NOT back to school

it's hard to get excited about starting a new school year- because we never really had an official break... But our homeschooling group made it a little easier by throwing another NOT Back 2 School party. I didn't bring my camera, but these pics were emailed to me. We love, LOVE our homeschooling friends-- they are the smartest, most polite kids you will ever meet and their moms are just--- well, wonderful.

the NOT-back-to-school party consisted of watermelon, lots of cookies, legos, charades, delicious cupcakes with too much frosting, water fights, laughing and friends. No backpacks, homework, whistles, saying goodbye or lunch ladies with hair nets. There was ONE rule however= no kids on the fancy couches.. in this top picture, you can see that both Sabrina and I are lecturing Zack and Sylvia about breaking the only rule. Those naughty three year olds..


As far as our day-to-day "routine" is concerned, I think we deserve an A+ when it comes to learning. But I am a pretty lenient teacher. This is a typical day in our house.

6 am: mom wakes up, exercises, makes a lunch for dad, cleans a bit
7 am: dad leaves for work
8 am-ish: the boys wake up, everyone eats breakfast
8:30 am: make beds, brush teeth, get dressed, daily chore.
9 am: morning "devotional" Prayer, a scripture verse or two, silly songs, the pledge of allegiance, an Article of Faith (we rotate a new one every week) and more silly songs.
9:30 am-12 pm: math, science, spelling, history-- all the boring stuff. Zack will join in or do puzzles while Ben and Luke "study"
12:30 pm: lunch
1-4 pm: QUIET TIME. My favorite time of the day. 4/5 days, I take a nap. The kids play quietly on the computer or watch a movie. There is one major rule during quiet time... if I hear them, they have to lay down by me. Which means, they are extra good. If I am not napping, I will take a bubble bath, sew or read. Again, I love this time of day.
4-6 pm: Get ready for daddy to come home.. deep cleaning, dinner prep, etc. and maybe a bit more schooling if we didn't finish what we should have in the morning..
6-ish pm: dinner.
8 pm: Bedtime routine.. pj's, brush teeth, scriptures, a bit of reading and finally SILENCE. The boys still sleep in the same room and they can stay up as late as they want, but they CANNOT come out of their room unless they're bleeding.
10 pm: lights out everywhere. I love going to bed early. Aaron plays sports 2-3 nights a week or stays up late watching sporting events of the day. The US Open just started today...

*daily schedule is subject to change by authorized parent. For instance, mom might find it necessary to go swimming during the morning hours and push schooling back to quiet time.. that is, if she's willing to sacrifice her prized nap. **Must also note that Daddy hardly ever returns from work at 6 pm.**

It's definitely a busy day, but it's so worth it. I realize things are really going to change with a new baby... but I KNOW I can handle a few hours of teaching.. I think I can, I think I can. The thought of sending my kids off for such a long day with so little time to play is heartbreaking for me. I would probably be on board with public school if they had at least two hours of recess. The law requires adults to get a 15 minute break every 2 hours of work. How is it possible that our kids don't get the same amount of breaks? Nonsense, says I.

Some days (like yesterday, for instance) I feel exhausted and frustrated. I wonder if I am doing the right thing. I stress about their social life, testing skills, ability to ever leave my side and I dream about what it would be like to be free... but I am reminded again and again that this is the best thing for our family, right now. It's a sacrifice, no doubt. But it's also rewarding in ways that are unexplainable.

In just a few short hours of homeschooling today, these were my rewards:

• hearing the first words out of Zack's mouth this morning, "Mom! It's Tuesday AND it's September. Yahoo!"
• laughing over a few silly things Luke changed on his vocabulary worksheet that was entirely too easy for him. He was supposed to fill in a few blanks to the sentence, "Bob took a nap on the cot." After Luke was finished, it read, "Bub took a crap on the cat." Completely terrible, I know... but he knew it would make us laugh. I almost peed my pants.. we giggled over that for a good ten minutes. I wonder what his 1st grade teacher would have done at the local school-- probably slap him with a ruler...
  
• sending Ben and Luke to the Springs Preserve on a field trip with other homeschooling friends. It was a Nature Exchange and they loved every minute of it. I love that their schedules are flexible and open, as a child's should be.
  
• listening to Luke teach Zack his letters while Ben and I worked on multiplication.. Luke doesn't need the special instructions because his brain loves to multiply. Zack is doing incredible and he will be reading before we know it. Reading [honestly] comes naturally-- even to the wild ones.
• overhearing their "bedtime conversation" which is usually about Star Wars or Transformers. Not tonight. Tonight, they were discussing how cool it would be to live in Alaska-- because for two weeks in the summer, the sun never goes down. They thought they wouldn't have to go to sleep if it was light all day. When I peeked my head in and said that I would gladly move to Alaska, as long as they hibernated in the winter for two weeks when the sun doesn't come up. They groaned and shrieked, "Never mind! Never mind! We don't want to move there!" Thank goodness.. it's way too cold for my warm-bloodedness.

The sun comes up, and we'll start again....