The Time Change Might Kill Us
The time change alone might not have knocked us out as badly as it did if we hadn't been so sick the week before.
10 convalescing kids + time change = survival mode
These are the seasons that make me question homeschooling . . . even after 20+ years.
Monday
I adjusted our morning meeting to allow everyone to sleep a little later, and I did history with the teens.
We tried to read The Scarlet Letter, but kids' behaviors were too hard, and I spent several hours dealing with those. I also was caught in several unsatisfying phone calls trying to communicate with the psychiatrist, our case manager, the pharmacy, and our pharmacy insurance.
At one point I crossed the kitchen and noticed this sweet party happening.
Tuesday
Still adjusting to the dark mornings.
Last week I gave Mister Man permission to request some books from the library. His siblings caught wind of what he was up to, and he requested several dozen books for them as well.
Over a dozen of them turned out to be My Little Pony graphic novel readers. 🤮
My opinion notwithstanding, all of the younger 6 kids have been reading them intently.
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| He screamed when he realized I'd caught him absorbed in it, but it didn't stop him from reading! |
Sir Walter Scott took 6 of the kids (the ones at home and eligible) to serve in the temple. I stayed home with the other four.
Church youth activities took the boys to an elderly widow's home for yard work, and Ladybug got to watch Percy Jackson and eat pizza with her class. The older two girls didn't have an activity on Tuesday in favor of a special event on Saturday, and the youngest two got to choose a movie at home.
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| Studying moss up close |
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| We got to the creek, and the kids settled in for some rock skipping. |
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| The obligatory climbing of vines |
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| These days Ladybug needs to play less and enjoys writing in her journal more. |
When we came home I had the kids fill out a journal page, and then we crashed into quiet individual activities for the rest of the day.
The kids are decidedly enamored of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, which is our current bedtime read-aloud.
It was this morning that Nature Angel got me laughing over The Scarlet Letter because she reacted so delightedly to the phrase "a sacrilegious moth." (This is how Hawthorne describes the moth that has eaten away at the scarlet letter he finds in the custom house.)
Her amusement triggered reactions from Nature Angel and me, and the three of us giggled delightedly over that phrase and several more to follow.
All of a sudden we are delighted to read this book that had felt like drudgery before.
Thursday
Whoooo! I think we sat down for Morning Meeting within half an hour of our goal time!
We had a show--our last nursing home show of the season. Only two practices to go before our final Friends and Family show.
The audience clapped and sang along. Their involvement made performing all the more fun, and the nursing home activities director, along with several residents, said they can't wait for us to come back next year.
Friday
Well, I got the kids up on time, but we were still pretty late to breakfast and Morning Meeting.
We did the best we could!
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| Random Morning Meeting photo of Lola after she played with her beads while she was bored. |
The teens presented their rough draft essays to me, and I reviewed them and gave instructions for first-round revisions.
The kids and I were able to get a great start reading a biography of Eli Whitney. I thought his story might inspire Brother in particular. However, our reading was cut off when Little Princess had the chance to substitute for a sick member of her Civil Air Patrol NCC team. She had 3 hours to pack and get out the door, so it was all hands on deck to get her ready . . . only to receive notice 5 minutes before she needed to be out the door that the sick team member was actually going to be able to attend the competition after all.
It was a crazy afternoon, and a little bit disappointing.
But not too disappointing because she hadn't been able to practice this year (scheduling conflict) and because she had plans with Nature Angel to go to a friend's house to watch the Eras Tour on Disney+ together.
Which was really fun!
I'm super proud of her for making the short list of 4 cadets to be invited to fill in the empty spot. And I'm super proud of her for jumping in to help with no preparation.
I had a telehealth meeting with my Family Support Provider, and she gave me some good stuff to think about as I cope with kids' behaviors and try to nurture family connections.
Saturday
This was one of those mom-chauffeur days. I put at least 100 miles on the car without ever leaving town.
The boys got to play in a church basketball game.
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| Mister Man and Brother are in green pinnies, and I know Beowulf was in orange and playing, but apparently, I didn't capture him in any of the pics I took. |
They had a grand time!
The older two girls attended the Spa Day/Health Activity at the church provided for the women and older teens. I wish I'd been able to attend, but someone had to be home with the younger 6 kids, so I baked 6 loaves of bread, cooked dinner, and did Ladybug's hair (4 hours).
I know I already wrote about how our days need to be different this season, but this week feels like a homeschooling failure. While good things happened, and we took care of what needed to be taken care of (lots more behavior crises than reported above), it's sometimes hard to remember how much we really do get done and how much the kids really do learn.
The teens are still rocking their academic schedules, though!
I was feeling burnt out and we had a lot going on so we took off all of last week. Lots of learning and creating and outdoor play and work happened. Some weeks need to be like that! I am feeling a bit more prepared and energetic now thanks to that rest.
ReplyDeleteThe MLP graphic novel picture totally makes me grin. When Hannah was first home, I'd sometimes put a MANDARIN Barbie DVD on for her. 9 times out of 10, I'd find Sam in there watching it, even though he doesn't understand Mandarin--sometimes even after Hannah had wandered off to do something else!
ReplyDeleteI always thought of graphic novels as "fluff" books, but as a librarian, I appreciate them as a "gateway drug" to other books. I have students that show an interest in regular books after being exposed to a character in a GN.