Time to get honest. This was a tough week. Is it the holiday "to-do" list that is making me cranky? Is it the kids' endless energy and being cooped up in this cold weather? Whatever the case may be, this was a hard week. Each day I thought to myself, "This is a new day! It will be better!". But we struggled most every day this week.
The typical scene unfolds: I set Jonah up with some school task. Then I go upstairs to get dressed, make the bed, etc etc... and upon returning, I find Jonah wrestling with his 6 year old brother. Then I ask him to return to his work, but then I get an important phone call, and when I get off the phone, the wrestling is going on again!
Little brother Josh, the 6 year old, is home until 12:10 each day, when the big yellow bus pulls up to whisk him away to afternoon kindergarten. When I prepared to home school, I had really envisioned him at the dining room table, coloring, doing puzzles, industriously attacking the stack of workbooks left over from Jonah and Ally....
Alas, he can usually be found making faces at his brother, nagging me to read him a story or play a game, or creating some kind of a mess somewhere in the house.
One day this week Josh had an appointment for a filling, and I told Jonah that we'd be doing "school" in the car and in the dentist's waiting room. I thought I was setting clear expectations. Lo and behold, when we got in the car for the 15 minute drive to the dentist, Jonah was shocked to hear that I demand he read Greek Mythologies out loud on the way there. Thus ensued a back and forth argument with him refusing to read and me demanding that he do so. Screaming while driving is never a good time, nor is it safe!
It's these kinds of interruptions, like dentist appointments, laundry, phone calls that I must make or answer, cooking and cleaning up after meals, errands and all the other day to day things that require my time and energy - these are the things that disrupt our home school. These are the things that provide opportunities for my student to check out, procrastinate, and slip away while I'm not looking.
Quite frankly, it is impossible for me to stand over his shoulder or hold his hand all day. UGH!! Sometimes, I think that is the only way we get things done!!
I've promised myself to be patient. This is part of the home school experience - to foster independent learning. However, there are days when I am pulling out my hair!
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