys:

Familiar Organizations: Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4H

Organized Sports: Little League, AYSO Soccer, Special Olympics

Church Activities: Sunday School, Youth Group, Vacation Bible School, choir

Classes: Art classes at the art center

Library Activities: Morning story hour, guest speakers

Parks and Recreation Department: I don't know if our Parks and Rec is the exception or the rule, but they offer a HUGE variety of classes and field trips each year, especially during the summer.

Museums: Animal "encounters', guest speakers, hands-on special events

Nursing homes and retirement homes: Ours often hosts child-centered events with its residents, such as trick-or-treat and shared craft projects.

Annual community celebrations: These usually have to do with the town's history or agricultural interest. In our town, we have the Cherry Festival and Pioneer Days.

Homeschool Co-op: Our wonderful co-op of less than thirty families has been an invaluable source of fun activities for us.

Special Events: A daily glance through our newspaper usually yields information about several special events taking place. Some recent ones have been a father/daughter dance for Valentine's Day, a visit from Thomas the Tank Engine, and a speech by a children's book author.

What are some of the activities available in your community?

Seven Things I've Learned About Homeschooling

I've been homeschooling my six kids for 15 years and, since my youngest is a kindergartner, I'll be at it at least a dozen more. I've taught my children to read, introduced them to the times tables, demonstrated the proper way to hold a pencil, and assisted in the dissection of numerous frogs. Hopefully, they've learned a lot in our home school. Mom has learned quite a few things along the way, too!

1. It's okay to not have the answer. At first, I had to look up MANY of my children's questions. I was loathe to say, "I don't know", but I wasn't about to make up something and hope I was right! I settled for saying, "Let's look it up together." Although my purpose was to save face, the result was that my older children learned valuable research skills. With my younger kids, I'm not so self-conscious about my own lack of knowledge. I'm comfortable admitting that I don't have the answer, but I'm not beyond making up a snarky excuse. "I wasn't homeschooled, so I don't know. Let's look it up together!"

2. If you aren't careful, homeschooling can define you. Early in our homeschool journey, I realized that people tend to have strong feelings about homeschoolers, whether positive or negative. Among my acquaintances, homeschool moms are considered Super Moms and treated with an embarrassing measure of respect. In other social circles, homeschoolers can almost feel the waves of disapproval emanating from the group. Either way, I work hard to present us as a typical family. The best way to dispel the Super Mom assumption is to take my kids out in public. They'll do it for me without prompting! Occasionally, that also works on those who DISapprove. Witnessing a bit of sibling rivalry can help convince doubters that homeschooled children are, indeed, "normal".

3. It's okay to take a day off now and then. Trying to teach long division while mopping baby throw-up is a losing battle. Although "school" is part of the vast majority of our days, I don't hesitate to call a "home-ec day" (when the house is in desperate need of cleaning), a "mental health day" (if the alternative is losing my mind), or a "hospital day" (when someone is in need of extra attention due to illness). I plan an extra couple of weeks into our school year for these types of occurrences. The days off are less frequent than our public school's "snow days" (which we DON'T take off), but they make a big difference in how well the household (and Mom) functions.

4. Homeschooling is only one of many parenting decisions that will affect my children. At first, I thought I'd try homeschooling for one year, reasoning that home education was unlikely to ruin my kids' lives in that short time. The idea that a single parenting decision can determine my children's future success seems funny to me now. Three of my six have reached adulthood relatively unscathed, despite my blunders. How we "turn out" is determined by a combination of genetics, personal experiences, and family dynamics . . . not just how our parents chose to educate us. Because it differs from the traditional way of doing things, homeschooling is likely to be blamed when a child does something unfortunate and hailed when a student succeeds. It's rarely the sole factor in either case.

5. Don't try too hard. I get this tremendous burst of energy in August. Maybe it has something to do with all of the back-to-school ads in the newspapers, but I am ready and eager for school to begin! I've had a good, long break and this year is going to be different! I load up on educational games and manipulatives (that will be used once), begin crazily preparing chore charts (ANOTHER new method, Mom?!), and set up incentive plans where my kids' correctly completed work is rewarded with a small toy (which I'll find beneath the sofa next fall). This lasts approximately two weeks into the school year, when I decide to take a mental health day (see above) and re-evaluate. That frenzied pace simply can't be maintained. I've learned to include one or two special, short-term "fun" things to celebrate the beginning of a new school year and otherwise moderate my plans to more closely resemble reality!

6. Homeschooling is a legitimate excuse . . . for just about anything! Teaching your kids at home takes time, money, energy, space, and resources that could be used for other pursuits. When it becomes dangerous to navigate the living room, I remind myself that homeschool moms have more mess (books, paper, craft supplies, and half-dissected frogs) and less available time to clean it. (What . . . You didn't think teaching took time?) And here's the main thing . . . the kids are ALWAYS THERE. I'll admit to the occasional fantasy of waving them all on to a school bus and proceeding to mop my empty kitchen, make up a grocery list without interruption, run an errand without strapping someone into a car seat first, or treating myself to a professional pedicure without the necessity of also affording a babysitter. (ESPECIALLY the pedicure . . . )

7. It's worth it. Yeah, it really is. I always hoped it would be, but I can finally say that with conviction, now that three of my six children are grown. I'm not sure if anyone gets through life without a few regrets, but the decision to homeschool isn't one of mine. Here's to my next dozen years as a homeschool mom!