I know…it's been a few weeks since the last time that I posted. I'll be honest, the school room reno really really threw me for a bit of a loop. I should have figured that it would have taken longer than I thought. It was exhausting and frustrating and….I am so glad we did it because I LOVE our new classroom!
I also definitely had a few " oh crap!" moments prior to actually starting school this week. The first day of public school here was the worst. Oldest was pretty upset about not getting to go to school with her friends, and I let Satan tell me that I was crazy, and I momentarily agreed with him.
Praise Heavenly Father and Jesus though. It's amazing how truly personal spiritual confirmations can be. I prayed that night, the night that public school started, and I just poured my heart out, talking to Him about how scared I was, how I had no idea how to teach my children, that I was just making this up as I go, and what if I am going to do more damage than good by pulling them? What if I can't reach them, and change their hearts the way I know that He wants me to? What if I am just not good enough myself to do this for my children?
I went to bed, and felt better the next day. In the evening I got onto Facebook, and my Primary President sent me an article about incorporating the gospel into homeschool. This was literally the first time she had even interacted with me on the internet, though we talk often in real life, so she knew about my desire to focus on learning the gospel in our homeschool.
I read the article, and Heavenly Father answered my prayer with a simple thought that had been echoing in my brain, but I obviously needed to hear it outside of myself for it to click.
" It doesn't matter what you teach, Jen. Strive to have the Spirit surround your home and children and they will learn what I need them to know."
I was so grateful for my Primary President for being in tune with the Spirit and sharing that article with me.
So, I moved forward with faith at that point!
It took us a full 3 weeks to get the school room to the point where it was usable, so the first day of school was not in the school room. I worked hard not to let it drag me down tho, so we started on time in our dining room!
Middle was not at all happy about doing school. This was him trying not to smile for a picture…and honestly it just went down hill from here. Bad enough that I didn't try to do school with him the rest of the week. We're in the school room now...I'm hoping that that will help us focus better, and I have cut his subjects to just the very very basics.
Oldest was really ready to start school, so she breezed through her lessons on day one. I didn't go full schedule with her either this week….we did religion, phonics/spelling, reading, math, hand writing, and on a couple of days we managed to squeeze in a little history. We didn't do music, art, or science at all.
There are a few other families from my ward that are homeschooling this year, and we have talked about doing a co-op with them, but then I didn't hear back anything until this week finally. So we're going to plan to go to co-op once a week, and we will cover History and Science with them. I have some great music and art curriculum which have a heavy focus on music and art appreciation and then a lap book and some art projects thrown in for fun that I think will actually be perfect for us. So I do intend to start those as soon as I can get them printed and put into binders.
There were a few things that I learned this week. 1) It takes us a lot longer to get through those core subjects than I anticipated. We do take brain breaks when needed, stop for lunch, and don't start school until after 9 am, so I guess that is where some of our time goes. But we were not finished a single day this week before 2:30 in the afternoon. I'm hoping that once we get more used to our schedule, we'll pick up pace a bit. 2) Projects are fun, but not necessary. We may bust out a project every now and then, but I think those are going to be special, and not an every week thing, like I had originally planned. I've been prompted that our time can be better spent by learning homemaking skills and doing things that serve others, starting with serving our family. So there we are! Our first week of school in a nutshell! Wanna see what Baby did during the school time??
Nothing like a snack of raisins and some pot and pan action to keep you occupied! Hehehe.
Oh! I'm sure you also want to see some pictures of the school room!
The shelves are still waiting for a few final pieces to be attached, as well as sanding and painting obviously, but they are useable! I have no idea when I'll get them painted….hopefully before November, but I'm not sure I can promise anything at this point, if our first week of school is any indication…
We're happy though! It's functional, and clean, and organized, and school focussed and perfect for us. I think we are really going to enjoy this blessing of a school room!
Okay, I've rambled enough for today!
happy homeschooling!
