Third Time Was Not the Charm

Yesterday was our 3rd day of our new school year. While I don't plan to blog about every single day of our school year, I do want to paint a realistic picture of homeschooling. I am confident in my choice of homeschooling, and I truly love homeschooling my children. However, it is not always easy. But that doesn't mean that I will quit. Just because something is hard doesn't mean that it is not possible or even enjoyable. It just means that it may be hard. Life isn't always easy.

I have had other hard years in my life as a mother. The year that Clay was born and I also had a 20 month old and a 3, almost 4 year old. That whole year was hard. But then the next year was easier. The next hard year for me was when Leah was a baby, I had 3 children to homeschool and we were building a house. We moved in our new house two weeks before Leah's first birthday. The next year was much easier. My most recent hard year was the year I was pregnant with Sam and the months after his birth. Overwhelming. Then I enjoyed a few not so hard years.

I think that this year is going to be a hard year. Doable, enjoyable, but hard. That's ok. I am up for the challenge. I am determined to find a routine for our school year that will be beneficial to all.

Yesterday I tried doing Clay and Julie's Sonlight history, geography, language arts, and read alouds first thing after our Bible study time. The day didn't go so well. Leah wanted to do her school, but I was occupied with Julie and Clay. She and Sam didn't do so well on doing their morning chores unsupervised, and then they quickly tired of the preschool activities I set up for them. They were in and out of the schoolroom. I didn't have a good plan for what they needed to be doing. Then Olivia had a problem with her Rosetta Stone Spanish. (That program gives me fits!). I had made a mistake when typing up her daily checklist, and I had to spend about 30 minutes figuring the program out! Clay needed me, Julie needed me, Leah was still waiting to do her school, and Sam was needing me too.

Julie decided to take everyone out to play in the barn, but since I was through figuring out the Spanish, I was finally ready to do school with Leah. Well, her eagerness was gone! She wanted to go to the barn too. She asked if she could do her school really quickly and join them. Sadly, I knew that her school would take over an hour, and by then the others would be back for lunch. She cried. I cried. I didn't know what to do!

So I sent them all to the barn to play. I ran 5 miles on the treadmill and mentally regrouped. We all had lunch. I put Sam down for a nap. I did school with Leah. Then I finished Sonlight with Julie and Clay. Then I helped Clay finish his school. Then I checked Julie's and Olivia's schoolwork. And then it was 4:45! We had started at 8:00. What a long school day!

I cooked supper, showered, got everyone ready for our church service and went to church.

I was exhausted!

Today Jimmy is off work, so it is a no school day. He and the older girls left at 6:00 AM for a long run. I ran on the treadmill. I plan to think about first three school days, look at my notes, and make a new plan for tomorrow.

I will work on it until we get it right!