Today I will start homeschooling five of my children.
Five.
All at once.
With a two-year old (Marie) and a hyper-active 8-month old (Grace) in the wings. [said 8-month old is currently on my lap, tearing apart my desk and trying to get at the keyboard. Just a few minutes ago she managed to climb onto the dishwasher door and unscrew the Jet-Dry compartment TWICE in under a minute while I was trying to clean up the kitchen. This gives you an idea of what I'm up against.]
I've got a 5th grader (Sean),
a 4th grader (Reilly),
a 3rd grader (Kathryn),
a 1st grader (Christopher), and
a Kindergartener (Thomas).
I usually like to have ALL my goals and objectives written out, and everything planned before I sit down and start teaching for the year.
This year, it didn't happen.
I have found that the whole IDEA of teaching five has been so overwhelming that I'm just paralyzed. My brain isn't functioning and I can't put much down on paper.
So, we jump in.
Today I will find out what sort of general schedule will work for me this year. I will figure out how to have decent catechism discussions with each of them... how to walk Reilly through division while directing Sean to his science reading and teaching Christopher and Thomas the phonograms and working with Kathryn on her spelling and giving Marie something to do so she feels like she's homeschooling... all while trying to keep Grace from hurting herself.
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Lord Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day...
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The responsorial psalm for this morning said:
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
I heard it said that a sacrifice is something difficult and not necessarily what "feels good" to do. Those who praise Him when it is difficult (instead of screaming and tearing our hair out in frustration) glorify Him. So it is my hope that we will be able to do this today in the middle of what looks to be a very difficult day!
4 comments:
I totallly cheat. I do the girls in the AM (preK, 1st) while the boys play with baby and the boys in the PM (K, 2) while the littles are down for a nap. So we have time for many tangents in history and science projects.
This year I'm adding brother with learning disabilities to the mix, so we'll see how that goes! He's in the same grade as my other boy, even though he's older.
Looking forward to how it goes with 5!
Many blessings in your new year of learning!! You'll do great!!
You can SO do it! I've got a 6th grader, a 4th grader, a 3rd grader and a would-be 1st grader whose mother is taking her time in finishing Kindergarten.
And I've got an Angela, who's more 3 than most 3-year-olds and who does her best to keep life interesting.
We are here for you!! You are giving them the best education you could--and from a teacher who cares more about them than any other. Yay!
Ahem. I'll just go calm down now.
Thank you, thank you for the comments! As I mentioned in the update, it was a messy day, but we managed to get through it.
I talked to a dear friend today who gave me some great advice (namely sllllooooowwww down and don't try to teach them all at once) that hopefully will help.
May God bless us ALL as we take on the task of teaching our little ones!
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