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mamaslearning
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| Posted: Jan 28 2014 at 10:36am | IP Logged
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It has been a long while since I posted! Howdy! Lots of life happening all around me - moved twice, moved my parents, grandmother passed on Christmas Day, illness, etc., etc.
So, having gotten a sense of normalcy back, I have a question. We are not enjoying school! I'm wondering how much of our discontent is just the good ole' wintertime blahs, or if we need to step back from our curriculum choices? I went with a packaged option for my oldest (grade 4) because of all the chaos, but it is so dry. I thought I could liven it up, but haven't thought it through yet. I am out the money, so I need to finish it up for the year (not an option to completely get rid of it at this point, we are halfway through). I love the idea of the package, but never can follow it completely and then end up trying to do too much. I am thinking a change back to living books is what we need next year.
I guess I just need some comfort and ideas for getting us back into the groove of learning. Honestly, I am beginning to question if public school might not be a good option. I am so burnt out! My house is not unpacked yet (been here since November but with holidays and moving my parents, it was put on the back burner), our days are still chaotic, and I just want to sleep with all this winter weather surrounding me.
Help? Suggestions? Can you read my mind and tell me the answer to the question I don't know how to ask?
Can't wait to join in the conversation again. Oh, and please move this to another area if need be, thanks.
Lara
dd 10, ds 7, ds 5, ds 3 and a very loved DH!
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SeaStar
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| Posted: Jan 28 2014 at 11:36am | IP Logged
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So good to see you posting again, Lara! 
I am sorry to hear about your grandmother passing, especially on Christmas Day. We will pray for the repose of her soul.
Would it work if you took a week or two off school just to unpack and get everything settled? It makes me feel rattled and unfocused to have things out of whack in the house long term...I feel too stressed to focus on school- in the back of my mind I am fretting about what needs to be done.
Maybe along with unpacking you could throw in some great read alouds or audiobooks. That way you are still learning. Or you could just think of unpacking as a great big crash course in home ec, which is important, too.
In the winter I am not against shifting some of our schoolwork to the dark evening hours. It's too cold and dark to play outside, but after dinner is a great time for an art project, history dvd, or read aloud. I find that my kids can get wound up on winter evenings, so this approach also helps with that. Hang in there!
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Jan 28 2014 at 12:04pm | IP Logged
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OH my goodness! I should think you'd be experiencing stress after all of that.
So.. welcome back. And anyone would be burnt out by all of that. It doesn't mean that you have get right back into the perfectly executed school day though. All of you have been stressed.. that's not going to go away just because you're past the events. All of you need time to adjust and destress so that may not include school for the time being. It of course doesn't mean you can't learn but now might be a really good time to spend some days unpacking early in the day with some sort of "carrot" for afterward and maybe a bit of school after that when you're all a bit more relaxed after something "fun".
You mentioned that you've moved twice. Are you in the same area? Or is there some exploring you could do? Are you in the deep freeze with bad roads and frigid temps?
So you might try unpacking in the mornings.. everyone is fresh and you have time to get some things unpacked and put away without having to leave the mess out.. then in the afternoon, go check out the library, any free museums, the thrift shops, maybe the regular stores in town.. find the downtown area and peek into all the shops. If you can't go out, find the city or county webpage, look at the businesses that belong to the Chamber of Commerce, they often have a business directory. Or the parks and rec type of programs. Maybe you need to explore around your more immediate area because you're in the same community.. so maybe going out and walking the neighborhood (or driving around if it's too cold to walk) and noticing the little stuff that you might not normally have noted for an area different from where you lived.. is there a nearby park, how far are things from the new place.
Basically, anything that's going to do two things.. get you out of the house for a short while (preferably physically but sometimes just by imagination and computer) because with the unpacking looming it's a cause of stress, and the second is that it's going to increase everyone's enthusiasm for this new place which is a nice counter to losing the old place (especially if the old place is too far for visits).
Remember to give yourself and everyone else permission to grieve even while you're looking for the positives. Moving involves loss and obviously losing a grandma is a loss.
Then in the late afternoon or evening.. if it is indeed causing you stress (which it sounds like) pull out whatever is causing you the most stress about not doing for school. Math? Spelling? but don't try and do it all just pick one thing to help you feel like you're accomplishing something.. and/or the more fun things (read alouds or a good movie or arts and crafts) or do some of each.. so that you again have the work followed with the carrot for getting that work done. BUT BUT BUT really big thing here.. don't over do it.. if a lesson of math is way to much to get through without battles and tears (yours or theirs) then do half a lesson. Or drop the math program for a couple of weeks and work on the basic operations (+-x/) because the better you know those the easier everything else is.
AND you might want to make a simple meal plan. keep it simple but one of the things I know is lost in the chaos is generally decent meals and the time to enjoy them. So being sure that those are added back in will help everyone feel better and increase the feelings of normalacy.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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mamaslearning
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| Posted: Feb 03 2014 at 9:51am | IP Logged
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Thank you everybody (plus the PM's)! I have a game plan formulating and finally, finally unpacked our master bath (I had been living out of the boxes). I am breathing a bit better over some of the cleaning I did this weekend.
I am also attacking our school work from a different angle to see where that takes us. Like I said, we paid a lot of money so I need to use what we have and get the grades sent in as well (which is optional, but DH would like to see it done). So, I am giving out the test for upcoming quarters and then teaching what is missed on the tests instead of trying to cram everything into our year. I know, sounds just like that other place of education down the street, but at least this way I can add in all the fun stuff we like to do - field trips, library programs, museum classes, etc. - that we had lessened due to the time this program took to teach.
I am definitely coming back to my eclectic ways next year! But, I needed this experience to help me further grow into my role as educator.
I hope to be around more often, gleaning wisdom and growing some more!!
Thanks again!
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Lara
DD 11, DS 8, DS 6, DS 4
St. Francis de Sales Homeschool
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Angie Mc
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| Posted: Feb 05 2014 at 9:47am | IP Logged
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Glad to see you, Lara! I'm getting my home office set up (hope to post pictures at my blog within the week) and there is definitely a "get things in order" vibe in the air! You might want to check out Jen's blog and her Refreshing. Rooting for you!
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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ekbell
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| Posted: Feb 27 2014 at 1:58pm | IP Logged
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We moved across the continent when my oldest was 'grade 3' and ended up only doing about 2 months of lessons that year.
I learned two things.
One : it's amazing how much children can pick up informally.
Two: testing (formally or informally) and then teaching what's been missed can be very effective when playing catch-up. (The math program I use calls it pre-testing)".) I've found that it's a good idea to browse through the material and check for material not on the test.
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Winter Blahs or something else
