Two Weeks In

We've been easing into homeschooling for two weeks. We started with math, handwriting, and reading. I consider these the basics of our Kindergarten year. Art, History, Science and other subjects are important as well, but I wanted to get the basics in place.

So how is it going?

1. We quickly learned that these Kindergarten basics won't happen while D (19 months) is awake. He is just too distracting to accomplish any teaching. So we are accomplishing these skills in the afternoon and will save the other subjects for the morning.

2. We had our first big battle. My first born daughter (K, age 5), normally fairly agreeable, decided she didn't want to do what she was asked to do. She was asked to complete a worksheet in her, "Explode the Code" book which should have taken less than 5 minutes. For some reason she refused, then acted as if she didn't know how...and the battle ensued. It ended with her in bed for 20 minutes, where she decided to do the worksheet. After an hour which left me completely baffled, the battle ended. Things were better for the rest of the evening, and thankfully school was over for the day.

It wasn't our only battle this week. We had another today. I asked her to begin writing her first and last name on her papers and she didn't want to. She complained that she didn't know how. (which she does) And even when I offered to state the letters for her as she wrote, she didn't want to do it. Luckily it only took 5 minutes in her room and a little chat for her to complete the task.

I doubt that these will be our last battles either, but they have been a bit discouraging for our start to the school year. I guess I thought everything would be "fun" and "new", but it hasn't been at every moment.

3. We encountered our first sick days. A cold and fever struck the house and K ended up sick. We kept our schooling pretty loose this week but tried to keep up with some of our goals. Clearly, this probably contributed to one or more of our battles as she didn't feel 100%.

4. Then mommy ended up sick on Thursday. After laying on the sofa until 10 AM, then laying back down by 3 PM, I began to think that perhaps my child would be better off at school. Because Thursday was quite a wash. And looking back, so was much of this week.

5. Some sense of loneliness kicked in as my very dear friends are experiencing the excitement of their first child starting kindergarten. They are going through things and discussing things that I am not part of. And as a former teacher, the school environment is something I miss and somewhat wish my daughter was a part of. I think it will help when our homeschool groups begin and we are interacting with other homeschoolers during the week!

I am looking forward to next week. Our full schedule kicks in, as well as our Classical Conversations classes. I know we are on the path God has laid out for our family. I can rest securely in that.

There are days that are tough and things we have to work through. I can't say everything has gone as I hoped or expected, but God is good and next week is a new week!