And it was good

After I had Derek I would go to bed each night feeling guilty. Either the house would be a mess or I would feel like I didn't spend enough time with the kids. I'm a to-do list person and it was depressing to see how little I would get crossed off by the end of the day. That's when I decided my mind set needed to change. I thought about how when Heavenly Father created the world, at the end of the day He would say it was good. He didn't say, "sure I created the water, but I didn't get to the plants and there's still those animals....UG!" So instead of writing to-do lists in the morning I started mentally making got-done lists at the end of each day. Sometimes it was pretty lame the pitiful amount of stuff I got done, but it was better to think positively at what I did do instead of what I didn't. I still write to-do lists, but at that time I needed the break.

Now we have been homeschooling for three years (if you don't count the year I only taught Mike) and it is starting to feel routine. I don't think it's odd that we do it, it's just a part of our life. The kids are doing well, but I am a perfectionist and I'm always wondering what I can change, what better curriculum is out there, etc. I think since I'll be teaching Derek and Eliza I need to say that the older kids regime is good and focus on the younger kids.

Confessions of a Homeschooling Mother

I've been meaning to write some thoughts about homeschooling for a while. At the beginning of this year I decided it was our do or die year. I was going to decide to make it work or give up, but I wasn't going to have constant second thoughts anymore. I re-read the "Happy Homeschooling" book that Tallia gave me and remembered all the reasons why we wanted to home school. It gave me the motivation I needed to do what it took to make things work, including staying up until 3:00 in the morning on several occasions researching curriculum, organizing lesson schedules and creating a Mario Kart race course to motivate my kids to complete their daily work. At the time I felt totally swamped and over my head. I wondered if I would ever get a full night's sleep again. But it has all paid off and I can honestly say that home school is so easy now, I feel guilty!  

At the end of October, I brought Merian home. This year elementary school did not get out until 3:40 and even though she was not riding the bus, she wouldn't get home until 4:00. It might be totally selfish, but the main reason why she started homeschooling this year was because I missed her. (Of course she was completely in favor of the decision.) I miss Derek now that he is in Kindergarten and I hate thinking about him being gone all day next year, so I've decided to home school him and Eliza. I know I'm taking on a lot more responsibility, especially with a new baby coming in September, but I feel good about it and I hope I'm up to it.

To help me remember why all this work is worth it, I thought I'd record some of the blessings/things I enjoy about homeschooling.

Again, this is selfish, but I like having my kids home all day. I like learning about the things they are learning. I like having lunch with them. I like having our family together and on the same schedule. I like seeing my kids help each other with their schoolwork and joking around with each other or sharing what they are learning with each other. They are growing up so close. When we were all sick, Michael make Megan breakfast in bed and Eliza exercises with Megan on most days. There is nothing cuter than to hear a four-year-old say "Let's do Eight Minute Abs!"

I like being involved in their education. When they were in public school I had no idea what they were learning about. Now I can quiz them all the time. :)

I see that my kids are becoming responsible, self-motivated workers. Emma makes me so proud how she makes sure she is learning the material and not just getting the work done. She always does good quality work. Merian is as steady as a train; always on track just chugging along happily through her work. She never complains and I never have to worry about if she is on task. Of course Megan is doing great. She makes sure her grades are always in the high 90%'s. I LOVE WAVA!!! She has great teachers, a wonderful curriculum, is taking honors classes, getting high school credit and I don't have to do anything but look over her work when she asks! Michael has grown a lot this year. I don't have to constantly monitor him to make sure he's doing his work instead of playing solitaire. He's learned that it really isn't that bad to get it done and he's proud of himself. He's remarked he can't believe he used to spend all day just on math and now he can get all his school work done before lunch and have the rest of the day free.

That's another good thing about homeschooling. The kids have lots of time to develop their talents. Several times I've found my girls in their room drawing together with the art sets they got for Christmas. When we were in public school they would be gone all day, we'd have dinner and then they would have homework. It would get really stressful when we would have ballet or sports. I felt like we never got to be together as a family and life was just running from one activity to another. 

I still have to be careful not to overbook us. I want to make sure my kids have opportunities to get out and experience working in groups and being with people outside or family, but I have to be careful to balance that with not spending all my time running kids to their activities. 

My laptop battery is running out! Maybe I'll write more later.