In the rhythm...

I let Theo stay up super late tonight because he is so keen on his Story of the World readings and activities and he wanted to do as much as I would let him. We have read up to chapter four now and done all the maps and colouring pages in the student pages as well as completed half of the section on Ancient Egypt in the portfolio. Next week we will continue to read about Egypt in the dozen or so library books I found on the subject as well as make a hieroglyphic scroll and hopefully a model mummy and a mummy coffin (art projects I found in the Usborne "Things for Boys to Make or Do"). He is so excited. Actually so am I. And I can't help thinking "why wouldn't people want to homeschool?" This is so much fun! And not only is it fun for me to do with him, but he is having a blast and I get to enjoy watching him enjoy learning! And I know for a fact that none of the public school kids his age are getting to learn stuff that's half so much fun.

This lady saw in me in the mall with all my kids on our way home today and said "Are all three yours?" When I said yes they were she shook her head incredulously and asked "How do you do it? I would go crazy." She only had one kid. I honestly didn't know what to say. It's true that I am definitely no stranger to that particular madness that kids tend to incite. I mean I have had some really, really, bad, bad days. Or months. But nothing has helped me cope better with my kids antics than not trying to avoid them or escape them or replace them with alternative occupation. By choosing to homeschool I have chosen to really fully engage with my children full time and weirdly enough it doesn't feel like drudgery anymore. It's when my attention is on other things I would rather be doing that the kids stress me out. Just a thought going through my brain while I think back on our week.

Mind you it hasn't exactly been an easy week either. The main stresses being that Eustace is still not sleeping well and that my husband is working all the time. Today he did 17 hours. He has been home for dinner maybe once this week and has been a basket case even then. To boot, his schedule is totally unpredictable and getting food cooked with a miserable over tired and clingy baby in your arms isn't so easy. We ate popcorn for dinner twice this week. 

Georgie is tired too. She seemed to have started to enjoy her preschool but then today she cried when I dropped her off because she was so tired. This isn't the first time in the last few weeks she's been teary about feeling tired in the early part of the day. Since school started she has been complaining of feeling tired a lot. This morning she had to walk to school, which takes a half hour, because Eustace had to be in the chariot to stay dry. We walked too fast for her and she had a later than usual bed time last night. But she eventually cheered up although I noticed she put her sad face on the minute she saw me when I came to pick her up which tells me that she's still not all that happy about her preschool. Unfortunately the Montessori school is a little further out of our way than I was expecting. The open house is next week so we will see.

We kept up our First Language Lessons this week, learning about linking verbs and doing some fun activities with index cards. He did plenty of narrations and copywork. I skipped the Writing With Ease since we did so many narrations. We can pick it up next week. And we picked up a Kumon first grade math workbook for him to use as easy practice with addition drills in the hopes that it will help with memorization.  He finished learning all his lower case cursive letters too and will soon be finished his cursive workbook altogether. At which point he will get plenty of practice in his copywork. We only did one page from horizon math this week.

We also got going on our Elemental Science and learned all about habitats and filled out the habitat chart. I meant to do the habitat poster or diorama this week but he was so keen on the history that I didn't push it. We can do it next week along with more experiments and actual narration pages.

As usual we went to my mom's place for an afternoon. They got to go to the playground and my mom had activities and crafts. And our homeschool friends came over for the day on Thursday. Georgie was delighted to play with the younger girl while Theo was delighted to read to the older girl all about gravity (we had had a conversation on the way to the library about the difference between magnetism and gravity so I got him a few books about various forces- honestly I don't know how homeschoolers manage without frequent trips to the library). In the afternoon they went for a walk with the girls by the creek near our house and were playing "nomads" apparently. Hunting, gathering, and fishing. That sort of thing. So it's good to know that Story of the World is making such a great impression on them.

So another good week again. Getting into the swing of this. I hope we figure out how to make Georgie happier soon. And sleep would be nice too. With Thanksgiving coming up I am aware that there could be much disruption if we don't stick to the basics so I have more or less decided that while we will not officially "do school" on Thanksgiving, I also have no plans for any "seasonal" activities. I tried that last year and it just stressed me out. We might get out a book about it but I would like to stick to the routine we have going on here without too much change. It is amazing the sanity that comes with a routine. If I had to give that lady an answer about how I manage with three kids I think I would have to say routine and an early bedtime. Though of course coffee and gin don't hurt either.