Good morning! It’s day three of homeschooling back to school in our house and I am officially wiped out. Phew. There’s a lot to juggle this year. Ten minutes in, when the baby was upstairs crying for me to come help her put on some fancy, frilly dress, and all the girls wanted all my attention, and then that same baby came downstairs and fell off the back of the sofa and was screaming in my arms, I was pretty much ready to call the yellow bus.
But somehow, at some point, we re-grouped and made it through. And, you know what, it was pretty okay. And I got to the end of the day and thought, “Hey, we did it.”
I think I have a little “day in the life” of our first day of school ready to share with you soon. And a post I wrote about technology that I may or may not share. (One of those written in a frustrated place kinds of posts.)
But in the meantime, here are three good things to start your day:
1. From me…speaking of technology, I’ve really been a slacker about it this summer. And I knew I wanted to make some serious changes when the school routine kicked in. But I also know from experience that having technology as the carrot in front of the kids’ faces for finishing school work does not work well. The rushing and the fact that “when do I get to get on my/watch my ______?” is always at the forefront of their minds, is really distracting to our school day. This year, I decided to take a different approach.
The kids have a bunch of stuff they need to take care of in the mornings to keep the house running smoothly. (Kidding. Our house doesn’t run smoothly, but at least I can get the clothes to the washer, beds made and teeth from rotting out of their heads.) So I made a list of the things that need to be done in the morning before school, with pictures for my emerging reader.
School starts at 9:00am. Once they’ve worked through their morning routine, any leftover time is completley theirs. Hey kid, watch TV! Play on your iPod! The time is theirs until I take over at 9:00am. They get their work done, a little technology fix and then we can drop it and start our day with out the distraction. It’s working so beautifully (disclaimer: 3 days in) and so much better than using technology as a reward. (I hate that. Dear Children: Going outside should be a reward. Having time to yourself should be a reward. But that’s another post…)
2. Good music alert.
I discovered Mandolin Orange through Cloud Cover Music this past winter. It’s the best musical discovery I’ve had in quite awhile. I don’t often like every song in an album. But man oh man, do I love this group. If you love a little bluegrass-y, folk-y, “chill in the background while I do work” kind of music, you’re going to want to get yourself a little of this. And bonus, they just released an amazing new CD. I love a quote I read about their music having “front porch closeness”. That’s a perfect description.
3. This video is making the rounds on Facebook. It’s such a good reminder. Good food for thought. And though convicting in some points, also a good reminder.
Here’s a link to the video: “I Forgot My Phone“. I had the video embedded, but it autoplays. Autoplay drives me nuts.
Happy Wednesday. More soon!
*Full disclosure: The link to Mandolin Orange’s new CD is an amazon affliliate link. Clicking on the link and making a purchase means I get a small commission. Hey, it keeps our family in books. Thanks.*
technology is a reward for doing all the have-to's at our house, too. that said, we don't turn on the tv during the school week much – it's just too busy. but a quick game on the ipod? go for it!
Molly-I am so psyched you discovered Mandolin Orange! I had the same reaction when I first heard them. I could not stop listening. Last time I was home I told Suse to listen and I kept meaning to send their double album to Mike via Spotify! Their new album is there now! I have tickets to see them soon. Maybe you need a road trip to their home state of NC?! Xoxo
Thanks for the music rec–I trust your taste since our mix-cd exchange many years ago. I'm in a Pandora rut–it keeps playing the same things over and over, so I'm glad to try something new.
Just bought the Mandolin Orange CD! Great music. I had never heard of them. I'm and "older" mom now with a 3 year old and growing up, we had a b/w TV. Gilligan's Island, Brady Bunch, Leave it to Beaver, etc. We only were allowed 5 hours per week on the TV!!! My mom always threatened to "put the TV on the street". Sometimes she called the TV " the idiot box" if she found out we had done an extra hour or two. So, we really looked forward to going to …. ta da! … the LIBRARY! To get more books to read. Geez, can anyone imagine that anymore?! I would sit in bed peeling and eating oranges while reading books. I now have a kindle but I do still read a lot. People who are always texting while in the company of someone else are simply rude so that video really hit-home with me. I've been at the doctors office, for example, and forgot to turn off my cell, and the doctor says, "that is your phone ringing". I say, "yes, it is, but I am here with you" and I ignore my phone. I so admire and am fascinated by your homeschooling but I could never do it (unless I had to). I was great at math, literature, english, arts, but wasn't very good at biology, chemistry, and history. Also, I am not very good at spelling but have worked on it all my life (I before E, except after C -ha!) I loved the last 3 subjects (loved school), though, but couldn't for example, remember a date in history for my life. It would be painful for everyone if I actually had to teach those subjects!!