rethinking is the pits...

We finished our first quarter of homeschooling and I am so proud of Madeline and Eli. They have adjusted so well to being at home ALL the time and being with each other ALL the time. I have adjusted to having them home ALL the time and am really enjoying the time we have together. I am learning more and more about them each day...things I might not know about them if they were away from me for 8 hours a day. Of course there are days when I want to pull my hair out and ship them off to Zimbabwe, but they are few and far between.

In my Bible study this morning we talked about how easy something can be when we know it is Holy Spirit directed. My homeschooling journey has been a testament to that truth. As I have said before I would have NEVER thought I could do this. I LOVED my time while the kids were in school and I couldn't wait for the next season in my life when they would both be in school full time. I felt like I had made it...that my job was practically over. How sad is that? It is a tad embarrassing to even type it on the screen. I was relying on other people to teach my children. And not just the academic stuff but the character stuff as well. To say that God was/is working on my mothers heart is a major understatement. I am learning to enjoy my kids like never before. I am learning patience like never before. I am learning to appreciate their differences. I am learning how to hold my tongue. I know that I am learning things that I can't even explain. What an amazing adventure this is turning out to be!

I do have some misgivings about the curriculum choices I made. I suppose it is because I had NO clue what I was doing despite all the awesome advice I got from my sister (she is a homeschool pro) when I picked it all out. I don't feel like Madeline is being challenged enough in language arts. She is SO smart and devours books. I have been doing "First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind-Lvl. 3" and I like that it is very good about reviewing parts of speech and punctuation, etc. but it seems too easy for her and we are getting bored. I don't want to be wishy washy about our curriculum and just chuck it at the first sign of boredom or too easy-ness (yes, I just made that word up.) But at the same time I want her to be challenged! For the literature aspect she has been reading books and doing the Progeny Press guide or a lapbook for that particular book. While it is fine for her, it isn't great. For her writing we are working through "Igniting Your Writing" and I think she likes it but the concepts are sometimes not very applicable to her real writing. She loves to write and has a great imagination but the "IYW" stuff is a bit beyond her ability. So I feel like I can't find "just right" for any of her language arts. I have already changed her grammar stuff once because what I origianlly got her was WAY too easy. The first lesson was that a sentence starts with a capital and ends with a period. Too basic for my smarty pants. So I am rethinking her language arts and I feel like pulling my hair out!!! Any suggestions??