Week's End- March 17, 2012

This weekend was my scheduled time to do our school progress check- in. I have this scheduled three times a year, and have.....

*Wait, before I go further, I must post a disclaimer. Mama's dependent upon organization. I have charts for my charts, forms for my forms, and a pie graph depicting what percent of my organization is in forms, charts, graphs, or 'other'. This post is a reflection of that. *


....forms made up so I can simply fill in the blank and answer the questions I have laid out for myself. (Gracious, that sounds obnoxious.)

Saturday, I sat down to do our weekly planning and progress check in. I do the check in quarterly. Frankly, I am just tickled. We are on track to be finished with our basics by the end of July. Dante will finish his K work at the end of April and move to G1 work. He is a bit behind in reading. No, I take that back. If he were in the public school system as it exists currently, he would be "behind" in reading. If he were in the public school system when I was in it, he would be ahead and would be playing and napping in Kindergarten. Which is what he does at home, and is what he needs to do. The point is that he's doing well.

Alli is doing quite well, also. I think she is needing some more 'friends time' than she is getting. We took the winter off of all co-op type activities. While she has still have several other activities regularly, she seems to need more. She is a very social creature, unlike her brother who could stay in his room with his legos indefinitely. Thankfully, we start the spring session of co-op in Greenville in about three weeks. We all will benefit from this. It was good to take the time off, but it will be great to get back!

I had hoped we would finish by the end of July as we anticipate moving in August. We will take all of the move time off, used as a summer break. Reading and math review will still happen in the evenings. This helps to keep the rhythm and routine going.

It was incredibly satisfying to fill in my progress sheet, hole punch it, and file it away in the 2011-2012 binder. I love that I have the information in an easy access spot, and can reference it for lesson planning.

Wishing everyone an organized homeschool,
Erin

The Math Manipulatives Are On The Floor...

All over the floor, actually. My sweet Kai emptied out the (very cute) storage basket that held said math supplies, interspersing them with our still- unopened Christmas gifts. He topped that with our basket of completed school work. Of course, this was the year I used the most sustainable wrapping I could think of. I used brown paper bags with handles and wrote people's names on the tissue paper so the bags could be re- used. These brown paper bags are open on the top, so my family will now be gifted with their intended present plus dominoes...or Math-U-See blocks....or clock faces. I can see it now, "Yes, Uncle Howie, we do love you, but that is not really one hundred dollars....No, see, right here, it says, 'school money' ". At least I know where the 1000 cubes are. They were too big to fall in the bags.





Now, it has occured to me that I could go through each gift bag and take the math materials out. But you know what? I think I won't. I'm a bit sleep -deprived, I'm still in a funk over this year's Christmas (see previous post), and this may provide a laugh once it is gift exchanging time. Plus, I just purged our closets, and I wouldn't want my chaos v. organized balance to tip too far.
More on the closets later. It is really VERY exciting and requires its own post. I'm so excited that 'later' may be in about 15 minutes. Cheers!

I'm Back?

It has been so long since I've posted that I'm not sure where to start. Here is my list of possibilities:
a. frugality and the desperate home decorator
b. Cathlolic and atheist, happily married
c. our most recent move/home
d. the skirts/dresses only movement
e. how insane topic 'd' makes me
f. realizing that we don't like Sonlight
g. converting to Catholicism
h. the pursuit of a different homeschool curriculum
i. my feelings about unschooling
j. gulp....I think I miss working
k. the fruits of following through with an overscheduled life

What do you think? Where should I start?

Recipe of a Day

Bake three loaves of bread, a dozen mufiins, and Crazy Cake. Then make hummus, smoked white bean spread, crock pot pork, garlicky brussels sprouts, and baked potatoes. Use the assistance of your two- year- old. Add a little handwriting, math, and geography for your five and six- year- old. After taking turns kneading the bread, note that your children are well- floured and then toss them in the bath. Rinse children thouroughly, apply clean jammies, and cuddle up for read alouds. Bon Appetite...:)

Frazzled, Worn Out Me

Today is one of those days when I repeatedly catch myself thinking, "I can't do this.", "I hate this.", "Everyone needs to shut up", and "Why bother cleaning up the milk again?". It is a day where my personal space is not the standard three feet, but three hundred feet. It is a day when the one crumb that has fallen on the just-swept floor appears to be three loaves of bread and the sweet singing of my six year old roars in my ears. It is a day where I have sincerely considered hiding in my closet.

In other words, I am overwhelmed. Not by what I have to do, or how many children I have, but because I am out of balance. One part of my life has overwhelmed the others. My 'Mommy' self has smothered my other selves. There has not been time dedicated to the nourishment of all of who I am, and this has been compounded by lack of rest time. As a family we have had too much variation in our days and no real weekends to rest. We have skipped quiet time, rearranged school too much, and generally not adhered to our schedule. I have had about two straight weeks where I've not been alone at all. I suppose I was for a second when I attempted to hide and check e-mail, but this is not a restorative, re-fuel- the- soul kind of alone.

So how do I restore the balance? I think it starts with what I am desperately craving, and that is time alone. I would love one hour of quiet solitude. Just to reflect. And sit. And do nothing. Time like that does so much for me. I often find afterward that I have a whole new perspective, feel totally renewed, and have solved problems without even trying. It's funny because having that time is something that I had thought would just sort of 'happen'. Of course, it does not. I mean really, does anything other than play, love, and a mess just happen when you have children? No. Not in my world at least. I guess alone time has to be planned, put on the calendar, and made a priority. Oh I have a whole list of other things I'd like to do to restore the balance: purge the junk in my home, clean the whole house, organize our photos, do any of the creative projects that hang out in my mind. But for now, alone time is a good start, and planning it is something I can do. And that is certainly preferable to moving into my closet.