I've now got 2 weeks of homeschooling under my belt. And what do I think? How's it going? It's ok! It's not GREAT. But it's not HORRIBLE either. The boys are learning, which is the main point, I guess, right?
I feel like I've been on an emotional rollercoaster the last few weeks. Taking your child(ren)'s education into your own hands is a pretty big deal. And you want to get it just right. But then you start to realize that your child(ren)'s education was ALWAYS in your hands; you may have just allowed strangers that will never meet or care about your kid individually to make decisions without your consent in regards to their education. So homeschooling isn't that big of a change.
Or is it? I've been exhausted each day (and have found ways to take a cat nap in the afternoon). We're packing in all of our schooling in the morning and finishing most days before lunch. And since 90% of their curriculum is teacher-led at this point, that makes for an intense time period for the teacher. And what about the kids? I'm alternating which kiddo I work with while the other one goes off and plays (usually with Legos). So they're getting breaks. Mamma, on the other hand: not so much.
There is some tweaking I need to do to make things a little better. Like the intensity of the morning, for instance. I need to make myself take a break or two (even if it's 5 or 10 minutes) so that I'm not exhausted and spent by lunchtime. I also need to figure out what I want the boys to do in their spare time (while I'm working with their sibling). Jack can't read fluently yet, so it'll be a challenge to find things for him to do while I'm working with Cade. Cade, on other hand, is an excellent reader; I need to be more diligent in directing him toward reading 1 of 20 library books we have one hand, doing some typing games on the computer, etc.
But they're kids after all, so free play is OK too. I'm just thinking that maybe free play should be a reward for finishing all of their work.
One thing that we've been doing each morning before we start our work is a devotional time. I read a chapter out of the Bible and then read a devotion that goes along with the passage. And sometimes we discuss it. And we always incorporate what we've read into our prayer. This has been a blessing and has started off our days on the right foot. I love that we're doing this!
