9am; Peanut suddenly finds a deep well of compassion for our ailing chicken Marge. This coincides with my stated desire to start our school day.
9:14, We finally sit down for “Read Aloud time” and all is well.
10ish; we finish read aloud and begin our history work. Peanut is doing hers independently so she’s on her own and I read to the Cashew and the Walnut.
10:25, We hit a wall when they actually have to do something. Cashew has to label things on a map, which apparently should have been mentioned in the Geneva convention.
11, That’s right, it took 35 minutes to label 7 things on a map. Can you guess what delights were next in our history lesson? Go on, guess what is next for the kid who hates moving a pencil across paper. Give up? It’s copy work! He has to copy the definition for the word just.
11:01, The Filburt is running around the living room playing loudly and enticing the Peanut to play with him. She is only too happy to have the distraction and is joining in. I intervene. Cashew and Walnut are finding every possible way to avoid their small bits of copy work. It’s too hard, it’s too much, their pencil smells weird, their bladder has shrunk to the size of a thimble, their page won’t lay flat, Etc.. It’s fun, homeshooling is fun.
11:23, I get so frustrated with the delay and bad attitude that I kick everyone out for a break. I think what I actually said was, “Get out! Get out of my house! Go!” I had that nice shrill edge to my voice that makes me remember Snow White’s Evil Step-Mother. That’s just what I always hoped I’d sound like when I thought about having kids.
We stop for lunch at noon and I sit with a book unseen in my hands and contemplate what I’m doing with my life. I do NOT drink anything stronger than coffee.
1:03, We get back to it and some miraculous body snatchers have stolen my children. The Cashew cheerfully heads to his room for his reading time. The Peanut finishes her short essay about monasticism. The Walnut works through her phonics pages like lightening. WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?
1:15, The Cashew apparently thought I said he was done for the day. I said he could be done with reading when he finished x number or pages. Stubborn fussing ensues and I start to feel more curious about the public school.
2pm, we’ve made it through spelling! Cashew did great! He didn’t get bogged down by little mistakes, he got most things right, he seemed like he was actually understanding the concept of short vowels. Peanut has discovered the idea of a timeline and is entering every historical event she can think of. The Walnut and Filburt are happily ensconced in front of the TV watching something educational. I can finally get to the laundry and dishes.
2:30, Peanut has finished her daily reading and timeline fun so we dig into spelling and grammar. She sails through both and I remember why I love homeschooling. My children need someone to stick with them through the hard stuff and see them through to the other side. I get to be that person for them. I get to take the time to fight through our troubles with them and get to the other side where we all like each other again. The view from that side is pretty great so I think we’ll do this again tomorrow.
Except that tomorrow is Co-op day and someone else has to teach them for a little while!!!
Messy Homeschool 