School started back for us today.

Hello Wildwood Halls of Ivy.

 

 

I have a high school daughter again.

And two middle schoolers.

My “baby” is in third grade.  He feels super unexcited to be required to do school again.

 

 

Today it was difficult to stay on track for all of us, but I think over all we did alright.

High school curriculum is not cheap, let me tell you.

Our Latin curriculum has yet to arrive but I like the first couple of days to be a slow start anyway so we don’t hit all the subjects all the days.  Latin is new for us this year – we’re using something called Visual Latin and I’ll let you guys know what I think as we progress a little farther.

In fact, there’s a lot of new across the board.  High school is a different beast in some ways.  In other ways it’s still the same.  It’s actually more like my philosophy of education hasn’t shifted at all.  It’s just that high school state requirements force me to fit my philosophy into their pigeon holes.  And I don’t like pigeon holes.  Or fitting in.  I actually don’t even care for pigeons, but don’t tell my bird-loving son that.  He’d be appalled.

 

 

In all of our past school years we have completed one science together as a family.  This year I have five students and three science classes.  I don’t even know what’s happening.

Also new this year is Analytical Grammar.  We’ll just see how that goes.  We’re back with Simply Charlotte Mason for history and geography – they just do such a great job of combining all ages and offering instruction and guidance and good literature to learn about history in an engaging and structured manner.

I didn’t make my own bed today but I did put dinner in the crock pot early on and that was a real victory.

I’m not sure how to stretch time to suit my needs.  I don’t know how to teach five kids school and write this blog and run a business too.  I like laughter best but sometimes I feel like tears are at the surface faster.  I have words written all over my walls though that remind me of the thoughts of which I’d like to be most reminded.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

 

 

I’m hanging in there, you know.  It doesn’t feel like drowning, most days.  And not even like treading water so much anymore.  But not entirely like hitting my stride.  (Or whatever the water equivalent to that would be – to keep up my swimming metaphor.)

It is a new school year, however, and that always brings some focused fun and some needed routine to our days.  I do rather like the humans in my house, and even when their attitudes are snappy and their feet are dragging and their words are less than uplifting, there is not another place I would choose to be, not another life I would choose to live.  This is the one I’ve got and this is the one I’d pick.

 

 

 

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