~Yarnalong: I'm in that post-Spring break, is the year done yet? Oh my goodness we have 10 more weeks of lesson plans to finish up.....but we are soooooo done, let's take a break, but we can't take a break, I just want to be done, valley, anybody else relate? I really dislike this slump, and how it seems to roll around every year, particularly this year when my older children just had two weeks off of school. Pushing through just starts to seem so pointless after awhile, and I really dislike education for the sake of checking off the boxes. But I know there are things that do need to be learned (phonics, math, writing skills......) and I definitely want to finish up what we started because that is good character building and all, but maybe just maybe, there's a different or better way.
I took one of Pam Barnhill's classes that she has on the ReadAloud Revival Membership and was really impressed with it, and really learned a lot from it (and made some amazing changes to our homeschool this year), so when I came across her new book on Better Together, I didn't hesitate to purchase it and then start reading it as soon as it arrived. Definitely no disappointment here! We even started using some of her suggestions this morning, and school wrapped up faster, and happier than it has in weeks. I know that it isn't a cure all and there will most definitely be more tweaks down the road, but I'm also starting to view this as, what can I change now, versus, what I'd like to do next year. Why wait for next year? That's the beauty and joy and value in homeschool, we can make that shift and change, TODAY. Granted I really do just want to be done (and find it amusing that the last time I taught the first grade program, I left notes for myself son this week and all the following weeks about keeping going, and how this will end at some point, lol, so at least it seems to be a wall I am familiar with!). And, at the end of the day, the date on the Calendar when we finish the last day of the curriculum isn't that important, so much as we have learned something and grown along the way, so we might just throw in some more, JustBecasue days, and What would You like to learn about moments and stretch it out a bit anyways, because to be honest, that will mean less school I have to plan and map out over the summer!
And that bit of knitting? Would you believe that I started that during our ReadALoud this morning (which we finally returned to because I value reading James and the Giant Peach to my children, just for fun!), and I just love it! It's a newish design in some Twisted Owl Fiber Yarn Studio, and it is just delightful! I just breezed through some pretty tight deadline knitting and am now finding myself overwhelmed with ideas, knitting thoughts, and things I want to knit. I'm also trying to find a non-work project that I can just ENJOY knitting.....so if you have any suggestions, let me know!
Of course I would love if you would share what you are reading and knitting this week!
Happy Knitting,
~Jessica