Want to Know Something??

When Rick came home from work one day, he asked the kids what they had learned in school. The response?

“Nothing. We didn’t really do anything.” Which was met with agreement from all the kids.

In all honesty, I wanted to hide under the table, because we had done pretty close to nothing academically recordable that day. That made me feel about 2 inches tall and like I was about the worst mother, parent, teacher, etc… around.

There are days where we get so much ‘learning stuff’ done {and I am amazed on those days}. Other days can seem to drag by and it can be like pulling teeth to do ANYTHING. Sometimes it depends on the preparation I’ve put into our day…other times ~ well, who knows what exactly happens.

Yesterday I let our kids sit and play with their Leapsters. For a VERY long time. At first I felt horribly guilty for it, but then something triggered in me and I realized something about myself.

I’m the one putting undue pressure on myself. Pressure to perform a certain way. Pressure to get all the little things checked off MY list ~ we will learn ‘this’, ‘this’, and ‘this‘…which can suck all the joy and fun out of learning for both me and the kids. Pressure to PROVE that we did so much on each day, put ‘x’ amount of time in, and made a set amount of progress. Making it fit into my nice little mental boxes {and planner boxes} and making sure that our school year is following along with the plans that I made over 5 months ago.

Today I sat down and just looked at all that we’ve accomplished over the last few months and realized ~ it’s OK!! I need to relax, back off and quit worrying about some things…and just have FUN with our kids. That is truly when our learning takes off. Schedules and such do have their place at times, but one of the reasons we are homeschooling is so that we can spend time together and make learning a fun experience for everyone.

Sometimes I just need to remind myself of that!