It is finished.
School for the day, that is. It is 3:13pm and we are D-O-N-E. Well, actually, I am done, which is all I care about, apparently. The girls are in the other room being taught Latin by a lady in the TV. They have at least another 45 minutes. Stinks to be the them.
I thought I would snap a photo to capture the disaster that is school. You’re welcome.
From morning until lunch, school was downstairs. I am not sure how it came to pass, but school ended up at the kitchen table by the end of the day.
Points of Interest for the above photo:
1) It is a disaster zone.
2) There is a blue bowl. This was for popcorn. We were doing History and Latin review (before I turned them loose on TV Teacher). Latin requires popcorn. It is a fact.
3) The markers exploded.
4) There is a large, coffee mug at my seat. Amen.
5) On the island, there is a container with a green lid. This is Handsome Dude’s “gun money.”
What’s that? Oh! Have I not told you? The boy is saving up his money for a gun. He has three dollars and about 18 pennies and he is certain he is the wealthiest boy in the world.
I told him that he ain’t getting no gun. If he can’t even aim into the toilet properly, we are certainly not arming him with a weapon.
6) Also on the island are some eggs the boys gathered. This is their joy in life. Their purpose, if you will.
It is not my joy. I am the Chief Poultry Poop Wiper-Offer. Trust me. It is not as esteemed as it sounds.
7) Little Dude no longer has a shirt. He started off the day with a shirt. I do not know where it went, and currently I could not care less.
8) Little Dude is sitting on the counter. Which is odd since he is not supposed to do that.
I decided to show you all that picture so that you wouldn’t think homeschool was all sunshine and roses and the house was always tidy and eggs were poop-free and life was peaceful and full of bliss. But them I remember you read this blog and, most likely, had no such impressions of homeschool.
But who cares that the house looks like that? The girls and I learned all about Guy Fawkes today and can recite the first few lines of this poem:
“Remember, remember, the fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.”
So, there you go. We are learned.
Fun Fact: I actually do kind of like homeschool.
I KNOW.
There really are a lot of awesome aspects to it. But it is truly exhausting and even overwhelming at times, in my opinion. This year has been a bit tougher because I added HD to the mix. When I think about having all four next year, I want to crawl into a hole and hide.
The problem is that you have each child in a different grade. So you are teaching 3 different grades of math, 3 different grades of reading, and so on. I do combine the girls with science, history, Latin, art, and so on and I plan on doing the same for the boys. But I am having trouble coming up with a good schedule that works for us.
I need help. Please advise.
In other, not at all interesting, news, it has been brought to my attention that I can grow zucchini.
And that’s not even all of it.
That’s a lot of zucchini bread, my friends.
Alright. The TV teacher is done (darn), the kids are back (double darn) and I need to clean some poo off eggs (oh, the humanity!).
Later dudes.
The humanity, indeed. I feel that must certainly be crowned Poop Cleaner-offer Extrordinaire! Right? Being a homeschooling mom of 4, in the country was impressive enough. Add Poop Cleaner-offer Extrordinaire to the mix makes you UBER impressive!
Oh my word! The typos! Sorry… I was trying to type with two children snuggled in on either side of me with popsicles in hand. Hovering over me AND the computer. Scary. And apparently not a good combination…
I’ve added a third student to my mix as well. I guess it’s actually my second year of homeschooling my boy but Kindergarten was basically Academy Lego if you know what I mean. We have to buckle down this year. So far it’s tricky to stagger everybody, and I am so not up for re-reading all the grade 1 read-alouds!
I just keep going back and re-reading Ruth Beechick’s 3 R’s book. Makes everything seem more manageable.
And we do all our learning at the kitchen table. If we work upstairs then I become a bad teacher and get distracted, checking my email.
don’t think I have remembered to tell you I get a big smile on my face whenever I look at the pic of your 4 kiddos all strapped in and ready to roll! Are they happy children or WHAT??? you must be doing a VERY good job being mama, cuz there are plenty of families who would never be able to have a pic like that in the car!
Also, I think your homeschool kitchen table looks just right. Some learning has been going on there!!
Seriously! I will pay for corn, zucchini and eggs.
“If he can’t even aim into the toilet properly, we are certainly not arming him with a weapon.”
If that’s not a convincing argument to put an end to all wars, I don’t know what is.
Fun fact: non-homeschool teachers also have to teach several grades at once. It is the chief reason for my gray hair. If you get a great idea on how to do it properly, please advise. Differentiation: not for the faint of heart.
This morning I put one kid at the kitchen table and one at the dining room table and I went around in circles for 3 hours. Also, I often will let the little one play while I get the big one started, then the big one can play while I work with the little one… it gets a little tag-teamy, but it works. When the little one was younger, I used to put Leapfrog videos (the best thing EVER) on, and let her watch while I worked with the big one.
To ALL the homeschool teachers out there……………….. YOU GUYS ROCK !!!!!
Freeze that zucchini. You can slice it or grate it and stick it in the freezer for bread later! It works great.
I vote for zucchini cake. Do I get a vote?
I was so impressed with the amount of knowledge your kids showed when we played that game, remember?? Whatever y’all are doing – it’s working. You’re doing great! Do you ever just eat the zucchini? Maybe you should add a pig to your menagerie.
PS 2 pts for the use of menagerie
Shoot. I am impressed that you do Latin at all. We have just stuck to the basics. I am a bad bad homeschool mom.
I have been so near tears, depression, and exhaustion in the last 4 weeks since starting school. I have 5 different grades this year. (Plus 2 not even in school yet.) I was paniced before school even started and rightly so. We live in an area where the public schools are failing badly and private schooling is financially out of the question. All that being said, I do actually like homeschooling and I love being with my kids. BUT. Oh, and I have an ADD/ADHD child. I came to a point very recently where I felt like the Lord said “Are you done trying? Because I have wisdom and help available”. Clearly, I was and clearly my fretting wasn’t working. I can say that not a lot has changed, but I’ve seen Him work in my day, and answer prayers for patience and wisdom IMMEDIATELY upon crying out for help. Even down to scheduling subject issues and finding the lost blankets for nappers. So good to know we’re not in this alone and that He is an EVER PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE!
Oh, and to just add to the fun I changed curriculum for Language arts and math. What was I thinking??! 🙂 Math is great. Language a challenge. But, I was wondering what TV Latin deal you used? That sounds dreamy. I switched the the Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading for my younger and the Bridge the Latin Road for my olders. Not sure we’ll stick with it.