(taken before the cold weather set in)So where do I begin, this poor blog has been sorely neglected as of late.
This whole homeschooling gig is very time consuming! ;0
My brain is tired by the afternoon and I fall asleep exhausted almost every night.
Keeping my littles engaged and learning for most of the day is a lot easier said than done!
Most days are great and we move from A to B to C with ease and laughter but then we hit those days where I must remind myself to breathe and remind myself that this is what we chose and what is working for our family regardless of the situation in that moment.
I have found that homeschooling here in this itsy bitsy small town an hour from the nearest city is vastly different than homeschooling in a thriving busy city with lot's to do even on the worst of weather days. That has been a tough one to get around when we are all feeling restless and the weather prevents us from heading out to a great indoor attraction. But as with everything else in life we will figure it out! :)
I have organized and reorganized the "school room" (read: dining room)
at least 6 times in the 6 weeks we have been schooling and last night I completely rearranged the furniture and at last feel like life is complete! lol
My kids seem to be enjoying it as well which is a HUGE relief.
I have had a few people ask them out of my earshot (not at my request lol) what they think in order to get a real answer, and they still say they prefer it to going to regular school!
!!!!WHEW!!!!
I must say though that answering the same three questions every time we go out in public during school hours is getting pretty old!
1. "Why are you kids not in school?"
2. "Do you really learn at home with your mom?"
3. Why would you choose to do this?... I would never do that!"
I have gotten very good at the smile and nod!
In other news we are finally getting our basement back.
90% of our furniture is back and the paint has officially begun to appear on the walls again thanks to some help from a certain
Mom-in-Law. ;b
Weight loss journey still in full swing although I will admit to a skipped week and more than one but less than 1o extremely unhealthy desserts consumed during that week...but I try not to stress to much over that and just keep moving forward. I do hope to be out of the 14' s and into the 12's before Christmas...we shall see ;b
6 Come on...Tell me what you're thinking:
Oh yah! You will get questions, and sometimes stares!!! But, I don't mind now. I love it! Gives me a chance to witness!!
It's funny because people will say, "Oh, no school today?"
LOL!
I've gotten those kinds of questions for 10 years now - you get used to it. You're already doing the right thing ~ smile & nod. ;D
I went through a big adjustment the first few weeks of our new school year. I was just plain exhausted! It's slowly getting better.
Sounds like your adjustment to HS life is going really well! I think the earlier grade years are the hardest, because you have to balance the active needs of a pre-preschooler with the academic needs of an early grade-schooler. Hattie is in 5th grade now, and her work is so intensive that it keeps us busy from morning through afternoon.
We live in a fairly busy homeschool community, but if it makes you feel any better, we never join in any of it. The first year we did, but being out of the house led to too great of a disruption in our academic homeschool schedule. I find that getting out during summer and school breaks to be enough, and during the school year we do school. Now we get out to ride bikes, play at the neighborhood park, but usually the kids are just out in our yard playing on most days.
One thing that we did do is join Netflix for documentaries. We just watched Mars Rover for our Mars unit, and this afternoon Hattie and I will begin Jamestown, because she is in early American history. Then we will watch the Endurance, about the boat in the Antarctic. I can't believe how excited the kids get, and it's a great way to get a break from the books :)
As for the questions, oh yes. The questions. When I meet a true idiot, I always think to myself, "bet they weren't homeschooled," lol. Good for you on learning the grin and nod so early in the game--you've saved yourself hours of grief!
Love you girlie!
Sarah
Hi Michelle,
I know people might ask weird questions, but if they really thought about it, they'd understand that what you're doing is the ultimate in self-less-ness. I think it's incredible that you are truly thinking of your family first and choosing a method of education that has the possibility of providing so much more than any classroom can provide. I get that and I would love to provide that for my own kids but fear that I, me, myself, wouldn't be able to handle the level of organization and schedule keeping that has to be involved. Good for you and way to go! I admire you.
And I had really wanted to stop by at your party last weekend but the weather was right to do yard-work and so we did (ALL day for that matter). I hope it was a success.
See you at ballet :)
Rachel
Good luck with everything and staying organized!
Go to my blog...I gave you an award! :)
Shelly, it was nice to stop and see you homeschool the kids, you are doing a great job. WOW....
I am so proud of you. Let's start spanish again soon, we are home.
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