When the first day of school isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
We started back to school yesterday. I wasn’t looking forward to it like I usually do every year.
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I think there are several reasons why this is the case.
1. We homeschooled through summer so I never really felt like it was back to school time.
2. We spent a great deal of time travelling over the past 6 weeks for both planned and unplanned purposes, most of which was due to a sudden, unexpected and severe illness of a close family member.
3. I was not and still am not prepared, nor have I had the funds/time to purchase needed items.
But nevertheless there had to be a day that was considered, the first day of back to school so I decided that regardless of my readiness I should proceed. My preconceived plan was to use the first day as a soft landing, letting him work on some general things while I put together lesson plans for the rest of this week and next week.
The problem with this plan was my fairly new printer stopped working. It just stopped. The carriage return mechanism stopped moving. Thankfully it is still under warranty. But a homeschool mom needs a printer especially one who relies heavily on e-books and pdf document curriculum to save money on school supplies. I’m sure it will be several days before the manufacturer can send me a new replacement printer. So here I was, having procrastinated to the last possible day without a printer.
So I decided I would at least put together my plans and began writing out everything in my planning book. I use (ad) Debra Bell’s, The Ultimate Homeschool Planner. I love how it keeps me on track with my yearly goals and helps me to be mindful of how I am incorporating spiritual things into my academy. 
But, I kept getting interrupted by not having a printer. I like to plan one subject at a time for an entire week and as I plan, I organize the work for Little Man so it’s all ready to go. When you are used to a progression of work and that progression is halted it makes for a difficult day.
So I decided to take look at his math and get it ready since it requires no printing whatsoever. I logged into Khan Academy and see they have changed their format a bit. It’s not too drastic but the first thing I notice is they have changed how they monitor progression and mastery. I can see where this new format will be of great benefit to the typical learner.
I however do not have a typical learner. I have an advanced learner. This new format forces all previously mastered work back to the practice progression. Which means in order to get it mastered he has to show mastery again. This is done by testing. Which is all well and good, except that after showing my son, he thought it was a game and now wants to once again watch those mastery badges pop up.
So instead of progressing to the area of learning he needs to be at he wants to repeat and review previously mastered areas so he can be the “winner.” Explaining that it really isn’t about winning but about understanding is to no avail. I have to find a way to incorporate what he needs to work on while allowing him time to do some reviews proving what he has mastered. It’s kind of like starting all over again.
All the while I’m dealing with frustrations over how my day is not progressing he is working to try and complete the science that we were working on last year because we didn’t have time in the past 6 weeks due to all of the aforementioned unexpected travel.
So this was not in any way an ideal first day back to school. I’m not sure this week will be a good back to school week either. I have decided to just take it one day at a time and realize the only schedule to be kept is one of my own making and as such I can alter and change it as needed to fit the circumstance. However, I would have really liked to have had a great 1st day back to school.
I know I shouldn’t procrastinate homeschool until the last possible minute. I know, I know. But I also know that sometimes life happens and you simply can’t keep up with it all. That has been my life for the past 6 weeks. Things happened that took me outside of my normal routine, took me outside my own self and put me in a place to be there for someone I love dearly.
The first day of school was not a good day, for me. But, for Little Man? He hummed and tapped and worked till his heart was content, doing his own lesson planning and getting excited because he could work at his own pace without much by way of instruction from me.
So maybe sometimes it’s good for a homeschool mom to get out of our child’s way and let them learn how they learn best. Maybe this day was meant for my learning instead of his. Hopeful that tomorrow will be a better day for me and a great day for him.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links which means I receive a small commission for purchases made to external sites. All opinions are my own and I am only being compensated through my affiliate relationship. Please visit my disclosure policy for full details. Thank you for your support of Great Peace Academy.
