A Little Rebellion

Today was a lovely day of homeschooling, with regards to education, and I think that's instructive. So many components can go into a homeschool day, and the chances of getting all of the components to work in sync are, unfortunately, quite small.

What is a good day, educationally speaking? Today, it meant that EG completed her work within the assigned time parameters, with a good attitude, and did her work well. FB also completed his work with a good attitude and showed understanding. Both of them have time this afternoon or evening to work on science projects; EG is going to help FB with his, and later she'll work on her own. EG has a trumpet lesson this evening, and she's practiced for 20 minutes in preparation for that. She's also practiced piano and marked off a majority of the items on her "chore" checklist, which enumerates her responsibilities each day outside of the schoolroom.

A particular triumph today was that both children started a new poem for memory work yesterday, yet both were able to recite more than half of it by memory already this afternoon.



On the other hand, there's the "home" portion of homeschooling. There's also a toddler, but we'll get to her in a moment. I told Spousal Unit that today was pretty crappy, and when he asked what had happened, I simply said, "No. Literally." The cat left feces on the bed (she's mad at us about getting a dog), the dog had an accident in the living room, the toddler had an enormous diaper, and FB had a slight constipation issue (for the first time in a few months). There was, literally, a lot of crap in my day today. I forgot about a laundry in the washer (though I am thankful that my washer works - Heather, you have my sympathies, and I hope you found an adequate replacement today), and the table has a disturbing number of piles on it. Also, my internet at home went out most of the afternoon. Thank you, Mercury Retrograde. Not my finest "home" day.

Finally, of course, there's PC, who has been in a mood for several days (which also coincide with Mercury going retrograde, come to think of it). She's not sleeping well, which leads to a very grumpy girl. She's not explicitly in need of anything in particular, she's just plain grumpy.

To swing the pendulum back to the positive, I've read several good books in the last few days, and am reading another at present. I've read Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire, The Link, and Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, and am in the middle of Remarkable Creatures. I have more good books waiting.

Best of all, perhaps, is that tonight is Custard Night with my girls. <3