I am still 'finding my feet' but to be honest it has been much better than I initially anticipated. I thought I would be much more stressed and extremely frustrated, but thankfully, I'm good :-)) The boys are slowly but surely getting used to the change and are saying positive things about their experience for the most part, (I do have one child who says as often as he can 'Im bored mum', I would take offence but thankfully it goes over my head as this is his standard chant whenever he is not getting his own way).
Alex (aka) 'Little Fire' - The bored one!!
As for me, truth be told, I have been EXHAUSTED getting into the swing of things!! My alarm goes off at 5.45am and I am usually out of the bed by 6am (I say usually because some days I just look at my phone as though it is a demon from hell, I snooze and go back to sleep for at least an extra half an hour). On my 'good days' I get up, have some 'me time' talk to God and then prepare for the day ahead. The boys are usually up between 7.00 and 7.30 and then Eagles start Physical Education at 8.30am with Coach Len (aka Dad).
Our day usually runs for approximately 4 - 5 hours including an hour lunch and two short breaks (my 2 year old does what I call 'freelance learning' nothing too structured at this stage and my 5 year old who we call 'little fire' has many more short breaks than the older two simply because his attention span is like ZERO) so we only do focused study for about 3.5 hours in total which seems to work well for us. It is still a challenge figuring out the best way to spread my attention between the boys, I'm working on that.
Every Monday and Friday we do a 30 minute personal development lesson which is usually quite fun, today for example, we did a ball game to illustrate the power of FOCUS. Wednesday is Money Matters or Financial Education, Len (my husband) does that lesson, he teaches them songs, motto's and all sorts :-))
The boys reciting financial Wisdom from Daddy Len
'Profits are better than wages, the more I learn is the more I earn'.
'The marketplace pays for value, the better my skill is the better my value'
We also do a spelling bee on Friday's which the boys seem to really look forward to. Within the next two weeks we have planned a visit to the Science and Natural History Museum with the hope of getting some inspiration for our upcoming Science and History projects!!
It's all go in the Allen Household, always is. I will be updating you on our progress, if you believe in the power of prayer, please mention our names :-))
Speak soon.
Karen. xx
P.S. Since starting Allen Eagles I have been interviewed by a major Christian Magazine for their November edition and another mainstream magazine is also interested in our story which is both exciting and scary!!
I came across your story through voice-online and I want to encourage you to keep at it because it surely pays off. We homeschooled four children ages 12 and 10 as we were getting ready to leave the UK as missionaries to the United States, and we homeshooled for 5 years including our younger ones who are now 11 and 9.
ReplyDeleteAs they got older and older ones began to prepare for college they transitioned to public school here in Florida. They are doing very well. I watched my wife order all the IGSCE books and stay up all night till 2AM sometimes grading their work and preparing their lessons for the next day and at the same time writing her own books ( She has 7 books published including editing a women's magazine jewelsmagazine.org).
I pray God's strength as you take up this journey; it takes committment and you are on that road. However far you decide to go with it, when you and your husband begin to see your children in college; you will see how well worth it the journey has been. sorry for the long comment!