Here we are again: the start of another school year! When I think back over my summer "to do" list - you know, that long, idealistic ledger of things I intended to accomplish during the break from studies - I have to laugh. That list is still waiting to have even ONE item completed!
Even though summer didn't go as planned, our first day of school did. We're changing things up a lot this year, so I wasn't quite sure how the boys would take to our new curriculum and learning style, but I think they were both impressed by the end of the day. Last night at bed time, I heard several laments about "having" to do such boring things as reading loooong stories and writing endless narratives. Half way through the day today, however, one of them piped up, "Oh! This is actually fun!" Those words are encouraging to any teacher's ear!
We still have a lot of tweaking to do to our schedule. I learned that leaving reading assignments for the end of the school day isn't the wisest of ideas, but giving the kids a recess break after several table assignments is. Another new thing for me today was keeping up with dishes and laundry throughout the day instead of letting everything pile up for the evening when I'm tired and zapped of energy. I inadvertently learned this skill during a 7-week babysitting job this summer - since I was babysitting 9 or 10 hours at a time, there was no "evening" time to catch up on everything. Tossing a few dishes in the dishwasher and folding a towel or two here and there greatly reduced the need for evening chores. It worked just as well during our school day as it did when babysitting.
It'll be a while before we've really gotten comfortable in our new "saddle," but so far, it looks like it will be a good fit. The kids were happy, I was happy, and I even got half of the pantry decluttered. That never happened last year!
