Well, my ducks are in a little better row, so I thought I’d blog to let y’all know how things are going. My first 4 days of teaching my oldest at home went okay. This was sort of a warm up week. I learned a bit about how I should structure his day, and I also have discovered several holes in his knowledge that we will have to address — and along with all the other catch-up work and extra instruction it all seems pretty daunting, but I’m confident that he’ll learn more here than he would daydreaming at school. Of course, he daydreams here, as well, but it is much easier for me to reel in his attention that it was for his teachers at school. The distraction there is just too great, and, as we are only having moderate success with reducing the distractions inside his own head, the only concrete thing that you can do is reduce the distractions that you can — the external ones.

It all is a little stressful. And, I say this as someone who is pretty unstressed by the normal things in life. But, trying to teach someone who is easily distractable can be a really frustrating thing to do. And, it requires creativity that is sometimes hard to tap amidst the frustration. So, hopefully I’ll find a way to manage it. Maybe some push-ups will help me, and maybe I’ll try some chocolate as well. I don’t know. The good thing is that I like solving problems. And, I think that there are few feelings worse than the feeling that time is being wasted. That is how I felt about his first semester, despite the best intentions and actions of everyone at his wonderful school, his time was being wasted by his distraction and his own lack of motivation and purpose. So, I don’t feel like so much of his time is being wasted now. And that feels good.

Now, if I could just help him to be more motivated and less distracted and more independent, it will all be worth it. Oh, and the learning of the subjects, as well. *sigh* At least I have my Saturdays back for housework. I’m glad about that.

Everyone have a good weekend. Check back next week for a great, new, heart-healthy roast recipe. 🙂