Guiding and Guarding Their Hearts: Week Two: Hitting the wall.....already?

As with anything worth doing that is difficult, there comes a point where you hit the metaphorical "wall." Well, it is week two of homeschooling and I am already there. Ugh! Don't worry, I do not give up so easily! If you ask the people who know me best, I am about as stubborn as a mule. (Yes, I admit it.) I also really hate giving up. I once spent three years in the chemical engineering program at Louisiana Tech University. Did a internship and everything. Towards the end of my three years I knew I really did not want to do "this" for the rest of my life but I had put SO much hard work into the degree. I finally got honest with myself and changed my major to chemistry education and I am so glad I did. I love teaching. Especially science! Also, lately, I have been training to do my very first ever half-marathon. I am about half-way through and I am beginning to realize that I don't think I am much of a long distance runner. I LOVE to run....I am just not sure about 13.2 miles!! But, again, I am NOT a quitter. So I will this to the end. Who knows, I may end up liking it after all.

Back to my original dilemma. I am at the "wall" with homeschooling....already. After some "self-evaluating," I think I arrived here so early for two reasons.

1. Time management (or lack thereof)

2. Overzealousness....if that is a word. (There is no annoying red dotty line underneath so I am assuming it is.)

Again, those of you who know me well, know that time management is also not one of my strengths. I really do have the best intentions in this area but usually "things" just happen and I literally don't have time to deal with them. My loving husband always tells me "You should have thought about that and given yourself more time." He is right of course. (That was SO hard to say.) But for some reason, it is just one of those things with me that is easier said than done. It probably has something to do with these two sweet little angels hanging on my legs all the time but I would never blame any of my problems on them....stretch marks! Sorry, I just had to say it. All joking aside, I have been putting an extra effort into this area lately because I realize it is starting to affect our homeschooling. I have created a schedule for us to follow and I am trying to manage our time more wisely. If you are interested in seeing our daily schedule, click here.

What I mean by "overzealousness" is that I think I am trying to do too much too soon and am being WAY too hardcore about it. I have had to take a step back and tell myself "It is just preschool!" I don't know if it is the high school teacher in me or what but I have a tendency to be a little too serious when it comes to teaching/learning. I have to make myself loosen up a bit and just have fun. Be silly and dance like a monkey, lion, or cat when I need to. (No...I will not be posting a video of this.) Finger paint and not worry about the mess. Relax when my little school girl can not write her number zero just right. I mean it is a zero not landing on the moon.

Yes, I hit the wall this past week but I will do what needs to be done because this is way too important to me. As for our week, here are some pictures of the fun stuff we did. This week was a math review week. (Numbers 1-20, shapes, colors, patterns) We also played around with bubbles, finished our paper mache globe and played some fun games outside. Hope you enjoy the pictures and sorry for the negative post. Remember, the main purpose of this blog is to keep a journal of our homeschooling experience for my girls. I never promised it would be all peaches and cream. If you are following along, be prepared to experience the good, bad and the ugly. If you are a homeschooler, I would love to hear about your struggles and how you are dealing with them. Thanks for following along. :)

Katie