To Market

This morning Sylvia "helped" me make Amish Friendship Bread while Luke wrote another Super Luke story and Isabel colored some Barbie pictures. They did their math worksheets and played hopscotch outside. Luke also created a hopscotch maze. This is all with sidewalk chalk on the driveway. Isabel rode her scooter and I pushed Sylvia in her stroller. We then drove around and delivered the bread to some of my friends. This week in the afternoons I've started having one on one time with Sylvia.  I've been realizing that too many times I just want to keep her busy so that she is not in the way while Luke Isabel and I are doing school together.  I know she needs my attention and I have been thinking that maybe if she gets that from me, then she will not feel the need to act out so much....yeah right.  I read to her out of her nursery rhymes book and she loves it.  She now expects it and brings me the book shouting "NURSERY RHYMES! NURSERY RHYMES!"  Her favorite one is To Market which she has me recite over and over again.

Later today we will play the new Super Luke Kid's League board game that Luke invented last night.  A book series that Luke likes now is Cracked Classics by Tony Abbott.  I guess the idea is that these two kids go to the library and go into a book.  Luke is reading the Treasure Island book, X Marks the Spot.

What Home Schooling Looks Like.

I really hesitate to show you this picture.

But this is what home schooling here looks like a lot of days. Today was rainy, so I knew we wouldn't be going anywhere. Why bother telling Isabel that a poka dot shirt doesn't really go with her zebra print stretch pants (I wish you could see them better in the picture, they are wonderfully hideous.) Why bother putting pants back on Sylvia after she has proudly taken them off for the hundredth time. Notice the messy hair, dirty sippy cup and random vacuum hose.

Last summer before I started home schooling, I had this idea that to be productive we would start and finish school at the same time every day, have a certain order in which we studied our subjects and that our schoolroom would look like a public school. My point is, I've learned that combed hair and a strict schedule looks nice, but is not ideal (at least not for us.) I know I know, teaching cleanliness, hygiene, punctuality and all that is important and I do that. Now that I am home schooling, I have kids home during the day (more messes) and I am doing school with them (less time for me to be cleaning) so I know that I need to be okay with occasional clutter (okay let's face it, I've always been okay with that one.) I want my kids to enjoy our learning time together which means I need to be more flexible on our schedule so that we are not feeling stressed and rushed. And their hair and clothes, I promise I have them well groomed at least half the time (yeah right, what a lie) and here is a picture to prove it and to cancel out the picture above.

I am writing all of this not to complain, but to be honest and say that this is what home schooling looks like and yet, we had a fun and productive school time today! Twenty years from now I will look at the second picture and remember how cute looking my kids were, but I know when I look at the first picture I will have wonderful memories of discovery, accomplishments, excitement and learning with my children.

Tuesdays are Off

Tuesday has become our day off! Tuesdays we do absolutely NO sit down school work, worksheets, planned lessons, or any of that. It has worked out great because every other Tuesday morning we have our "MOPS school" and so having Tuesdays "off" I don't feel pressure to get in school in the afternoon (which as all of us home schoolers have experienced, school in the afternoon, at least with younger children, is usually a disaster.) Or if we don't have MOPS that Tuesday then we can go to the park or run some fun errands (Target, Dollar Store, etc.) This morning we went to MOPS. We then rode the carousel at the Las Vegas Outlets and played in the toy store...just for fun.