Parenting and Homeschooling

We have always planned to homeschool; although that's really "we" in the Imperial sense because you and I know it means "I" would be doing the homeschooling. And while I've always wanted to homeschool and my belief that homeschooling is a superior way of educating than public schooling, I haven't always believed I could do it. Because you see, parenting a preschooler has been very very difficult for me. And I just didn't know if we could get through homeschooling.

My go-to parenting book
I mean there were days when she was just so demanding of my attention. And all I wanted was to be left alone so I could escape on facebook or read a book because I was so bored being home all day, every day. But she was bored too. And it was so unfair!! (We both had moments of playing the unfair card.)

All the homeschooling books I picked up at the library.
But we just keep plugging away, don't we, as stay-at-home parents because regardless of the challenges of being home, life does go on. And thank goodness for the routines that get the food bought and prepared, and laundry done.

Some books to get us started in literature, art appreciation, science, and habits. I'm keeping an eye out for a good US map, and some other things we'll need as get get started using the Charlotte Mason system.
This summer, I lashed out and bought us an unlimited bowling pass, and a membership at the local swimming hole. And we are getting our money's worth out of them, along with our membership at the Y and all the free parks programs in the area. This has made a huge difference for both Isabelle and myself.  Suddenly, neither of us is so bored anymore. Imagine that!

It wasn't her afterall; it was me! And now that I'm getting better at structuring our days, life is getting better for all three of us.

The book I found at the library which summarizes CM's system. Ironically, I downloaded the entire 6-volume set of CM's books to my kindle a while back and just hadn't read them. Once I finish this summary, I'll tackle the 6 volumes.
So how does this tie into homeschooling? Well, I was just getting to that...  now that the parenting issues are being worked through, I'm starting to look at homeschooling with fresh eyes. Last time we went to the library, I pulled some homeschooling books from the shelf and one of them was an overview of Charlotte Mason's program/system/method (not sure what the right word is). And while we may not stay with it in the long run, it is definitely a starting point for us.

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