So, How Is School Going?

I wanted to name this post How Did the First Week Go? but that was three weeks ago, and here we are in our fourth week of school already.  So maybe that's saying something about how it's going....Busy.

The school plans themselves do not feel like too much for either Fritter or me.  We're getting it done, we're (mostly) enjoying it, we're still humming along on schedule. 

The problem lies in the fact that I am still not quite up to speed taking care of a family of six.  There is still laundry that needs to get done, dinner that needs to be cooked, children that need to be hugged, and a husband who needs to be given my attention.  It's all working, it's all happening, but there is not much room for error.  AND this is not really because of the load we're doing in school, it's just...life.  Saturdays have turned from slightly lazy work days with a smattering of very heavy work, to pretty much all day catching up on laundry and housework and various other sundry projects.

And to add a little more chaos beauty to the mix, we got fish!

At the in-service for our Co-op a few weeks ago, our group leader had us do a little activity.  The moms broke up into two groups (there are about twelve of us total) and we were each given an object.  We were told to say the name of the object and pass it to the person on our right.  So it went something like this, "Pen {pass}...stapler {pass}...marker {pass}...crayon {pass}...tape..." Then we were told to take one step back from each other and continue in the same manner, except this time a little faster, "Pen{pass}, stapler{pass}, marker{pass}..."  This was a little harder, but still doable.  One more time we were told to step back, and this time go in the opposite direction, and a little faster, "marker{pass}stapler{pass}pen{drop...Oh Shoot!"

This was used as an example of life.  And the second example is about where we are.  It's doable, it's a little fast paced, but things will get chaotic quickly if I don't keep up.

This week we started back to our PE class on Tuesday mornings, and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd starts in two weeks on Thursdays afternoons.  Fridays is Co-op one week, and Blue Knights/Little Flowers the next week.  Soccer practice is every Thursday evening and games will be on Saturday mornings.  We have Monday and Wednesday where we don't have to leave the house at all, and I plan on guarding those days with everything I have.

We have to make sure we have time for this.  Getting dressed in full battle regalia is a priority around here.

Dragon slayers in training.

(Already a nice sized post and I still haven't gotten to the meat and potatoes of school yet).

School itself has gone well.  Fritter is plugging away at his Math book, which he LOVES.  Overheard in the school room yesterday as I was setting out his Math Test, "Mom, speed drills are so much fun!"  He is his mother's son.

One challenge is keeping the girls occupied while I'm working with Fritter.  They are loving their Learning Poster, and Ladybug is enjoying her "school work".  Sunflower does about 10 or 15 minutes of "blanket time" with a hands on toy of some sort (for example, this week she is playing with rocks I painted with Fritter ages ago in an egg carton.  Her goal is to place each rock in a slot with my kitchen tongs.)  Overall this takes about 20 minutes and Fritter is usually done with his Math by then.  At this point, I currently have Ladybug doing Independent Playtime in her room and Sunflower doing playtime in the playpen until Fritter gets to more independent work.  My sweet Froggy pretty much naps consistently during this time. 

It's definitely not a perfect system, but it's working right now.  Right away the first week of school, we were thrown some curve balls.  Ladybug got pink eye, Fritter got a cold and ear infection, and I got braces (that's a whole 'nother post).  We've worked around all this, and managed, but things are not as smooth as they were last year. 

And really, that's ok.  I'm learning to be more flexible, but I'm also growing.  I would so much rather sit on the couch and read or cross stitch than do much of anything else, and while I still get to do some of that, my horizons are also being expanded a little.

So in answer to the question, how is school going? I'd have to say pretty good so far.  And bonus!  We homeschool, so if I feel we need a break, we have a membership to the Science Center and can count that as school for a week.  :)

Or the aquarium.  That's school too!