Tomorrow is another day!
With another day of temperatures in the upper 90's and even more company coming over today, we skipped homeschooling altogether this morning and went to the grocery store.
I'd like to say I took the opportunity to talk to my kids about groceries, healthy eating, budgeting.... something, anything having to do with life but I was on a mission to get in, get out, and get back home. Something that isn't always easy with 3 kids in tow.
I know I can't always let these learning opportunities pass us by but I firmly believe sometimes you need to take a deep breath and realize there is always tomorrow.
As long as you don't always think "there's always tomorrow" and procrastinate your children's lives away I think it's perfectly fine to realize there will be days when you just don't have time to teach a real lesson; such as today.
Could I have made time?
Probably.
They could have read in the car, or they could have worked on a game or some new skills while I was putting the groceries away. But knowing my kids just ended school this Monday and thinking about all the stuff we've already done helps me try to keep it all in perspective.
Children need down time too to de-stress and learn how to entertain themselves; something this generation of kids just doesn't seem to know how to do and my kids are no exception!
If I say "no screens" and turn off the TV/ Wii/ Ds games (something I do very often; esp. in the summer!) they all just stand there looking lost, while protesting quite loudly and negotiating when they can turn screens back on.
This morning, once we got home and I was busy preparing food, they actually played a game in our playroom that they had learned in gym class at school called "clean my yard": they divided the playroom in half and dumped a whole laundry bin full of balls out onto the floor. The object of the game is to be the first person or team with a clean yard by throwing balls onto the other person's team. It's kind of a never ending game since someone is always throwing a ball but they were laughing and coming up with their own different rules; working on problem solving skills, teamwork and cooperation. And when the game was done and I asked them to clean it up so we could go outside, they all pitched in and cleaned up without argument.
We spent the afternoon playing in the lake and today Alec learned how to dive!
With 7 cousins here playing too it was hectic & crazy at times but I love watching the older kids interact with the younger ones, trying to help them and talking in a soothing voice when they are upset. It was great family fun!
I'd like to say I took the opportunity to talk to my kids about groceries, healthy eating, budgeting.... something, anything having to do with life but I was on a mission to get in, get out, and get back home. Something that isn't always easy with 3 kids in tow.
I know I can't always let these learning opportunities pass us by but I firmly believe sometimes you need to take a deep breath and realize there is always tomorrow.
As long as you don't always think "there's always tomorrow" and procrastinate your children's lives away I think it's perfectly fine to realize there will be days when you just don't have time to teach a real lesson; such as today.
Could I have made time?
Probably.
They could have read in the car, or they could have worked on a game or some new skills while I was putting the groceries away. But knowing my kids just ended school this Monday and thinking about all the stuff we've already done helps me try to keep it all in perspective.
Children need down time too to de-stress and learn how to entertain themselves; something this generation of kids just doesn't seem to know how to do and my kids are no exception!
If I say "no screens" and turn off the TV/ Wii/ Ds games (something I do very often; esp. in the summer!) they all just stand there looking lost, while protesting quite loudly and negotiating when they can turn screens back on.
This morning, once we got home and I was busy preparing food, they actually played a game in our playroom that they had learned in gym class at school called "clean my yard": they divided the playroom in half and dumped a whole laundry bin full of balls out onto the floor. The object of the game is to be the first person or team with a clean yard by throwing balls onto the other person's team. It's kind of a never ending game since someone is always throwing a ball but they were laughing and coming up with their own different rules; working on problem solving skills, teamwork and cooperation. And when the game was done and I asked them to clean it up so we could go outside, they all pitched in and cleaned up without argument.
We spent the afternoon playing in the lake and today Alec learned how to dive!
With 7 cousins here playing too it was hectic & crazy at times but I love watching the older kids interact with the younger ones, trying to help them and talking in a soothing voice when they are upset. It was great family fun!
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