PART TWO
I knew I had to do something more for school. Delia was 5 after all. She should have more structure to her day and use that little brain of hers. So I looked online and found a few workbooks. I decided on Horizons Kindergarten Phonics & Reading Kit and Horizons Kindergarten Math Kit for Delia's first non-official "official" school year. I say "non-official-official school year" because she was only 5 and in the state of California you do not have to register as a homeschooler until your child is 6.
I had great plans to stretch the workbooks throughout the whole school year. Starting in September and ending in May or June. We sort of started in Sept. but remember I had a new baby, a 2 year old and a 5 year old and we had recently moved and everything was CRAZY!
Things started to settle down after the new year. I was able to focus a little better. Jude was sleeping through the night for longer periods and I think even in his own room at this point. So I sat down and scheduled out the rest of the school year. I had Delia doing 4 lessons a day. 2 of each subject. She excelled at it. She enjoyed it. She learned. And it was great. We were also going to the library at least once a week. She was reading on her own and reading ANYTHING and EVERYTHING! We made it through her Kindergarten year and celebrated by getting ice cream on the VERY LAST DAY! She had done all the lessons, was a better reader, and knew basic math.
In July we moved again. Jude was almost one. Madie was 3 and Delia was 6. I got online towards the middle of Summer and planned out the curriculum for the next year. FIRST GRADE! I couldn't believe I had a first grader. Since she had done well with Horizons I decided to use them again. So we got Horizons 1st Grade for Phonics & Reading, Spelling & Vocab., Penmanship & Math. We also got LifePacs 1st Grade Science (the first 5 units of 10) and History & Geography (also the first 5 units of 10). At first I wasn't that impressed with LifePac. I didn't really like the structure but as I started using it more and more it was easier and she really enjoyed it. Madie even enjoyed listening in and would answer questions too. So September rolled around and I got really sick. So we put off school for a week or so. We finally started in Mid-September. I was beyond frustrated. Delia and I tend to butt heads. She would fight me on things, cop an attitude, not listen, want to do it her own way ... I'm not entirely sure where she gets it from ... ;) Anyways, I was DONE! I was seriously contemplating putting her in school. I would NEVER do public school though. So I was looking into the private school here. I only just kinda looked. Because I already knew we wouldn't be able to afford it. And I knew that deep down it wasn't what I wanted to do. We continued doing school time but it was not very consistent. I had lost my zeal somewhere along the way. I had no motivation and was just plain unhappy with everything.
Looking back I think part of the reason was my hormones. Jude was still nursing and my body was trying to get back into balance again. Then I got pregnant for the fourth time in 7 years. Which may not seem like a lot but it is when it's your own body doing all the work and factor in that you are pregnant for 9 months each. It takes time baby.
Anyways. So here we were pregnant again ... a new house, a 1 year old, a 3 year old, a 6 year old, and a puppy. I had to figure out how to get around this new city. I was trying to get in a walk for the dog every day with three kids on our busy street. I was trying to do Pre-K with Madie and 1st Grade with Delia. And it just wasn't happening. I was tired from being pregnant. I was missing our old city (only 30ish minutes away). I was overwhelmed with housework, laundry, and KIDS! And feeling secluded and without any help.
And so we slacked majorly on our school time. We did it here and there. But mostly we just survived. Then like the last time things got better after the new year. I was able to focus more. I wasn't as tired because I was in my second trimester. I planned out the rest of the school year so that we could finish by early July. And we started doing school everyday. Delia was enjoying it. Madie was enjoying doing some school time. And I was enjoying it too.
(stay tuned for PART THREE)
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