Moms schooling 3-4+

[BlsdMama]

Please take a moment to make headings with each of your children’s names. Then, beneath each name, list your daily responsibility with each one. For example teach a math lesson, tutor phonics, sit beside while learning cursive, teach science, do lab, etc. 
 

After that, assign how many minutes you think each will realistically take. Add up all the minutes, convert into hours. 
 

After that, weigh it. For example, five hours is HEAVY. It does not account for switching laundry, potty breaks, doing dishes, etc.  That’s okay, but you need to know why things aren’t coming together the way you pictured in your head. Later, you might want to consider some trade offs. I’m willing to let SWB’s hubby read SOTW to my kids so I can read Miss Rumphius, kwim? I’m willing to use a more autonomous grammar program so I can teach Saxon math myself... things of this nature. 
 

I’m always surprised when I o this but it has intrinsic value. It gets rid of the mommy value when the house is a mess at4:30 and, “All I did today was school,” whimper commences. It helps me choose between good, better, best. 

[Slache]

21 minutes ago, WendyAndMilo said:

How do you “weigh it”?  

With a scale!

I imagine comparing it to your day. 24 hours - sleep - eating - personal needs etc. What's left? Weigh it against school.

[domestic_engineer]

Yes!  This year I made "appointments" with each kid on our electronic calendar instead of just keeping the information in a spreadsheet.  Lo, and behold, my whole day is blocked off with school.  Come winter time, I'll be doing school for more hours than the sun will be in the sky.  😬

But it definitely gives me a visual reminder of why dinner is running late or why the house is a mess or why I *have* to outsource class XYZ so that I can work with a younger who needs the one-on-one time.

The further I go along, the more I really admire the moms who homeschool "large" families.

[LMD]

Great advice! And then show it to your husband 😄

[BlsdMama]

On 8/28/2020 at 1:55 PM, WendyAndMilo said:

How do you “weigh it”?  

 I think of a scales - the amount and type of homeschooling I *want* to do vs. the life I want my family to live.

It's a matter of arranging puzzle pieces.  Sometimes there is a curriculum or a book I *want* to use but it's teacher intensive.  If I choose that thing, what is my trade off? Because it's wrong to say, "Oh, I'll make room for that."  The more correct way to put that is, "What am I willing to give up so that I can fit that into my life?"

We like to believe we can fit in more than we can and we seriously underestimate the value of rest.  We think we don't need a day off or a quiet time in the afternoon.  We think we *must* teach this, fit in that... But the truth is that we are making choices for one thing (often academics or social engagement) that is a tradeoff in place of a healthy mom or a healthy family life.  

We need to give weight to these things. If our family culture is so important, does fitting in eight subjects that cause us to feel stressed, scramble, get frustrated fit into our family goals?

It's true that some people struggle with doing too little - so is that hour on Facebook worth giving up working with a math struggling kid on math facts?
Likewise the mom who struggles with taking on too much - is that 20 minutes for poetry memorization worth giving up an unhurried breakfast? Maybe it is.  In that case, simplify breakfast.  That's okay - to give yourself permission to do something that another would deem less important.  That's okay to make those decisions, just realize that you must weigh these things and if one outweighs another in your priorities, then move something off the scale. Set is aside for a season, a time... and say, "Not this semester, not while the baby is little, not for our family..." 

It's okay to say no to really great things because your ability to spin the plates is finite.