I have titled this a "homeschooling" blog but obviously don't talk about homeschooling all the time :-).
I could change the blog title and maybe I will, but part of my reasoning for keeping it is that ALL of life is homeschooling. We are constantly learning about something, whether it be facts, concepts, cooking, cleaning, or (most challenging of all) how to live as kind, godly, caring people.
But let me talk briefly about the academic side of homeschooling. Life is getting a bit more challenging as I proceed through this pregnancy, and my energy level isn't where it was a month ago. I've had a couple of episodes in the last 2 days when I honestly felt rotten and needed to sit and rest. This tends to happen more in the afternoon and evening hours. I'm a morning person through and through!
I need to keep teaching the kids, but I get frustrated when I fall behind on grading and organizing.
So for now, I have a plan. The plan is to have 2 hard hitting weeks of academics, followed by a week when we do more puzzles, games, reading. During that 3rd week, I catch up on grading.
This week is a "down" week. I am not fully prepared for it, but then I can make Monday an organizational day if necessary.
Since I am an engineer, I like having schedules and plans and producing paperwork. I have read, and agree, that a more casual approach to homeschooling can work very well. But with my personality, I need things to be more organized. I want to know the kids are progressing in various areas.
Having said that, I have learned to be very flexible about how RAPIDLY a particular child is progressing. Every child is different, and I have fully embraced that one child may read fluently at 5, and another may not be 7 or 8 until he or she reads, and that is fine! I have a couple of pairs of kids (separated by about 18 months in age) who are doing exactly the same math work because in each pair, there is one "math kid" and one kid who doesn't grasp concepts as easily.
Kids chattering, so I'll sign off.
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