Schooling on a Saturday night
Schooling on a Saturday night..sounds like some really bad country music song.
Yes, that’s what we did tonight after our daily activities were finished. Lots of my kids’ friends have had the last few days off from school for various reasons but not so for my kids. I taught all week, even today, and will likely tomorrow as well. The holidays are quickly approaching which I know from personal experience will throw major interruptions into our academic schedule. The breaks are welcomed by all of us, including me, but because of the breaks, we have to double or triple up on what we need to cover. If I only had one or even two kids to teach, it wouldn’t be quite the juggling act that I’m doing, but such is not the case. Homeschooling is exhausting.
Friday fun day and France
The last few days have been especially busy while hubby was away in France. Everything had to be done by me alone. I’d love to say that it’s the weekend, and we can slow down, but we won’t. I will teach more on Sunday to make up for what we didn’t cover during the week. This is, in addition to, all the kids activities that will occur. I know I’m not alone in this. Plenty of parents, homeschoolers and non-homeschoolers, are feeling the crunch of raising kids in this busy environment.
I was up until 1:00 a.m. this morning working on school items. Today, we had our Math Circle meeting with our tutor in my home followed by resuming my own teaching and testing of the kids. I cleaned the pool. We had a quick dinner (my leftover porkchops that they hated as did I!), and then we set out to play some tricks on our friends. The kids dressed in dark colors and pretended to be spies. All the while, I was playing the song, “Somebody’s watching me” by Rockwell. I love that 80’s song! Now, it’s the kids’ bedtime so I’ve got to go and read “Winnie the Pooh” with them.
Using American Girl dolls to teach money
My daughter has picked out several items that she wants to buy from the American Girl store in Manhattan, so we spent the morning discussing how they can make money, the value of saving money, when to decide to spend their money, giving to charity, and the conversion of coins to dollars using charts. If you are familiar with the American Girl brand, then you know their items can be on the pricey side.
I’d love to tell you that I’m good at these life skills, but I’m really not. I love quality things, and usually those quality things come with a hefty price tag. Thankfully, my husband is much better in this area than I am.
How do you spend your Friday night?
I’m meeting next week with my co-leaders to help lay out the curricula for next year’s homeschool cooperative. We’ll spend hours on this. It’s a lot of work, but it’s work that is very exciting. To see what the students will be exposed to in their studies is motivating for a teacher. Somebody asked me tonight what I do that keeps me up so late on a Friday night. Planning out our educational map is one of them. How’s that for excitement?
Ivy League Homeschooling 