Changes

Well, I know it's been a while since I've posted, and I plan to get better about that! But we've been plugging away and things were going good and then we kind of derailed a bit. My husband worked from home a lot during the beginning, and I wasn't sure if that was a great idea, but now that he's not working from home so much, I realize how good I had it! Him being here allowed me to get out when I needed to and get some brief shopping done or appointments, etc. The kids are really old enough to take care of themselves, but we need a warm body here to make sure they don't kill each other.

But now that's all gone, and the kids are with me the entire day, whether I get my hair cut or have to do an hour of grocery shopping, and let me tell you, some days it's great and we get along and love each other and then some days, I wake up! I don't know why but my kids fight. A lot. It drives me up a wall! I don't understand why they have to be so mean to each other, and then I get mad and end up yelling, and then they're mad at me, and I'm looking for the nearest school to stick them in.

So we're working on changing some things up, making a schedule and trying to stick to it is first on the list. I thought it would be nice to be a little laid back, sleep in, get up when we want, eat breakfast, then leisurely start school when we wanted, but guess what? They never wanted! So now I have to crack the whip, hide the remotes, turn off the Xbox under threat of death, and then I'm the mean parent the rest of the day, when normally, I am SO not the mean parent! So we have a schedule now and no TV or games until at least 2 in the afternoon. We'll see how long they can go before they mutiny.

And I've had to make some curriculum changes as well. I see that Regan is still struggling in her spelling. Well, not really struggling, that would imply an effort make on her part. She doesn't really try, I don't think she cares if she spells a word right or not. I remember spelling being a big deal to me (still is) but I would look words up in the dictionary or ask someone out of fear that I would spell something wrong! I was in spelling bee's several times growing up as well, and while I'm not the perfect speller I was back then, I'm still pretty decent, and scoff at people on Facebook who can't manage to get a status update posted without butchering the English language! (Fat-fingering a mobile device doesn't count!)

So I'm getting her a new spelling curriculum and hoping that helps. Also, I've put off writing for both of them, didn't feel like I could do writing with him, and not her, and didn't feel like she could write well since she can't spell at all, and so she could write a 3 page story and I wouldn't know what it said anyway. So with the new spelling, we will be adding a writing program.

We also got a new math, Math-U-See, and I purposely got a grade easier for them so they could build up some good foundational skills. Regan is doing well, she has days where she can knock it out easy, and days when she struggles, but overall I think she's progressing well. Riley on the other hand, is flying through the book and will be caught back up in no time. We began the year with him not knowing his times tables without using his hands, and now he's learning them much faster, and knows a lot more.

So, it's now towards the end of year 1, and I at first started this thinking I would only do one year at a time, but I think we will continue. I think having a schedule will help, but now my main issue is thinking maybe I should get a kit. If I had a "6th Grade Kit" I would know at the end of it, he knew 6th grade stuff. So, I go back and forth with that one, and haven't decided yet, so that's my current dilemma. Overall, I'm glad that we're homeschooling, and I think we're closer, the kids are learning more and having more fun, and we're all much more relaxed than before. So, that's kind of our mid-year update, and I promise to do better in the future!