Homeschooling in Egypt--Part 7--The End

NOT ALL WONDERFUL

Not everything about homeschooling is great. Can I just say . . . 7 kids . . . all day . . . every day . . .

One of the things I've let slide is making breakfasts and lunches. I still do ok with dinner (with lots of help from the kids sometimes). For breakfast and lunches though, they're pretty much on their own. It's turned into a problem though in that they all want and eat something different. The housekeeper cleans up breakfast but when I go to make dinner, I usually have to clean up the lunch mess before I can start. I've tried several different methods of having the kids clean up after themselves. After 7 months of these methods I haven't found one that works for us yet. I haven't given up.

School time is consumed with helping Nic and Red through their lessons whilst T is crawling all over my back, on my lap, on the desks, etc. The oldest 4 kids have been pretty much on their own in getting through their lessons. They've been great about that for the most part. One thing that has slipped past me though is when they have to write paragraphs or essays or long answers. I'm supposed to read through those and make sure they've answered correctly. However, the kids don't always tell me when they need me to correct something. They say they "answer it in their minds." But with my English teacher background, I do realize there is value in converting thoughts and organizing them into comprehensible writing. (Something I wish I would've learned.) I have come to accept that I can't teach everything to all of them and I just keep encouraging them to do their best and I try to be a little more hands on with the older 4 when I can.

Then there's the attitude of a kindergartner and 1st grader. If they don't want to do a lesson, they'll let me know. And sometimes in not such a nice way as I'd hope they'd behave toward a real school teacher.

We have go-getters who wake up, get to work, get done, then want to play. I love that and wish they all were like that. The problem comes when the slacker-leaning children see the less-slacker-leaning children playing. They get distracted before their school work is done and it's hard to keep them focused when they know they have a brother or sister who is having fun without them. All year I've tried to use that as motivation to help them get up the next day, get to work, get done, and then go play. It hasn't worked yet. Once in a while I see glimmers of hope. Meanwhile I have a couple of kids who are on track to finish early and others who may be working through the summer.

So overall, I'd give homeschool the grade of B+. I think A is unattainable. There will always be something bad about homeschooling (like keeping track of all their papers--what to throw away--what to keep in case a future school wants to see what they've learned, etc.) It's not an A- because I still think there are benefits a regular school has that I can't give them at home. I'm good with the B+. It works for our situation at this time in this place.

I hope I've answered most of your questions. If not let me know. Thanks for reading!