Finished Unit one of Bigger

[LAB]

We went through all of unit one this week and had such a great time! Day one was fabulous! 3 hours and the kids and I just loved it! After our great day I had a mishap with a wasp getting into our house while going out for playtime. The short story is I broke my foot and am barely able to get around. The Dr. said I'd have a boot cast and crutches for 6 weeks.

The rest of the week was really good too. Not quite as quick as I'm unable to multitask now. Everything is a huge production, so our days have been dragging out for 4-4 1/2 hours trying to care for the boys (age 10 months and 26 months) and do school. By then we're all starting to glaze over. I had our history reading, bible and rotating box scheduled last. It seemed good that way so the girls could drag out activities like painting as long as they wanted so I wasn't waiting on them. I tried on Friday to switch it first and just plan on a crafty activity moved to the end of the day when we needed to. They were able to listen to the history and bible much better then, but by the end of the day we were all just staring. I have a snack built into our schedule (starting with our hymn and I read their storytime book while they eat) and individual breaks for my girls to take turns playing with the little ones while the other does DITHOR with me. My kids aren't big breakfast eaters and end up having a second breakfast about an hour after their first little meal. It ends up being like 2 snacks of healthy foods. Once I learned to accept the way their bodies function we've been much happier.

The kids love Bigger and have had a great first week, but I'm thinking after 4-6 weeks we'll be burned out. Its funny as we aren't doing more hours of school, but we're able to fit so much more into our day. The hours just fly by, but by the end we're just exhausted! I'd love some encouragement! Is this just a schedule we need to take time adjusting to? I'm sure if my foot wasn't broken we would be finishing at a more reasonable time and that's probably mostly the problem. We weren't tired at the end of our first day!

The good news is we've been able to do everything with me having limited abilities. Their science experiment they were able to do themselves with me directing from the couch! I even had them read one of their science reading pages outloud to eachother while I tended to the baby and then they narrated what they read about.

I can see that a mom on bedrest could be able to school effectively with this program! I've basically been camped out on the couch directing them through their schedule.

[MelInKansas]

Wow, yeah a broken foot would be a big setback. I agree with you, HOD is so easy to use that you can do it even if you're not at your best. But you should cut yourself some slack. Try to find a way to be at peace with the situation God has placed you in, rearrange the schedule if you need to, and just know you're in a bit of a crisis mode so things don't have to be the way they would if everything was normal. God will give you grace to get through this!

I would rearrange the schedule if you feel it drags on and the girls can't stay focussed and enjoy it to the end. Maybe take a couple of the things that are pretty easy for them and move those to the afternoon, when the little ones are napping? This is what I have done. I have put our most difficult to get through things first, right after worship and Bible time. That would be the LA/copywork. Then reading (I read History and storytime to them, then DD6 does emerging readers then DD4 does her "learn to read" lesson). Then we have a bit of "recess" and then lunch. After lunch, chores, the older 2 have computer time while I play with the little one, then when my youngest goes down for her nap we do the rotating box and the math (and my 4YO does her handwriting or whichever workbook she chooses for the day).

Once you are "back on your feet" you could easily change it back again. Just an idea, use it if you find it helpful.

My daughters' hunger pattern is very similar to yours. They will eat a very small breakfast then they are starving one hour later. We also eat a snack while I am reading to them. On Sundays I try to feed them eggs or something heartier so we can get through church!

[LAB]

Thank you so much! You've given me many ideas to ponder. I forgot to mention that everyday we've gotten a 2 hr late start as well! I'm sure that's not helping! Like I mentioned before, everything is a big production. I'm considering delaying our DITHOR books until I'm out of the boot cast and able to multitask again. That would shorten our day a lot and wouldn't mess up our daily flow. My girls have independent reading of their choice at night and read lots of books to their brother, so they'll still be reading daily.

I'll play it by ear and see if possibly the problem is just me! I've weaned myself off the pain meds which made me really tired! It may be the kids taking cues from me as I fought falling asleep!

[Tree House Academy]

Bless your heart! I broke my right wrist last summer and I still cringe to think of how bad it hurt and all the time it took to recover! My prayers are with you as you heal.

If I were you, I would probably do Bigger at half speed right now or just take the time off from school. If you only had the two older kids, I would say, "keep plugging along at full speed," but with the two little ones, I can't even imagine trying!!! Give yourself permission to take care of YOU first. Your kids are young enough that you aren't going to hurt them...no matter what you do school-wise.

Get well soon!

[LAB]

Thank you so much for the prayers! I still can't believe it happened!

We did our full day with the left side of our plans first again and it was great! We went through everything at a nice pace and ended strong by not doing our DITHOR. I think I'll shelf it until I'm healed up. It's hard to take turns with the girls in the front of the house right now to get away from the commotion.

Our days seem to go smoother when we do school. The weekend was crazy! It's too hot to play outside during the day and the kids are everywhere. That's why I started up school "early". I was thinking we could work hard for 6 weeks or so and then take a week or two off when everyone else has to go back to school and hit the zoo and other outside activities.

[MelInKansas]

Yeah it sounds like dropping DITHOR for now is a good idea. I also admire you greatly for continuing to school with a broken foot! I agree though, the same thing here, most of the time our days go a lot better when we have the structure and the focus of getting school done. It gives my oldest much less time to make trouble!