I find it interesting that last week I chose to share an article on relaxed homeschooling when it was one of the least relaxed weeks for my family! My son & I have been sick for the past month and last week was really our first real week back to (or almost back to) a "healthy" status. Although we've had to put aside a lot of our normal schoolwork for the past month, I did have my son read first Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott and then Moby Dick by Herman Melville. I was hoping to get back to a normal schedule this week, but this week has been just too full.

Monday, my husband was off work and I ended up running some errands in the morning while our son slept in. I figured one more day of not requiring a specific rising time was still merited. I was able toget out and buy a coat I've been looking at for over a year. I took it to a tailor for alterations later that day. (It's a men's small jacket and the sleeves were still much too long for my arms.) Mike didn't want to eat dinner with us at our favorite barbeque restaurant, so he got to stay at home while my husband and I ran my coat to the tailor's and then on to our dinner.

Tuesday, Mike had a field trip to the Bass Performance Hall here in Fort Worth. His co-op classes include both a drama class and a class discussing Shakespeare -- both classes inadvertently studying Romeo & Juliet and the Bass had an abbreviated show. Their rendition showcased 3 actors alone: Romeo, Juliet, and one actor who played all the other parts needed to tell the story. Mike was still finishing up Moby Dick that day, so I spent the afternoon cooking 5 pounds of hamburger (and other ingredients) to use this week (made some meat gravy for Tuesday's dinner as well as the Bierocks filling to freeze). (Bierocks is pronounced "Beer-ocks" and is a German dish of meat & cabbage inside a roll.)

Wednesday, I felt like I was in the car all day long. The same co-op had a field trip to tour Daystar Television Network. We came home afterwards to take my husband to the train for a job that would start in the late afternoon. Then we went by UPS for me to ship some books to Massachusetts, and on to the library for an hour. We were home for about a half an hour and it was time to take Mike to church to help with set-up for Youth Group and his youth leadership group meeting before youth actually started. He was able to find a ride so I could stay home and get the bread dough going for the Bierocks that needed to be baked Wednesday and Thursday.

Thursday was full with co-op classes all afternoon--Small Engine Repair at 1pm, Drama at 2pm, and Shakespearean Literature at 3pm. That night was a co-op youth party, so Mike left with another family for the rest of the afternoon and evening, while I went to pick up my coat from the tailor's and went back home to finish baking the Bierocks before my dog obedience classes. (With my dog, I take an Open class and after that assist with the Beginner's class.)

Friday was a field trip with my other homeschool group to Dublin, Texas for the Dr Pepper bottling plant there. They bottle soda using cane sugar instead of the typical corn syrup. It makes sodas taste quite different, with a smoothness that just isn't there with corn syrup. All three of us (and the dog) were able to make this field trip. The afternoon was full of packing up for an overnight camping trip with our co-op homeschool group.

Saturday, we celebrated my husband's 53rd birthday at Ray Roberts Lake north of the Metroplex. So the day was filled with wonderful camarderie with good friends and our family. Sunday brought it full circle with church in the morning and a nap in the afternoon.

Sometimes life takes over and school (or at least "traditional subjects") take a back seat. And sometimes we moms need to be reminded that learning is still taking place.

Donna Conner lives in Fort Worth, TX with her husband, Glenn, their son, Mike, and their dog, Lucia. Donna and Glenn have been homeschooling their son since the beginning of his education. Mike completes his homeschooling within the next two years. Donna is an artist and has always enjoyed writing. She wrote Homeschooling Only One three years ago, after discovering that there were many other families homeschooling only one child. Her website is devoted to those with only one student in their homeschool, with listings of online resources. You can visit her website at  http://donnac.com and read her blog at: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/DonnaC

copyright © 2007 Donna Conner ~~ All rights reserved. Content may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of author, except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles where the title and author are listed.