I’m just chalking it up to being bored though we all know when you are homeschooling a Kindergartener and a 1st grader with a couple Preschoolers who want in on the action, it’s anything but boring around here.
The road to homeschooling for us has been bumpy, thought I will say, I honestly didn’t expect that in the least due to the fact that Garrett and I were both homeschooled growing up. But let me say, there is a far cry between being homeschooled and HOMESCHOOLING YOUR OWN CHILDREN WHOM YOU LOVE AND ADORE AND WANT TO SQUEEZE AND ALSO NEED SPACE FROM AFTER YOU EXPLAIN THE DIRECTIONS FOR THE 5TH TIME TO BE MET WITH A BLANK STARE.
I am, by no means, a patient woman. You can ask my husband. I have had 3 children under 3 and 4 children in 4 years and Let me tell you the thing I heard the most when I had one in a sling or on my hip was, “Wow. I don’t know how you do it! You are superwoman!” that or .... “Wow. You have your hands full!” (as the person proceeds to not hold the door for me.)
I’ll save my motherhood journey and my lack of patience within it for another post for another day, but let’s just suffice it to say, this task oriented, bulldog, impatient mama is learning a lot with homeschooling. Personally, I was homeschooled from 5th grade and up, Garrett was homeschooling all the way through. I have ZERO clue what a child is supposed to learn and when. I am a Studio Art/Painting/Drawing major. I have absolutely no clue what I’m doing. BUT! I know this is what we are supposed to be doing. So.... PEACE.
We actually started homeschooling last year for Winslow’s Kindergarten year. If you’ve ever met my 2.5 year old who was 1.5 years old at the time, you can guess how that went. We did school with all the chairs on the dining room table. It was a mess. He was constantly grabbing markers and crayons and .. glue... oh the glue. It was not the best environment for learning, that’s for sure. There were tears. From both of us. From all of us.
So we ended up sending her to the public school mid-October and it was AWESOME. Well.... I will use the word AWESOME loosely. She had almost zero friends, but then COVID-19 happened and then other things happened annnnnd here we are.
We went ahead and started our school year and as I type, the girls are finishing up Day 4 of Week 3 of school. I’m super proud of them. I’m especially proud this week because they have knocked it OUT. OF. THE. PARK. I mean I am totally giving them candy after they finish each subject, but hey, it’s working. And I like results. :)
I decided this go around to focus less on curriculum and more on the environment of learning. So we turned our front brick room into a school room, got rid of the bed and other furniture, put in a table and viola! The sweetest, most conducive school room ever! I’m so thankful. It’s literally been a lifesaver the past few weeks! I know lots of people homeschool at the kitchen table and so did I! Well, that or the tree outside, or the trampoline, or the couch... but my kids aren’t there yet. It just really helps that it’s in a room that once we’re done, we can leave, shut the door and not worry about it until the next day. I’m super thankful.
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Now that I’m homeschooling two VERY different children.... I can understand why I put Winslow in mid semester last year. Sullivan and Winslow are pretty different from each other. I could write a whole novel on that alone and how when I was pregnant with Sulli I thought, “Cool,... Just do everything we’ve just done!” Yeaaaaahhhh.... rightttttt....
Sullivan is pretty focused. She learns quickly. She is too smart for her own good. She wants to be the fastest at everything. She asks me all day, “Mom, is Winslow ahead of me?” She wants to make sure she gets done first... always. It’s exhausting a bit, but efficient. Because of her tenacity, she’s doing 1st grade work. Her and Winslow do the same math & I accidentally bought 1st grade Language but she’s keeping up with it so I’m rolling with it.
Winslow is a different story. She is my tender hearted one and always up for anything fun or telling a good story. She’s a dreamer through and through. As my dear friend Kylie says, “She’s never had much hurry in her.“ SO TRUE. She is smart. She is willing. But goodness, is she spacey. Like wow.
The first week, I was like, “NOPE. This is why I sent her to school.”
Garrett went in to her room one night to talk with her about it and she told him, “I just would rather be dreaming than doing school.” Listen, I don’t pretend to be a homeschooling expert. I literally have no clue what I’m doing it. BUT, I do know that I don’t want to repeat myself 20x for 1 section of grammar/phonics. And I don’t know much about this, but I know I shouldn’t have to. So we’ve instituted lots of rewards and so farrrrr.... it’s working. Like I said, week 3 over here.
I’m also learning to be flexible. Go with the flow. Let some things slide. Let her work at her own pace. And she’s getting better at being able to focus in a room with 4 other people doing 4 different things. It’s an adjustment, but we’ll get it. We’ll get by I’m sure with a few FaceTime calls with my Mom, MIL, SIL, pastor’s wife, gosh... you if you homeschool!
Sullivan is pretty focused. She learns quickly. She is too smart for her own good. She wants to be the fastest at everything. She asks me all day, “Mom, is Winslow ahead of me?” She wants to make sure she gets done first... always. It’s exhausting a bit, but efficient. Because of her tenacity, she’s doing 1st grade work. Her and Winslow do the same math & I accidentally bought 1st grade Language but she’s keeping up with it so I’m rolling with it.
Winslow is a different story. She is my tender hearted one and always up for anything fun or telling a good story. She’s a dreamer through and through. As my dear friend Kylie says, “She’s never had much hurry in her.“ SO TRUE. She is smart. She is willing. But goodness, is she spacey. Like wow.
The first week, I was like, “NOPE. This is why I sent her to school.”
Garrett went in to her room one night to talk with her about it and she told him, “I just would rather be dreaming than doing school.” Listen, I don’t pretend to be a homeschooling expert. I literally have no clue what I’m doing it. BUT, I do know that I don’t want to repeat myself 20x for 1 section of grammar/phonics. And I don’t know much about this, but I know I shouldn’t have to. So we’ve instituted lots of rewards and so farrrrr.... it’s working. Like I said, week 3 over here.
I’m also learning to be flexible. Go with the flow. Let some things slide. Let her work at her own pace. And she’s getting better at being able to focus in a room with 4 other people doing 4 different things. It’s an adjustment, but we’ll get it. We’ll get by I’m sure with a few FaceTime calls with my Mom, MIL, SIL, pastor’s wife, gosh... you if you homeschool!
I love how different each of my kids are. They are definitely some of my favorite people out there. They have different personalities, they approach life differently, they have different levels of bravery, but they are each a huge gift to G and me and we couldn’t be more grateful.
As always, the Lord is teaching me about patience. How to bridle my tongue and how to best serve each of my very different children. Sometimes that involves some Blippi for the younger two so the older two can focus a little better. Sometimes it’s baking cookies with my girls even though it will go so much faster if I do it myself.
I guess we’re all in school these days. I have the cutest nuggets for classmates too.
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