Day Four, Morning

The picture isn't from a home schooling day, but I didn't take photos this morning, and I wanted a visual. That's me as Pastor Pickle in our local Pickle Parade last weekend, along with Kayla on her bicycle. We were getting lined up to ride in the Pickle Parade, a big deal in our little neighborhood. We were right behind one of the marching bands, and that kept us paced up nicely. I wish more of the church members had been available to walk with us, but the six of us who did had a great time.

This morning we took it a bit easier yet again, because we got a lot of work done yesterday. We watched The Last Starfighter, and went through several "wh" questions about the movie. Since comprehension and pacing are things that both kids need work on, I stopped the movie several times to ask questions, see what they were thinking about, and get predictions about what would happen next. I was very impressed with Kayla's noticing that the main character's doppelganger was a robot and not a scary alien per se. When Mike mentioned that the aliens looked kind of frightening, Kayla said, "But they're just different types of people, Mike!" I'm so proud of them!

This afternoon we'll be making soup, something that uses measuring skills. We'll be dealing with teaspoons, tablespoons, cups (and portions thereof), pints, quarts, and gallons. I am thinking I can figure out a way to get all of those in some combination into our chicken and barley soup that we're having for dinner. This gives them practical use of their study unit, which is measuring. Yay for me.

This week has been very challenging for me. I do not think I could homeschool for an entire year, or at least not at the level I have kept up this week. Our kids are total sponges, and they were eating up everything I threw at them. I'm exhausted, and a bit strung out. I have always had a great respect for Miss B, who is a full time educator (and a special educator, no less) with 25 years of experience. Right at this very moment, though, my utmost respect goes out to those who have homeschooled their children full time. Between keeping up house, cooking, teaching, and trying to find time for my own things (um... yeah that's what I didn't do this week), my head is spinning. I'm overwhelmed.

It's not all bad; I'm so proud of the twins for all they've done. They've just been incredible little students. They have such a love of learning, and I dearly hope the public schools don't manage to rip that out of them. Watching them discover things, seeing the little mental light bulb go on in their minds, has been so fulfilling! I wouldn't trade the week for anything.

Still... I want to do our math unit (making dinner LOL) and go lie down. Thank you to ALL our teachers out there. You have my respect, and you have my sympathy.