Homeschool: Far from perfect

When we started homeschooling, I imagined neatly-lined bookshelves brimming with living books, organized timetables covering all topics, and happy children sitting at the table enthusiastic to learn. Who was I kidding?

These days, I consider it a good day if we manage to read one good book, and finish lessons with Junior J (we have finished learning phonics, and he now reads aloud from books, and learns a little Chinese in the afternoon. In the mornings, we do a little math using some Montessori manipulatives). I give myself a pat on the back if I manage to get dinner on the table on time, and the kids actually eat the meal without having to be scolded, chased or fed. What used to be a workable routine has more or less crumbled with baby J becoming more mobile and napping less, and we spend a fair bit of time checking the floor to see that there is no Lego that the boy can pick up and eat!

Things have become a lot more free flow from sheer necessity. If baby manages to nap for a longer period, we squeeze in some reading or craft. If he doesn't, the boys just play a lot more on their own. We sit, books scattered about us, as we try to learn something new, as baby crawls around us, exploring. We grab little moments to teach, we try to squeeze in a book here and there, during meals, before naptime.

I've learnt that going slow gets you there quicker than going nowhere. So we juggle, we adapt, while hoping that things will get a little more settled once baby is older. Meanwhile, I am learning to put aside my perfectionist nature, and close one eye to our jumbled routines. I'd love to have my bookshelves all sorted, my study packed, my learning corners set up, my activities all planned and prepared, my home all polished into a wonderful environment for learning. But I am only human, and we can only live in the present. So we do what we can, in the time we are given, while making tiny steps towards making homeschool a little better, a little more organized, a little more engaging and fun. And I believe we will get there, with God's help, in time to come.