There Is Not Enough Time in the Day

by Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger

21 Feb 2008 05:40 AM

I am convinced that ever since I started homeschooling, the days have gotten shorter. I'm positive this is occurring and as proof I homeschooled until 5pm yesterday. That meant we ate dinner at almost 6:30pm which apparently if you're under the age of 8, is akin to virtually starving.

I am positive that before I started homeschooling, I was able to keep my house clean. Completely clean. . .even the tops of the shelves were sparkly. Nary a crumb in the crevices and crannies of my floors went unnoticed.

One would think that this lack of time occurred when we had children but I know that's not true. My house was still mostly clean, most of the time until my oldest daughter turned six--the dreaded age of compulsory attendance.

It's not just my house that isn't getting as clean as it could be. Not only did I homeschool yesterday until 5pm, but we didn't even get to all of our subjects. Each of my children, except for darling Meghan who only has math and reading anyways, still managed to miss science and history yesterday. This bummed me, because we're starting a new science unit--and it's really cool.

Now despite what it sounds like, I'm not complaining. Really and truly, I'm thrilled to have spent until 5pm yesterday homeschooling, although admittedly, I hope I'm not spending until 5pm today homeschooling. But we spent until 5pm yesterday because my kids kept asking questions. Questions about the motivation of certain characters in the book we're reading, questions about the route that Hanno took in an effort to conquer the straight of Gibraltar, questions about what it would be like to live in this time or that place. Questions, questions, questions, questions.

So why am I sharing this? I am so often asked how one manages with several ages of children. How do you get it all in? I just want to offer fair warning here that you might not get it all in. You may have to save things for tomorrow. You might have to school a little longer into the day. But in the end, your goal is to produce well educated, thinking little beings that love learning--right? So I'm just letting you know that if you can't get it all in, it's not your fault. Most likely your days are getting shorter too.

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Learn more about Valorie Delp

Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line.

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