It's Thursday night, the week has been calm, and I am not so much looking forward to the weekend...If it rains, which is likely, it won't be too bad...Although I will get serious "sad face" when soccer is canceled...! If it does NOT rain, which is likely, cuz, this is Maryland, soccer will happen, and I will spend a total of eight hours at the field on Friday and Saturday...Again, not bad, but I have BOXES and BOXES of work to do this weekend, and I want it done by Monday so I can have more!
I am tired, this week wore me out. We got a ton of lessons done, more then planned actually...We missed out on our co-op meeting this week, due to several issues...Most of which were from the extended family. Things are not good...I hope, each day, that my in laws know that they can trust my judgement and care with my children....their grandchildren. They are in constant turmoil over the lives of their other seven grandchildren, and it has taken a great toll on them. I truely believe grandparents should be "special" people in a child's life. Mine were, my husbands were. My friends speak of grandparents and memories with such heartwrenching love...Yet, my children don't have that. It's been overshadowed by family issues, immaturity, personal agendas and worse. In my mind, I dreamed of a homeschooling family where the grandparents were very involved, taking trips with the kids, taking interest in curriculum choices, enjoying time spent in the learning process...I thought awesome relationships would be formed...And, why not, I saw those kind of relationships with the first few grandchildren-on both sides of the family. I saw, and participated in those types of relationships with my grandparents. (may their souls rest in the joy of my memories) My husband's biggest hero is his grandfather....who, is sadly passed as well. I just had more expectations for relationships and love...Instead, well, we got a lot of stuff from the dollar store, and bang up Christmas gifts. Appreciated, yet, not what we were looking for.
Enough on that. :)
My kids are amazing. They have taken the bull be the horns this year in school. Curriculum is just FLYING through the house....They are finishing up their language arts work at such a pace! My daughter, who would not READ two years back, is flying through fifth and sixth grade vocabulary and reading comp workbooks like mad. (she is in fourth grade). Our one pitfall is Math. I think we have decided that we don't like Saxon Math. We are so far ahead on all subjects- but behind on math. I find us doing other things to satisfy math. I need to get my head straight though, and figure out the issue. Is it boredom? On my part? On theirs? Is it the time constant? Is it the fact that we all want to BANG our heads on the table halfway during the lesson??? (Maybe we should...!) I have invested a TON into this program, and I want to see it work...Jeez! I have to get over this....
I am yawning...I have a teacher dedication this week at RE, which is Sunday School for those that follow a more tradition crowd...Soccer and Fellowship wear me out on the weekends, it's the insane schedule change....Ed's been working from noon to after 2am this week...He is there now, almost 12midnight....They want him in at 8 am tomorrow.....Overtime...But still....He will work through the weekend, surely, and into a third week of no time off....On top of soccer and Fellowship this weekend, I have many boxes of work to attend to, and more after that. We are also getting ready for the Fall, which begins next week, and we plan to celebrate our favorite season with great joy and much excitement! Tomorrow we will spend time on crafts, and perhaps some Fall cleaning and organizing.....(I have a craft closet that needs work, and crafts to follow! Yay!:))
Ok, about to PASS OUT from exhaustion....
Sami
Friday, September 17, 2004
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Well, here we are, several weeks into a new homeschooling year...Exhausted! LOL!
This year has started better then usual, actually, No one got sick, no one needed several doctor appointments, and I didn't even throw out my shoulder. We did, however, lose a printer. We also found out, in the process of replacing it, that our computer has almost NO temporary memory (RAM), contrary to what we were told at purchase. This being the reason for frozen programs and stalled computers. We (I) learned alot about the workings of computers this week, and look REALLY forward to removing the cover and adding new memory this weekend....!!!
This year has already presented many challenges. Our schedule is an ongoing battle. I seem to be the only person that understands(or cares about) the insanity of living this "second shift" schedule. I feel quite positive that I have spent the last several years catering to the specific schedules of everyone I know, yet have been met with blank/unyielding stares when I actaully SAY that we aren't really into mornings, that they are extremely difficult for us. Because of this, our lives have changed in ways I never considered, our friends have changed, and the way we spend our time has changed. Mostly for the better, thankfully.
