Posted in School

I suppose this was our first week of school in which I actively taught the kids since fall.  During my pregnancy I had little energy, and it was difficult to teach with a toddler distracting everyone.  The kids did plenty of reading though, and I did not worry much because they're ahead of most of their peers and did a great job of learning independently.  A few weeks ago, though, we realized that I would need to get back to teaching them...and that may require us to find someone to help with the other kids.  My husband started exploring options for nannies, and when we mentioned this to his sister, she jumped at the opportunity to quit her fast-food job and start a job she knew she'd love.  On Monday she came to work for us as our nanny, and she shared in the teaching responsibilities with the big kids - I did the basic academics in the mornings, and she taught Chinese, art, and PE in the afternoons (while my toddler had her nap) 3 days a week. 

During this week there have been times this week when I wondered how I ever managed without her.  I suppose I managed without her ok, but half the things I wanted to get done didn't.  It's been very freeing having her around to help.  We have now made it out of survival mode, and as we eased back into school, I made a lot of discoveries.

• I love to plan...so much so that when planning what to cover with the kids I planned a little too much;  I've scaled it down quite a bit for next week.
  
• My kids love using Story of the World (SOTW) for Ancient History;  my son especially loves it if we play the cd on the computer and he watches the visualizations while it plays;  I'll be putting some pertinent chapters on their mp3 players so they can listen as many times as they want to!
• Neither kid likes to color the coloring sheets from the activity book.  Oh well.  The map was a hit this week though!
• Adding in the Usborne and/or Kingfisher history books we have is just too overwhelming for me ("let's read this too...and this..."); SOTW will have to be enough, and they can explore the other resources as they have the desire. 
• I don't have to do the projects with the kids - they have a crafty aunt (our nanny) who is having fun picking and choosing, gathering the materials, guiding them through it, etc.
• My 6-year-old son enjoys First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind.  My 7.5-year-old daughter can't stand it - she was about halfway through the book when we stopped last year, so I'll be pulling out certain "language activities" to do with her and see how that goes.  Next week I have her writing a letter to a friend (or a missionary, and she can pass an Awana section at the same time), writing (more likely dictating) a story about what she likes to do in different seasons (this could turn into a book for her younger sister), and memorizing a poem
  
• Both kids enjoy Shillermath but are ready to settle down to doing just 2-3 activities at a time
• Oops, I forgot to teach science, aside from reading Click magazine with the kids
• My older daughter doesn't like read-alouds, but my son does.  I have a hard time coordinating these, so I'll probably do them as requested but spend more time reading to my younger daughter who turns 2 this month.
  
• Both kids love learning Chinese.  Our nanny grew up in Taiwan and is teaching them the Chinese ABC's and numbers...as well as words and phrases.  My son even told me he loves his homework - copying Chinese characters.
• I don't need to micromanage everything in the house - even with a nanny, it's tempting for me still to want to do everything (i.e. laundry, dishes, fixing lunch) and feel guilty if I don't;  I need to get over that!
• Our nanny has discovered that my younger gets tired of art fast so I'll pull out some extra resources like Slow and Steady Get Me Ready and Where is Thumbkin to help give her guidance in what to do with her while I do school with the big kids
• I need to have a better plan of what should get done around the house and when.  Our nanny keeps asking me what needs to be done around the house, and I don't know what to tell her.