Friday roundup

(Technically, it's Saturday.  Whatever)

Whew.  T-ball is done.  It was a great season and DS1 did very well.  Fun while it lasted, but we are glad it is over.  We've been doing school light this week, slowly, not rushing, just having fun.  VBS is next week, then school (for real) starts the next week.

I have focus more on intentional parenting, discipline issues (mama's laying down the law!), and character traits this week.  In some ways, it's been a hard week.  In other ways, it's been a good week.  We are working hard to foster good relationships between brothers.  It's hard to teach a 5 and 2 year old about respect when all they do is fight, fight, fight some days!

I've finally developed an organization system, thanks to my fellow homeschooling buddy Christy.  While we are trying to incorporate as much hands-on as this non-crafty first year teacher can stomach, we have a lot of paper.  Handwriting, math, science workbook to go along with the hands-on, country/flag coloring sheets to go along with our World Atlas/countries studies...it was a lot of piles on my china cabinet!  I now have 3 binders.  One labeled "Kindergarten not complete" and inside holds dividers for each subject with the workbook pages I tore out and 3 hole punched.  Each math chapter is paper clipped together so I can easily grab one at a time.  (Math is the only one more than one or two pages.)  To prepare for the week, I pull out what papers I need and stick them in the "Current kindergarten" binder.  As the week progresses, any paperwork goes into a "done" drawer, then filed in the "Completed kindergarten" binder every week or so.  The Completed Kindergarten binder isn't categorized by subjects, but rather by month.  Activities that we do that are not papers get written down on a weekly journal sheet and filed.  So far, so good.

With VBS being next week and still having our usual library programs, school will be light.  Calendar, book reading, a short reading lesson, and perhaps a bit of math a day.  1 hour, tops.  I need to keep reminding myself that kindergarten is fun and not stress about it.  Tag-a-long DS2 enjoys calendar time and book reading also, but then it's an all out war to keep him from destroying the room/escaping/whatever for the rest of school time.  He is a child that truly needs 100% supervision 100% of his waking hours!

Finding our summer groove

We are smack in the midst of summer, finally. My goal has been to not squelch the summer fun while still managing to accomplish school work at the same time. Really, it's summer fun school with a bit of seat work every day. I need the routine just as much as J, so we are both getting used to a schedule of sorts. For the summer, my goal is for school time to happen right after breakfast. We can usually knock out calendar time, a reading lesson, math, and handwriting in about 45 minutes with a few wiggle breaks. Then the boys have some free play time while I run through the shower, and we still have about 2 hours left until lunch. After lunch is read aloud time and whatever else we dream up.

Of course, this is working around t-ball, summer library programs, park trips, bike rides with friends, time in the sprinkler, and all the other fun summer stuff. None of us enjoy being HOT HOT HOT so we try to either hang out in water or indoors during the hottest parts of the days.

I am also nailing down plans for kindergarten. We are going to try a 4 day week from July to May with a bit of time off around Christmas. That gives us plenty of days scheduled to complete our plans and plenty of built in time off. And realizing that July is just a bit per 2 weeks away has me excited and ready to go!

Panic

I haven't blogged much here because it's been freaking me out.  Completely and totally.  I have been absolutely stressing out over school plans for the next few years.  To the point of tears.

I know what I want to do, I know the direction I want our family learning to take...but yet, after spending time reading The Forum, I freaked out.  Is it enough?  Other people do more, or take another direction.  How do I know what to supplement, and with what.  I tend to get caught up in "keeping up" with everyone else's expectations...which kind of defeats homeschooling.

We will be a MFW family starting next year, in first grade.  My biggest stress has been deciding to do their first grade program then or this coming fall, for K.  J already knows their kindergarten level stuff and in theory could do their first grade program, but I had a vision of what I wanted kindergarten to be like, and a full first grade program didn't really fit in.

Seriously, stressing to the point of panic over the last few weeks.  Full blown panic.

I was discussing this panic feeling this morning with 2 friends who are also homeschool moms, both of whom just finished their first year of homeschooling.  Their advice - once you know (or think you know) what works for your family...stop.  Just stop reading the forums.  Stop reading the blogs.  Stop comparing.  Enjoy what is now, and let tomorrow take care of itself.  Just. Stop.

That's a tall order for me.  Reading the forums and researching countless curriculums is what brought me to our current kindergarten plan.  It's what led me to MFW.  I do have a deep, inner peace about MFW, but the panic of "what else is out there, is this enough?" fights to gain control daily.  Let Go.  Let God.  Step by Step.