Well, I have two days of homeschooling, complete days, that is, under my belt.
I did it!
It wasn't too bad.
Although I worry, are they learning enough? In some ways it seems too easy, but then again I am really only responsible for 3 grades... 3rd, K and 1st. That's easy, I guess. Not sure about the Math. We have A+ Math, they can do it on the computer. While I like just sending someone off to "do math" I am not sure they are learning as well that way. Time will tell, I guess.
Another thing is writing, I hope I can teach them to write well. I just don't want to fail at this.
So, that's my update.
I am cautiously optimistic.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
Mundane Monday: Not so mundane, a new journey
I am honestly shocked that it has been SEVEN months since I last blogged! That is awful, actually! It really is a testament to how busy and crazy life was over this last year. So much has changed.
One year ago I began my teaching journey. I was the elementary Science teacher at The Study, the homeschool co-op the kids attended. I got the privilege because Jeanne knew of my plan to homeschool the following year. This year.
Let's back up some more.
A couple years back, I was the Mom that said, "I will never homeschool", "I would not be able to homeschool", "I don't have the patience", and "my kids would drive me crazy!"
Slowly it transformed because I did feel God tugging at my heart.. I knew it was in our future at some point. At that point, if you asked me, you'd most likely hear the words, "well, I'd love to be able to homeschool, but I just don't know how to start", "but I LOVE the church school", "I wish (or I feel guilty) that I just don't have ANY desire to homeschool", "I do think homeschool is the best option for children, but I am just so afraid to fail"..
Skip to May 2012. Steven had been asking me to consider homeschooling because of his workload. His taking on extra jobs was really taking a toll on him, and our family. The tuition for the church school went up, and it seemed that we were adding kids every year! They were very gracious with us and were willing to work with us to help keep costs manageable, but reality is, we have A LOT of kids and there is only so much we can do to keep it low cost.
SO.. I started contacting my friends and family that homeschool.. I got nothing but encouraging words and my confidence really started to build. We didn't really tell a lot of people our plans, but somehow word got out (it wasn't really a secret either) and Jeanne challenged me with the job of Science teacher (and teacher aid for a couple other classes). To be honest, I was terrified at first. Lesson planning? It was foreign. Jeanne walked me through it and by the first day of school in Aug 2012, I was cautiously ready. So, with a 4 year old Matthew, 2 year old Elise and 2 month old Joshua in tow, my teaching experience began.
In the beginning I was there M, T, W from 9-12, but over the year it did get less.
I won't go into my experience a whole lot, just want to cover the basics here, but I will say that it was a very positive experience overall. I LOVE those girls in that elementary classroom, spending so much time with them is irreplaceable. Danielle and Johanna were two that were in there, so of course that in itself was rewarding, but the other girls were wonderful as well.
I gained experience, confidence, I learned what it was like to juggle teaching with babies, and teaching multiple grade levels.
It was exhausting. Joshua, in the beginning, would nap at the church school, but as time went on the only naps he got were in the car on the way home from school at noon and the way to school to pick up the girls at 3:30. I had to cram in everything that needed to be done in the 12:30-3 time frame, it was very challenging to drag the kids out so much.
Half way through the year, my desire to just homeschool already really started to grow. Friends that homeschool large families would tell me that what I was doing sounded harder than actually homeschooling. I was actually told that by more than one family, so it must be true. I probably heard it from about 4 or 5 different homeschool families.
We kept on going though. By the end of the year, although, fully rewarding, I was burned out. My cranky level had reached all time highs and my depression was getting more intense. I was also sleep derived due to Joshua not sleeping well at night.
This summer began and as the reality of homeschooling set in, I grew more and more terrified that I wouldn't have the ability to do this. I wasn't getting the rest I had hoped to get over the summer. Thanks to the furlough, Steven had to work a lot, and just due to his not being around over the last 3 years the behavior of the children had really started to go downhill. When we started realizing that we had many heart and character issues to work on with our kids (sometime last school year), we knew that homeschooling had become more about getting their hearts, training them, and just generally getting closer to them, then about the money it cost to send them to the church school. We knew that even if they could go for free, that homeschooling was still what we were being called to do. We also were seeing more and more that Katie was spending her entire day working on school (between the regular school day and homework) and that I was unable to spend any time working with her and training her to do the basics around the house. She just didn't have the time and got pretty burned out. We knew homeschooling would take maybe 6 hours a day, tops, but mostly likely less.
Over the summer I felt, everyday, that I wanted to homeschool less and less, because I was just plain worn out. I do attribute this to my level of participation at the church school WITH so many little ones in tow. Not that it was bad, it was just challenging. I was overwhelmed. The four oldest girls went to CO for 3 weeks and during that time, only having 3 little ones at home I was able to be refreshed. I re-focused.
So, here I am. They've been home for about a month and I am a different Mommy.
