Starting school tomorrow! Feeling high anxiety.

[sunnylady303]

My oldest is 8 and I have slip-slided from educational philosophy to philosophy and therefore curriculum to curriculum with her - unschooling to Waldorf (Enki) to literature based (Sonlight) to classical (SWB outlined) to sort of classical eclectic (Winterpromise). It's been quite a journey. After purchasing so much curriculum that I am embarrassed, and watching my poor older DD not make much progress in reading (doing fine in math...we've been consistent with MUS for 18 months which is a record for me :lol:) and seeing her feel off balance due to all the curriculum changes, I looked at what is really important for my DDs this year.

 

For both my girls - CONSISTENCY and a focus on the basics with some engaging fun learning thrown in. So I chose Memoria Press and I will be doing their 1st grade package with my DD6 and their 2nd grade package with my DD8 plus interest led afternoons which means nature studies, botany, herbalism, astronomy, engineering, physics, art - each with their own day.

 

 

I've committed to myself, to DH, and to the girls that I will stick with this for this school year. I think jumping all over has been more harmful than having the "wrong" curriculum would have been. So I will stick with this. But, frankly, my track record is poor and discipline is a place where I struggle.

 

Also it's a lot of work. I made a schedule the other day and my days are packed - just with school and house maintenance and cooking. I know that's how it is with many of you and I'm not complaining, just identifying the challenge it will be for me. I've never been good at work work work. So I've been praying and preparing amidst the craziness of my life. And tomorrow's the beginning.

 

So I guess I'm just sharing my nerves with the Hive, although it will likely get lost in all the more interesting threads. :) Thanks for reading.

[Peso]

:grouphug:

 

We're starting tomorrow too, and I'm full of anxiety as well.

 

I think you have a good plan in place, and I hope you can relax and enjoy all your hard work!

 

Plus, just think of all the time you'll have now that you won't be researching curricula... :)

 

Good luck!!!

 

Penny

[Mommy22alyns]

:grouphug: I'm starting next Monday and I'm pretty nervous too!

[2_girls_mommy]

We started this past week, though not the full curric yet. We have a couple of things that haven't come in yet, so we had some review in some time periods thankfully.

 

I also make a detailed plan and schedule for the days to make sure it all gets done. I already teach co-op classes and children's church and help lead girl scouts. So my plate was full. This year I added a babysitting child and was so nervous about how it was going to go with her here. It was a lot of work, but the detailed schedule and plans I made helped, and we had a great first week, extra kiddo and all.

 

Good luck to you! Each year is a new adjustment, but it all works out with dedication and hard work.

[Mommee & Baba]

We're starting tomorrow as well.

 

Stick to your plan. If you get side-tracked come back and read this thread to yourself. I can say that I know how you must feel. I spent the last summer playing catch up with my oldest dd because I jumped around way too much!! It hurt her education more than it did any good! So we stuck it out this past year and pushed way into summer to complete our studies. We had 4 weeks of summer break. All the kids are ready for school to be back on.

 

I'm nervous this year because I am adding ds3 into our homeschool schedule as a preschooler. No more books, tv, computer time, & or puzzles will do...I actually have curriculum for him as well. Hoping to figure it out & be able to manage some free time to myself. I think I will need to be really strict with my own bed time and get up with dh @ 5:30am instead of 6am. This will allow me 30 extra minutes to get ready for the day ahead. When we have quiet time this year I need to actually rest and not clean house!! Save the cleaning house for break times through out the school day and when our school day & quiet time is over.

 

See.....you are not alone in being nervous.:grouphug:

[besroma]

:grouphug: Hope you have a great first day back! Hang in there!

[Kirch]

We're starting back tomorrow, and I'm a little nervous too. I haven't had issues with curriculum, but we haven't been as steady and consistent as we need to be--too many distractions and interruptions. I need to be better this year about saying no to too many extra things and be WAY more disciplined about getting myself up earlier so we can get going earlier in the morning. I just made checklists for both boys for each day, and it looks like soooo much (even though I know a lot of things only take 10 minutes, tops). So I'm a bit worried that I'm overloading them too. And then there's my oldest's often not-so-great attitude (which I'm hoping will fall into place once we hit a groove and it's our "normal"). We'll see ...

[Night Elf]

BTDT! I was a curriculum junkie and I tried every method of homeschooling that I learned about, even skipping around during the year. I rarely finished one program the way it was intended to be done. In fact, I can honestly say that the only program I used from start to finish was Hooked on Phonics for my youngest dd. She loved that program so much that she cried when she finished it. I didn't become consistent until high school. But I can say that overall, my children were prepared for high school classes. They were where they needed to be in Math and Language Arts. The rest of the classes have just fallen into place. We handle any challenges as they come up, and my kids have done great so far.

 

So don't worry that you're stuck behind. Focus on the present. And when you do feel stuck and like you want to quit, come to this board and ask for help in giving yourself and your kids a refresher. Ask how to make changes with your current materials so you can get through them. I've seen some amazing answers! One thing I learned on this board was that I didn't have to do school 5 days per week. For the longest time, we had 4-day work weeks and life was good. But we quickly discovered that high school was too involved to take off that much time. We compromised and now take every other Friday off. It's still enough time to see a light at the end of the tunnel and we renew our spirit during our 3-day weekend.

