Weekly Wrap Up: Schoolhouse Rock and Roller Coaster Rides

Joining the Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers once again...

The best way to summarize this week in our homeschool is to say that it has been a bit of a roller coaster ride.  

Monday and Tuesday were characterized by grumpy test subjects and- if I'm being honest- an even grumpier Lead Investigator.  I started the week feeling behind with household chores, paperwork, phone calls and errands, which made me anxious to find some time to catch up while the boys worked.  As I mentioned last week they have been working well independently, so I was expecting more of the same this week.  If I were superstitious, which I'm not, but if I were I'd have known better than to count my chickens before they hatched.  The boys were whiny and needy and all around nudges for two days straight.  They got all their work done but not without a lot of prodding from me.  

By Tuesday night, I felt angry, anxious and drained.  My Facebook reflected my emotional state: "I'm a mother on the edge.  Who's gonna talk me down?"   Thankfully, I have many funny and sweet Facebook friends and I was smiling again a few hours later.  The whole experience has made me realize that I need to plan time in my weekly schedule to take care of household stuff so that I am not trying to squeeze those responsibilities in while homeschooling.  

Wasn't I all smiles when my wonderful babysitter knocked on our door bright and early on Wednesday morning?  I made it to my Bible study for the first time in several weeks and it was a wonderful break for me.  As we've done in past weeks, I got the boys started on their assignments for the day, left for my study and then finished up with them in the afternoon.  I even had time for alone time and a quick coffee before I picked up RA from school.

We had an early dinner on Wednesday and spent part of the evening watching Grammar Rock from the School House Rock DVD series.  Oh what fun memories Schoolhouse Rock brings back for me!  I love that all three of my kids seemed to enjoy it and were laughing aloud and singing along.  And it turned out to be a great reinforcement for the test subjects of their grammar studies so far!

What's your favorite School House Rock tune?  For me, it's a three way tie between Conjunction Junction, Interjection and Mr. Morton.

We are reading a chapter a day of this book each afternoon when RA gets home from school.  (It was recommended to us by TS 1's fantastic Science teacher at co-op- thanks J!)

The tale is about two cousins who travel back in time to the age of the Vikings, which is the period in history we have been studying for the past two weeks.  The book is holding the attention of all three kids and inspired them to work together to build a time machine of their own.  Here is one of the earlier models of their Imagination Station.  It has since been upgraded but I haven't gotten a shot of that model yet :)

Thursday was a half day for RA as parent teacher conferences were held in the afternoon and evening at school.  TS 2 had a play date with a friend from school after lunch so he was on a mission to be done with his school work early.  That drive seemed to motivate TS 1, too, and by the time we picked up RA from school, both had almost finished their school day!

Thursday night was Community Night benefitting our school at a local Mexican restaurant.  We went for an early dinner and enjoyed chatting with old friends.

Friday was another Parent-Teacher conference day at RA's school so she came with us to co-op!  She had a wonderful time.  Even though I am confident that we made the right decision to send her to Kindergarten this year, I still feel pangs of guilt about her missing out on some of the fun we have in homeschool.  After co-op, we enjoyed an afternoon at the local ice rink with the homeschool group.


I can't close out this post without mentioning how cold it was today.  I was outside for most of the three co-op periods this morning and then we spent a few hours in the cold ice rink this afternoon.  I'm very happy to be in my warm and toasty home :)  I do not plan on leaving for at least 18 hours!

How do you manage a home and homeschool your children?  I'd appreciate any tips you can offer!