If you haven’t deduced it by now, I’ll spell it out: my oldest child is a full-on geek.
This quality makes her the easiest part of the homeschooling equation (especially after installing the attitude chart.) We’re ahead in several of our books because she often asks to keep going, and the poor child is so OCD that she couldn’t handle the fact that I skipped one of her Math tests – after worrying over it for two weeks, she HAD to do it. It went something like this…
“Mom, can I PLEASE do that Math test we skipped? I REALLY don’t want it to be blank.”
“Well, ooookay…but you’ll have to do it after school.”
“I WILL!! THANKYOUSOMUCH!!!”
This is a good argument to continue homeschooling. Because if she went to “real” school in Junior High, she’d either get slushied on a daily basis or forced to do the Mean Girl’s homework or both.
And her risk-averse self would not appreciate such danger.
Plus, her idea of how to spend an afternoon does not include homework.
However, there’s also a toddler to employ during the school day.
That’s where the challenge arises.
He spends most of the morning all up in my business while I try to teach – he’s sitting in my lap, using me for a human pillow, asking me to draw him roads for his cars, and asking me to draw his actual cars.
(Nevermind my inability to not draw cars as if they’ve been flattened by a road roller.)
Every now and then I get really aggressive and try to do some actual educational stuff with him as well, letting him play games on Ali’s iPad,
(This is my favorite toddler game right now – it’s called LetterSchool and it’s brilliant.)
And writing and/or driving on the alphabet and number pages from this fantastic book.
(I laminated all forty pages. It was so ridiculously invigorating.)
When he’s not in my lap, I’ve found a few more things to keep him occupied.
He calls these building pegs his “School Project”:
I’m not saying that they always keep him happy,
But they do a real number on his Dad.
And Noah’s favorite Stuffed Animal(?), Hot Pocket, also appreciates them as a hammock.
When Legos and School Projects run their course, there’s always math manipulatives to dump,
Memory Cards to scatter,
And stale Halloween candy to raid and leave for dead.
I’ve even caught him practicing Princess Yahtzee – no wonder he always mops the floor with us.
But it’s time to get honest: Noah’s not the only one who needs diversions from school.
Thanks to Twitter ruining my brain, I find it difficult to sit still.
And Ali can be a meticulous little person, and prone to distraction – she is six, after all.
So to keep myself from constantly saying “focus” or “work on the next problem” or “keep going”, I sometimes must distract myself with something else. And it can’t always be Noah, or Ali gets her feelings hurt. So I’ve had to resort to a favorite hobby, line art.
(This is mainly because I refuse to let myself have my phone during school hours. If I had Twitter, I’d be fine. But I need to put some space between me and the internet to keep my addiction at bay, so line art it is.)
And it really does work – this well-tortured sheet represents THREE ENTIRE WEEKS of motherly patience.
But despite the yoga-like effect of this process, I still need at least 30 minutes to decompress after the school day is over.
And fortunately, so do they.
Television: An important part of any homeschooling curriculum.
I love your art!! I must try that. And your kids (and stories about them) are adorable. I wish blogging had been “a thing” when my kids were little. (Although, “my addiction” would likely have kept me from writing about my kids!) How cool that you’ll have all these memories written down. to share with them. You’re a great mom.
Thank you so much! You’re too kind. And I assure you I’m not a great mom – I have a few dozen posts I can pull for you as evidence of that.
Well, I could show you some things to prove I’m not very kind, too! :-) Of course I don’t know you personally but I’d still guess you’re a great mom. I bet your kids would say so, too. Have you watched the video about the moms describing themselves? If not you really need to see it. http://www.upworthy.com/these-kids-finally-say-what-they-really-think-about-mom-and-her-reaction-priceless-9
Being an avid doodler myself, I love your art! My section at work has a staff meeting each Monday that can last anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours. They can be pretty snoozy, so I doodle to force myself to pay attention and maintain my sanity. I might have to steal some of your patterns. :)
Oh yes!! I used to wallpaper my cubicle in my “I’m on a conference call and can’t escape” line art!!
I wish my doodles were that pretty. It’s usually just dead trees. How about you mail me your doodles and ill color them to keep my sanity. I’ve been debating buying those audit coloring pages all over Pinterest. I don’t even homeschool yet!
I LOVE those line art coloring books! You should probably just stick with those – the imperfections and wiggly lines of my doodles would probably drive you crazy up close.
OK, that nursery rhyme book in the picture with the math manipulatives? We have that book, and I’m happy to see that the CD is out of it and hopefully in the trash :) Did you ever listen to it? It made me want to poke sharp things in my ears…horrifying!
There is nothing – NOTHING I SAY – that gives me more joy than singing to my children about throwing a man down the stairs by his left leg because he didn’t say his prayers.
Seriously – I sing it with WAY too much joy and vigor in my voice. The irony just overcomes me and I can’t help but belt it out. In fact, no children are in my home presently and I’m about to sing it anyway.
I actually wrote a post about this book way back in my early blogging days: http://www.graspingforobjectivity.com/2009/01/who-needs-tv-to-teach-kids-violence.html
Hmm, doodling, huh? I think I need to get myself a sketchbook! I am always saying, “Focus!” Maybe I just need to relax a bit. As of this week Peanut is officially done with the morning nap (two months two early in my opinion) and my stress level during school has exponentially increased. I’m going to have to figure out something because I don’t think this can work very long. Sigh.
I’m so sorry. :-/ Changes like that are rough!! But I’m sure once y’all get into a routine it won’t be bad at all.
Your line art is amazing!!!!!
Thank you! It’s much less impressive close-up – I do NOT have a steady hand!
hahaha, I love that Noah’s favorite stuffed toy is a hot pocket. That’s pretty funny :) Chris seems super entertained with the stacking! Your line art looks like a lot of fun; I bet coloring it all in will take you a while as well!
Yup – that Hot Pocket was the most ridiculous thing I brought home from the Expo Hall of the last BlogHer I attended – and it was his favorite piece of loot!
Line Art! I was just trying to explain to my 10 yr old son about this yesterday. I used to do this when I was school. But this will help Ryan do much! Thank you! Now I can show him what I meant and his brain can get a much needed break. He’s dyslexic and after a full day of working so hard to read & write, his brain is fried.
I’m so thankful I found your blog. I’ve been reading it all morning. Sorry to read that you are dealing with a health issue that pretty much has a “just deal with it” mantra too. I have chronic neck & low back pain with numbness in my extremities. I’ve done everything that can be done medically and now just have to test the symptoms. Also, like you, I have trouble taking most medications.
I’m hoping and praying that you are able to find a light at the end of the tunnel. Not being able to do anything to make things all better is so hard.
Thank you! I hope that you’re able to find solutions too – that sounds terrible!!
I hope the line art is helpful! It certainly is for me.