In case you haven't noticed, most of my recent posts are about our K lessons and not so much about our ECC lessons. Well, I've been so focused on Katie's reading and the whole penguin thing, that ECC has been pushed aside momentarily. I thought it would be a great idea to do a penguin lapbook but Katie is not nearly as interested in doing it as I expected, so now I'm thinking we're going to move on. We'll finish our penguin week this week and take our field trip to the zoo this weekend. The lapbook will be simple, which is fine with me.
School with my oldest has been slow moving since Christmas break. It was hard getting back into the swing of things the first week. The second week went better, and then we started back in the activities which included gymnastics three times a week, cheerleading two times a week, co-op one day, and Bible study one morning. My head spins just thinking about it. I kept thinking that I should give something up, but what?
My Bible study group meets every Thursday morning and it's clear that this is not something to give up. If I don't have my own time with God, I'm no good for anyone. So, last Thursday, I brought my concerns to the ladies, asking for prayer since I was feeling stretched and overwhelmed. That very night, at gymnastics, Katie broke her ankle! This is the second break for her in almost the exact same spot! My first thought was "oh great, here we go again." But God settled my thoughts and opened my eyes to realize that this accident actually lightens my load. Katie is in a hard walking cast so she's still able to participate in cheerleading for Upward but the gymnastics has to go. (Maybe for good for her!) She went to gymnastics two days a week, so this really is huge for us! And she really didn't mind being pulled out of it, as long as she can still cheer!
All that being said, last week was hectic. The entire week was full of interruptions - people stopping over, phone calls, volunteer projects, trip to hair salon (trust me, it was necessary), and Friday was spent at the doctors office. Not much got done last week. I'm discouraged and have little momentum. But I'm not giving up! I will persevere and will grow stronger through it!
I am curious to know if other homeschoolers have on-going weeks like this.?? I'd also like to know if other homeschoolers have weeks when one child's work is on the front burner and the others on the back. ? Any thoughts you'd like to share?
Your last paragraph pretty much sums it all up! Yes! Yes! and Yes! It is always crazy and someone is always sick at my house and almost every week we have only three days to work with in spit of planning to need five days. And if we hit K good, then Adventures suffers and vice versa. And others have said the same is true for them. I encourage you to read a post I did recently about that and remember they are young right now. It is going to be easier to when they are a little over. Someone asked me a few days ago how old I was when I learned to read. Think about that. I am 37... we learned to read very basic readers around the end of 1st grade and not a moment sooner. We are not illiterate or lacking in knowledge and we did not get the one on one time our kids get in homeschooling. I dare to say that I coould probably teach my kids as much in one day as they would learn in a whole week in public schools. I still worry myself to death about it all constantly, though.
ReplyDeleteHang in there; it does sound like you have a lot on your plate. I've never tried to do separate curricula for all my children...it sounds like so much. I just have my littler ones do WAY LESS than my third grader in the curricula. And, unfortunately, my eldest is the only one in extra-curricular activities right now, which needs to change! I'm sure everything will balance out...some weeks I hardly get through anything besides math and language arts/reading...those are the most important in my opinion; all else is bonus! Your weeks will swing back into balance soon...even if you drop one activity one week, it seems to help out! And don't you just love the Upward program? My eldest son plays basketball with them! I hope Katie's ankle heals well.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand what you are saying. Just like Shannon said, on the weeks that I feel great about Kinder, Adventures is suffering. I don't know if it's possible to be 100% in all curriculums every week. It will probably be easier when they are all in the 5 year cycle (MFW) but I also don't want them to be there yet (stay little!) :) Just know that I'm right there with you!
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