Halfway There.....

     I still can't believe it is 2018! It seems like life is passing by more quickly these days.  Is it just me or do you feel the same way?  

    I was making out our schedule for this week and realized we are a little over halfway through our school year. It seems just like yesterday I was picking out our curriculum and filling out the paperwork for our state. 

     So I was thinking about our progress so far and I am actually really happy with what we have accomplished.  The kids have been working hard and we are not behind. We are actually ahead in a few subjects. That is not the norm for us so I am excited! Usually by this time of year I am scrambling to make up days that we missed due to illness, unforeseen events, or just life that get us off track. 

     As I sat with my planner, I started to wonder what we did differently this time and I have to say the only thing we changed was our approach to our days.  Instead of following a very rigid schedule, we have had a more relaxed agenda. We knew what needed to be achieved each week and we worked towards that goal.  We looked at the task in front of us and kept our focus.  We took one day at a time and didn't sweat the small stuff. 

     This new way of thinking was not easy for me at first. As a planner, I like having everything scheduled. I like knowing exactly what is going to be going on each and every day.  I love charts with time slots that are filled in with what we will be doing each minute of the day, but that wasn't working for us.  It had no flexibility.  The kids felt too restrained. 

     With our new agenda, we have more time for creativity in our day.  Those time slots were keeping us from enjoying our day and rushing through subjects we would rather spend more time on. It's important not to hurry our children too much.  They need time to explore the subjects the love and may need more time to finish the ones they are struggling with.  I never realized how much stress my time limits caused until I saw how relaxed the learning in our home is today.  I always thought they would help us get our stuff done, but that was not the case.  

      What does your day look like?  Are you too rigid in your planning? Could you be more relaxed with your schedule?  These are all good questions I wish someone would have asked me years ago. 

      I would encourage you to sit down and look at your day to day plans and make sure they are working for you and your family.  Your agenda may be too strict or even too relaxed.  Pray about what could make things better.  Keeping peace in our homes is the key to a healthy and happy atmosphere for our children to learn in.