Day 1 in the Adventure

The Star Chamber blasts off...
Once we made the decision to home-school Frazer I spent much of June and July figuring out how to make a classroom in the laundry and pestering Will about dry-walling the ceiling (I did not want to look at the studs while working with our star pupil). Much thought and research went into figuring out where support and challenge and guidance are needed for him -- not to mention my sleepless nights and intense conversations with our tutor Marmi and educator friends. I began reading volumes on how to teach math -- a language which I don't speak fluently. It truly is another language!

Dubbed the Star Chamber by Will as we used up paint form the old house on Claremont, we spent sunny summer days in the basement hanging shelves, sorting through resources, and storing manipulatives. It was a family affair with Porter wanting to know when he could be "tutored." So many home-schoolers use the dining room table but in our lives I could not figure out how to protect our work space from others. I think I needed the Star Chamber more than our star pupil but it has become be a place I can tutor other students.

Engines fired at 5am today as Frazer, overwhelmed with first day of school joy, jumped into bed and announced, "It's Tuesday and time for the Star Chamber." By 8:15, we began with the calendar. He was so excited to learn there were twelve months in the year that I was shocked. Had I let my child make it to 9.5 years old without knowing for certain he had learned all the months of the calendar? Following that, we jumped into spelling the days of the week and and our language component. With Porter right there beside us, I felt that I was occasionally micro-managing children in ways that give me pause. Yet, there was no denying that from math, to writing, to reading everything for Frazer seemed to move along better than I expected. And all those Sabot years paid off. When I needed Porter to go into other room and play, I told him that he could photograph whatever he built. How inspiring it is to document!

Frazer has excelled in one-on-one tutoring situations for so long. It was joyful to watch him read a passage and respond to it correctly. Not for being right as much as being able. We know so little about what he is truly capable of achieving when structured and pushed in ways that compel him to answer and respond.

I feel safe in the star chamber. I think Frazer will have a chance to develop and catch up in math. He is so excited about the horseback riding on Thursday's. I think much learning can be linked to that. And, we are learning more about what interests him. It is the most explicit I have ever needed to be when working with a child or a student. I worry; will I serve him? Will I find the right hook? Do I have the patience to manage Porter all the while? I often think of Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot. I just don't ever want what's inside Frazer to feel trapped. I hope what we are doing helps unlock life's mysteries and the English language for him.

To infinity and beyond......