Our new schedule has us doing chores and finding playtime in the am hours, usually up around nine to eat, do chores, and plan our day. At 10, the kids usually go out to play with Daddy, sometimes they work in the garden together. Around 11am, the older kids start lessons with five different subjects of Language Arts, the younger play cars...We break around noon to eat with daddy, then go outside to say goodbye and chase him up the street...LOL:) After that, we jump back into lessons with either History or Science, while the younger boys continue to play upstairs with building toys, blocks, Leappad and more...At 2, I work a brief time with my kindergartner, reading letter books, handwriting, site words and phonics pages. Usually the youngest, 3 1/2, joins us. The older children complete writing work for science and history during this time, and sometimes do a chore or two. Sometimes they watch a science/history video. I then spend some time working individually with one of the older children, doing math, working on other subjects that might need extra help from me. Around three or so, I take a break, usually to watch Dr Phil and eat a small snack, make phonecalls and catch up on laundry. This is art/music time for the kids. Four o'clock has me back with an older child, working on Math and etc again. Then it's math concepts with the younger til five or so. Usually I spend some time working on plans, calendars, co-op stuff while they finish lessons, get chores done and prepare for dinnertime. Sometimes we run errands before dinner....Sometimes dinner gets eaten at 8pm, and soccer practice has us running all night, then eating at 9:30pm....Chores, baths, pjs...and it's 10pm!!!! Which leads us to the last, and, obviously, least important, time of our day-TV time. Sometimes, if closer to 9, the kids watch a rented movie from the library, sometimes, if later, they watch "Who's the Boss", "Cosby", and once in a Blue Moon, Lizzie McGuire...Most nights they opt out to play, surf online, or read, and that's fine by me. I don't know HOW I managed to raise children that don't need television, don't even seem to care, but I am I NOT complaining!!!!!!:) The kids head to bed between 10 and 11pm, helping to keep them sound asleep til a "daddy decent" hour of 8:30 or so. He arrives home sometime between 1am and 4am.....I doze after 1:30am, if I am not working on something, but don't really "sleep" til he is home safely....Sleep is wild and waning here.....!:) Some nights I write til the am, when he gets home, some nights I read....Sometimes I watch really bad rerun tv all night!
We do the library two, three times a week, soccer three nights and all day Saturdays from 8am on (yes, mornings!), dance once a week, co-op on Wednesday, playdates on Fridays, and now, ME, being a Religious Ed teacher on Sundays...
Someone in the neighborhood-with ONE small child, I might add, asked me two weeks back what I "did" with all the time I have being "home all the time".....The person knew I had four kids (as if that's not enough to do!), and also knew I homeschooled AND develop our curriculum, and have four in soccer....I told her she was welcome to spend any hour she wished with us as a homeschooling family, and see what she thought. Her 'smug" face made me think she knew my life better then her own. Her husband, horse of another color, asked me tonight (while trying to convince the small boys I did NOT want the sidewalk toad into my house!) HOW I do it...! he remarked, in a totally not disrespectful manner towards his wife, that she didn't seem to have enough hours, enough patience, enough...anything, to get through a single day with one small child. He seemed amazed at what my day entailed, asked several questions and left us with a look of complete awe on his face. I love talking to people like that-amazed by homeschooling, amazed by homeschoolers, amazed by passion for children. It's different then most of the people I meet...Many of them seem to feel an instant need to "defend" themselves for NOT homeschooling. I am quick to say, "not for all", "special person to do it", "personal circumstances" etc.....but sometimes people just get angry...like my saying "We homeschool" is really coming out as "you don't homeschool!"....which I would never say...Sadly, I have met more "not great" homeschoolers then great. The "great" are those I stay in contact with. They say to "surround yourself with greatness". !!!
OK...12 midnight, time for me to get planning done for tomorrow and thurday....We are going to the Baltimore Science Center in the am, with our co-op, so I need to get some sleep!
Sami
This year has started better then usual, actually, No one got sick, no one needed several doctor appointments, and I didn't even throw out my shoulder. We did, however, lose a printer. We also found out, in the process of replacing it, that our computer has almost NO temporary memory (RAM), contrary to what we were told at purchase. This being the reason for frozen programs and stalled computers. We (I) learned alot about the workings of computers this week, and look REALLY forward to removing the cover and adding new memory this weekend....!!!
