Yesterday we had [appointments and] "life skills day." What does that mean? Basically learning how to feed the family, where the food comes from, how much it costs, how to use coupons...stuff like that. So yesterday was a bit of a break from the rigors of a regular school day.
Fast forward to today and it was really hard getting into the groove of school again. Of course, this morning we had to run a few errands, then at about 10:15a we got to work.
Since M really likes working with his hands, I let him work on the Iroquois longhouses for about 15 minutes. After that I started asking him questions about the unit on the Iroquois, only to find out that he didn't remember that much. I was kind of irritated about that because we'd spent time talking about it. So we discussed it again, with me asking him questions, trying to get him to remember the things we'd talked about. Later in the day, while he was doing another hands on assignment, I quizzed him on the Eastern Woodlands people (Iroquois) and on the things we'd learned earlier today about the Southwest Desert Indians (Pueblo). He did pretty well on the quiz, which was interesting to me, because he was doing something else while he was answering me. Sometimes he works better that way.
Around 2 he took another break (he seems to be taking a lot of breaks, so that's something I need to watch), then I told him to work on Khan Academy. Usually Math is something he'll work on for at least 30-40 minutes with no issues. Today he got REALLY frustrated, things escalated between us and we had some words. I explained to him that he is IN SCHOOL and isn't to get up whenever he wants and walk away. He and I need to work on that...I know that's a strategy he uses when he doesn't know how else to deal with a situation, but most people would get pissed if someone got up and walked off in the middle of a conversation or while they were trying to help.
This may sound strange, but I'm glad these things are happening and that I can take notes when they happen to see WHY they happen and WHEN they happen. It will allow me to help him in the future (once I get things sorted out) with the right way to handle uncomfortable situations.
At about 245p I gave him a sheet from a copy of the Math book they use at school (we got it at the Homeschool Gathering Place for FrEe!), and he started having an issue with that. He asked me for help, then got frustrated, at which time I told him we were stopping for the day. I was getting frustrated that he was so frustrated, so it was just time to stop.
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If you read the entry above the _-_-_-_-_ you may be able to understand why I called this entry "Schedule Smedule." I don't think we are cut out for staying on an exact, to the minute schedule. I know I'm not. I understand that M needs to know what's coming next, and I need to know too just for the sake of preparedness, but there's no way in hell I could stick to a half hour or hour schedule like I see some homeschool Moms have. And that may change in the future, but for right now a routine is about all we'll have. And I'm still working out when the best times to do certain things are. When you have a kid with special needs, I think being flexible is key; not sticking to some arbitrary schedule. In addition, a schedule would completely stress me out. Once I know the clock is ticking, my anxiety level goes up which would make his anxiety level go up, just knowing the time to finish is coming up. Not a good thing for us.
I realized, though, that perhaps writing down what I think should happen might be a good idea. So today, after he and I were done with school, that's exactly what I did. And here's what I came up with for Monday:
1. Pueblo writing worksheets
2. Pueblo social studies (show pics/talk about connection to Anasazi)
3. Activity//assignment on Kachina
4. Daily Language Review, week 1, Monday
5. Who's/Whose; Their/There/They're rules and worksheets
6. Main idea discussion and worksheets
7. Khan Academy (finish distributive property exercise and telling time exercise, then do 2 more lessons)
DONE! Unless we feel like doing more.
I would be curious to know if most homeschool Moms have very scheduled day or leave it loose in a routine like me.
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