Homeschool Days

Reposted from September 2004
Aside from battling some attitudes, school is going okay. We’ve been at it for about three weeks and I think the hardest part has been my 2 and 4 year old. I still haven’t figured out how to balance time with them because it seems now they are being neglected of mommy time while I spend almost all my time with the tow older ones.

Another difficulty is adjusting to staying up later just to prepare a lesson for the next day. I’ve also run into problems with teaching grammar. Right now it’s all review for my 4th grader and my 2nd grader is picking it up quickly, but there’s no time in the day to do 2 separate lessons. My oldest is already doing Saxon Math by himself. Right now it’s all review, but I’m sure he’ll need my help soon. So I can’t figure out how homeschoolers get everything in before noon. I’m reworking my schedule to spend time in the morning with my little ones while the older boys do work they don’t need any help with. Then when my two year old is ready for her morning crib play time, I can go into more detailed lessons. Right now the two little ones go to preschool 2 days a week and they love it. I’m getting a lot of work done with the older ones, but tend to try and cram things in fearing I have to make it up for the slack on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

I have to admit I’ve let my temper fly already, especially when dealing with all four of my kids. It’s just tough keeping the little one occupied without me feeling like I’m neglecting them or sitting them in front of the t.v. all day long. Oh well, it’s only been three weeks.

So far my kids like it except they miss recess with their friends and they don’t like mom yelling. I guess I’ll have to work harder in those areas.

I wonder how long it takes homeschoolers to settle into a schedule. Every year it changed for us. Though I still held on to th guilt of neglecting the little ones. When the older ones were their age, they had mommy’s undivided attention.

I’m looking forward to spending more time with Grace and Timmy next year. Although Timmy might be in school longer than I hoped, I’m sure he won’t have a ton of homework and I’ll be able to play with them after school! I’m looking forward to being just a mom again. Though I know I’ll still have to wrangle homework assignments and guide them in studying for tests. It’ll be a new an exciting year! And I’m ready for a change!