Poetry and Hot Cocoa

During our first couple months or so, I was lucky to get through basic Math and Language Arts with the kiddoes, throwing in a little History or Science a few times a week.  Most of the things we are doing this year are workbook based, since Athena is used to that format and Hulk LOVES worksheets (Goblin doesn't have much of an opinion one way or the other).  Even though I did my best to make sure the basics were as simple to cover initially as possible, I still felt exhausted by the end of each day.  I was wondering how we were ever going to work up to having time for the fun "extra" stuff when we were already having so much trouble with the basics.

Then came a Wednesday morning when I was tired and grouchy and didn't want to face the day.  I called off school and decided we would just have to make it up another time (this was the first good choice I made that day-- having the ability to make our own schedule was one of the biggest reasons we chose to homeschool, but it took a bad day to make me start implementing that thought into our regular daily life).  I sent the kids outside to play and started making myself some tea and settling into a good book.  I started thinking about how much nicer it was to relax with the written word than to deal with worksheets again when the idea finally rose out of the back of my head.

By the time the kids came inside, I had 3 cups of hot cocoa (to join my cup of tea), 3 bowls of animal crackers, and a small stack of poetry and nursery rhyme books all laid out on the table.  This was our first bi-monthly poetry time, and it went extraordinarily well.  The kids were thrilled and kept asking for "One more poem," and I realized that this was exactly what we needed.

After we finished our drinks and snacks and all the poetry my voice could handle for that day (I'm doing most of the reading), I called school back on, and we finished Math, Language Arts, and History with plenty of time to spare before dinner needed to be made.

Covering the basics ensures that the kids are getting educated, but it isn't the best education we can offer.  The extra stuff is the stuff that really matters in our days, and it makes them so much easier to last through.

I know poetry time is not my unique idea.  Honestly, I had probably read it from a blog or a forum many times before that cold Wednesday morning, but it clicked for me that day to put it into our life and our schedule.  Doing something a little different and making it special (I find the kids think it's much more fun if we lay out the tablecloth and they get to use "grown-up cups") is the perfect way to remind yourself of the fun you can have in your homeschool when you try.

--Little Miss Crazy

By the way, that IS a copy of The Phantom Tollbooth on top of the poetry books.  I included it so I could continue our daily read-aloud while they were enjoying their snacks before beginning the poetry.