Parent Teacher Conference: A Personal Reflection

1.  School overall has been going well.  We have been making progress and reading lots of books.  The girls and I went through a very hard time the first few weeks (months?), but we have worked it mostly out.  I had some pivotal epiphanies about my daughters, how they are very different from each other and how differently they learn.  Its tricky, this homeschooling thing we do.

2.  I, as teacher, have done a few things differently this year.  Namely. planning out our lessons and ordering books from the library on weekends.  Planning takes me about an hour to finish.  That hour of time saves me hours of time throughout the week.  I also make a very strident effort to only focus on teaching during the morning.  I try to not open my computer, turn off my phone and pretend that my home is calm, clean and organized until lunchtime.  By noon, the bulk of our lessons are done (math, English, Latin and piano) and the afternoon/ evening is housework, pleasure reading, science and history.

3. I need to start specifically spending more time with Gus and Isabel.  Not schooling them, but consciously sitting down and playing with them and reading picture books.  They are not completely ignored during the day, but I feel like my focus is only on the big girls.  I should come up with a few activities that would be special and enjoyable for them to do during the hectic morning hours.

4.  I, as mother and wife, have also done a few things differently this year.  I've been better about meal planning and preparation.  I want to further reduce the number of times I go grocery shopping every month (it is such a chore now--I never used to mind doing it!)  I've had a better system to get laundry done in a timely manner.  I have also been regularly running again since school started after a lazy summer off (3 times a week, usually in the afternoon during Netflix time).  I am a better person when I work out.  It seems paradoxical, adding yet another thing to my schedule to help me stay organized, focused and sane, but it works.

5.  The pace of our lives is busier than it has ever been.  I'm not sure why this year seems so drastically different.  We have something on the calendar almost every day.  Its crazy, but there isn't really anything we can cut out.  I can feel my heart quicken every time I flip the calendar to peek at our already packed December.

6.  I'm tired right now.  Keeping this pace is exhausting.  I need to specifically plan more 4 day school weeks and time away from [insert large, all-encompassing motion] all of this.