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Monday, September 19, 2011

There is No Peace with Preschoolers

We started our homeschool year a couple of weeks ago - the day after Labor Day, to coincide with Isaac starting preschool again.  We took the plunge into Ambleside Online, combining years 1 & 2 so we don't miss any of the wonderful books.  The first week went REALLY well.  It was even better than I'd hoped!  The girls enjoyed the books we're reading and even though we're doubling up, it's not a terribly heavy workload.  Of course, our math books hadn't arrived yet and we don't have our microscope for science; it's going to take another week or two to get up to our full load, but still, it was good.

Last week, we were all sick.  We did do some reading, but for the most part, we laid around and felt pathetic.  It was pretty bad.

So, today, my goal was to get back on track!  We started off with some math, and Abbie finished reading the two things she was unable to read last week.  It wasn't terrible.

The thing is, Isaac is not terribly quiet while we're schooling - the child talks incessantly, bless him.  He also kept asking when we were going to go outside.  Abbie really needs quiet for reading and Emma would do just about anything to get out of school work, so we didn't get as much done as I'd hoped.  After math, we did go outside, and I decided to take a look at my plans for the week and tweak a bit (already).

I hope to be able to do a 4-day school week this year, with Fridays off for co-op twice per month and some fun field trips on the other weeks.  Isaac has preschool 3 mornings per week this year, which is wonderful.  We can get a lot done while he's gone and be mostly finished with our work before I need to pick him up.

Mondays, however, are going to have to be filled primarily with things he can either do with us, or that his talking won't bring to a screeching halt.  I think this might be a good thing, actually.  There are many things that will allow him to tag along.  We can do our hymn study (he LOVES) to sing, composer study (he loves all music), nature study, and geography - we're reading Paddle to the Sea, and I know he would enjoy listening in.  These are things that are easy to overlook when faced with finishing math and trying to get grammar done, so I'm hopeful that it will work out for the best for our homeschool year overall.  The girls will still have to do math on Monday, and some language arts, but we can keep history and other things that require more conversation and concentration for times when Isaac is in school.

I have to say that I have no idea how all this is going to play out when he's ready to start school at home with us.  He is so active and talkative that I'm glad he will not go to public school, but those same traits make it tough in the homeschool sometimes too.