Public school, private school, homeschool, even dance school.
Every teacher starts the year with a great plan and the positive outlook that they are on top of this. They are organized. They are ready. They have work lined up and schedules in place.
And every year, around mid winter, usually about four months in, EVERY SINGLE TEACHER feels like they are flying by the seat of their pants, throwing things together last minute, and so behind on that careful schedule that they'll never catch up.
I was a public school teacher for over ten years. I was a drama and choir and voice private teacher too. I'm a homeschool mom now. EVERY DISCIPLINE OF TEACHING. EVERY YEAR.
Every teacher feels like a failure a few months in. In my current homeschool groups, we spend a lot of time talking each other up. We all feel like this, no matter what, at least once a year, and we always get through it. The kids will be ok. It happens to public school teachers and private school teachers too. YOU are not a failure. You will be ok.
So I'm in that place now, even though I thought I took extra precautions against it back at the beginning of the year (further proof that it's just inevitable). Sometimes it's scheduling, or sickness, or something that just ate up way more time than you anticipated. Sometimes the kids aren't getting something you thought would be easy. Sometimes it's them. Sometimes it's you.
But I'm experienced enough to recognize it, and I'm determined not to feel like a failure, and more importantly, I'm determined to catch it before we get in too deep. We're not going to fall behind, even if it means we school on the go.
I actually like schooling on the go from time to time. Sometimes a change of location does me good, and a lot of times it does the girls good. Sometimes, we're on our way to somewhere fun, like a field trip, and schooling in the car is the way to go. This is great when it's work that the girls can do with limited help from me. I can listen and answer questions, and they can do some practice or review work. We can get that out of the way, and spend our time at home on the things we need to dive into more deeply.
Sometimes, we just need a change of scenery, so we'll head off to Starbucks or Panera or something like that. I'll bring my laptop, they'll bring their stuff, and they feel like on the go businesswomen, working at a coffee shop. We don't need to have library voices, we can have a special snack, and getting out of the house helps.
This takes a bit of preparation - which can initially be daunting if you're already in the slump. You need to make sure you pack up the backpacks, or have a car stocked with the right supplies. You want the balance of having what you need with the annoyance of lugging around backpacks the kids can barely heft on their own.
But the spark that a good day of carschooling followed by a fun trip can provide? It's worth it.
