Take a breath...

School started last Thursday and I would LOVE to say that it started off great and without a hitch. However, that's not what has happened. I knew that it would be a rough start since this is our first year homeschooling. Actually, before I get into my post let me just say that I don't like the term 'homeschooling.' At all. Whenever I hear that term, and probably when you hear it, I think of awkward families that aren't getting much of an education. The typical stereotype that most people think of when they hear 'homeschooling.' I'm not even sure that I've ever even met someone that fit that stereotype.

Anyway, homeschooling, or home educating (is that better? Not sure) is not what it once was. It's an option that many more people are starting to do versus the traditional public school. It's something that I have always thought about doing with my kids, but never knew where to start or what curriculum to use. That's one of the reasons I decided to use the k12 program.

As I mentioned, we started on Thursday. Oh and what a day it was! Trying to get 4 kids situated with an online schooling program was not easy. Luckily Roo Roo just bought her own laptop and Parkour Boy (PB) has a chromebook. Without these devices it would have been nearly impossible for all of the kids to complete what they needed to in the first few days.

After being in a traditional school setting for all of their schooling so far, this was a big change for my kids. On the first day, Looloo and Gogie were less than pleasant. (I'm really trying to put it politely how big of stinkers they were.) I knew they would be a struggle, but I was not prepared for what they put me through. I was beyond ready to give up and send them back to school. So why don't I you ask? That is not what I want to do. The decision to educate my children at home was not something I took lightly and I feel that it really is what is best for us right now. They too begged to be put back in school because this was "stupid." After telling my husband about our day, he also suggested that I sign them back up for school. Not helpful.

So after everyone (including myself) was telling me to quit and send them back to school you might think that I should have really considered following that advice. You bet I did! There were moments when I thought, "Why am I doing this to myself?!?!" I had a couple of kids screaming at me and telling me that they didn't want to do their work and to send them back to school where they would have a nice teacher (yeah, I had less than happy moments). BUT, there were also moments when the kids were happy and cooperative and actually having aha moments that made me realize this is a good thing.

The second day was slightly better. The kiddos cooperated more and were more involved in their lessons. The attitudes are ever so slowly improving. Looloo still has her moments when she doesn't want to do the work. We had the same problem with her last year in kindergarten. I think she did most of the work at school, but I couldn't get her to do any of her homework. I'm hoping that as we grow a stronger bond in our family that the kids will learn to lean on me and we can have a good, close relationship. This will, in turn, create a better attitude in Looloo as she begins to enjoy our time together.

I think that the biggest reason Looloo has a bad attitude towards me is that I was working and going to school full-time for so many years. I was constantly busy and was rarely around. She learned to lean on others for things she needed. She was in a crucial learning stage and I missed out on being there for her. I'm paying for it now. I am trying really hard to repair the damage that my absence caused her. Some kids may have been fine, but the way her personality is, she needed me and my time. Of course, I feel absolutely terrible and I feel like I have failed as a mother. However, I can't change the past. I can learn from it and work toward a better tomorrow. That is my goal in educating my kids at home.

I have decided that Looloo needs more breaks and changes during the day than the other kids. Duh! She's only 6. I am starting to add more learning breaks during the day. Including games (PE games are always a good thing) and music time. This gives her a breather from the pencil and paper or computer time she is used to. This has helped her stay focused and gives her more motivation to keep going. She did SO much better today. YAY!!

To help our day run more smoothly, I get up early and print off the pages that the kids will need throughout their lessons. I also prepare their lunches and put them in the fridge (just as if they were taking 'cold lunch' to school). I try to have a weekly menu planned so I don't waste time trying to figure out "what's for dinner?" or lunch, or breakfast.

Here's a schedule of our day...for now that is. I'm sure that as the year progresses we will be continuously changing our schedule to mix things up to keep us going.

7:00 am - wake, dress, breakfast, make beds, brush teeth, quick clean sweep of the house
8:00 am - Power hour: family prayer, pledge of allegiance, common knowledge, article from a church magazine, journal writing, memorization (poem or other short passage), read-aloud, writing to pen pals (once a week) and anything that we might need to discuss for the day.
8:20 - every other day PB will have seminary over by the high school. We'll have to alter our power hour for these days.  
9:00 am - start our online work (this varies every day based on the kids' class connect sessions. These are times when they need to be on with their class and their teacher.)
11:30 lunch (PB has class connect at 12 so we do lunch before that)
12:00 back to working online and in the books!
2:00 pm - we usually wrap up around this time

Even though we only have about an hour less of school than other kids in the area, it seems like we accomplish so much more than they did in a traditional school setting. Not only that, I am able to give them more one-on-one time so that if they don't understand something I can help them through it. I am able to see if they really do understand what they are learning and I also get to be there when they have those aha moments and the light bulb comes on. Awesome!

I'm getting a glimpse at how very smart my children are (even though I already knew) and get to experience so much with them this year. I am loving the program we are doing (so far) and the curriculum is wonderful! Once we get adjusted to this new schooling option, I know that we are going to have the best year.

I will post some pics soon. We are thinking about changing things up a bit (already?). We have been doing schooling in the kitchen, but it is so cramped in their that I'm going to move the desks into the front room next week. Hopefully we can stay organized through this journey. =)