Gotta Go, Go, Go!

Who knew that "home"schooling would entail so much time away from home.  For the last few months, that seems to be the case.  In September, my sister Dianna had surgery.  The boys, Mom, and I packed up the minivan a drove from Texas to Georgia for her surgery and recovery.  We would never have been able to pick up and go if we were not homeschooling.  We learned so much on our trip.  The boys learned to adapt to whatever there was to adapt to.  We learned that school books weigh a ton and carts are invaluable.  We also learned that sometimes the last place you would think to homeschool is the best place.  For instance, when we were staying with my sister we really only had one place to do our work and that was the formal dining room table.  There isn't much going on in a formal dining room.  It turned out to be much less distracting than our school house room.  When we came home I realized that the landing full of maps, posters, whiteboards, and everything else was perhaps not as conducive to learning as my formal dining room!  The last couple of weeks have gone much smoother with a quiet couple of boys sitting at the table with a very happy mama sitting and reading her bible during work time.  It works really well.

Besides being at my sisters for a couple of weeks or so, Robert flew out to meet us and we were able to take a bit of time to travel on the way home.  We went to Charleston, SC; Savannah, GA; Atlanta, GA; Fairhope, AL; New Orleans, LA; Baton Rouge, LA; and back home to Houston.  It was quite a whirlwind.  It was great for the boys.  They were able to compare many harbor towns.  They had the opportunity to explore the history of some of the oldest cities in the south and see things they had never seen before.  We went to many museums, toured historic sites, went on boats, explored art & literature, watched whale sharks at the biggest aquarium in the world, and enjoyed visiting with friends and family.

When we got back home it was time to adjust to homeschooling at home again.  Of course it is our first year, so we had not yet participated in all of the activities available to homeschoolers during the school year.  We tried to ease our way back into it, but now that things are in full swing...it is crazy!!  The school was worried that Grant would not have enough socialization which I now see is ridiculous.  It is an absolute chore to carve out time at home.  We must stay on a schedule if we are to get things done at home that need to be done.  Mondays Grant has speech therapy in the morning.  By the afternoon, we are at the library for Bluebonnet Book Club or Art Explorers.  We come home by 2:30 or 3 and try to finish up before Robert comes home at 4:30.  Jackson has Taekwon-do in the evening.  Tuesday morning we school, but I volunteer in the afternoon so the boys have to be finished with teaching before then.  They work independently in the afternoon on things like reading, practicing the piano, and chores.  Tuesday night is swim lessons for Grant, Taekwon-do for Jackson, and then home for family time and such.  Wednesday is our only day that we stay home all day during the day.  Of course we have church at night, but that isn't until 7.  Thursday we have Ladies Bible Study in the morning.  They boys get to do their work at church with homeschool teenagers to guide and assist them.  They get a recess which they get to play with other kids.  Then we go home and work on anything else that we need to do.  Again we have swim lessons and Taekwon-do in the evening.  Then on Friday we go to P.E. which is a wonderful time for them to play team sports and hang out with friends.  This is just a general outline that doesn't even include special outings to the park, zoo, children's museum, or field trips.  The funny thing is that I think that my schedule is much much lighter compared to most of the homeschool moms that I know.  Does everyone else out there go, go, go?

In spite of all the traveling, the boys continue to chug along in their studies.  They are progressing nicely.  They are growing in the knowledge of Christ as well as their subjects.  All in all I think that it is such a blessing that they are able to do all that they get to do and can handle their work load.  I am very impressed by them and the grace that God has shown in their lives.