Our First Week Back to School

As you might have noticed, I have had homeschooling on the I brain for the last few weeks. I have lesson planned, organized and cleaned our school room, prayed and set goals and picked a verse for our year to hold on to. I have to admit that I have felt the most prepared this year than any other year of homeschooling.

If this is your first year homeschooling or you are still struggling to find your rhythm; take heart! It gets better! Planning and prepping has gone a long way in helping me get to this better place. I am finally giving in and catching on, try to fight it though I did.

I love reading how other homeschool moms go about their days. Their schedules, routines and how they teach multiple students. It always inspire me in areas that I am struggling with to know how other moms handle their challenges.

Though I shared more in detail how our first day went, I thought I would give you an overview of  our first week in case you have been struggling to make the transition back to a full routine. I have to say the biggest challenge I had this year was in my mind. I worried and wondered how in the world I was going to give each child the attention they need without feeling like my neck was being wrung around and around. But as always things aren't as complicated in my mind as I make them out to be.

Monday
Monday went pretty much as I planned...not according to plan. I honestly was dreading it and though there were many circumstances beyond my control I kept making excuses to put off what I knew we needed to be doing. Couldn't I just write about homeschooling instead of doing it?? Alas no, it must be done. It wasn't the best start but it truthfully went better than I imagined. I had anticipated the boys not listening and complaining about having a full day of school but in actuality they did so well. I am so glad they proved me wrong. I always need to be reminded that children thrive off of boundaries, routines and schedules(with some flexibility thrown in) contrary to what we often think.

Luke was one of my biggest worries but as you can see he jumped right in and is already reading and writing;P

Tuesday
We had the best possible school day I could hope for. It made up for all the mishaps and imperfections of Monday. I think a lot of it had to do with me getting up early. I always feel more prepared for the day when I get up early, exercise, have my quiet time with the Lord and get breakfast started before the kids get up. As moms, we really do set the tone for the day. It's not always possible to get up early for some of us and sometimes we don't get as much sleep as we would like but when we start the day right (at least with a good attitude)it can make all the difference.

Ellie officially started Kindergarten and we are doing a unit study on the Sun and how it is like Jesus, "The Light of the world." This girl loves school and has been so much fun to teach and learn with!

Wednesday
After having such a great day Tuesday it was only natural that something would go wrong the next day. Ellie started complaining in the morning that her tummy hurt. I never like to hear that anyone's tummy is hurting. It usually means the dreaded stomach bug. Many times though it just means a #2 is due. I was hoping for the latter.

As the morning progressed and we finished breakfast I was taking a much needed bathroom break when I heard screaming. Ellie had thrown up...all over herself, the couch and the floor. I tried to get myself out of the bathroom as quick as I could. I found poor Ellie covered in her breakfast. I got her a bath and spent the rest of the day cleaning the rug and couch covers. Thank goodness for my washable couch and rug! Though I hate the stomach bug, we have had it so often that it doesn't phase me as much as it used to. I waited for her to get sick again and for her brothers to start hurling but thankfully that was it. I never like to see my babies in pain, so I was very relieved she was okay.

Amazingly enough the boys had a very productive day of school and the house got a good deep cleaning.

Thursday
Ellie was back to her normal self to my relief but I was still holding my breath waiting to see if someone else got sick but somehow we were spared. ( Unfortunately we all got the stomach flu the next week...it was horrible.Those nasty bugs really like us for some reason)

The kids and I really enjoyed starting some of our new books and doing some fun games and experiments this week. We started a unit study on China for Geography, watched "Wild China" on Netflix, labeled the map of China and the surrounding countries and learned to play Chinese Checkers.

I am happy to say we stayed on our target all day and got done with school by 1:30! Since the boys exceeded my expectations(Oh, me of little faith) I took them to the skatepark as a reward.

Friday
On Fridays I had planned for us to do a field trip, nature walk or art project. Naturally we went to the Beach! We had a great time soaking up the sun, cooling off in the water and as always finding cool sea critters and shells. We have been also doing a unit study on the ocean so the kids have become very knowledgeable about the water from studying and exploring for themselves.

I can't believe I am saying this but we even did school when we came back home and finished before 2:00. I know...crazy! After we finished our school work Judah said, " Usually when we start school again it's really hard and I don't want to do it but it hasn't been that hard this time and it's fun. I think it's because we did school in the summer." I can't tell you how hearing this made my heart swell. It wasn't easy for me to convince them that it would be worth it to do some school through the summer. Well this confirmed that I made the right decision.

                             
Summary

Once again God has answered my prayers above and beyond what I could ask or imagine. I am so excited for this school year and I know it can only be explained as a supernatural act of God. I love that I have the amazing privilege of teaching my children at home. I don't take it for granted, but lets be honest...it is not always easy or fun. It is however worth it and doable... when God has called you to do it.

How was your first week back to school or homeschool??

Was it harder or easier than you thought it would be?

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