Not All Fun & Games

As we progress into a steady routine of completing lessons and charting attendance, I have already found myself making mistakes as my daughter's teacher.  The responsibilites overwhelm me at times and I can find the tasks daunting.  It's work- physical, mental, and emotional work.

Most parents would assuredly admit to losing their patience when their children consistently disobey or repeatedly interrupt or exhaust their energy.  This is all very true for me, but as a homeschooler, I now have to be constantly aware of my attitude and expectations as I watch how my daughter learns.  Patience, patience, PATIENCE!

I find myself getting lost in checking off items on the agenda.  There's no need to rush to see what subjects we can complete each day.  It's about enjoying the learning process.  I have forgotten that a few times.

We're still learning though.  We're ALWAYS learning.  The mother AND the daughter.   For instance:

1. 
   
   I'm figuring out that when she mentally checks out on a lesson, instead of pushing her to finish it right then, I need to remember that's okay to stop and come back to it later. 
2. 
   
   I'm finding that some things just take longer to memorize.  If it's new material, I shouldn't expect my daughter to be a genius and grasp new concepts right away.  It doesn't matter if we have to take the time to review before we go to the next thing. 
3. 
   
   As long as we're doing it, we're succeeding.  She's learning, and that's the goal.

The beauty of homeschooling is that she can work at HER pace- It's not a race.

I wish it could always be fun though.  While we have to hunker down and work a lot of the time, my internal thermometer lets me know when we need a break here and there.  There has to be time for free play, time to give my son some attention, time to clean the house, time to get creative, time to socialize....

It all takes TIME.  The kids, by their very nature, take up our time.  There are only so many hours in a day to do what we want and need to do. 

And it's a JOURNEY.  All journeys, whether going on a road trip, taking a vacation flight, or hiking a new trail, require perseverence, flexibility, patience, a desire for adventure, and a sense of humor...as well as, time.

Today, we decided to journey backwards by starting with the things we like and ending with the things we HAVE to do.  Brody has been wanting to make a lion mask, so that's what we did.

It took some time, but that part was fun :-)