Homeschool Bliss

YES! We had a great homeschool day! Last year the first few weeks were hard, and this year they have been too--very hard. My veteran homeschool friends have assured me that this is normal, but as I mentioned, I have been kinda losing my mind. Nothing compared to last year, mind you--no one has actually thrown themselves on the floor, refusing to work--but still, I've been a raving lunatic with stress around here.

This morning, all four children (well, those who can walk) woke up at 5:00 a.m. to get a head start on their math, spelling, and logic before I woke up. No kidding. They even brought JPD with them and got him building blocks next to the homeschool table. (Now why won't he ever do that when I'm around? He prefers to throw things, climb onto the table, write on the wrong things with markers, etc.)

"Obviously," you must be thinking, "these are not normal children. She has given them some special homeschool Kool-Aid." Well, not exactly--but if you have some, let me know! :) Actually they were supremely motivated today because Grandma bought them a couple of new computer games and they were on fire to get back to playing Clue on the computer, to which I'd said "no way until you finish school," of course. So that worked well. Except we're all exhausted from the 5 a.m. thing. Perhaps tomorrow we can have the same enthusiasm, just at a little bit later hour.

KLD's reading is going great; I am so proud of her. And I can't remember if I mentioned that MRD has finished over half of her first math book already. WWD is just a champ this year. I am astonished by his maturity and ability to apply himself to his work. Must be all that football, getting his ya-yas out, right? And JPD is quite enthusiastically learning his vowel letter sounds.

They have all been doing lots of writing. MRD and KLD are in a literary analysis/critique club at our library, helping the librarian analyze children's picture books for an award. This has inspired MRD to write and illustrate a children's picture book; she showed me the first two pages tonight. This is a perfect combination of her two favorite subjects--writing and art. Of course I'll post her book when it's finished!

Yesterday in history we read about establishment of monasteries, and a bit about monastic life in the early centuries. Tonight we had a "monk's dinner:" lentil soup with homemade bread, butter (pretending, in monastic life, that it was Christmas so we could have the butter), apple cider (juice), and even a Gregorian chant CD in the background to complete the atmosphere. We attempted to eat in silence, as monks do, but that didn't really work. No surprise there, right?!