The never ending homework cycle!
Mama is about to get SCHOOLED!
My Big, Hairy, Audacious goal 6 years ago was to be able to send all of our kids to Catholic School. We had 3 kids at the time I put that goal on the board. I’m actually a little surprise at how adamant I am about giving this homeschooling idea a fair shot. I made a post on my personal FB wall a couple of weeks ago and the response was pretty phenomenal. Commentary was encouraging to say the least… you can check out the post and comments here.
Honestly, I just feel like school is cracking the bonds of our family. To clarify, it isn’t necessarily the school itself that is affecting us… it is all the work we are required to do at home in addition to school… you know… those moments that should be spent playing outside, eating dinner together, reading books and helping with chores?
And this isn’t just about the particular school my kids attend. We move every 1-3 years so my oldest has attended 4 Catholic schools and he is only in 5th grade. Our problem is a combination of our growing family and the general expectations of the education system as a whole. Some schools have required more homework than others. Some grade levels have been more grueling than others. Over all, it is growing more and more intense and we still have 2 more little ones who have yet to hit Kindergarten.
I need a solution before I lose the rest of my mind!!
The Homework Debacle
There have been some days (not often but it has happened) when my 1st, 4th and 5th grader all needed to use the computer for something school related. Keep in mind this is at a time when I am making dinner and tending to a 2 and 4 year old. Computer time needs to be monitored closely. I can’t manage everyone’s needs and feed them too. My kids generally work independently with homework. I don’t go over their work and look for mistakes. I know families with 1 or 2 kids do this. Some teachers actually request that parents review work. But we just feel that is counter productive. How does the teacher know what the student understands if the parents are correcting the work at home?
I will stop there about homework. I think you can tell that I am not a fan! You can disagree if you like but I challenge you to look up articles on homework and if it is really all that effective. Standby for my Homework blog! 5th Graders around the globe will be chanting my name and demanding an end to the madness! LOL
Lack of Sleep + PMS
I have toyed with the idea of homeschooling for a couple of years, but two weeks ago I made the final decision. My husband lovingly said “sweetie, I support whatever you decide. I do agree with you and and I see why and how school has become so difficult for our family. But you did just return from a week overseas, you are lacking sleep and you have PMS… let’s not make any final decisions yet.”
You have to know my husband to appreciate his comment. He was 100% correct. Matt is the calm in our family. He is always the voice of reason and has the best interest of the family 100% of the time. I agreed to take some time and really think things through. So here we are, 2 weeks later, rested, and PMS free! My decision remains the same. I had a talk with the Principle, I plan on meeting with the teachers, and I am working on more organization and schedules to get through the rest of this quarter. The kids are all very excited to homeschool. I have talked to them about leaving friends, still having to work hard at home, and assured them that being home didn’t mean more screen time for games and movies.
How in the heck am I going to do this?
Trust me, I have asked myself the same. I’ve got a game plan that I think sounds pretty good in my humble first-time homeschooling mom opinion!
Be sure to check out my post next week for a daily schedule breakdown. There are many more homeschooling chronicles to come! It should get real. So stay tuned!
xoxo Rebekah
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