{photo by Wendy Dow}
So how are things going? How were your first days getting back into the school (and homeschool) groove? If last week went a little sideways or you weren’t really feeling the love of learning on your home days, don’t despair! We all experience that from time to time, especially mid-year after a long break.
Track A mom Wendy Dow can relate. She has an Intermediate daughter, Chloe, and a Primary son, Jed, and this is their second year at SLO Classical Academy. Here’s a quick snapshot of her first day back at home:
Our first day back was a complete disaster. I had both children crying… in different corners of the room at different times. Basically, there were varying degrees of denial that our wonderfully unstructured and blissful break had finally come to an end. I was experiencing RESISTANCE to the fact that my dynamic duo needed to get back to work.
Chloe decided that math was going to be her undoing and firmly stated that she did not want to “do school anymore”. Next, quite unexpectedly, Jed came unglued when asked to draw a picture of a Cyclops. It was one of those moments when I'm supposed to be very serious, caring, encouraging, etc. All I could do was laugh as my mind pondered how absurd the situation was. Jed didn't think that my response was, well… “appropriate”. (Which sadly, made me laugh a bit harder.)
Prayer, lamaze breathing techniques, laughter and a short review of my basic priorities helped me to stay on track. Unfortunately, I did not think of exercise as it would have likely done all of us a world of good. (Note to self: Next time!)
Thankfully, we all survived. At the end of the day, there was no blood, nothing was broken and my children were smiling and sweet at bedtime. (They bounce back so much faster than we do!) Me? I am just checking off another day…D-O-N-E.
Sound familiar? Thanks for sharing, Wendy! It’s nice to know we’re not alone. We had our ups and downs last week at the Bischoff house as well, and I (Jenny) completely forgot about Student Council for my oldest child… my brain just wasn’t back into the routine yet!
Well, even if last week wasn’t such a stellar one, have hope. The kids do bounce back and adjust. We move forward, remembering our character trait for the month: Diligence.
Next week we’ll post a few ideas that have helped other parents and kids rekindle their homeschool motivation, so stay tuned for more! But for now we do have one suggestion:
Just in time to beat those mid-year blues, here’s a great way to reenergize you when it comes to teaching and learning alongside your kids: the Adam Andrews Teaching the Classics seminar happening this Saturday, January 18th, from 9am-3pm. Mr. Andrews will lead us through the process of literary analysis and will make this topic come alive in his unique, inspiring, and entertaining seminar. You won’t want to miss this special opportunity to hear Mr. Andrews speak, and to leave excited about reading and discussing literature with your kids. Click here to sign up!
Adam Andrews
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So really, how was YOUR first week back? Want to share a home day story (good or bad)? Let’s keep it encouraging, but we can all relate to the highs and lows of this journey, so we welcome comments!
SLO Classical Academy is not affiliated with any of the above mentioned websites or businesses.
