Homeschool Teacher In-service

This week was Teacher In-service.

Yes, I know we homeschool.

And I am the teacher. Still.

I am preparing for our 10th year of homeschooling. Did you hear what I said? TEN years of homeschooling!!!! I never wanted to homeschooling to begin with, and we are celebrating a decade of schooling at home. Even now, I often wonder how I got here! God's sense of humor I guess!

This year will also see my biggest challenge to date: one child in high school, one child in middle school, one in elementary, and one in Pre-K.

Needless to say, as I am finishing up a week lesson planning, my head is almost spinning around, 360 degrees, like some creepy horror show homeschooling mom.

It goes like this:

Okay, let's get this show on the road! Time to plan high school Biology! Great! Cells, classification, biology stuff. Do I have the lab equipment? Dissection kit? Okay, that should get us through the first month. Done.
Now,  printables on the letter "A", how to tie a shoe, and small-motor manipulatives. Oooo, I must remember to find that recipe on how to make play-dough at home. 
Okay, enough preschool. Moving to elementary history. Ah, this year we are studying the Medieval ages! Fun! Knights, castles, swords, Illuminated manuscripts-joy, joy! making the daily assignment calendar. Ooo that reminds me -
must work in time for Latin for the oldest two. Oh, but we have to schedule around The Young Adult's 3x a week math class.
Oh no! Did I forget about math when I scheduled First Lego League meetings? 
Where is my master calendar? Not that one - the color-coded one!
And the middle schooler must finish up his grammar program. Where is that book?

See my head spinning?

I know - I chose to homeschool! And what is more, I am making an extra effort to be organized. I figure that the more organized I am, the better the big boys can work on their own.

Oh, but I need to find a few lesson plans on The Deerslayer. I hated what we did two years ago.

I am hoping school starting up will not kill my efforts to get in shape. Being tons overweight, in spite of diet and exercise, I have made a bigger effort to ramp up what I am doing to workout. All fine and good. But it really needs to survive school. It sounds so easy - just 30 minutes!

Did I order those math books yet? No, I did not. I do not even want to contemplate how much the school books are costing this year.

 But 30 minutes while doing laundry (never-ending), directing school, and yelling at boys who would rather play Minecraft than decline Latin nouns. Plus, every time I work near the floor, the cat suddenly wants to cuddle with me. Nevertheless, it must work!

Shoot! I have to get those lesson plan for The Hobbit finished up! In less than two weeks, I will have 15 middle school coop students waiting for me to dazzle them with Tolkien!

Ah! One more week of planning! Buh-bye, summer 2012!