Monday depeletes my will to live....

[Gingerbread Mama]

I swear, Mondays are going to drive me insane. I briefly thought of not doing any school on Mondays, but that just makes Tuesday the "new Monday" .

 

We had a full, busy, fun weekend. Everyone had some down time and relaxed. You'd think they'd be ready to start fresh today, but no. I did a read aloud during breakfast, which DS8 managed to interrupt twice for silly things :glare:, then moved on to lessons. LIGHT lessons, for the boys, I might add, as it was all review. ODS had reducing fractions to simplest form down pat last week, it was to be a brief run through of a review from earlier this year. We had one (easy) page left from last week, so I asked him to do it today. It took for.ev.er. He kept dawdling and piddling, he told me he was "working it in his head", but it looked to me like he was poking the pencil through his toes. Twice, when I asked what problem he was on, I got a blank stare and "huh?" which makes me think he was NOT thinking about a math problem.... And DD, dear, sweet DD... apparently has some sort of anxiety that causes her to freak out the minute she doesn't know an answer instantly. Forget thinking it through or working it on scratch paper, no go straight to the meltdown :tongue_smilie: Just when I think she has the times tables down, we try to USE mulitplication as part of a problem (vs just saying a x b = _____) and she can't remember the times tables anymore. Converstion from this morning about perfect squares, we had already gone over perfect squares AND 64 was one of the EXAMPLES given as well as being one of the questions on the page:

 

Me: So, why is 64 a perfect square?

DD: *thinks for 3.5 seconds* I don't (waaah) knoooooooowwwww

Me: Okay, a perfect square is a number times itself. What number, times itself, has an answer of 64?

DD: GAAAAAH! I don't know, don't know, don't know

Me: Well, okay. One of the numbers is EIGHT. A perfect square is a number times itself. If one of the numbers is eight, what must the other number be?

DD: :blink: um...I don't know...3?

Me: :001_huh:

 

And THAT is my MOST mathy child. *sigh*

 

YDS has zero interest in doing school today. All he has talked about is what the temp is outside, whether it will rain, when will neighbors be outside, are we going to go get stuff for a trip to the beach this weekend, etc..

 

We will, if previous weeks are an indication, be back in the swing of things tomorrow. I just don't know what to do about Mondays? Invest in bulk loads of wine just try to survive them? I could school them 7 days a week, I guess, but I think we'd all burn out in about 2 weeks. They all require such hand holding that I can't imagine doing it EVERY DAY. Frankly, I need the break. I wish I could clean the kitchen while they do math, but it seems like if I get one situated then another one immediately has a problem. So it feels like all I do, all day, is cook a meal, do school, clean the kitchen up, cook another meal, clean it up,do some school, do laundry.... Adding in all the "I forgots" and fits on Mondays makes me want to fall over and cry. Maybe we could budget for an in home tutor on Monday so that someone else could be the heavy. Then I can step in on Tuesday, when their brains work again.

[Wheres Toto]

I found that life goes easier if I don't try to do school on Mondays or I just let the kids do computer stuff on Mondays. They are usually in a much better frame of mind to do our regular school stuff on Tuesday. After a weekend of daddy being home with the free-for-all fun that goes along with that, they just need a day to get back into the swing of things.

 

I spend Mondays cleaning up after the weekend. I do all the laundry, return things to where they belong and do the big vacuuming with moving furniture out of the way.

 

I've been doing it this way for about two years and it works best for us.

[Dory]

I require reading and simple review stuff on Mondays to get their minds back into the game and not drive me up the wall. It was either that or velcro them to the bedroom walls so I wouldn't be tempted to smack 'em:tongue_smilie:

[Random]

Converstion from this morning about perfect squares, we had already gone over perfect squares AND 64 was one of the EXAMPLES given as well as being one of the questions on the page:

 

Me: So, why is 64 a perfect square?

DD: *thinks for 3.5 seconds* I don't (waaah) knoooooooowwwww

Me: Okay, a perfect square is a number times itself. What number, times itself, has an answer of 64?

DD: GAAAAAH! I don't know, don't know, don't know

Me: Well, okay. One of the numbers is EIGHT. A perfect square is a number times itself. If one of the numbers is eight, what must the other number be?

DD: :blink: um...I don't know...3?

Me: :001_huh:

 

And THAT is my MOST mathy child. *sigh*

 

 

 

 

A conversation like this happens in my home about once a week, and it only ever makes me mad....but when I see it like this, it makes me laugh.

 

Thanks for cheering me up.

 

:grouphug: to you. Mondays are lame around here, too. No matter how light I try to keep the school load, my kids are contentious. The only thing that has helped me is to make sure I am up before them on Mondays, to have my quiet time. It helps me cope, but that's about it.

[ladydusk]

We do "Project Day" on Mondays. We do only content areas ... Bible, Art, History, Geography, and Science. We also go to the Library after lunch. We do our big History projects. We do the messy science experiment or nature walks. Mondays are when we paint (if we're painting) or do clay or do anything messy.

 

It helps us ease back into our week ...

[Gingerbread Mama]

A conversation like this happens in my home about once a week, and it only ever makes me mad....but when I see it like this, it makes me laugh.

 

 

 

You know, I haven't figure out why it's funny when it happens to other people, but makes me see red LOL

 

The only thing that has helped me is to make sure I am up before them on Mondays, to have my quiet time. It helps me cope, but that's about it.

 

That may have actually saved my children's lives today. I got up at 7:30 (which means I gave up on ever sleeping restfully after being up at 3, 5, and 6, beforehand!) and watched an episode of Grimm and had breakfast. I do find that trying to go straight from the bed to the, erm, boisterousness of children is NOT a good idea for me!

