Such Harmony!

It may be a rare thing these days but when the kids get along, they really get along! Right now Alex is playing Wii, earning some game time after a stellar week of piano practice and a much improved lesson and Izzy is sitting on the couch, watching, cheering him on. They are best buds at the moment. No whining, snickering or sassy talk between them. I know it can't last but it makes me feel so peaceful when they are like this.

I am taking a few hours to myself this afternoon. I have been just swamped with commitments these past few weeks. I am trying to juggle a lot of balls in the air right now but will soon have to prioritize and delegate. My primary commitment is to homeschooling and whatever helps me get what my children need. Right now, that means a strong connection to the homeschool community at large and more academic opportunities. We (myself and three other hs moms) have started the groundwork for what could be a fantastic co-op program and I am very excited over the possibilities.

It is hard not to want to do everything. At least, for me it is. I like being busy. I like being in charge. Shocking, I know, lol. Something about creating schedules and organizing people just relaxes me. Guess I am just an odd duck?!

So I have calendars and spreadsheets printed out and laid in front of me. There are birthdays and parties, lessons and meetings. My life, at least for the next three months, is fairly well planned out. There will no doubt be stressful nights but I try to remind myself to have fun, enjoy this time and these kids. Time flies by so fast. The whole point of all this planning is to make like better for us all.

Week One - Work Boxes

Monday:
- Read Aloud to Mommy (Little House Series - keeping with the pioneer theme this month)
- Writing activity (a worksheet where he answers questions about him)
- Miquon Math (2 or 3 sections from where we last left off)
- Oral recitation of the days and months
- Cutting with scissors
- Board game
- Making houses with architecture stamps

Tuesday:
- Read Aloud (Little House)
- Writing copywork (silly poetry)
- Singapore math lesson
- Working on address and phone numbers
- Cutting with scissors
- Colouring worksheet (geometric shapes)

Wednesday:
- Read Aloud (Little House)
- Writing activity (tbd)
- Miquon Math
- Spelling work with Dolch list 1, worksheet & puzzle
- Science read about Mercury and paint the first planet- styrofoam ball
- History, talk with mom about Pioneer village experience, look at books
- Weather Video (documentary)

Thursday:
- Read Aloud (Little House)
- Writing copywork
- Singapore math lesson
- Grammar Lesson
- Read poetry with Mom
- Geography, lesson on difference between country, province, city
- Computer time, email 2 people

Friday:
- Read Aloud (Little House)
- Writing activity (write a poem)
- Math worksheets
- Spelling work with Dolch list 2, worksheet & puzzle
- Science, work on weather instruments
- Social Sciences worksheets
- jigsaw puzzle

3 Hours of Prep Time Later...

...and I have completed my first week agenda for those work-boxes! Well, a little of that time was also consumed with organizing the weekly schedule. I am a scatterbrain at heart. I grew up making lists because lists are the only way I can attain the level of organizational perfection I strive for. To me that is as relaxing as a nice bottle of Italian Pinot. When our cell plan ends in a few months Rob and I are getting IPhones and he tells me I can put my schedule on Google Calendars and it will update my calendar on the phone, which will always be with me...but I digress.

So, instead of trying to figure out what to do with the boxes the night before (which I am convinced would fall apart within days), I have a binder which holds all the information I will need to muddle through. Each week has a schedule, a blank sheet with seven boxes for 5 days where I can jot down what I plan, and a blank meal plan sheet. Why the meal planning? Well, I have a pretty thorough meal planning system. Keeping it in my binder makes it easier to remember that Tuesday is lunch in the car on the way to X activity and Thursday is pick up take-out food night because X ends at 6pm. Really, without all these detailed lists, my life as I know it would fall apart. People may laugh but I can honestly say that since the kids have been born I have been freakishly prepared and on schedule. In all the trips we've ever taken I can think of two times when I forgot something, like a toothbrush or night time pull-ups. I need to overcompensate for my bipolar/ADD/mildly OCD brain. Again, I digress...

I figured out how much time I have each morning sans Miss Iz and have a list of things I would like to accomplish with Alex while he is alert and *not* distracted. I also have a list of reminders for other activities that can be thrown into one of the boxes. Monday and Tuesday are shorter work days because some homeschool activities will eat into our alone time. Wednesday through Friday are the good days where we have more time to do what we want. I have a few master templates at the back of my binder to remind me what the goals will be. For the next while we will be focusing more time on writing skills and adding regularly scheduled lessons for history and geography. There are a few science projects that will take up fair chunks of our time too.

I think I will post the Week 1 agenda separately. Maybe I'll do it weekly. We'll see,

On another note...

Can someone please explain to me how you get young children out the door in a timely manner without turning into a raving lunatic? My hats off to all those parents with, oh what shall I call it, unhurried children who have to fight to get them out the door every single day.

You would think 15 minutes would be enough time to get shoes and coats on - wouldn't you? This is killer for me, someone who hates being late for anything. I'm the person who considers not being seated before the trailers start at the movies, late.

Is it me? Is it the type of children I had? Sure, their dad really doesn't hurry himself but as an adult understands concepts like being somewhere on time. Plus, he can tie his own shoe laces. Will I really be pulling my hair out for the next 15 years?

Sigh...It's been one of those days...or weeks.

Some Rhythm

We seem to be finding our groove. The issue has been balancing our out-of-house activities with some schoolish work. Sure, we read a lot. We have great discussions. The kids are taking in a great deal. I am ready for a slightly more linear approach to subjects like math now. One can sometimes feel slightly akin to being lost at sea when you are doing a science project on foliage one minute and researching volcanoes on Mars the next. It's disjointed and though I understand that this is the way humans process new information, I can't help but feel like I need to follow some sort of bigger plan. In a relaxed, loose kind of way, of course.

So our days seem to be working out like this: Alex wakes up early (around 6am - gah!) and Izzy about an hour after that. Always the only kids up so early with no where to go. I do not rush out of bed unless we are due somewhere quickly. There is breakfast and then we head back to my bed for reading time. It can be either fiction or non-fiction...anything goes. This morning it was an hour of reading about volcanoes, tsunamis and earthquakes. Then we head to the kitchen and do some sit-down work. Izzy loves to colour but if Alex is doing anything from a workbook, she must too. Unless she finds the scissors as cutting paper into tiny bits entertains her forever. Rarely are we home the whole day. We'll read, mostly Izzy's books because Alex does a great deal of independent reading in the afternoons. There is computer time and play time. Lots of that. Throw in some cartoons, tea with neighbours, outside play, a nap for Izzy and quiet play time alone for Alex, meal preparation and you can call it a day.