First day of Homeschooling

and what a day it was.

Let me start by saying it was nothing like I expected yet so much more, if that even makes sense.

I learned quite a few things about me and my children. 

The biggest thing?????  I have an immense amount of patience, more than I thought I ever did.  HA!

Being that this was the very first day of homeschooling we were a little like baby ducklings in the water, trying desperately to find our way around without sinking.  It's one thing to say you're going to homeschool but it's a whole other when you actually find yourself face to face with it, the reality sinks in and you almost get this overwhelming sense of panic.

What did I do?  That thought ran through my mind for about an hour after I woke up, as I kept saying "this is it, there's no turning back, they're not going to school they're staying here with ME....oh my goodness, what did I DO?"

After they got up and ate breakfast, we began.   School work in pj's, what a concept.

One thing I've learned with my children is that they're not morning people, they don't like getting up early, they don't like being rushed and they don't have the ability to concentrate until about mid morning or lunch time, that is when they do best......so starting school at 10 am works perfect for us.

We breezed through two hours of work, or should I say, Jasmine breezed through two hours of work.

Nicholas was a whole other story.  My son is 7 years old so he's at that age where school work is boring, he would rather be playing games or playing outside or being stung by a thousand bees than working.  It took us about 20 to 30 minutes just to get settled in, everytime I turned my head he was off, either out of the chair and doing something else, or giving me a hundred and one reasons why he wasn't ready.

It got a little frustrating at times but I kept with it, kept bringing him back to the desk, kept grabbing his attention back to the work in front of him and soon he was settled in and breezing through it all.

We laughed hysterically, we learned together, we did experiments outside and we took lunch breaks and play breaks and fit in the rest of our work in between.  We even had snacks while we worked  GASP!

Snack evidence all over his cute face

It's an adjustment period.

We're still feeling each other out, figuring out what works for us, how many hours here and how many hours there.  One thing I definitely figured out, I need to give Nicholas MORE SHORTER breaks throughout the day instead of a long hour or two.  Once that momentum is broken it is excruciatingly hard getting him back on track.

He loves Math, he loves Science....he can't stand writing and doesn't much care for reading.  So we'll work on making these interesting. 

Jasmine is a perfectionist and she applies herself to the fullest when studying.  She takes notes....and I mean TAKES notes for everything, she loves it, she loves learning, she loves jotting things down and it's such a pleasure watching her.

All in all, it was a good day.  I'm sure we'll have our ups and downs but for now, I am beyond thrilled with this new adventure.

No more kids coming home exhausted, starving and broken down from school.

Oh and let's not even talk about the bad learning habits that their teachers and school imposed on them, I'm going to have a hard time breaking them of these, especially Nicholas. 

One of the best things for me about this whole experience?  Watching them laugh and see the shock in their faces knowing that they are allowed to just stop and go use the bathroom or get a glass of water or something to eat. 

I also learned that I enjoy teaching a whole lot more than I thought.  It takes me back to my childhood, one of my favorite ways to pass the time when I was about 8 or 9 was to play school.  I still remember grabbing all my stuffed animals and setting them on the floor with paper and pens in front of them.  I was the teacher and I walked around writing stuff for them LOL

Yeah, it's kinda like that now, but I don't get to write anything for them, I just get to play teacher, spend time with my children, have a hand in their education and watch them blossom and really what more could I ask for?