 

We do "Project Day" on Mondays. We do only content areas ... Bible, Art, History, Geography, and Science. We also go to the Library after lunch. We do our big History projects. We do the messy science experiment or nature walks. Mondays are when we paint (if we're painting) or do clay or do anything messy.

 

It helps us ease back into our week ...

 

Hmm, that is food for thought. We do a lot of things on the weekend. This weekend they did a Lowe's workshop with DH, bowled, and, yesterday, we went to a museum. We try to do stuff like that so DH (or their grandad, if we are at home) can participate as they enjoy having them along. However, we could do "fun" school stuff on Mondays I guess. We usually do a 4 day week, with a fun break in the middle, but maybe we should try swapping it around....

[BrettW]

Around here, Mondays were always terrible... UNTIL...I set up a standing (every Monday 2 pm) playdate for my kids with a family friend. Either she takes both my kids, or I take hers. My kids really look forward to it (especially at their house because they have a trampoline:)). So the rule is...finish your schoolwork without griping/poor attitude and I won't cancel the playdate. Seems to be working here. Mondays have not been too bad and not only don't I not have to live in fear of Mondays, but I actually look forward to them because I get a break (on the days my friend takes them anyway.)

[Mommyfaithe]

We do "Project Day" on Mondays. We do only content areas ... Bible, Art, History, Geography, and Science. We also go to the Library after lunch. We do our big History projects. We do the messy science experiment or nature walks. Mondays are when we paint (if we're painting) or do clay or do anything messy.

 

It helps us ease back into our week ...

 

Ooooh!!! I love this idea!! A LOT!!!! We always save those subjects for Friday....and by then I am usuall spent. Monday sounds like a great time to do all those things we usually put off.

 

LIVE AND LEARN!!!

 

thanks!:D

[LaxMom]

A conversation like this happens in my home about once a week, and it only ever makes me mad....but when I see it like this, it makes me laugh.

 

Thanks for cheering me up.

 

:grouphug: to you. Mondays are lame around here, too. No matter how light I try to keep the school load, my kids are contentious. The only thing that has helped me is to make sure I am up before them on Mondays, to have my quiet time. It helps me cope, but that's about it.

 

Me, too! I also laugh when it's my husband having that conversation and I start getting texts at 8 am that say "we're doing math. Bring bourbon. Twitch, twitch" :lol:

 

And, yes, on those days, I usually need quiet time before we can move on tithe next thing. Otherwise, I might start baring my teeth and snapping at them. In 7 years of this nonsense, I have yet to figure out how arithmetic becomes completely new every Monday. It's one of the big reasons we school all year. I would have to be institutionalized if I had to teach all the same stuff over again every year from September to January. I really don't know how classroom teachers cope.

Edited June 11, 2012 by MyCrazyHouse

[Plucky]

Yes, I think Mondays & Math together make life difficult. I was fantasizing about sending 12dd to school while she was deciding if she was going to go into full melt down mode over math or recover. She recovered, but I think we were just lucky today.

[FairProspects]

:grouphug: to you. Mondays are lame around here, too. No matter how light I try to keep the school load, my kids are contentious. The only thing that has helped me is to make sure I am up before them on Mondays, to have my quiet time. It helps me cope, but that's about it.

 

:iagree:I saw the thread title and all I could think was ME TOO!

[ladydusk]

Ooooh!!! I love this idea!! A LOT!!!! We always save those subjects for Friday....and by then I am usuall spent. Monday sounds like a great time to do all those things we usually put off.

 

LIVE AND LEARN!!!

 

thanks!:D

 

Another benefit (for me) is that it is easier for me to run out on Saturday to get anything I didn't have for the project on Monday than it is on Thursday night ;)

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

A conversation like this happens in my home about once a week, and it only ever makes me mad....but when I see it like this, it makes me laugh.

 

Thanks for cheering me up.

 

:grouphug: to you. Mondays are lame around here, too. No matter how light I try to keep the school load, my kids are contentious. The only thing that has helped me is to make sure I am up before them on Mondays, to have my quiet time. It helps me cope, but that's about it.

 

:iagree:

 

I have those conversations at math time, too! What is it about math? :tongue_smilie:

[Caraway]

Here is ours, also from this morning:

 

Me: Okay, do you know what letter this is?

DD: P

Me: And do you know what sound a p makes?

DD: pppp

Me: So sound out all the letters as I point to them

DD: p-a-t

Me: So what word is that?

DD: Blank stare

Me: ppppp-aaaaaa-ttttttttt

DD: p-a-t

Me: Okay, so what is the word?

DD: Cat?

Me: Cat starts with a c sound. C. This word is pppppp-aaaa-tttt. Do you hear a c sound?

DD: No

Me: p-a-t, what do you get when you blend the sounds together?

DD: Hat?

 

:banghead:

[fraidycat]

I'm so glad I'm not alone in "Math Meltdown Land". My DD goes from zero to tears in .5 seconds some days. It baffles and frustrates me almost beyond reason some days.

 

I do like the idea of project Mondays, too. It'd be so much easier to shop on the weekends to get any needed supplies.

[nd293]

On Mondays we would do big chunks of hands on work - the stuff we usually never got to. Try Science or history projects, that sort of thing - one big lesson for the week. Maybe that will get them back into post-weekend homeschool mode with less stress?

[anoncalhan]

So glad I am not alone. Schooling 7 days a week doesn't cure it btw. I school 7 days a week when my husband is up working in Alaska. Then I don't have to fret about whether we slack off when he is home. But it doesn't cure the Monday morning fuss. I actually got out of bed this morning hoping the rest of my day would go better than my before I got out of bed day. It didn't :tongue_smilie:.Good Luck.