After 10 days of Public School

Well, ten days have passed and my boys are still okay.  Tired, and sometimes overwhelmed but okay.

I am getting uniforms done although I must admit to a few days of them coming straight out of the dryer and onto bodies.  Ironing never was a strong suite and I am trying to do it so the boys learn good presentation but some days are just a bit too short on time.

Lunches are another thing.  I am so used to doing hot lunches, sometimes admittedly left overs and some just pasta with peas, corn and salmon thrown in but still hot.  Making sandwiches every day gets a bit boring.  I am trying to add variety in other ways. 

On Tuesdays we are doing a Trashy Treat Tuesday lunch box.  I wouldn't normally give my boys any of those wrapped bars, muesli or not, and definitely not lollies or flavoured drinks.  We drink lots of water at home.  Not juice, and only occasionally a glass of milk!  So far for last Tuesday they had LCM bars, cold pizza, chocolate custard tubs, and a little pack of lollies.  Their drink was a 100% juice drink.  I couldn't bring myself to giving them a 35% fruit drink.  Yuk!  This week it will be a muffin bar, lollies, vanilla custard tubs, pizza and strawberry milk poppers.

I figure this way there are some limits on how much junk creeps into their lunch boxes due to peer pressure and herd mentality.  :-)

DS2 (10, almost 11 yo) is probably the one having the hardest time.  He has asked every night if he has to go to school tomorrow.  He doesn't want to keep going.  And this weekend he had a big sobbing cry on my lap.  I know it will be a big deal for him.  So many changes and he tears up easily anyway.  The male teacher tells him there is no need for tears (which is almost exactly the words  I use, so that isn't an issue) but I do wonder how DS2 is going to go long term.  And will his teacher lose patience with him if he doesn't settle?

In other activities his tears have gradually gone after a week or two and he has gotten on with enjoying the experience. I do hope he does cope with this big change in our lives with time.  I am very much looking out to make sure he is okay.  I know the little bird needs to leave the nest sometime and I have told him I am here for hugs anytime.  I just don't want to push him too hard and have him go splat! IYKWIM!

This kid is the one who still wants his teddy and has big long cuddles.  He also doesn't like change and gets upset at even the thought of it.  I want him to learn to flow with change a bit more and to not get overly stressed.  Time will only tell if public school is the way for him to learn these skills.

Best wishes
Jen

Fading dreams and grieving!

I had these wonderful ideas of what type of homeschool I would have.  Between moving around a lot, a limited income with a large family, and a depressed and unwell me, it just hasn't happened how I hoped. 

I have been cleaning bookshelves and moving books around.  I am finding the emotions to be similar to those of doing the final pack up of the baby clothes when you know you won't likely have anymore.  Regret for what hasn't happened, a loss of hope that the wonderful stuff will happen, and grief that my chances are gone. 

I know, we could go back to homeschooling, but I will very unlikely never get the chance to try out those wonderful Montessori ideas that I had great hopes of using with my preschoolers.  There was always a young baby in the arms and I just didn't have the energy to do more than keep everyone healthy and happy and safe.

Maybe I will cull some of those books.  It may be time to let go!

But not just yet!

Jen

Before and After Public School Day 1

6.40am
I had a horrible night's sleep, nightmares about trusting people I don't know.  This is not going to be easy, handing my two precious bundles to strangers who I am supposed to trust just because they are part of the government.

Well, their uniforms are all ironed, they have worn their shoes for short stretches (that reminds me, pack them both some band aids!), lunch boxes are in the fridge packed, water bottles in the freezer chilling and now we need to have breakfast, get faces clean and hair respectable, and put it altogether before 8.45.

Why am I writing a blog instead of getting going?  Because the baby still likes his morning moo and it is not worth his or my stress levels to rush him.

1pm update
Well the boys got settled fairly easily.  No tears, just a quick kiss and off they went.  It is awfully quiet at home with only 2 boys and 1 of them on the computer playing.  It was even quieter when the youngest decided to have a middle of the day sleep for an hour.

This is going to be very interesting, working to someone else's timetable.  But then again it could be very useful because as homeschoolers we haven't really had much of a sense of urgency about anything regularly.

I will start the teenager on his school next Monday, once the dust has settled and things are happening more smoothly with getting to school.

8pm update
Jack said it was a fun day although I think now after gymnastics as well that he may be a bit tired.  I don't know if it was timing or the speed my boys eat at but they didn't have long to eat lunch before going to play.  Lunchboxes came home with a lot still in them.  Of course, it could have also been a panicking mum worrying about my kids starving and packing too much.  lol  Anyway on Grandma's suggestion they have finished off their lunch boxes this afternoon.

Jack (my 10 year old) knows someone in his class from another activity.  I don't think Harry (7) has made any friends yet, but he is my shy one who really doesn't mind playing on his own either.  He has always been that way, even as a toddler.  I would quite often panic because I couldn't hear him when he was about 1.5/2 years old and then find him quietly playing by himself in the sandpit or with a pile of rocks.  So cute!  And not very demanding after the Aspie and the jumping kid!

I am gradually figuring things out like where to meet them for pick up and what "toys" are allowed.  There seems to be a lot of restrictions but the boys will learn.  I guess it is like visiting at someone else's house and having to learn the house rules.

Well, got to wrangle some boys to bed for a story.  Why does cleaning teeth take so long?

Best wishes
Jen

Creating a Little Oasis in My Dining Room

We went to a garage sale today and bought an old little fish tank.  As soon as I saw it I visualised it filled with plants and in my bookshelves.  Dh thought of fish and I wasn't closed to that idea so we went to the fish shop.  Hmm, not such a great idea!  Quite a lot of money to spend, and because our tank is small it would be very easy to have a dead fish very quickly.

Ok, back to the garden idea! 

And this is what dh and I created.  He is the more creative one and I really like how he set it out. 

And this is how it sits in my shelves. 

My bookshelves are certainly looking a lot less boring.

Best wishes
Jen

(Yes that is Pollyanna on the shelf next to the tank.  It is our read aloud that I refound after unpacking all the books.)

Perfectionism and Procrastination

It must be that thing where you don't see pregnant ladies and babies in prams until you are pregnant yourself. 

Lately, with this whole "boys going to school, I failed at homeschool" thing happening in my head I have come across these two posts about goals and action. 

http://inspiredtoaction.com/2013/01/the-1-person-you-need-to-unfriend-in-2013/

and

http://www.raptitude.com/2011/05/procrastination-is-not-laziness/

I think I may getting some idea of why I feel I failed at homeschooling.  This is going to be an intense year mentally.  I can just tell!

Best wishes
Jen

Spiders In My Shelves

Somewhere along the way in the last few weeks I was looking for bead spiders and found a great little guy on Etsy.  I am not exactly scared of spiders and I thought he would make a great decoration.

Here he is in my bookshelves.  I have deliberately left some shelves empty this time so I can put things of "beauty" there to encourage me that there is some beauty in my home, not just piles of toys, washing, dishes and clean clothes.  And at least this guy won't build any dusty webs.  lol

The bottles are from the backyard here.  The largest one is an intact Fountain Sauce bottle that I found in the roots of the pecan tree.  The rest of the bits and pieces are from the "dump" down the back yard.  Some broken, some not!  All old!

Best wishes
Jen

Homeschool to Public School - 9 days to go

Well, I am starting to feel more nervous now.  I still need to get the boys their uniforms and I can't quite wrap my head around what to do for lunches.  We have never really been big sandwich people so it could be interesting.

    "Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are" is true enough, but I'd know you better if you told me what you reread.  ~François Mauriac

I have been repacking my bookshelves after waiting a long time for them to cure after painting them white.  In the unpacking and resorting I have noticed some old friends that I have reread, and some that I should reread that may help with inspiration for homeschooling.

I am getting to the age where I have regrets and I don't like it.  I have a small window left to be able to do some of things I wanted to do in my homeschool.  I either need to let go of those ideals or get on with giving them a lot more effort than I have so far.

Best wishes

Jen

PS Found this quote while looking for the above quote.  I love it!

    The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts.  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes