Homeschool Update

I love looking back at these.

I wanted to do school through the summer, but thanks to the accident, we couldn't.  I was nervous that starting in the spring then taking two months off would be pointless, but she did a pretty good job remembering everything!

We started up August 1st and the first few days were awesome!

Since we stopped formal school in the rental house in May then tried to start back up August 1st, we never really had a schedule established here in this house.  Months of living without one had me second guessing myself.  I thought Kara was older and a natural night owl, so I played around with a non traditional schedule.  It backfired.  And stressed me out.  And stressed her out.  (Don't get me wrong - she may be able to handle it when she's older, just not now.)

I went to Maryland a ball of knots.  I just couldn't decide on what to do.  (Thanks to new birth control, my hormones were all over the place and I was really a ball of PMS!)

So, after having time to sit down and talk with my sister (someone who has known me her whole life, and someone who has known Kara her whole life), she helped me find the solution.

Ready for the super complicated solution?

The solution I couldn't decide on myself?

Be a mean mom.

Yep.  Put Kara's long talks about how hard it is to be ten years old aside and just be mean.  It would hurt for a short time to get Kara up super early and make her do what I want her to, but it was best for us both.

So now she has to get up at 8:30, we start school at 9:30, and I set a time for each subject to start with a lunch break in there.  If she finishes a subject before the next one is supposed to start, she can have some free time.  (Just like public school.)  She gets a lunch break every day.  (Just like public school.)  And if she is tired after lunch and her brain starts shutting down, tough.  (Just like public school.)

The part that makes it great to homeschool?  Fridays we unschool - she watches educational videos and reads and does P.E.  Interest led learning - it's really awesome.  She retains every word of it.

Another great part?  If she finishes the week's work, she can "have a Friday" on Thursday too.

Since we started school in the spring, we can do four lessons a week and still be done by May, which is how she may get a whole week's worth of her school done in three days.

So, how did she handle this announcement?  Wonderfully.  She didn't even groan in disappointment.  Well, I guess we both do need structure.  Even though we complain about it.

Hmmmm, giving us what we need, not what we want.  Classic parenting.

(Shout out to Christina who saved the day!)