practice run

Tomorrow I will start the official "first day of school". Today we did a run-through. To get them used to a routine and to iron out some kinks in the schedule. Well, it still needs work, not just one day, but I realize it is an ongoing process. Yesterday the kids were acting bored, or irritable and I knew it was time to start. I could not wait any longer if I am prepared or not, there will always be time to do more planning, there was no point in delaying the excitement of having school at home. I know I was ready. So today, Trinity,(who loves school) was up at 7am. The only kid up at 7. We did have a delay and started our day at 9am. They did chores without complaining and I told them I was going downstairs to do school in 10 min. They were ready to begin. The only kink I realized today was that when it came to computer time, they all wanted to watch each other rather than to just "explore" educational games, it just took too long and they became frustrated. I found a website that I will try tomorrow, http://www.allinonehomeschool.com. It will keep them more on task as well as within their grade level. Today, I noticed Trinity playing games that were too easy for her. Glad that someone has done the work for me. I know I don't want any of their time to be a waste, and it is easy to do when you are on the computer. So many distractions and are you really learning anything or just being entertained? I will have to teach them that there is more to the computer than just games and videos.