Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Learning Endurance Can be Exhausting

Ashley
In the pics below you can see mommy is having fun with Kyle's magnifying glass he got in his K12 materials.  Also, I told my little Ashley (almost 4) that she is homeschooling too to make her happy.  She's just really doing Starfall online.  Anyway, on with my blog post.

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Today was a really tough day schooling at home.  Okaaaay, last year I said only crazy people use K12 because I saw how many hours they worked.  Well, call me crazy because I am this year!  Haha.  I thought I'd finally stop attacking it and give it a try.  Hold on a sec while I say this nicely.....

"HOLY COW, THIS IS A TON OF WORK!"


No joke!  Just like I thought, it's a curriculum that can take up to 9-10 if you are schooling multiples.  I talked with my son's online teacher today and told her my thoughts on it.  It's incredibly thorough but I'm not stupid.  I have a GREAT memory.  NO way did we do this much work in one day of school.  We had more breaks than this, recess, and just general goofing off in between subjects.  My kids get none of that.   Being that it's a public school brought home, I'm not sure if they are hoping the parents throw their hands up and just enroll their kids again but I'm not going to.  I'm gonna fight it through.  The house may be trashed till June and I may have bags under my eyes but I'm not letting this time of my life go down the toilet without learning something.  

Ivy
There is always something good to take from hard times.  Here are some.


     1.  My kids get to sleep till 8:30 every morning.  I hate early mornings too so I felt their pain last year getting on the bus.  It's not longer hard on the kids after those two evening church services in the week.  Going to bed late and getting up early was tough.


     2.  I know what my kids are learning.  No more embarrassing moments helping them with their homework saying "What the heck? I don't remember this!"  Haha.  I'm learning right along with them.


     3.  I'm finally figuring out how to use my commas!!!!! Hahahaha!  Yesterday while teaching Ryan I came across commas.  I was so excited to learn that it comes before conjunctions and between two simple sentences to join them together.  Whoopee!!  Now, if only I can get it right.  I, still, struggle, where, to, put, those, dang, commas.  Okay, so get this.  If any of my friends want to take one of my paragraphs, copy it comments, and show me where to put my dang commas, please do!!!!  Don't go overboard though because I'm sure you could show me tons.  I'm the dysfunctional comma placing challenged woman. However you put that.


     4.  Man, as HARD, and I do mean H-A-R-D, my days are now I still LOOOOOVE having my kids home with me every day.  I don't regret it one bit.  I just really need to figure out a new schedule.  My longtime readers know I always say it takes me a couple of months to figure out a new schedule.  When I finally get one figured out something new happens.  Like a baby comes or something.  Haha.  


     5.  I get to show off my skills to my kids  I know all the books of the bible by heart and in order along with all the states.  Ha!  That is fun.  I really want to get them to learn those things because it's super helpful.  Learning the books of the bible is a fantastic skill.  Heh, heh.  My favorite is beating my husband to find the scripture every time pastor calls out one.  Whyyyy is he not more competitive?  I don't know.  He just calmly looks while I'm racing and saying "mwahahaha!" inside when I win.  Not that he was trying or anything.


    6. I'm learning....
Endurance
vs.
Giving up
The inward strength to withstand stress to accomplish God's best.
Galations 6:9


Anyway, at the end of a busy day I'm excited that I don't have to send them off in the yellow bus. :D  I'm hogging them all to me.  Mwhaha!  Such a lucky momma for sure.  I got to have a much needed break last year with all the health issues.  Now that I've caught my breath, we're taking a 3rd round of homeschooling.  Sometimes it's nice to sit in the stands and chill, other times I like to bat.  It requires a lot exercise, hard work, determination, and may cause bruises, but it's fulfilling and I learn a lot in the process.  My praying and bible reading is like my inhaler. Thank goodness for God's strength or I would just pass out flat.


2 comments:

Kerrie McLoughlin said...

okay, i am a NICE person and i love you to pieces so please don't take this the wrong way. i am talking to you as a 5-year homeschooling veteran who has learned the hard way. (1) did you know that K12 is not covered by HSLDA, so if someone comes after you, you can not be protected as a homeschooler b/c you are technically not homeschooling? (2) it doesn't have to be so hard. endure this year and finish what you started, but know that you are free to choose another route next year (hint: check into unschooling! i'm working on an article about it b/c God keeps sloooowly leading me that way but i'm scared) (3) think of all that you remember from school. not much, huh? so just teach the most important stuff and use tons of time to let them explore their own interests b/c THAT is when they will really learn (4) check into unit studies online ... tons are free ... i have yet to do it but know my sons would love unit studies on animals, legos, etc. in case you don't know, a unit study is a topic that covers every subject, so a dinosaur unit study would use math, english, history, science and more. they don't even know they are learning! i am excited to hear more about your journey!

Virginia Revoir said...

OMGosh, that sounds so cool. Please, please tell me where you get the info so I can look into it. Would it cover a year of work that they need? Like where you buy several units to cover a whole year? That just sounds really cool. Well, I won't be using this program next year but I was gonna put them back on SOS again. The Duggars were successful with it and it only takes 2-3 hours max a day. But I'm really interested in what you just told me to. Thank you. :) (p.s. I really starting to dislike K12)