Start of the year homeschool update

Since it's the start of the year, I thought I would do an update on our homeschooling with Zoelle. Last year we did the preschool curriculum via Heart of Dakota Publishing. I loved it, Zoelle loved it and it worked well for our family. This year we finished up the preschool and started in on the kindergarten level in the hopes that she can do part of it this year and part of it next year if we homeschool.

I'm still absolutely loving the curriculum. While the kindergarten level does take longer, it is so nicely laid out for me as a busy mom to 3 little girls, that it is easily doable.

But here is the thing.

In my heart, I'm a perfectionist through and through and because of that perfectionism, I'm not sure I am doing the best job possible in schooling Zoelle. It's hard for me to admit that. After all I am her mom and I have a teacher's license in K-8 education.

But the thing is, school ends up being the last thing on my mind during the day. Instead by the time we are up, fed, dressed, cleaned up, and ready for the day, I have to lay Xiomara down for her morning nap, exercise, prepare lunch, then it's naptime in the afternoon, sometimes I prepare supper, and then Chris is home from work. Somewhere in there, the house gets picked up and the laundry gets done.

And that doesn't include the mornings we aren't home!

To be honest, right now I'm feeling very frustrated with our choice to homeschool. One of our biggest desires in homeschooling is to make sure that education is a priority and for lack of a better term, that it is done properly.

Maybe every homeschool mom goes through this, but I feel right now like I am failing.

I'm not sure if Zoelle has picked up on my frustration or if she is just gaining some independence, but this year she has fought me on a lot of our school. Except that she loves math, handwriting, and reading. She would do those three things all day long if I let her. My perfectionism seems to have rubbed off on her and there are many, many moments of frustration between the two of us. Which again leads me to more frustration.

On top of that, it is hard for me to teach with the two little girls around right now. They are either into our homeschool stuff or off causing trouble elsewhere. I'm still searching for the perfect solution to that.

So as of now, this is where I am at. It's honest, but I told you I would be. I wish with all my heart I could come here and type that I am loving it. But if I did that I would be lying.

I'm not exactly sure yet where next year is going to take us, but we are looking more closely into our local private and public school while still keeping homeschool in mind. I'll definitely keep you updated.