My “resistant” students (see my last post) have gotten
better over the past week or two. We are getting into our schedule fairly well,
and are managing to get everything done within a fairly reasonable time, with
minimal whining and pouting. Our days (or at least, my days) are longer than last year, due to having an additional
student (my youngest), and due to my 4th grader having more work to
do this year. On Mondays and Tuesdays, we tend to not finish until close to 3pm
or so, after starting around 8:30 (but taking a long lunch break). Wednesdays
and Fridays are a little shorter, since I put several of the “once a week”
topics (piano lessons, geography and health for the littles) on the first days,
to get them over with. Science with my oldest is only M/Tu/W. We have modified
a few things, and streamlined the schedule, and I’m sure we’ll do more of that
as the year passes, but things are pretty good right now.
On Thursdays (today), all 3 kids go to a once-a-week Academy
that has recently started up in our area, offering a variety of elective
classes in one location from different teachers in the area. My youngest goes
to a K-1st enrichment class, mostly dealing with science and
animals. My girls go to several 2nd-4th grade classes,
including geography, art, and science. They all have lunch there, and my
youngest also has an hour of recess/playtime with other kids his age. And I get
a break!
This is just our 2nd week of this Academy, but my youngest
is still quite resistant to it. He has cried both times I’ve left him there.
I’m hoping he grows to like it, since I hate leaving a crying child for the
teacher to deal with. He was happy when I picked him up last week, though he
still said later that he didn’t like it. I pick him up right after playtime, at
12:30, so it’s not really that long of a time for him, but he feels that it is.
It might also be hard for him since he’s also started several new classes at
church, and it just takes him a while to get comfortable with new situations.
Anyway, so today I have time to write, though I’m hanging
out at church instead of going home. Our church and the Academy are both about
35 minutes away from our house, so instead of driving so much, I figured I’d
try staying in the area until I pick them up after lunch. We will see how it
goes!
