School Begins
How could I possibly remember so clearly, yet forget so totally how involving and intense it is to homeschool?
It’s Day number One and I feel the curtains closing down around my life for the next nine months. See you in May!
Kidding.
Well, kind of.
A few weeks ago when I told Adam we were starting school in three weeks he barely looked up from the book he was reading and said, “I hope I die before then.”
The next morning at breakfast Liam asked if we were starting school that day. When I said not for three more weeks he thumped his fist on the table and vehemently declared, “That is SO annoying.”
The three weeks are up and here we are with sharpened pencils, new notebooks, the thick pages of brand new textbooks that barely stay open and a surprising amount of enthusiasm.
Adam has warmed up now that we’re here and surprised me with both his tenacity and his personal goals to be more disciplined. He is slowly starting to realize that he loves to learn. When our Science lesson today studied the four ways scientists learn, he merely nodded. Then tonight in the bathtub as he tried hard to be more adept at independently bathing with his left arm while keeping his right arm safely out of the way of swishing water, he kept playing with an empty bottle.
“I know why you can put it straight down into the water and it won’t fill because air is pushing down on the water and it can’t escape; but I can’t figure out why when I pull it back up out of the water when it’s full, it doesn’t fill with air.”
“Well, that’s because the opening is covered by water and air can’t get in.”
“That’s what I thought,” he said. “Shoot. I should have tried to prove it.”
“Do you realize you just did the four steps of Science?” I asked. “Remember there is observation, then gathering that information and studying it, then you make a hypotheses and prove it true.” He lit up like a 600 watt bulb and I remembered again that even though it’s not my first choice, homeschooling has some phenomenal benefits.
I love that the boys play together so much more than they did when Adam went to school. I love not packing lunches or cleaning out dirty ones. I love our slightly calmer mornings than when we had to rush out the door instead of walking to the living room. I love that we can make our schedule flexible when we need to. And even though I feel a little {or a lot} claustrophobic, I love that I will get to remember hours and hours and hours of their childhood I’d have completely missed otherwise.
Cheers to the 2013-2014 school year! Whether you are sending yours to school or teaching them at home, I wish you the best of everything possible!
Great great post! I can echo so much of what you expressed… the little bit of “what am I doing again?!?!” and yet seeing relationships build between siblings, and being able to be a part of their learning and childhood years – that is SO precious, and those moments make it worth the hard part! Your boys’ different perspectives before school began cracked me up!
Best of the year to you!
It’s more then I can imagine, homeschooling and retaining my sanity! I pray you’ll have the best year ever! I truly can’t wait to send mine back to school next week. The fighting has been atrocious around here!
I need someone’s contagious excitement. I feel more like Adam did 3 weeks ago. 🙂 No, it’s not quite that bad, but I just can’t get into it this year. Suddenly with 2 to teach (1st and 3rd grade) and trying a few new curriculums, it’s sooo overwhelming and I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing. Hopefully God does because I’m going to need Someone to show me! I’d love to see where you ‘do school’. I think that’s part of my struggle too. I want a place to put maps on the wall. I want a wipe off board. I want neat, organized shelves. Sigh. Instead, I have one upset that he’ll be in the office and wondering how the other one will do off in another room…
I hope your year goes great!
My enthusiasm was pretty lacking to be honest. Partially because of having two (kids legally have to go to school full time at 5 in MD) and partially because I am still not quite through the first trimester and so exhausted I can’t keep up with normal life well. It doesn’t help that I beefed up the curriculum which means a lot more work for me. But yesterday went better than I expected and I’m kind of thinking it’s one of those things you dread and then you just do it anyway and somehow it turns out. We do school at one end of the living room. I have a very small skinny white board (behind me in the picture) but no room for maps. And I do have a cubicle / shelf thing from Ikea that helps to hold all our gear and keeps our living room looking messy 100% of the time. 🙂 I’m trying to figure out where to put all the alphabet cards and other charts first graders always have on the wall for easy reference. :/ You know what? We need a homeschool room link up! I bet there are lots of moms with great ideas. I hope you get the push you need to get started!
Thanks so much! You’ve got my brain rolling with ideas of ‘a place in the living room’…pretty sure my woodworker husband would love to build me a table. Hehe.
GO YOU, YOU GOT THIS!!! Glad that we are in the second week. and i know i’m not an Abeka rep but seriously, i’m not sure what i would do without their dvd’s. It’s a huge help to this non home school mama. Cheers to your new school year!!
and it would be really fun to see the post on home school rooms and tips!! 🙂
Oh Michelle, I get this! I just homeschooled for half a year, but I know the stretching it did for us. I laughed so hard at Adam’s first comment there. 🙂 You can do it! I wish you a wonderful year.
I love your bright sunny room and the curtains behind you. Anyone should be able to study in that environment 🙂
When you talk like that it doesn’t make me feel COMF ter ble. Feeling as though I’m missing out on a major part of my childrens lives! And feeling feeling very vulnerable at them all there being in the same classroom! Glad they can learn…
I forgot about that one! Would it make you feel more COMF ter ble if I talked about how it was easier to be a better Mom when Adam went to school and my brain actually cleared and quieted for part of the day leaving me with energy to invest? 😉 Just tell your teacher you won’t believe everything about her if she doesn’t believe everything she hears about you. 🙂
I needed this bright cheery post tonight. After 2 crazy days, we start school tomorrow. Am I ready? Not really, but here goes. Wishing you ALL the best!
Michelle, this post made me miss you terribly! I am so proud of you and all the effort you are putting into school for your sons even in your first trimester. Can we get together for lunch soon again?
Oh my goodness, you have no idea what it did to me to see your name pop up! Just last night I was talking to Tury and I told her how much I miss you! Lunch again? That would be so beyond awesome! I think of you often and hope this year is a little easier than the last one was!
I’ve been trying to get in ‘school mode’ again, and after a hectic morning of getting two ready for their first day, there are times i would almost take home-schooling over sending them to school. My son requires extra tutoring anyway, so I know a little of what you are dealing with. The best plan for me is to be prepared mentally, and the rest will follow.
The difference between a first grader and one ready for the 4th grade is amusing. My Zachary was trying hard to not be excited about the first day for the first time ever, and declared that he is ‘too big’ to be excited, while his sister was flying and hopping all over the house. But judging by his actions, he was still a little excited!
Hope that your school year goes well, and that you will be mostly done before the new baby comes!
You nearly make me wish I would be homeschooling. Esp. when you mention the hours and hours and hours you get to be with them. It is seriously a LOT of time that they spend in school in a year!
I’ve been helping my senior with some work he wanted to do this summer to make his senior year more manageable. It drives me a little batty! I really appreciate your honesty and positive outlook. I KNOW it’s not easy to homeschool, but what a blessing to your children. When God has called you to it he will most certainly provide what is needed to get it done. He’s called us to send ours to our church school. It will require it’s own sacrifices and investments. The peace of knowing he’s directing my children’s lives is priceless. May you feel that anointing too!
i think homeschooling is alot like giving birth.. we forget the pain and see only the benefits so we keep coming back to do it again!! :))
homeschooling really IS awesome – i think it’s something you’ll never regret doing!
happy school year, friend.
miss you. xo