It has almost been a month since I posted last. I could give a lot of excuses but it all really comes down to the fact that my day consist of home school in the morning, break for a quick lunch, then class for me for another couple of hours, then onto getting prepared for dinner, trying to work out, doing other things that I need to around the house, then dinner and cleanup, a little down time then the kid's bedtime. I have been staying up too late trying to get more things done or watching TV with Todd. I've always liked the time when the kids go to bed because I feel it is my only "me" time. I haven't been able to study outside of class like I should be doing so I am glad to take a break from class for a month. I've started looking ahead to next year when Ev will be in first grade and Elijah will be in Kinder and with Ian I am hoping to do some Preschool with him. School for me is still in the schedule yet as I look to next year I don't know if it is really going to a possibility or not.
Homeschooling this year has been different than I expected. I knew going into it that it is very different from the classroom. Home schooling is great that you can be more flexible but I have found that it seems that things always come up in our day and since we are at home we get interrupted more than I would like. I have to really fight to protect our morning. I have always loved that our kids sleep in late but as it is darker outside in the morning my kids don't want to get up. I was finding in December that they were not getting up until after 9am. I was feeling overwhelmed because by the time they ate their breakfast and really woke up it was closer to 10 and well I didn't have much time before my teacher came. I began saying to them, "if you don't get to class on time then Mommy doesn't get to class on time." For a few weeks my teacher was coming to me a half an hour early meaning she was showing up at noon. Teaching your own kids has its advantages and disadvantages. Currently one child struggles with a few things while really being eager to learn. Another child's learning style is so different to mine that it is challenging for me to understand whether this one is listening or messing around. And then my other child wants to have a power struggle and not do anything for me. It is hard being mom and teacher. I am thankful that the kids have extracurricular activities. My older two have Chinese class twice a week for a couple of hours and then Art class on a different day for a couple of hours. They love their teachers and really thrive with them not only in a second language but it is good for them to have some one else teaching them.
We are going to be taking a break in February when we travel out of the country for vacation. I still have things planed for Ev to do but it won't be our normal routine.
I am looking forward to going to a home school conference that only Ev and I will be going to in February. I have been feeling overwhelmed so hopefully I will be able to ask some questions and talk to other moms.
I guess I am really ready for a break. We'll rent a house with a pool and enjoy the warm weather for a couple of weeks, then Ev and I will go to another city for the conference and then meet up with the boys in another city where we will hang out with some friends of ours for a few more days.
