Adjusting

T, 3rd Grade

K, 1st Grade

L, Preschool

In my last post on my other blog, I shared some of the wonderful adventures we enjoyed during the summer months.  Reading straight through that post, one might get the incorrect idea that we've gotten things pretty well figured out, that our schedule is ticking along gracefully, and that we're constantly trying new, amazing things.  This blog post will put to bed any silly notions of the kind.  :)

Earlier in the summer, I put together these assignment books and began filling in tentative lesson plans.  This was a huge step for me; I'm usually the kind of mom who looks at assignments the day before the day of and hopes that I have everything on hand that we'll need for the day.  (I do NOT recommend this method.)  I was thrilled with myself for this summer-time achievement and began to wonder if I were finally getting the hang of this preparation stuff.

Not only that, but many of the things we did between school years counts as academic work, and I loved the idea of having a few extra days to count here and there as needed.  (Since the CA public school requirement is 175 days per school year, we make sure to complete at least that many days. While this isn't a private school requirement, I feel better getting in at least that many.  I know, I'm weird.)

I also had this seemingly-great idea to start off our first two weeks with a bang - we would hit the books hard, and after that, we could lighten our schedule if needed.  Besides, I was tickled to think that I would be able to start teaching the boys music, and some introductory typing and foreign language were also in my plans.  Additionally, I developed a plan that would give more flexibility for field trips, park days, and catchup work when needed.  This was going to be my most-organized, most fun, most involved academic year yet!

As Proverbs so aptly states, "Pride goeth before a fall," and I was about to come down hard.

A mere two weeks before our master schedule was to be put to the test, we found out that our fourth spark plug was on his way.  Two days later, I was leveled with the most severe morning all day sickness I've ever faced (not that this was saying much, since I'd never before had a tremendous amount of prenatal nausea).  It was all I could do to survive the day.  In the morning, I prayed for nap time to come.  In the afternoon, I prayed for nightfall.

I quickly changed my teaching strategy.  Instead of starting off strong and tapering later, we focused on the basics and left extracurriculars for later, assuming I'd feel better later in the school year.  There were no music lessons, no typing instruction, and I didn't get out the Foreign Language CD until three weeks ago.  And there's nothing quite like taking "first day of school" photos 9 weeks into the school year!

Am I discouraged?  Not at all.  This may not have been my plan, but it was God's.  He knew that I wouldn't be feeling well at the start of the school year.  He graciously allowed us those extra days during the summer, knowing that we'll need some unscheduled time off in April when the baby arrives.  He prompted me to work out those assignments months earlier so that when I could barely function, I could at least look at the current day's reading pages and show the boys which section of math to focus on.

While music and other extra academics are fun, there's still plenty of time to focus on them later on.  We have the needed books and CDs for these things so that, when time and health do allow, we'll be ready to jump right in.

For now, the new schedule I'd arranged months ago is working amazingly well.  We're able to focus on our weak areas and we're continuing to grow in our strengths.  The spark plugs are learning some incredible things, and they're remembering what they're learning.  We're discussing and tracking the baby's progress, something I'd never considered studying this year.  (I highly recommend visiting The Bump website for baby updates.  It shows the baby's size based on a different piece of fruit each week, something that young children can easily relate to.) 

This school year may not be anything like what I'd envisioned, but this is much better because it's what the Lord had in store.  From now on, hopefully I'll be less likely to get caught up in my own achievements and will more quickly realize the Lord's leading and preparation for life's crazy twists and turns!