Homeschool

Why does my homeschool not look like the homeschool of my dreams? Why do my kids not always consider learning and the joy of learning to be the privilege that it is? And why, oh why, are none of the school books EVER in the school room on the neat shelves (wait, the shelves are not "neat" as in clean, they are neat as in they are built for our school stuff) that we have?
In my dream homeschool (the one where there is a perfect mommy/teacher and little cherubs for students) we would start at 9am-and not a moment later. All the chores would be done, everyone would have gone to the bathroom already. So, we would be so happy that it was natural to start our day with prayer. It's very hard to pray and start your school day that way when everyone is already mad/frustrated/sad....

Next we would say the Pledge of Allegiance with everyone gazing admiringly at the flag-thinking about the sacrifice made by our forefathers and my grandfather and the men who have fought and died in recent years so that we have the freedom to fly that flag and to make a pledge to it. They would also be thinking of Betsy Ross who lovingly sewed that flag (well, not *that* one but you know what I mean)....Oh, and all pencils would be sharpened and all supplies (paper, folders, crayons, glue, markers, etc) would be right in the cubby that is assigned to them.
So, where are we? Yes, it's 9am and we're all sitting quietly in the school room after  reflecting on the joys of our God and our country.
Everyone has their books out-beginning with the Bible Curriculum I adapted from a grown-up study just for them and typed. (I really did do this and they really do use it, I just wish they were more joyful about it-realizing the hard work I put into that study so that they would have something that was just what I wanted for them-meaningful without being so deep and difficult that it was more frustrating than inspirational). They would never do their math first "to get it over with".
After Bible we would move onto Language where I could manage to teach one lesson to two different grade levels. (yeah, right!) And they wouldn't fight over who got the right answer first or who knew it first, etc etc.
Next, would be Spelling and Handwriting for the younger ones (actually, I like that curriculum and they don't complain about that either).
Then Math. And everyone would do their "gazindas" with happy hearts. And when I wanted them to do another round of multiplication flash cards they would thank me for helping them to get those committed to memory. And the  math would be done with care and thought. Oh, and neat too. (While I'm dreaming.)
Have I mentioned that while we are doing all of this Nathan would be playing nicely with his little trains? Or playing with play doh at a table (without dragging it everywhere). Or coloring ON PAPER.
Science and History would be in the afternoon while Nathan napped and Haley watched some PBS kids as a reward for having done her school work already. And I would be fully awake because I'm not exhausted. And if my eyes did happen to close...the kids would not laugh at me or get irritated.
And we would do EVERY suggested Science experiment
because we would always have all of the necessary equipment
and supplies! And the experiments would always work. Always.

Learning Room

And last but not least,  the school room would look all neat and tidy at the end of the day with barely a clue that we had spent the whole day learning valuable lessons! We would have systems for things (organizing, etc) and they would get used so that they actually helped us!

In a Dream World. Back to Reality though....cause that's where I live!