While it may appear as though I took this photo in the morning, I snapped it around 2:00 pm, after checking on a load of laundry. Kenny had finished up his first school day’s worth of coursework only a half-hour earlier, and man, was he OUT.
I call this the “first day of school crash”–I’m not sure why though because it usually lasts a week or two. There is something about turning one’s brain back on after summer break that necessitates a number of mid-afternoon defrag sessions to adjust.
I’d love to say that Kenny tackled this day with a heaping helping of tenacity but in truth, he was a bit of a downer today. He wasn’t ready to begin school again and, unfortunately, we all crawled into bed later than we should have last night; so, he was grumbly and not up to the challenge a positive attitude toward his 7th-grade school year required.
He’s an academic sort of boy though. From our past years of experience, I’ve no doubt (one can hope) he’ll find a spring in his step sooner rather than later. Also, we just moved, and that alone requires I offer an extra measure of grace. Have I mentioned grace isn’t my specialty? We each have our learning curves, you see.
Meredith, on the other hand, was ready for her first year of high school, and at 4:00 pm was still going strong. She wrapped up her day’s work around 4:15 pm. Of course, she also didn’t start until 10:30 am due to a few technical difficulties that were sorted out quickly and efficiently by the technical crew over at Alpha Omega Publications. I’d like to add the issues were more our “personal” technical difficulties, and two out of three of the questions almost remedied themselves without a call, but it was nice to have technical support at the ready.
For those who wonder what happened to our previous academic plan, we changed gears toward the end of the summer, deciding to switch to Monarch, Alpha Omega Publications’ online version of Switched-on Schoolhouse. After spending about two hours drilling a very patient curriculum advisor on the phone and then, meeting up with representatives at their booth in the THSC Convention Exhibit Hall in July, I knew I was interested in the company’s offer for our family to try their curriculum on for size. Plus, I couldn’t help but be impressed with the software’s dashboard interface, parental controls and versatility. Meredith and Kenny were very receptive to the multimedia elements incorporated in the software; so, we made the jump.
We have used Sonlight as our base for years now, so the idea of mixing it up was initially nerve-wracking, but I enjoyed the streamlined process as well as the ease of scheduling. Tonight I’ve tinkered a bit more with the calendar (scheduling breaks) and enjoy watching it “recalculate” the schedule based on the dates entered. It amazes me because it would take me hours and lots of wasted paper to do the same thing with my previous system. Each time I make a schedule change, I expect it to say “Recalculating schedule. Can’t you make up your mind?” but so far it doesn’t talk to me.
I think it should say, “My, that was an intelligent decision; you must be an amazing Momma.” or maybe something more realistic and helpful, like “You do realize that Christmas Break should not exceed four weeks, right?” As far as I’m concerned, it could even go off the grid a bit and say, “My, your hair looks amazing when you wake up. You’re a natural beauty.”
A girl can dream.
New curriculum aside, we are also still adjusting to our new space. There are boxes here and there, and I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that everything will not happen overnight, and it’ll be a while before we settle into a groove.
Did you hear that? Jeff just let out a sigh of relief.
One thing I can say for certain–we will all sleep well tonight!
Talk to me about your first day of school. I realize for many of you that was well over two or three weeks ago. Some of you just flow all year long, and I’m a tad bit jealous since that was the initial plan. I may try again next Summer–especially if I incorporate five week Christmas breaks and lengthy Spring Breaks, right?
It’s your turn. Spill it.
Heather Sanders is a leading homeschooling journalist who inspires homeschooling families to live, love and learn. Married to Jeff, Heather lives in the East Texas Piney Woods where she currently home schools two of her three kids.