Science And Other Homeschooling Thoughts

Science really is the bane of my existence as a homeschooling mom.  I'm more than a little jealous of you moms out there who are good at it.  You know who you are.  You're soaking beans ahead of time to prepare for the seed lesson.  You've got your own microscope to look at who knows what.  You know the Latin names of plants and insects.  You know where to find the books to go along with your curriculum.  You're fantastic.  In my imagination you're also organized, patient, enjoy every minute of homeschooling, and have at least 27 hours in your day as opposed to my pitiful 24.  And if you don't, don't tell me.  It makes me feel better about how little I manage to get done.

I find Science difficult.  I have 5 Science textbooks this year.  Why, you ask?  Well, because I am a boat adrift on the sea of curricula.  Not for any other core subject, however.  I'm evaluating several of the books, and another was a gift from a friend whose daughter had used it in school.  So, we flit back and forth between them, figuring out what experiments we can do, and what I have materials for.  I've had several offers of help, but when I don't know what I need, it's very hard to accept the help of others.  So, while I feel that we're cruising through other subjects, we're just wading through the muddled mess that is my ability to teach Science.

And we are cruising beautifully through other subjects.  He's flying through Math, Spelling, Reading, Grammar, and Social Studies.  He's fantastic and I feel confident.  Maybe he's more fantastic because I feel confident.  I couldn't tell you for sure.  What I can tell you is that Science has me feeling uneasy because I'm so unsure of myself.  And in reality, I need a curriculum that doesn't require a lot of prep-work or trips to the library.  I just don't have the time!