Today, we entered the world of homeschooling using materials and resources CJ picked up from school yesterday. This morning, we had a conference call with a teacher and quite a few classmates, we’ve used online learning sites as directed, and did many worksheets. I hate it.

As you’ve seen in my unfinished summer posts, I always make sure we are doing some kid of learning on extended time off. In preparation for the weeks ahead when they closed school, I made up schedules and lesson plans for us, to make sure the kids were still learning something; to keep their brains active.

I would like to point out, the movie is a Disney movie and was chosen ironically. Also, they love it. And maybe I do too.  🙂

This schedule was super easy to follow and had a format my kids were used to. We were already doing really well with it. Today has been a mess though. Like, seriously.

We did science and math on Monday and Tuesday in the form of a hand washing experiment and spine demonstration (using cut straws and pipe cleaners) and did some baking and measuring.

We didn’t do anything I had planned for today, opting instead to just go all in with what the teachers had provided. This method, unfortunately, leaves the younger two out. I cannot fully devote myself to either faction that has been created. The two younger ones distract the older ones, as they just want to touch the devices that were sent home, and I can’t focus on keeping them otherwise occupied since the older two require instruction to get their work done.

I plan on finishing out the week, to see if things get any better. If they don’t start to go more smoothly, I may back out from what the teachers are asking (sorry!) and just stick to my own planning. My kids may end up a touch behind in lessons once school resumes, but how much can they really be absorbing with such frequent interruptions? Also, it’s not like they weren’t learning anything. They just didn’t realized they were learning.

This experience has once again made it clear to me that I made the right choice studying adolescent versus elementary education. God bless our teachers!