We're in our 7th year of homeschooling and although the panic attacks are now (thankfully!) few and far between, the changes in routine are still quite common. We may fall into a groove for awhile, then changes in our schedules, the weather, or a myriad other reasons keep us from keeping the schedule for more than a few months.
Hi, thanks for the follow on my site. This is a great post, I know we change things around to fit our style or needs better or just to try something new which is a wonderful part of homeschooling. I also know that we can all have those nasty little panic attacks of "are we doing the right thing for our kids?" Thankfully I do not get those too often now adays but boy I sure did the first couple years!
12/18/08, 9:42 AM
While I was traipsing around the blog-o-sphere last night I came across the post of a fellow homeschooling mom blogger Summer Fae - here - who had typed about her case of HMP - Homeschool Mom Panic!
This of course is the worst sort of mom panic, because your child's entire FUTURE rests in your meager little hands. There is no "awful teacher" to blame it on - except yourself - no "student peer pressure" to blame that behavior on - except those other children you have in your house - and no "school bus driver" who they picked up those bad road rage words from - I would never say those things!
Once you get past those wretched truths, you can soon come to realize that this is also the best sort of mom panic because you have total control over the situation - of course you may want to consult that co-principle that some of you have and then again you may not. You have the right to decide when, where, what and how your children are learning! The best part of homeschooling is that revamp policy that says "hey if it isn't working try something different or scrap it all together".
Here at GCK Homeschool we are working on an experiment in timing. We have found that trying to get KM to wake up, eat breakfast, brush her teeth and get ready to start her bookwork in the morning is just not worth the fight! It was getting to feel like we were back to the rush rush rush out the door feelings we used to have when she went to PS and I just don't have it in me to fight that battle anymore!
So instead, we are letting KM get out of bed and have breakfast at a leisurely pace. She has been watching some great Discovery Channel DVDs on the laptop during breakfast - presently she has been enjoying the Secrets of Archaeology Series which we got from the library. We then ease into our geography/holiday project we have been working on "Holidays Around the World" - pictures of that will be posted later in the week. We have been doing some yoga, silly games, exercises and chores after that, which brings us just about to lunch time. While I start lunch KM goes in and gets her daily estimation, daily writing, daily science question and Wordly Wise assignments done - which generally takes about 20-25 minutes to get done when she wants them to. During lunch we have been listening to audio books together - we just finished up the Redwall Collection by Brian Jacques, which is such a great story for audio books! After lunch we work on History, Science, Foreign Language, or whichever elective we have planned for that day. She has some free time in the afternoon, which she has been spending either on the computer or reading a lot lately. Then KM does her Teaching Textbooks assignment on her own in the later afternoon early evening.
Some days it feels like a lot or like the day is dragging on forever, but there are no fights in the morning to "get into gear" - CJ's favorite morning euphemism - and besides her daily things, she seems to be getting most of her other work done in 2 or 3 days instead of 5 - which is FINE by me! She seems to be much more able to focus and get things done when she hasn't been rushed into starting.
I don't know if this revamp will last forever and I am sure that it won't be our last, but I do know that at the moment it has calmed my HMP attacks quite a bit!
3 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formGreat post! You are right, we can change things whenever we want. I just sometimes worry that we jump around a little too much.
It seems like you have a great schedule going. I know that my kids like to take it easy in the mornings. We are not all morning people in our house.
12/15/08, 7:04 PM
We're in our 7th year of homeschooling and although the panic attacks are now (thankfully!) few and far between, the changes in routine are still quite common. We may fall into a groove for awhile, then changes in our schedules, the weather, or a myriad other reasons keep us from keeping the schedule for more than a few months.
Ah, well, such is the life of a homeschooler!
12/18/08, 4:29 AM
Hi, thanks for the follow on my site. This is a great post, I know we change things around to fit our style or needs better or just to try something new which is a wonderful part of homeschooling. I also know that we can all have those nasty little panic attacks of "are we doing the right thing for our kids?" Thankfully I do not get those too often now adays but boy I sure did the first couple years!
12/18/08, 9:42 AM