Progress Report

I was talking recently with a dear neighbor and she told me she'd been praying for me - that despite how sunshiny and rosy my life as a homeschooling mama looks online she knew better.  I felt so convicted.  Do I really only post the happy moments?  I guess part of me doesn't want to post how long it takes us to get through one chapter of our read-aloud because I have to stop and discipline a child, it wouldn't encourage other moms to know that I have to clean up more than a handful of messes before I even start my day, right?  Other moms don't want to read about the potty training woes of a busy mom.  In my head the pictures need to look perfect, the day needs to appear to have gone 100% according to plan or somehow in my own list of expectations I have failed.

So here we go.  Me being real. THIS IS HARD. I mean really hard.  I love having my kids home, I love knowing exactly what they are learning.  I love the freedom homeschooling has given us to do some really fun things.  BUT THIS IS HARD.  I miss the freedom I had when my kids were in someone else's care all day, I miss my clean house, I miss being able to just go run errands without having to find 6 pair of shoes and settle arguments over who gets to sit where in the car. I miss adult conversation. And dont even get me started on how hard it was to get back at it after coming home from vacation.

Deciding to pull our kids out of school was a hard call to make but ultimately we knew it was the right one.  I honestly thought we'd get on a schedule the first week of school and we'd cruise right through the school year (just a little prideful here).  WRONG.  Our days are never the same.  I've had to learn to let go, which if you know me at all has been really, really hard.  Homeschooling does not look like public school, there isn't really a schedule.  I'm teaching 5 kids (and occupying a toddler) at all different grade levels and trying to keep the peace, there is one of me and 5 of them and they all need me all the time.  So we've figured out a flow.  I threw out the idea that we would get this "perfect".  The truth is, I don't think there is a perfect "schedule" for us.  The days that we relax and go with the flow are the days we grow the most.

We've finished up 9 weeks of school so I feel like this is our progress report time!  Here's some things I've learned from having my kids home:
*two of my children need specific direction (Like WAY specific)
*one of my kiddos gets frustrated easily when they make a mistake and hates to erase
*I know which of my children can do crazy mental math and which ones really struggle with math
*I've gotten to see that light bulb moment when a new concept clicks
*there is no point in trying to do school after lunch - it won't happen
*my kids have an amazing ability to memorize

It's been amazing to see all of my beautiful darlings absorb so much in such a short amount of time.  We are truly having a wonderful time homeschooling, some days are great and some days I retreat to my room as soon as daddy walks in the door.  Some days we soar through all of our subjects and other days it's all I can do to get them to finish one page of math - and you know what?  That's okay.  That's the beauty of having them home, it's okay to do a lighter day every once in a while. Just like it's okay that a couple of my kids can finish an entire weeks worth of math in one sitting.  They all have good days and bad and I've had to let go of my expectations and just go with it. We're all happier that way.

So what have we been up to?  Lots and LOTS of fun (with tears in between, trust me), so consider this the highlight reel!

 Art class projects

 Math facts with dominos

 Reading - lots of reading

 Even the 3 year old is learning along with us!

 Field trips

 Lots if baking - fraction practice

 Taking advantage of sunshine and everyone else being in school

 Learning about the Arctic thanks youtube!

 Practicing our flag knowledge

 Spur of the moment field trip

 I said lots... LOTS of baking!

 Halloween candy math

Trying a different country's recipe every Friday!

All these pictures make it look great right? Like I said - highlight real. what you cant see is the sink of dirty dishes and baskets of laundry. You cant hear the two who fight the most squabbling over who gets a bar stool spot for lunch.

But what I see is that God is working. In the moments where I just cant anymore, He can. The times where I'm frustrated and short with my kids He draws me to Himself and there I find new mercies. My kids are learning and growing and hiding His word in their heart and as hard as this journey is, I wouldn't trade it. Not for a second.