 

:grouphug: Stay firm with your choices. I'm sure you put a great deal into them. Sometimes I wish I had IRL friends who homeschooled so i could offer to schedule out their work. It's the planning part that I love. It was the implementation and boredom that worked at my nerves. It's gotten better with the high school courses. But I track those classes closely. I can tell you at any given time just how many weeks we have left in a course. I've been known to push a little too much daily work for the sole purpose of getting through a unit more quickly. I'm working the system to benefit us and it's going extremely well.

 

(posted while taken Ambien. I hear this can do strange stuff so while this makes sense to me now, it might sound like gobbledy gook tomorrow. :tongue_smilie:)

 

ETA: i just remembered we completed Calvert 2nd grade and in record time too. My youngest dd pretty much worked that program independently. That the by far, the most successful of our Calvert years.

Edited August 6, 2012 by Night Elf

[5wolfcubs]

For both my girls - CONSISTENCY and a focus on the basics with some engaging fun learning thrown in. So I chose Memoria Press and I will be doing their 1st grade package with my DD6 and their 2nd grade package with my DD8 plus interest led afternoons which means nature studies, botany, herbalism, astronomy, engineering, physics, art - each with their own day.

 

 

I've committed to myself, to DH, and to the girls that I will stick with this for this school year. I think jumping all over has been more harmful than having the "wrong" curriculum would have been. So I will stick with this. But, frankly, my track record is poor and discipline is a place where I struggle.

 

CONSISTENCY is key! You can do it!

[prairiegirl]

We are starting today as well. Even after doing this for 8 years, I still get nervous when the first day pops up. I, too, have a problem with consistency. As a result, there are some skills that have fallen by the wayside. I am determined to be more consistent this year and keep plodding along even when things don't seem to be working out.

[Tammyla]

:grouphug:I wish you all a wonderful first day, but by that I mean a good work day. Expectations of rainbows and ponies can trip many of us up on our quest for perfect.

 

I've learned (the hard way as many others have)

that it is the work, that works. Do the lessons, day after day, lesson after lesson...wash, rince and repeat.

 

 

It may help to know your curriculum triggers...Things like, stress, tears, avoiding lessons, winter blues can prompt many homeschooling moms to try to fix it by changing the curriculum. In reality slowing down, a break, a day at the park, working in markers or a dry erase board, taking time to clean the house etc. will get many a student & stress out mom over the bump.

 

We started last week, and even after 11 years, I was nervous and wishing for another day of summer break.

[DianeW88]

You need to demand more of yourself. Hard work is what will get your child ahead...and in homeschooling, it is MOM who does most of it.

 

Stick with the curriculum choices you have made this year throughout the entire year. Jumping all over the place will leave gaps for your children that you may not be able to overcome if it continues.

 

With your oldest only in second grade, you're still at the very beginning of your homeschool journey and she'll be fine.

 

Honestly, sometimes the hardest thing in the world is to keep doing the schoolwork day in and day out. It gets monotonous. It's hard. There are days when your motivation will not exist. But please don't get into the habit of taking too many days off. That is a disaster in the making...ask me how I know. :glare:

 

Constant, consistent work is what prepares your child for her future, and with homeschooling....it's all you. No one is there to pick up the slack. No one will step in to lighten the load. We homeschooling moms take on the biggest committment in the world...to educate our children for their adult lives completely on our own. The payoffs are SO worth it, but it is the hardest job you'll ever do....hands down. After 18 years of this, I can say that I truly love it and there isn't anything I'd rather be doing, but it is still really tough to keep going on some days. Hang in there!!

 

And have a fabulous school year!!! :D

[LittleIzumi]

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: You can do it!!!

[Kirch]

You need to demand more of yourself. Hard work is what will get your child ahead...and in homeschooling, it is MOM who does most of it.

 

Stick with the curriculum choices you have made this year throughout the entire year. Jumping all over the place will leave gaps for your children that you may not be able to overcome if it continues.

 

With your oldest only in second grade, you're still at the very beginning of your homeschool journey and she'll be fine.

 

Honestly, sometimes the hardest thing in the world is to keep doing the schoolwork day in and day out. It gets monotonous. It's hard. There are days when your motivation will not exist. But please don't get into the habit of taking too many days off. That is a disaster in the making...ask me how I know. :glare:

 

Constant, consistent work is what prepares your child for her future, and with homeschooling....it's all you. No one is there to pick up the slack. No one will step in to lighten the load. We homeschooling moms take on the biggest committment in the world...to educate our children for their adult lives completely on our own. The payoffs are SO worth it, but it is the hardest job you'll ever do....hands down. After 18 years of this, I can say that I truly love it and there isn't anything I'd rather be doing, but it is still really tough to keep going on some days. Hang in there!!

 

And have a fabulous school year!!! :D

 

Thanks--I needed that, even though I wasn't the OP! I may print it out and refer to it weekly (or minute-ly!!).

 

We had a relatively good start. We got everything done that I had planned, and though there was some resistance, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I *think* that once this is accepted as our new "normal," we'll be good to go. :001_smile: