Dark is the Stain...

It's right around this week that we are feeling ready for an extended break.... more than a long weekend, I mean. These past five weeks the kids have been working so hard on school. Indeed, I'm proud. Even when leaving them in the morning, for the most part, they diligently work through what they can until I return. Few promptings to get back on task are needed. 

In fact, I would say the biggest challenge for my crew, is for each child to accept the workload (or lack-thereof) of another child. Haha. I frequently hear myself asking them if they would like to return to a lower grade, so that they can have a lighter load. Of course they don't want this, however it hardly seems fair to one when I change an assignment or skip something for another. In any case, we carry on. Life ain't fair.

This will be our third school year on a "6 Weeks On, 1 Week Off" schedule. Because we started at the beginning of August, it feels strange to talk about a week off already while many around us are gearing up to begin the school year.

I like to refer to these 6-week intervals as rotations. So, I have planned a different focus for each rotation. Last year we tried to do everything during our morning group time--or "couch" subjects as some moms refer to them. I wanted to incorporate, Bible reading, Hymn study, Shakespeare study, short stories, even games into this time, as well as our read aloud and history! Needless to say, it was waaaaay to much for me and the kids also. I have chosen our mainstays, and then we will rotate through some of the nice add-ons. 

Mainstays:

Bible Reading

History & Poetry

Read Aloud

Rotated Add-ons:

Hymn Study

Shakespeare

"Book of Virtues" & Fables / Missionary Study

Game Time

This way I feel like we can cover a variety of things together, without trying to fit it all in all of the time, or not really knowing when we will get to something. This way it's like having a road map guiding us where we want to go.

Can I just reiterate the fact that homeschool involves a lot of trial and error? Maybe "error" is the wrong word. I try things and change them. I brainstorm, research, re-organize, and go again. I have said before that each year is truly a new year, with "new" students (same students, different grades). And I will say it again, I musn't get discouraged by this feeling of reinventing the wheel or starting from square one. It's not a failure necessarily, it's growth.