Wow. Have things changed!
We've had a super busy summer and time surely got away from me.
One of the biggest changes is that we decided to homeschool our daughter.
I know.
I never thought I would homeschool. I'm still nervous about it, I hope that I can live up to the task. But after a lot of thought and prayer, my husband and I (and Hannah, too) decided it would be the best thing for her.
She was getting bored in school and the school here doesn't like to let kids skip grades. And honestly, I don't think skipping a grade would have been emotionally good for her. But intellectually she needed more challenge.
I spent most of the summer checking out websites, making lesson plans, printing worksheets, and doing other teacher/homeschool things.
So here we are. Third week of homeschool.
For the most part it's going good. I think she's learned more in the past two weeks than most of last year. Nothing against her first grade teacher. It's hard to challenge those who need it when you have 22 other children clamoring for your attention -- and many of those need help to keep up.
There have been struggles and I'm sure there will continue to be.
My main struggle is giving up "me" time. I have always been a person who has needed quiet time and time alone. My daughter not so much. She craves to be in the same room with me or my husband - regardless of what we or she are doing. I'll be honest... it's a BIG adjustment on my part. When I find myself getting cranky I know I need to take an hour or more by myself. I usually try and go into my bedroom but sometimes that doesn't work either. So that's something I will have to work on - finding time for me.
I think Hannah's main struggle is not being around a lot of other kids all the time. She really likes to socialize but I teach two other girls Spanish twice a week, so that's good for her. Also all the activities with our congregation keep us hopping. Lots of kids there!And some good friends are starting up a homeschool group because so many of us are homeschooling now.
Hannah likes that she's being challenged and that I'm keeping her very involved with projects, lapbooks, folders and more. She gets a little upset when she gets an answer wrong because she's so used to knowing all the answers but she's getting better.
I hope it continues to be this good - although I know it will be a challenge for ALL of us.
Here's our precious daughter on her very first day of homeschool. She was working on a social studies project.
