We took an extra week off after the Christmas and New Year holidays. And this week I'm slowly stirring out of my festive + house-hunting stupor.
I don't know about you but I feel like declaring a longer holiday. A much, much loooonger holiday. I actually dislike holidays. I dislike slowing down our pace because it's such a hassle for me to get back into tempo. Once I lose rhythm, it takes me ages to get back in track. I feel like I'm on holiday withdrawal...yearning for more days off, dreading having to shift gears. Anyone else feel like this? (laugh...yeah, probably the rest of the world eh?)
Another thing about holidays is that I always get that little thrill of "curriculum-switch" or "method-switch" syndrome.Right now I'm thinking, "Oh to the h#*k with it and let's just unschool him". I'm thinking of having just literature and living science read alouds, doing some math every morning and then getting audiobooks for every thing else. I'm thinking "I could do with the extra time planning my new kitchen or how the yard will look". I'm thinking DS will love having more autonomy over his day. I'm thinking "oh I just want to read a book and have ice cream right now."
We seriously need more sunlight in our home. All the black bookshelves are draining the light out of our already cluttered apartment. There's no way the kiddo is going to lend me his energy. They need to invent some way for us parents to get some juice out of wall sockets. (By the way, what happened to the weather today? It's like summer here in the middle of January!).
On the other hand, the kiddo has been rather restless over the holidays. He's just twitching to begin co-op classes this week. I guess that's one of the clearest cons of being a very bouncy only child
(his other nickname is Jumpy-of Curious George fame-Squirrel's younger brother). Holidays can't be all that fun when you spend the whole day with two cauliflower-paced parents.We have a nice plan for the co-op this semester. He'll have two science classes (Biology and Earth Science) and will be continuing his Magic Tree House-themed history/ geography class. Which leaves us with at most 3 days a week to do school.
I think I'm done planning how much we're going to get done every year. We're still in Egypt but happily so. And we're still crawling through Cyber Ed Biology and also happily so. We are enjoying a page or 2 a day of Secret Treasures and Magical Measures for math and DS is getting better at figuring out measurements.
His music teacher has praised his sight reading and playing skills and he practices without even thinking about it now. He's loving the 2009 Origami calendar I got him for Christmas.
I like to think of all this as digging deeper instead of rushing to cover everything the state expects us to.
He's happy. I'm happy. I look at me now and think
"What happened to that harried woman who began homeschooling 18 months ago?"
Aaah, but don't worry...I'm not going to be confidently lethargic for long.
Sometime in February (or sooner) I will begin panicking. Just you wait and see.
For me the panic sets in around the end of March/beginning of April when I start thinking of what I'm going to write for the school district's end-of-year progress report. But you guys sound like you have plenty already that you could potentially turn into education-ese. Happy vegging!
ReplyDeleteSo much of what we do is unwritten. When the time comes for me to submit our report they'll be asking me for proof...I just know it. I keep forgetting to snap photos too.
ReplyDeleteSigh...but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. It's nice being a cabbage...I think I'll stay so a while longer (laugh).
I don't know how you do it...I'm complaining with an only child :)