This year has already presented many challenges. Our schedule is an ongoing battle. I seem to be the only person that understands(or cares about) the insanity of living this "second shift" schedule. I feel quite positive that I have spent the last several years catering to the specific schedules of everyone I know, yet have been met with blank/unyielding stares when I actaully SAY that we aren't really into mornings, that they are extremely difficult for us. Because of this, our lives have changed in ways I never considered, our friends have changed, and the way we spend our time has changed. Mostly for the better, thankfully.
Our new schedule has us doing chores and finding playtime in the am hours, usually up around nine to eat, do chores, and plan our day. At 10, the kids usually go out to play with Daddy, sometimes they work in the garden together. Around 11am, the older kids start lessons with five different subjects of Language Arts, the younger play cars...We break around noon to eat with daddy, then go outside to say goodbye and chase him up the street...LOL:) After that, we jump back into lessons with either History or Science, while the younger boys continue to play upstairs with building toys, blocks, Leappad and more...At 2, I work a brief time with my kindergartner, reading letter books, handwriting, site words and phonics pages. Usually the youngest, 3 1/2, joins us. The older children complete writing work for science and history during this time, and sometimes do a chore or two. Sometimes they watch a science/history video. I then spend some time working individually with one of the older children, doing math, working on other subjects that might need extra help from me. Around three or so, I take a break, usually to watch Dr Phil and eat a small snack, make phonecalls and catch up on laundry. This is art/music time for the kids. Four o'clock has me back with an older child, working on Math and etc again. Then it's math concepts with the younger til five or so. Usually I spend some time working on plans, calendars, co-op stuff while they finish lessons, get chores done and prepare for dinnertime. Sometimes we run errands before dinner....Sometimes dinner gets eaten at 8pm, and soccer practice has us running all night, then eating at 9:30pm....Chores, baths, pjs...and it's 10pm!!!! Which leads us to the last, and, obviously, least important, time of our day-TV time. Sometimes, if closer to 9, the kids watch a rented movie from the library, sometimes, if later, they watch "Who's the Boss", "Cosby", and once in a Blue Moon, Lizzie McGuire...Most nights they opt out to play, surf online, or read, and that's fine by me. I don't know HOW I managed to raise children that don't need television, don't even seem to care, but I am I NOT complaining!!!!!!:) The kids head to bed between 10 and 11pm, helping to keep them sound asleep til a "daddy decent" hour of 8:30 or so. He arrives home sometime between 1am and 4am.....I doze after 1:30am, if I am not working on something, but don't really "sleep" til he is home safely....Sleep is wild and waning here.....!:) Some nights I write til the am, when he gets home, some nights I read....Sometimes I watch really bad rerun tv all night!
We do the library two, three times a week, soccer three nights and all day Saturdays from 8am on (yes, mornings!), dance once a week, co-op on Wednesday, playdates on Fridays, and now, ME, being a Religious Ed teacher on Sundays...
Someone in the neighborhood-with ONE small child, I might add, asked me two weeks back what I "did" with all the time I have being "home all the time".....The person knew I had four kids (as if that's not enough to do!), and also knew I homeschooled AND develop our curriculum, and have four in soccer....I told her she was welcome to spend any hour she wished with us as a homeschooling family, and see what she thought. Her 'smug" face made me think she knew my life better then her own. Her husband, horse of another color, asked me tonight (while trying to convince the small boys I did NOT want the sidewalk toad into my house!) HOW I do it...! he remarked, in a totally not disrespectful manner towards his wife, that she didn't seem to have enough hours, enough patience, enough...anything, to get through a single day with one small child. He seemed amazed at what my day entailed, asked several questions and left us with a look of complete awe on his face. I love talking to people like that-amazed by homeschooling, amazed by homeschoolers, amazed by passion for children. It's different then most of the people I meet...Many of them seem to feel an instant need to "defend" themselves for NOT homeschooling. I am quick to say, "not for all", "special person to do it", "personal circumstances" etc.....but sometimes people just get angry...like my saying "We homeschool" is really coming out as "you don't homeschool!"....which I would never say...Sadly, I have met more "not great" homeschoolers then great. The "great" are those I stay in contact with. They say to "surround yourself with greatness". !!!
OK...12 midnight, time for me to get planning done for tomorrow and thurday....We are going to the Baltimore Science Center in the am, with our co-op, so I need to get some sleep!
Sami
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