My daughter Suzi was four years old in the fall of 2011--not yet official kindergarten age, so while we planned to get started homeschooling with the Oak Meadow curriculum, nothing was legally required. I had big plans for self-improvement as a mom, and I was going to clear out time and space and do this thing. Perfectly. I read the books that came with our curriculum and when we finally started our year I was brimming over with excitement. I loved reading the stories and doing the activities with Suzi (and Ivey, when she joined in). It was a lot of work, but it felt awesome... For a little while.
Baby Robert (born in April) was sleeping less and less and demanding attention more and more. Do you know how much fun it is to paint with your children with a baby wailing in the background? Or to try to read a long, wordy story with everyone piled in your lap, while the baby attempts to rip pages out of the book? Or to feel like crap because the curriculum said you were supposed to make bread dough and form it into letter shapes with your child, but you just didn't have the time or energy?
Well, it's no fun. No fun at all. We fizzled fast. Eventually I ended up abandoning the curriculum and doing a little of this or a little of that whenever it fit into our schedule. I would call it unschooling, but I think most unschoolers go to a lot more trouble than I was. I knew I had to do something soon. But what?
Over the past few months and since becoming a mother of three, I've learned some things about myself and my life:
My house is always going to be at least a little messy, and maybe a lot messy.
I suck at sticking to a schedule.
A resolution to get out of bed before about 6:30 is not sustainable for me.
I am not Energetic Mom, but I can be Creative Mom.
When I try to do too much, I become grouchy and tired and nobody benefits.
Robert is going to need massive amounts of my time and energy for a while.
I really like sitting around in my pajamas.
I love letting my kids sit around in their pajamas.
Being an over achieving mom is not a problem that I have.
And all of this is okay. None of it will keep me from homeschooling.
Once I realized this, I just needed to jump in and do something, even if it was something small. I was still stuck. Overwhelmed. Didn't know where to start. Then one day I saw it.
Exactly the thing I needed.
At a yard sale! For ten bucks!
Don't you just love it? When I saw those five multicolored drawers labeled with the days of the week, a little wheel started turning inside my brain. I could make a plan for each day, and put the necessary books and supplies in the corresponding drawer! I really could!
And that is what I did. I sat down with my Oak Meadow curriculum, a summarized list of kindergarten skills for our state, a pencil, and a piece of paper and wrote out what we were going to do each day for the next several weeks.
Our homeschooling only takes about an hour. We put friends and fun activities first and fit school in whenever. Robert (1) is usually content to snack in his high chair while we work. Suzi (4) seems to love spending this time together and takes pride in her new knowledge and skills. Ivey (2) follows right along, or runs around singing songs. I read books with her while Suzi works on her own. It's a start. We can work with this.
Oh, and we usually have school in our pajamas! It's not that we're lazy slobs or anything. We just love pajama parties! Join us!
No comments:
Post a Comment