Skip to main content

When Mama Teacher is Just Not Feeling It


Some days the kids are a little sluggish. Our relaxed homeschool style caters to that because they can just do their work curled up on the couch in a blanket. But as the teacher, my day is go-go-go no matter what. On top of school there are meals to prepare, housework to complete, dogs that need to go potty, etc.

I am a scheduled kind of girl so when we have our day planned we just go for it, checking those things off the list. I do not have to feel 100% to accomplish all I need to in one day.

But what if the mama teacher wakes up one day and thinks, "Nope. I just can't today."

I woke up feeling that way on Monday.



I had some coffee. That didn't help. In fact, it didn't even taste good. (Red alert!) I took a shower. Nope, that didn't perk me up, either. I just knew it was going to be one of those days.

Sometimes it's situational, sometimes it's hormonal, and sometimes there is absolutely no reason I can find. It just is.

So how do we handle a school day under those circumstances?

Well, we cut things down to the bare minimum. We complete our grammar page and math page (because they are non-negotiable), watch CNN Student News, read some books, and maybe play a game. Everything else can be made up on Freedom Friday (our day where we do extra activities, catch up on work, and kids do all delight-directed learning without any formal teaching by mom).




Sometimes we even pop in a movie. I try to keep some on hand that fit with what we are studying so we can, at least, feel like it's not just a free day activity.

And that's all we do.

Comfy clothes, couches, blankets, and popcorn. A full school day without much effort from this tired and overstimulated introvert of a mama teacher.

And hope that things will be better tomorrow.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

ABCya

Eli's reading resource teacher shared a website with me yesterday that I would like to pass along. It's called ABCya . There are separate educational sections with fantastic games for ages kindergarten through 5th grade. I browsed the 2nd grade level, and it includes age-appropriate games about Letters, Numbers, Shapes, Geometry, Patterns, Mouse Manipulation, Art and Holiday games. There are lots and lots of fun and creative games for children to play. They are fun, but oh, so educational. Eli's favorite, in his short time playing it, was Create a Car . A lot of the games also have Apps available for purchase (99 cents for most of them) for the iPad and iPhone. I have been looking for another free website for games similar to Starfall , for some time. I think I have found it. I can feel confident having Eli and Brynne play these games.

Cells ~ It's What's for Dinner

Dawson made edible cells on Friday. He made an animal cell pizza ... and a plant cell chocolate chip cookie ... He reviewed what he's learned about cells the past two weeks, and I had dinner made by someone else. Win, win!! I am linking up at Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom.

Last Child in the Woods ~ Chapters 1-4

Welcome to our book study of Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. To be honest, I have no idea what this "study" is going to look like. I imagine that when we get together I will post about all of the things that caught my eye. And I would ask that you leave a comment, or a link to your own blog post in the comment, about what caught yours. This isn't anything formal, ladies, just a place to talk about what we have read. I have now read the first four chapters of Last Child in the Woods two times. It is just so good. Several things have specifically hit me deep, but in general I just realized that "times, they are a changin'." Things aren't the way they were when we were kids. Chapter 1. Gifts of Nature ~ "When I see birches bend to left and right ... I like to think some boy's been swinging them." ~ Robert Frost What is your definition of nature? What feelings, visions, senses does it conjure up? For me, it's not a