ugh.

you know how when things go wrong, they really go wrong?

this week, doing school has been like pulling teeth.

wait, that's not a good analogy, since xander lost his first tooth this week without much ado. 

doing school has been like...forcing a five-year-old -- who really doesn't want to do flash cards -- to do flash cards.

it's friday.  usually we are on day four or day five of our planned lessons.  2/3 of us are on day three and 1/3 is on day two (xander took a sick day earlier this week).

it's just...been difficult this week.  i knew i should have been wary when everything last week went so smoothly, despite having to take a day off because i was babysitting for my sister and there was no way we were going to get to do school that day.  we still got everything done, with smiles on our faces and even *gasp!* time to spare.

but THINGS have happened this week.  we've been somewhere every single day this week.  we've had company.  we've had a library outing.  we had a visit from the tooth fairy.  everything that could have interfered with school, did.  tempers have flared (mostly mine).  worksheets have laid undone.  parts of lessons have been scrapped just because a kid didn't feel like doing them that day, and by golly, at this point, i am all for sprinting for the end of this week like there's no tomorrow.

i am NOT a big fan of early american history, and not because it isn't awesome and important and full of these great stories, but mostly because i'm not a big fan of history, and early american has always been my least favorite.  no explanation.  it just is.  maybe it was the clothes they wore.  i can't take you seriously when you're wearing a white wig, mr. president.  (note:  i'm kidding.  kind of.)  



and in science, we're learning about big cats.  which is interesting and all, but i'm just bouncing in my seat until we get to planets. 

i hate when we get bogged down in weeks when the subject matter isn't that exciting.  when this starts to happen, we generally start to skim.  and that's what i've been doing with john adams this week.  skimming the surface.  if beau cares about it enough, he'll ask for more, but for now, knowing john adams existed and that he did some pretty cool stuff for america is enough.  it isn't important how many children he had and what their names were.

in other news, sight words are WIN.  i've been working with both bella and xander with a few flash cards, and thanks to their cute little brain-sponges, it's really sinking in.  it's crazy.  i never taught beau sight words.  i never worked with him on phonics.  so all of this is new to me.  it's fun seeing bella remember that this card says, "away" and that one says, "and."  and even though xander is fighting me tooth and nail, he can't help but remember them, too, because his brain is conspiring against him (and is totally on my side, MUAHAHAHAHAHA) and he's remembering them anyway.

we are coming across a bit of a road block with letters.  ugh, letters.  the bane of my existence.  xander should know his letters by now.  if you want to be all boring and technical.  as it stands, he knows about six of the capital letters.  i don't know whether i should feel crappy as a parent or crappy as a teacher or just plain crappy.  he's getting them, though.  we're working on that.  he HATES it, but we're doing it. 

there is a part of me that really really hates making him do things he doesn't want to do.  it's a pretty big part.  because i started this thing with an unschooling mindset.  but the question is, do i stop doing it because it upsets him, or do i keep plugging away because...just because?  because i'm the mom and i should "make" him do school?  the same way i hate doing a gradebook but i do it because it's the "right" thing to do and it makes my husband feel better?  because i'm sure if i didn't at least attempt to teach xander his letters then hubby would be pretty upset.

ahh.  enough with the heavy.  things are looking up.  i hereby give us permission to skim the rest of the week's lessons and/or condense the final two/three days into one day tomorrow with no pressure or worries that we're missing something.  if it isn't interesting, it isn't interesting.  the end.