Today, we start homeschooling. For real. We did do a few practice days, already. :)
So, today, I try and fit in our new schedule of getting all the housework done as well as all the school. I didn't sleep well last night and we are all up earlier today than usual so we shall see!
Katie is making cinnamon rolls for "first day of school" breakfast and I am getting ready to get the kids going with the morning chores which consist of cleaning bedrooms and making beds, mostly. A couple of them have bathrooms to do as well.
Here we go!
One year ago I began my teaching journey. I was the elementary Science teacher at The Study, the homeschool co-op the kids attended. I got the privilege because Jeanne knew of my plan to homeschool the following year. This year.
Let's back up some more.
A couple years back, I was the Mom that said, "I will never homeschool", "I would not be able to homeschool", "I don't have the patience", and "my kids would drive me crazy!"
Slowly it transformed because I did feel God tugging at my heart.. I knew it was in our future at some point. At that point, if you asked me, you'd most likely hear the words, "well, I'd love to be able to homeschool, but I just don't know how to start", "but I LOVE the church school", "I wish (or I feel guilty) that I just don't have ANY desire to homeschool", "I do think homeschool is the best option for children, but I am just so afraid to fail"..
Skip to May 2012. Steven had been asking me to consider homeschooling because of his workload. His taking on extra jobs was really taking a toll on him, and our family. The tuition for the church school went up, and it seemed that we were adding kids every year! They were very gracious with us and were willing to work with us to help keep costs manageable, but reality is, we have A LOT of kids and there is only so much we can do to keep it low cost.
SO.. I started contacting my friends and family that homeschool.. I got nothing but encouraging words and my confidence really started to build. We didn't really tell a lot of people our plans, but somehow word got out (it wasn't really a secret either) and Jeanne challenged me with the job of Science teacher (and teacher aid for a couple other classes). To be honest, I was terrified at first. Lesson planning? It was foreign. Jeanne walked me through it and by the first day of school in Aug 2012, I was cautiously ready. So, with a 4 year old Matthew, 2 year old Elise and 2 month old Joshua in tow, my teaching experience began.
In the beginning I was there M, T, W from 9-12, but over the year it did get less.
I won't go into my experience a whole lot, just want to cover the basics here, but I will say that it was a very positive experience overall. I LOVE those girls in that elementary classroom, spending so much time with them is irreplaceable. Danielle and Johanna were two that were in there, so of course that in itself was rewarding, but the other girls were wonderful as well.
I gained experience, confidence, I learned what it was like to juggle teaching with babies, and teaching multiple grade levels.
It was exhausting. Joshua, in the beginning, would nap at the church school, but as time went on the only naps he got were in the car on the way home from school at noon and the way to school to pick up the girls at 3:30. I had to cram in everything that needed to be done in the 12:30-3 time frame, it was very challenging to drag the kids out so much.
Half way through the year, my desire to just homeschool already really started to grow. Friends that homeschool large families would tell me that what I was doing sounded harder than actually homeschooling. I was actually told that by more than one family, so it must be true. I probably heard it from about 4 or 5 different homeschool families.
We kept on going though. By the end of the year, although, fully rewarding, I was burned out. My cranky level had reached all time highs and my depression was getting more intense. I was also sleep derived due to Joshua not sleeping well at night.
This summer began and as the reality of homeschooling set in, I grew more and more terrified that I wouldn't have the ability to do this. I wasn't getting the rest I had hoped to get over the summer. Thanks to the furlough, Steven had to work a lot, and just due to his not being around over the last 3 years the behavior of the children had really started to go downhill. When we started realizing that we had many heart and character issues to work on with our kids (sometime last school year), we knew that homeschooling had become more about getting their hearts, training them, and just generally getting closer to them, then about the money it cost to send them to the church school. We knew that even if they could go for free, that homeschooling was still what we were being called to do. We also were seeing more and more that Katie was spending her entire day working on school (between the regular school day and homework) and that I was unable to spend any time working with her and training her to do the basics around the house. She just didn't have the time and got pretty burned out. We knew homeschooling would take maybe 6 hours a day, tops, but mostly likely less.
Over the summer I felt, everyday, that I wanted to homeschool less and less, because I was just plain worn out. I do attribute this to my level of participation at the church school WITH so many little ones in tow. Not that it was bad, it was just challenging. I was overwhelmed. The four oldest girls went to CO for 3 weeks and during that time, only having 3 little ones at home I was able to be refreshed. I re-focused.
So, here I am. They've been home for about a month and I am a different Mommy.
Today, we start homeschooling. For real. We did do a few practice days, already. :)
So, today, I try and fit in our new schedule of getting all the housework done as well as all the school. I didn't sleep well last night and we are all up earlier today than usual so we shall see!
Katie is making cinnamon rolls for "first day of school" breakfast and I am getting ready to get the kids going with the morning chores which consist of cleaning bedrooms and making beds, mostly. A couple of them have bathrooms to do as well.
Here we go!
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