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kbfsc
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| Posted: Jan 23 2010 at 8:27pm | IP Logged
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We're in our second year of home schooling and last week was our first real and true bust. As I sat down this evening to begin planning for next week I realized just how little we accomplished last week - and I felt this mixture of pleasure and deflation. Pleasure because this is what home schooling is about, right? We had lots of stress, illness and mess last week so we just couldn't quite get school done and that's ok. Right? I get that one in part... but mostly I'm feeling the deflation. These kids are depending on me and I have let them down. Here comes the litany: what kind of mother am I... poor kids don't get out enough... have you seen the dust on my baseboards... that public elementary school down the street sure is nice...
Does everyone do this? Are there weeks that are just a big bust? And can you get in touch with the pleasure in that - or just the deflation? There has been lots of stress around here lately - so I guess I'm feeling it from all sides. It just stinks when it seems like these little precious ones are the ones paying for it.
Thanks for listening (reading, rather?) and letting me boo-hoo for a moment.
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Kiera
happy mama of ds '02, dd '03, ds '06, dd '09 and little ones in heaven
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wamegomom
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| Posted: Jan 23 2010 at 9:39pm | IP Logged
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Kiera, I've only a couple of minutes but I wanted to first, send you a hug and a prayer. We've ALL been there.
Second, it's a week. It's a quarter of a drop in the bucket. And if you had some illness in the family you did what you had to do and nurtured the sick ones. You are a great mom--you helped your children feel better and that was a higher priority that the baseboards! You say you are under stress lately. Remember this is the time of year when most home learning families experience the winter blahs and discouragement sneaks in the back door. Since I have several sisters in law who are public school teachers, I can assure you that the atmosphere is the same or worse at school, and the teachers find themselves daydreaming about jobs in a different profession next year.
For many families, school schedules and pressures are more stress, not less. I think at times like you are describing, you make everyone well, you find some things that de-stress everybody (going to a movie or a museum or a concert or craft time at the library, etc), pay attention to meals and nutrition and sleep, find a fun (and funny) read-aloud, maybe have a delicious storytime tea with yummy treats. Take good care of YOU.
Remember, the nice public school down the street has its own stresses. Besides the encroachment on your family time, there are fun things like schlepping your little ones around to sell candy and wrapping paper for the school, helping out with activities regardless of the needs of your other children not old enough for school, exposure to illnesses that come home to your littler ones, exposure to LOTS of other stuff. (Just yesterday I had to refuse to allow my 8 and 11 y.o. boys to wait outside for the neighbor boy to get off the bus at 4 o'clock. They came in and asked me what con***oms were, as the boys on the bus were yelling that to them!)
You have weeks (or days) when things just hum along, and then the weeks or days when not much goes right. Sometimes they are serendipitously wonderful, and sometimes not so much, but I firmly believe in my heart that each day is blessed by God because I offered it to Him before my feet hit the floor. So He'll make sure the final product is ok. And honestly, when I look back over the times I was sure nobody was learning anything, I can see that that wasn't true. Sometimes a child will say something that amazes me, and when I ask when they heard that, read that, etc, it often is a time when I thought nothing much was going on. I've learned to have faith in a good family environment. You are building one with your little ones, Kiera, and it sounds like you are on track.
You can "boo-hoo" here anytime, because we'll all have your back.
Mary Alice in Kansas
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Jan 23 2010 at 9:52pm | IP Logged
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What took you so long? 
Really, not being sarcastic or anything but you are deep into your second year and just now having a bad week? I'd say that's pretty amazing! 
And, as Mary Alice said, it's just a drop in the bucket. You've got many, many weeks, both good and bad, to look forward to.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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hsmom
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| Posted: Jan 28 2010 at 6:17am | IP Logged
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kbfsc wrote:
Does everyone do this? Are there weeks that are just a big bust? And can you get in touch with the pleasure in that - or just the deflation?
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Absolutely! I think for me what helped was learning educationese for what my kids did do. Like reading to herself is SSR, silent sustained reading. They actually have that expression here. Probably other places too. Or helping me around the house is home ec. Just going to the P.O. with little ones is Social Studies. Really, they study their community in the early grades.
When I start to worry I remind myself that my dd is learning all the time, not just when I'm teaching her.
~hsmom~
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Elena
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| Posted: Jan 28 2010 at 7:23am | IP Logged
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 We're in our second year of home schooling and last week was our first real and true bust. As I sat down this evening to begin planning for next week I realized just how little we accomplished last week -
I've had years like that! 
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Elena
Wife to Peter, mom of many!
My Domestic Church
One Day at a Time
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Rebeccca
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| Posted: Jan 28 2010 at 7:36am | IP Logged
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Two whole years w/o a single dud of a week??? I'd say congratulations are in order!
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kbfsc
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| Posted: Jan 28 2010 at 8:12am | IP Logged
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Friends, thank you for the encouragement! This home school journey feels very vulnerable... I told my husband (when we were discerning about home schooling) how much it intimidates me to be responsible for *every* part of my children's formation. Warm clothes, good food, faith formation, manners, playing nice... and history and geography?! (Please, let's don't even talk about math!) Intellectually I get it that we are the primary educators of these precious ones, and I desire this lifestyle! - but my heart needs to catch up. Here's the tape that needs to run in my head: All things are possible in Christ... God is with us... prayer and sacraments... community support.
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Kiera
happy mama of ds '02, dd '03, ds '06, dd '09 and little ones in heaven
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: Jan 28 2010 at 3:03pm | IP Logged
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The 'every' part is what can overwhelm me at those times too...
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Kristie in Canada
Mom to 3 boys and one spunky princess!!
A Walk in the Woods
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Last week was a bust
