So, in general I would say that today went exactly as I had planned. Unfortunately that means I planned on it not going as planned. I am so proud of the boys, and especially Daxton, for their bearing with me as we start on this crazy adventure. We all had our less desirable moments today, but we stuck through it together.
Let me start with a conversation I had with Daxton last night. He came in after all the kids were in bed and we were talking about starting school in the morning. He mentioned that he might want to get up early and get it out of the way. I told him that was definitely possible if he thought he'd work better before everyone got up. We talked about how he could work in the morning, or at night, whichever he liked best. I think he liked the freedom of being able to choose. He said he'd get up early and try it that way first. I was so proud! He's my boy that just despised school and working on homework, so I didn't expect him to be excited about starting.
So, this morning before I got up to walk, I woke him up and got him started on his math. He managed to get quite a bit done while I was gone. When I got home he was helping Hyatt get some breakfast and Grady was awake as well. I told Grady he had piano lessons at 9. It is a huge perk to homeschooling that some of the "after school" activities can be done during the day and the evenings are less hectic. Grady didn't think so. This was breakdown #1. Nevertheless, he ate, we had our "family time" (which includes scripture mastery, talking about a virtue, and family prayer), and then I took him to his lesson. It was only 30 minutes, but he felt so behind because Daxton had gotten so far ahead. I think it threw him off for the whole day. He was stressed about finishing fast. That might be my fault because I had told them all summer that one of the perks of homeschool was you could finish fast and be free. Also, Grady has more English work to do than Daxton, so that didn't help.
I got Daxton settled in to do his English and climbed the stairs to help Grady log in to do his Math. He did okay at first. Although every time I would walk away he would call me back. He didn't want to commit to an answer until I told him it was right. I tried to explain to him that if he got it wrong the computer would tell him how to do it right and he could try again. Anyway, he got through most of his math before he started whining that he wished he was in "real school". He made it clear to me that he doesn't want to homeschool. Though he didn't say a word to that effect all summer. I talked him down calmly and we started the next thing. Meanwhile, Daxton kept calling me down to help him. I think I climbed the stairs 100 times this morning. Tomorrow I will have to put both laptops in the same room.
After that crisis was diverted with Grady, I had one with Daxton. He had a 9 question assessment he needed to take for his vocabulary. He kept getting less than 60% and needed 80% to move on. A breakdown ensued and he cried that he always gets 60% and that's good enough and he couldn't do any better. I was so happy to have the opportunity to take my 11 year old boy in my arms and tell him that he can do. That we would do it together and that it would be okay. There was no rush. We went through it together and discovered he didn't read the directions for the last 3 problems. That moment was enough to get me through the rest of the day. And believe me, it was a tough day. I didn't get a shower before we started, so I wasn't able to get one until we were done. I am so hoping they can become self motivated.
Grady had another breakdown towards lunch time. He kept crying that this was too much for the first day. In reality, I had a history lesson planned as well, but decided early on that it wasn't going to happen today. I kept asking him to take a break and come back to it later, but he desperately wanted it to be over with and refused to take a break. Again, I had the opportunity to hug him and tell him he could do it if he could focus on the individual task, and not everything he still had left to do. He just wasn't recovering from his sadness. Finally I told him he could be done for the day and we would just work on the rest of the lesson later. Tonight he told me he was planning on finishing it in the morning and asked that I wake him up early so he can get started.
We focused on Math and English, with a little introduction to our August unit study- finances. We introduced a new chore/allowance system and I taught them about giving, saving, and spending their money. They seem excited, since this is the first time they'll get an allowance. Brandon and I decided it's impossible to teach kids about managing money if they don't have any money to manage! Looking forward to seeing how that program goes.
I felt like the day was successful, simply because I got to spend the day encouraging my boys to learn. I got to spend time with them, love them, and share my love of learning with them. I really hope the days get easier, but even if they don't, I know this whole homeschooling thing is something our Heavenly Father wants for our family. I know that because I never would have decided to do this on my own. I still can't believe I am doing it. That Staples commercial that plays the song, "It's the most wonderful time of the year" for back to school was practically my theme song. But, here we are. Loving each other through the chaos of homeschool. May we be blessed with patience for one another.
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