First Week - Totally Chaotic and Crazy!

[stawnasalas]

We started Monday, with 3 dc, 3 guides, plus a 3yo and 3 mo. old. Can you say CRAZINESS, lol? Just needing to vent. I will eventually get it all figured out, I know, but so far its absolute chaos, trying to go back and forth. I had a nice schedule all planned out, but have already tweaked it. We are only doing half speed this week, and will start full speed next week. I have already dropped CTC storytime and Bible and will combine my CTC boy and my 7 yo's Bible and storytime. Hoping that will help a bit. Thanks for letting me get this off my chest .

[striving2Bprov31]

Stawna, you are totally normal!

Getting into a groove that really works takes some time. Just keep working from where you are, and adjusting things as you see fit. It will get more comfortable as you go.....less crazy?....probably not, lol.

[Heart_Mom]

I've found that the first few weeks seem a little overwhelming to me, but then everything settles into a nice, productive groove.

We are on Unit 9 of Preparing (we started in June), and it just flows so nicely now. It was a little hairy the first few weeks, though!

Dont' worry; it will get better and easier!

[momtofive]

One thing that helped us tremendously when I was doing CTC, was to have a meeting right away with my CTC child. We did the writing/grammar lesson, Bible Study/Geography lesson, dictation and storytime together before we started anything else for school. Then my older child could have all of his stuff with me done, and then just work on the independent stuff through the day. I could then focus time on the younger ones, or other kids in a different guide. We treated it as a special time, and he just loved it. It also helped him to get started while he was fresh in the day.

This may sound crazy, but we always did this meeting time before breakfast. We would start about 7:30 before the others were up, and then we'd all have breakfast together right after this meeting time. Of course, they all got up during the time we were working, but they usually had things to do before breakfast, which gave us time to finish his lessons. It really made the rest of the day go so much smoother to have those lessons taken care of earlier in the day. Anyway, I don't know if this would help or not in your situation, but it worked wonders in our house, and we've stayed with this special meeting time now that we're in RTR.

It can be tough when you first start a guide and a new school year for that matter! But just hang in there, eventually you'll get a feel for what works and what doesn't and it'll fall into place. When we did CTC, I was also running three guides with two little ones running around, too! If you can possibly get the Bible Study and Storytime boxes worked in, they're SOOO good! Very good learning for student and teacher!

[Heart_Mom]

This may sound crazy, but we always did this meeting time before breakfast.

I do this too! My son that's doing Preparing gets up and reads his History selection at 6 A.M. while I exercise, then we do some things together to get him started on his day. Then he can work on independent things without me, and we can check in again later in the morning.

[Carrie]

Stawna,

The ladies are doing such a good job of helping you talk through possible helps. My first week is usually pretty crazy too, so don't be discouraged. Things will settle down!

I just wanted to let you know that we typically do advise for families with multiple HOD guides going to do only one Storytime. So, it is a good move to combine your CTC child with your Bigger child for Storytime. Since you're also doing LHFHG though, we do advise that you keep the LHFHG storytime just for your little one as it is so short and includes so many needed skills!

I would encourage you to keep your CTC child doing the BIble in CTC though. It is meant to be an independent skill and is a necessary part of CTC. Plus, the Bible within Bigger is targeted for the youngers and meant to focus on Godly character for that particular age.

As far as moving ahead to full-speed goes, I would only plan to work toward getting your oldest child up to full speed first. Keep your Bigger child and your LHFHG child at half-speed until the CTC is doing well at full-speed. Next, move your Bigger child up to full-speed, keeping your littlest one at half-speed until you successfully have your Bigger child going at full-speed. If your Bigger child can't make it up to full-speed for months up to even one full school-year that is alright. Work done well is the goal, rather than cramming it in. Bigger is our biggest teaching guide time-wise, because it is all "you" with little independence. However that training/teaching is so important and will hold your child in good stead as he/she heads into Preparing.

Last, you'll move your LHFHG child up to full-speed. If your Bigger child takes his/her time gaining to full-speed, it is possible that your little one could remain at half-speed all year. That is alright. Just remember that you need to get your older two going well and able to do what is being asked of them in the guide first before ever moving your little one up to full-speed. This is key, and the process cannot be rushed!

Prioritize from the top down for now, keeping in mind that your 7 year old is on the very youngest age range of Bigger, giving that child plenty of time to move through Bigger at a less rigorous pace. Your 5 year old is also on the youngest age range of LHFHG, giving that child plenty of time to move through LHFHG! So, focus on your oldest child first. Training is the key to success!

Blessings,
Carrie

[stawnasalas]

Thank you lasdies for your encouragement and suggestions. Carrie, I had never thought of continuing with half-speed for awhile, duh! I am of the mind-set that we need to get through it all, by the end of the year, but really, why? And you are right, the two youngers are on the young end, so if we dont finish at a specific time that I have in my head, why not just pick up where we left off after summer break. Thank you, I am going to continue with half-speed as needed for the youngers. Oh, and I ordered your devotional and love it! It really starts my day off right.

[stawnasalas]

Oops, meant to say Julie's devotional, God's Hand in Life's Little Moments .

[my3sons]

Oops, meant to say Julie's devotional, God's Hand in Life's Little Moments .

Thanks!!! I think I have been working on my second devotional for forever, but I am hopeful I can wrap it up within a year. I also have prayed that your days even out with homeschooling. I am always surprised by how after the first month, our days get shorter as we fall into a routine more. We don't have to refer to the schedule as much, and more of a routine to our day sets in as we all know what we need to do. I hope you find the same to be true - God bless!

In Christ,
Julie