I'm not a quitter

A few people know that I've come about "this close" to giving up on homeschooling this year.

It wasn't because of one bad day, or even a stretch of time. It was more a feeling that maybe this wasn't such a great choice for us after all.

Some of this feeling was because this year has been one of adjustment. The biggest was the loss of a central meeting space for our large, multi-family coop. When oil prices skyrocketed, the church we were meeting in once a week (with its gym, classrooms and kitchen area) had to drop all its mid-week groups. Finding a new space that had all of these amenities (and was not occupied by preschools during the day) proved futile. And, so our group drifted apart.

There has been my ongoing struggle with Belly and math. We have switched to our third math program and, thankfully, no longer fight daily over her lessons, but she still struggles. I wonder, "is it me"?

There have been my concerns over Jilly, the "middle child" who does not have nearly the social network of my oldest. Wouldn't she be the cutest kid in her kindergarten class? Would she be happier, less melancholy about turning six?

Then there is D, whose speech is still a concern, as is his lack of same-age playmates.

And, then, because I am no martyr, there is me. Or "ME"! People joke that I spend a lot of time on the computer, but holymotherofwhomever, I think I'd go bat-shit crazy without the internet. In other words, I do get a little twitchy from having the kids near me all day long--especially as they get older and seem to need me less for survival and more for maid service. KWIM?

BUT, things have been looking up.

We've fallen into a better daily rhythm and probably a more realistic school work load than what we were attempting to do in the past. I've learned that if it ain't done by 1pm, it needs to wait to another day unless it involves coloring or reading. Belly is also making some small progress in math which is gratifying.

We've eliminated any morning activities or commitments, other than the occasional doctor appointments. Morning is for school and for my daily intake of coffee. Period.

I've started up a new coop with three like-minded friends. It is much smaller than our other coop, but the kids play well, I like the women and we rotate houses. We're also in our third year of meeting with another family every week to do history projects and that, thankfully, is still going strong.

We're trying to have more fun in the middle of the day, when kids are in school. This is perhaps the thing that Belly likes most about homeschooling: that she isn't in a classroom until after 3pm (her friends get off the bus close to 4). On Friday, we went sledding in the middle of the afternoon and had the slope to ourselves. Tomorrow, we're swimming midday at a newly refurbished YMCA (I call this "PE").

Small steps in the right direction, but they are starting to add up.

Next year, I'll have two children to report to the school district. Belly will be in 3rd grade, and Jilly will be in 1st. It won't get any easier but I do think this homeschooling thing is starting to grow on me.