Relax....and LEARN

This winter I have struggled with what I am sure is the "Winter Blahs".  It has been too cold to play outside, and that can get kinda old.....  We all have lacked motivation and would like to take more days off than we should if we want to finish our year off by the end of May. I have found myself saying out loud, "What in the world is our problem??".

We have been staying up a little later than I would have liked.  Starting school later than usual. Finishing later than usual. And I have just went with it.....and it is OK.  I have relaxed and guess what?  We are still learning.  We are still getting things done. I read recently that another homeschooler described their homeschool as "relaxed".  What a great word.  A big reason why I wanted to homeschool is because I wanted my kids to enjoy learning; to find joy in it.  A relaxed atmosphere, in my opinion, is a perfect place to find joy in learning.  Not a rigid place where imaginations can't be used and developed.  Not a place where I am yelling at them to get their work done.  That's a hard one.

But, my kids have their daily assignments written down and they KNOW free time to use electronics will ONLY come when they finish, and also it has to be at least 2pm. (Or else they might be tempted to finish too early and play the day away on the computer.  If they finish early, they can play anything but NOT electronics).  I remind them to get started on their school, but let them know it is up to them when they finish.  It has made such a difference in the tone of our homeschool.  Addie has been my #1 finisher lately and it has been really cute to see her check all the things off that she has to do that day so she can be done.

Seth, on the other hand, has been super slow at getting going.  He has found a book series he loves and reads them all the time.  Do I stop him?  Nope.  He can read all he wants but he knows his turn on the computer won't come if he doesn't do his school work.  The other day he played all morning long with Audrey and Noah.  Well, he did manage to get a few things done off his list, but saved the "hard stuff" until last.  I found myself getting frustrated with him not getting all his work done quickly, but then I realized he is doing something important: Playing with the little ones!!  They need to be loved, and played with while we are doing school, and he completely engaged them for hours!!  Once they went down for their nap, which is finally AT THE SAME TIME, he and I sat down and did his math and grammar.  That is what makes my heart sing about homeschooling: He played and spent time with his siblings.

I read a book about homeschooling once written by a veteran homeschooler and she said that each day her children wake up at 6:30, do their chores, eat breakfast, practice their instruments, and meet on the couch with their daily planners, ready to go by 8am.  When I read this I was just getting started in homeschooling and tried very hard to pattern my day like hers.  Well, it didn't work.  It was making me miserable and angry when my day didn't go like hers.  I have finally figured out, I think, what works for us.  Me being relaxed, yet firm. Focused, yet fun. Enjoying the mess and mayhem of each day, and making sure I have my good shoes on so my feet don't hurt at the end of the day.

My hope is that my kids will love to learn, to know that their success does depend on them, and that if they dilly-dally around TOO much during the day, 3 o'clock will come and the "teacher" will be off duty, so they will be on their own to figure out how to multiply fractions, or how to diagram that sentence.