Thoughts on life, homeschool, and recent pics
Happy Sunday everyone! I'm in the mood for a bit of a mind dump today, so here goes.
So I felt like I might have sounded a little sad or overextended in my last blog post when I talked about life being so busy and J growing up so fast. I think that's partly true-- I am busier than I ever have been and there are so many things that take up my time and attention.
Lately, though, I have been having some thoughts about life (cue Dr. Phil music). I'm trying really hard to fight back against that feeling-- you know, that feeling of busy-ness, of stress, of... well, discontent. There's so much anxiety (about not getting everything done) and guilt (over not being able to do more for more people) that can creep in. And I have decided that life is too short to feel all of that on a regular basis. I have been placed in my current life situation, and there's a reason for that. I can only do what I can do.
We have a busy schedule (although I really tried to avoid that this year-- each girl is only doing 1 extra-curricular... but that adds up to a lot when there are four kids! and it still feels busy). But our homeschool has also felt really busy lately. I had so many great ideas for subjects to cover this year and it would be so great if we could do them all. Right now, however, it just feels like we're always rushing, and the to-do list is just too long. Every. single. day. I am burned out and I think the girls are feeling it too.
Homeschool has also been much more of a challenge for me this year with J being mobile. Last year she would pretty much just sit in her chair, or even snooze, while we did school. I was exhausted in the newborn days, yes, but at least we weren't being interrupted as often by Mama having to chase after a curious little girl getting her hands in the potty or finding a house plant to overturn or what have you. We have been trying to confine our school to J's nap times when I can give the bigger girls undivided attention, but J is not a terribly long napper, and half the time the nap gets ruined because we are out and about at activities and she falls asleep in the car. Luckily she is always cheerful even when the nap is missed, but she's still active. Anyway it has been a challenge to put all of the puzzle pieces together and meet everyone's needs!
Many veteran homeschooling moms have talked to me about how much easier it is to find community and research curriculum in our modern day of the internet, rather than 20 years ago when information was less readily available. But I have been feeling the downside of that lately, too. There's too much information. Too many activities tempting us. Too many things to cover. Too many cool ideas for projects or hands-on activities or printable worksheets or whatever. I think that a little fast from "liking" homeschooling pages on Facebook or reading homeschooling blogs would probably be good for me at this point.
I read this article and it really hit home for me this week. (Here I go, reading homeschooling blogs again! But this one was helpful in the opposite way :) Although we don't take the Charlotte Mason approach, I love the phrase "keep cutting down until there is peace in your home".
That's my goal.
If that means we just have read-aloud time some days, I'm going to be okay with that. I have been thinking, ever since reading that article, about how much children can learn just by reading great stories. Reinforcement through other activities is great, of course, when time allows. But reading is at the core. And my girls love it, and so do I. Talk about de-stressing!
So I was going to post about curriculum choices, but I think I'll wait and see how "cutting down until there is peace in your home" goes. And then I'll report back. Prepare for more serene days ahead.
And even on the busy days, I'm hoping to maintain a feeling of contentment and thankfulness. I do enjoy being busy with good things. I'm going to try to enjoy the good within the busy more, and set that example of calm for my girls. I would love to look around me with eyes that see the many blessings in my life, rather than the stresses and frustrations.
Okay, enough about that. Just hold me to these goals, okay everyone? ;-)
The girls' Sesame Street episode is nearing its end, so I'd better finish up... I'll just share some pictures from our last two or three weeks before I go.
So I felt like I might have sounded a little sad or overextended in my last blog post when I talked about life being so busy and J growing up so fast. I think that's partly true-- I am busier than I ever have been and there are so many things that take up my time and attention.
Lately, though, I have been having some thoughts about life (cue Dr. Phil music). I'm trying really hard to fight back against that feeling-- you know, that feeling of busy-ness, of stress, of... well, discontent. There's so much anxiety (about not getting everything done) and guilt (over not being able to do more for more people) that can creep in. And I have decided that life is too short to feel all of that on a regular basis. I have been placed in my current life situation, and there's a reason for that. I can only do what I can do.
We have a busy schedule (although I really tried to avoid that this year-- each girl is only doing 1 extra-curricular... but that adds up to a lot when there are four kids! and it still feels busy). But our homeschool has also felt really busy lately. I had so many great ideas for subjects to cover this year and it would be so great if we could do them all. Right now, however, it just feels like we're always rushing, and the to-do list is just too long. Every. single. day. I am burned out and I think the girls are feeling it too.
Homeschool has also been much more of a challenge for me this year with J being mobile. Last year she would pretty much just sit in her chair, or even snooze, while we did school. I was exhausted in the newborn days, yes, but at least we weren't being interrupted as often by Mama having to chase after a curious little girl getting her hands in the potty or finding a house plant to overturn or what have you. We have been trying to confine our school to J's nap times when I can give the bigger girls undivided attention, but J is not a terribly long napper, and half the time the nap gets ruined because we are out and about at activities and she falls asleep in the car. Luckily she is always cheerful even when the nap is missed, but she's still active. Anyway it has been a challenge to put all of the puzzle pieces together and meet everyone's needs!
Many veteran homeschooling moms have talked to me about how much easier it is to find community and research curriculum in our modern day of the internet, rather than 20 years ago when information was less readily available. But I have been feeling the downside of that lately, too. There's too much information. Too many activities tempting us. Too many things to cover. Too many cool ideas for projects or hands-on activities or printable worksheets or whatever. I think that a little fast from "liking" homeschooling pages on Facebook or reading homeschooling blogs would probably be good for me at this point.
I read this article and it really hit home for me this week. (Here I go, reading homeschooling blogs again! But this one was helpful in the opposite way :) Although we don't take the Charlotte Mason approach, I love the phrase "keep cutting down until there is peace in your home".
That's my goal.
If that means we just have read-aloud time some days, I'm going to be okay with that. I have been thinking, ever since reading that article, about how much children can learn just by reading great stories. Reinforcement through other activities is great, of course, when time allows. But reading is at the core. And my girls love it, and so do I. Talk about de-stressing!
So I was going to post about curriculum choices, but I think I'll wait and see how "cutting down until there is peace in your home" goes. And then I'll report back. Prepare for more serene days ahead.
And even on the busy days, I'm hoping to maintain a feeling of contentment and thankfulness. I do enjoy being busy with good things. I'm going to try to enjoy the good within the busy more, and set that example of calm for my girls. I would love to look around me with eyes that see the many blessings in my life, rather than the stresses and frustrations.
Okay, enough about that. Just hold me to these goals, okay everyone? ;-)
The girls' Sesame Street episode is nearing its end, so I'd better finish up... I'll just share some pictures from our last two or three weeks before I go.
N started sewing this blanket as a gift for J when she was born, and the other day she finally finished it! First birthday present, it is!
We spent a beautiful fall afternoon (which also happened to be M's birthday!) at the girls' Investiture Ceremony for scouts. It was such a nice day to be outside and with friends.
The weather in general and fall colors around here have been glorious lately! We are so thankful!
We had a lovely family hike at Purgatory Chasm the other day as Daddy was on vacation!
Perfect weather, glorious sunshine, a cool playground, and the ice cream truck even came.
Best day ever.
And yesterday, our town's branch of the Y where we have our membership was celebrating its 1-year anniversary, and they had a great fall celebration with pumpkin painting, bouncy houses, face paint, candy apples, etc. etc. We stopped by after N's soccer game and had a blast!
Today it was like Christmas in October-- I got a huge shipment of Usborne books that I got for FREE for hosting a party, and the girls and I spent the entire afternoon reading together on our sunny porch.
We are blessed indeed!
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