Isn't this where we started last year?  Back to basics?!  I can't believe, after everything settled into a beautifully peaceful routine, that I allowed myself to be lured into the craziness again.

My last entry was in September.  At that time I was feeling disconnected.  School was in session, but we were going nowhere.  But that wasn't from lack of motion.  We were moving.  A lot.

I don't know if I was more insecure with my ability to teach my sons or insecure about my ability to socialize my sons....but I got the bright idea to enroll them in a local enrichment center for two classes - one of which I decided I would teach.  This put us out of the house two days a week AND time I should have been planning lessons for my boys, I was using to plan for the class I was teaching.  The result:  the boys are waaaaaaay behind in reaching their adademic goals for the year.

Being behind academically isn't a big deal, really.  We can catch up on lessons - where we are lacking quantity, we make up in quality (isn't that what homeschooling is all about?).  The bigger deal for me is that I doubted myself and discounted the huge success of our first year at home. 

My boys thrive when surrounded by routine and organization (truly a funny statement if you really know me!).  Last year's success was due to my ability to maintain a fair amount of both.  For us, this means limiting outside distractions.  Allowing two full days of of those distractions was a HUGE mistake on my part.

When I told the boys I had made the decision to withdraw them from the outside classes, I was SHOCKED to hear their reply ~ they were THRILLED!  My boys MISSED their lessons.  They missed their routine.  They missed the success they felt at the end of last year. 

So....here we are again.  Back to basics.  In the four full days we have been 'in session' since Christmas break, my youngest son has buzzed through SIX math lessons.  My oldest son ACED a math test last Friday.  Both are picking off prepositions and plowing through verb phrases at a record rate.  Both are excited about reading. 

I am working my way back to a level of organization that is acceptable.  I haven't reached Super Organizer yet, but I'm getting there. 

The disconnection we felt at the beginning of the year is gone.  We're going places now!  We're not moving nearly as much - but we're defintely going places!

From the House of Hooligans ~ Things are GREAT in 2008!