We've been officially homeschooling for 3 weeks now and I'm a happy to report that our days are going great! Learning has become easier for my straggling children and more challenging for my self-motivated child. The stragglers are allowed to go at their own pace so they can better grasp the concepts and the self-motivated one finds himself in the sixth week of school already.
I'm also learning a few things along the way.
First, it doesn't take nearly as long to teach one-on-one as it does to a classroom. This is both good and not so good. It's good because the boys are learning what they need to learn, it's bad because they are finishing before the school day ends. I haven't quite come up with a solution yet, but I'm leaning towards telling them to find creative hobbies that they would enjoy learning, such as woodworking. Maybe one of them would like to figure out how to fix cars. Wouldn't that be nice!
I'm also learning that my scheduling mania is paying off now. We have a workable schedule that allows one boy at a time to play with Thomas. They read to him, take him outside, play Play-doh or a phonics website. This keeps him busy and happy and I'm able to work with the other two for that period of time. Once Thomas is in nap we do the subjects that are combined. Right now, we're starting the Middle Ages and Physics.
Also, each boy is assigned a Jurisdiction that he needs to keep clean, so even the house is staying relatively in order. I'm still behind on laundry, but I've accepted the fact that I will always have a Mt. Washmore until the children are all grown.
So, we're off to a great start of the new school year. With all the major academic planning behind me, I'm hoping to focus on planning better for upcoming Feast Days and maybe sharing some of that on our blog.
