Slowly but surely

That's the way things are shaping up around here for our school year. I don't think we've actually gotten everyone to do everything I want to see done in a year but it's getting there. I admit to blaming myself completely because I still don't have a schedule down, it's only loosely in my head, and with my back and neck being out it's been hard for me to get and stay motivated to be on everyone's case to get everything done. It's not that we aren't getting things done, we most certainly are. It's just there is always so much more that I want to do. And maybe that's something I need to look at as well. I know I tend to schedule things too tightly and underestimate how long things can take for different kids. I need to work on this when I do the schedules as well as know that if not everything gets done, that's okay too.

Christopher gets everything done every day. He's awesome like that. Very sturdy and reliable when it comes to his schoolwork.

Matthew's too laid-back to take his school (or much of anything) seriously. I have seen great improvements already in his ability to work independently on certain subjects, especially if I can find fun ways of engaging him like having him draw a comic for his essay question rather than having to actually write an essay. Yes, I know his writing needs work and I need to find ways to address that and have him work on that but his true love is art and music and it's a great way to engage him and really get the material into his head to stay because after he spends 2hrs on a comic, he'll remember it so much better than if he spends the bare minimum time writing the barest essay he thinks he can get away with. LOL

Jonathan has definitely hit the 8yr phase of not wanting to do anything that he's supposed to. *sigh* I've dealt with it 2xs now and it doesn't get any easier. I need to make sure that much of his time is spent working near me so I can stay on top of him. He can do the work but he definitely has a harder time remembering things and getting his head back into his schoolwork after the summer off. I usually have them do some work over the summer but this year that didn't happen and I'm really seeing the effect of having that time completely off most in Jonathan.

I think the biggest surprise has been Nicholas. He's understanding that there is no playtime until schoolwork gets done but more than that, he's finding that working with mom can actually be fun! I've tried for so long to get him to play with me (his work) and he wanted nothing to do with it but now, he will voluntarily grab out workbooks and tell me I need to work with him. He loves his mazes and the new cutting workbook I found for him as well. He's also really getting into being read to and trying to read to me which is so cute. He's also finally getting into art projects so I've been able to set him up with paints or markers or the preschool art projects that I have, and he will happily do them and frequently want to go far longer than I would expect. I usually have to find ways to expand upon the pre-built projects as he wants to do more with it so I find other stickers he can use or things he can glue to keep it going. Such a huge difference from even 6mos ago when he wanted nothing to do with any art project I could think of.

I'm hoping to have our schedule worked out and down on paper this weekend but looking at how our weekend is getting booked already, I know I need to be realistic in my expectations for myself as well and figure it's more likely going to happen over the 3-day weekend when we have nothing planned. So long as we keep moving forward, seeing little bits of progress every day, that's just going to have to do.