Homeschooling Update

Some of you have been asking for a homeschooling update. Here ya go:

I have moved four times and had a baby in the last 10 weeks.

Ta da! There is your update.

Ok, ok I will give a little more. I have been homeschooling for 13 weeks now. I thought to myself while deciding this, “I will be a really fun teacher at 9 months pregnant, extremely patient and full of energy.” Oh me oh my it is a miracle my children didn’t run away. I took one week off after the baby, one week off that was a moving week, and I think that one week just went to pot for some reason. So really I am only 10 weeks into it, this homeschooling dealio.

Abby hated it for about three weeks; I don’t know if it was homeschooling or all the changes rolled into one. But homeschooling got the brunt of it and we were all feeling pretty lousy. Then after week 4 I realized—hey this week was a lot of fun and it seems like they are enjoying themselves as well. It was a nice thing to realize and overall after that bad first couple of weeks it has been 70% fun. I give myself a C and after a couple of more months hope to make it up to a B.

If I do say so myself, my kids are learning a lot. I mean I am so proud of what they can understand, memorize, have fun with, how they have grown! I love how one day Abby said, “Mom I love poetry, you just let your mind go wild, it’s like it blows up!” So I decide to work poetry into all of our subjects for the day and end with a big free writing time. I love that Cameron can tell you all the continents, all the countries in Central America, endless facts about animals, that she passed off a spelling list of more than 50 words. It makes me feel good, it makes the girls beam, it makes Tyler grin when he overhears the things they learn.

I need a break from kids. One of the things that brings me a lot of joy as a mother is interacting with them through books, art projects, planning parties, playing Pet Shoppes, etc. Homeschooling includes a lot of things I genuinely love to do–organizing, planning, teaching, playing, creating, etc. But it takes up a lot of my time, so sometimes later on in the day I don’t want to sit and play pretend, I don’t want to do another craft. I am burnt out! Which makes me sad because that is how I used to shine as a Mom. Abby also NEEDS friends, she needs to interact with peers. Cameron enjoys it, she of course needs it too, but it is different with Abby. She becomes sullen, unhappy, and not herself when she doesn’t have fun with friends enough. I have been working hard…so hard I tell you on finding people out here. It is slowly starting to work and when we meet up with people for activities or just to play. That little girl is back to herself after just a couple of hours with friends, and she needs it once or twice a week.

I do think the burnt out on kids issue can be resolved if I had some alone time or time to breathe around here. We are looking into getting a 20 hour a week housecleaner and sitter. Then I could have one afternoon a week to myself and a date night with my husband. It would be just what I need. Also I am trying to form a book club with other adult women in the area so I can have an outlet with you know—GROWN UPS.

There are many more pros and many more cons. Some homeschool days end up with all of us running to our beds and crying. Some days end in giggles and kisses.

Lets just hope that I can give myself a solid B in a few more weeks. That I can work on my patience, work on getting Reagan more on a schedule so I am not battling two babies while trying to teach the other two. So there you go, a homeschooling update for you.

Here was my original post on homeschooling, where I went into a little bit of detail on how I formed our curriculum. I still don’t feel comfortable going into more detail about it or recommending books, styles, etc. I just am still learning, still getting the hang of it. 

Also…before I start getting emails about this. My girls are in activities around here and are starting to make friends. They go out about 3-4 times a week to socialize with kids. I do understand the importance of socialization and also interacting and learning from other adults, believe me I do!

That (above) is Mr. Sunny–he has been at every house hanging on the wall. The girls just love him!

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