I survived!

I don't know what I was afraid of, but homeschooling is sitting fairly well with me. The first week home with just Bean went well, but I was more nervous about how to manage 3 kids. By myself. All day.  Everyday.

It seems unreal that just 2 months ago homeschooling was not even on our radar screen. I never planned to be a stay-at-home mom, let alone a homeschooling mom. On one hand, I feel I completely unprepared for this undertaking. I have spent my whole life preparing for a career and working. That's how I was raised. I wanted to work. To be quite honest, I didn't think I'd want to spend that much time with my own kids. They are tiring! On the other hand, I am completely prepared to care for and educate my own children. No one else in the world is a better fit for that job that ME!

Contrary to my "achiever" nature, I set my expectations a little lower and also attainable without stress. I don't know why over the years I have convinced myself that stress is necessary for success. Having immediate successes and some fun together as a family what just what all of us needed. The positive energy was momentum for us to exceed expectations and feel proud of ourselves.

Being home finally gave me the opportunity to slow down to stop and smell the proverbial roses that are my kids. I never realized how funny Bean is, how entertaining Tey is and how smart Mei-Mei is. And they are all so darn cute each in unique ways!

Don't get me wrong, it was not always perfect. There were frustrating times. There were times when I just needed to stop and pray. But there was not a single second that I doubted that homeschooling was for us. I know we'll continue to have adjustments to new routines, responsibilities and schedules, but it's great to see some growth already and know that our homeschooling is to credit.

Here are just some highlights:

1. The boys have a new morning routine that includes making their beds, which they have done sometimes without reminding. They also go potty, wash hands and get dressed, which is not new. 
2. The boys now are responsible for sorting the laundry by owner and folding and putting away their own laundry. This is a HUGE help for maintaining my sanity.
3. Tey has also really taken to putting the silverware away from the dishwasher each morning. This helps hold us accountable for running it each night and keeping the rest of our kitchen clean.
4. Mei-Mei has learned to sign several new words and make a couple animal sounds. The most adorable by far has to be when she beats her chest like a gorilla saying "AAAAHHHHH!"
5. Bean still really doesn't like writing utensils in general, but he actually wrote several things this week.  He even colored on two different days and both times it was his own idea. I told you I had low expectations. I can count on one hand the number of completed works that came home from school this year. This was not something I was going to address for a while.
6. I had no exceptions for Tey this week except to ascertain his interest. Boy is he excited for table work! He loves to write, color, do math, etc. He does seem to be a little perfectionist and doesn't ever want to give up even when he has no idea how to do something and is very frustrated. I'm gonna really keep an eye on his perfectionism I don't want him freaking out over his work.

And some pics:

Bean drew himself having a dream about going outside to play. Go figure! I love how he copied the actual outfit he was wearing. 

Bean actually held  pencil AND WROTE! For #2 I wrote the answer he dictated and then he copied it. For #3 he copied words from the book. I'm going to hold off on handwriting lessons for a while. He held a pencil, YAY!

Tey learned about shapes in math. He glued all of these on  the hideous clown I drew. I think he has an astute observation of body hair. LOL! Note the 'stache and armpit hair. No really, I don't know what those are, I didn't ask.