Not a good start

We're two hours into the new school year, and it hasn't been a good start. We've already had two meltdowns and both girls have been in and out of the naughty corner. It's taking half an hour to get in ten minutes of piano practice.

Well there are a few bright spots. Glitter is done with her school, and a load of laundry has made it all the way to the dryer.

UPDATE: ....

We got all of school done and Sparkle is cooking soup from a can for lunch. (She doesn't want to have noodles.) Glitter still hasn't finished her oatmeal from breakfast.

I used the kitchen timer to see how long each school activity would take. Including family activities, teaching Glitter, and teaching Sparkle, it took us a little less than three hours of on-task time to do school for the day. On the other hand, it took us four and a half hours to do those three hours of work. Where did that other hour and a half go? Frittered away looking for silly bands, snacking on peanuts, naughty corner, complaining about sissy, answering a phone call, putting on an impromptu puppet show, etc.



I suppose that it's unrealistic to think that we'll ever accomplish three hours of school in three hours. Still, a gal can dream, can't she?

Morning meeting went smoothly, once I made the girls to sweep the oatmeal off the floor so that we could get to the calendar. In math, we accomplished less than I hoped, and it took longer than expected, but I felt that Sparkle needed to at least complete one page. In English, we also accomplished less than I hoped, but it took less time than I planned because we were at a good stopping point and it was clear that Sparkle had enough of it for the day. My new plan for dictation took much longer than expected, but met with no objections, even though it was much more work. Drill work went much better than last year, due to me taking over as scribe.

I wouldn't call the day a success. I wouldn't call it a failure either. It was just another day homeschooling.