Noticing Change...already??

It's only our third day of our second year of homeschooling and it's probably too soon to make any real observations, but can I just say that I can already see some of the changes I've been praying about taking place.

I know what you're thinking. It's only the third day, just wait until the novelty wears off, then she'll be singing a different tune. And maybe you're right, but for right now I'm going to soak it all in.

What kind of changes am I noticing? Most of them involve me. First of all, once again I'm up before the children. (No, I can't say that about yesterday. But hey- 2 out 3 isn't bad!). Getting out of bed when the alarm goes off at 0630 is oh. so. hard. But I love the quiet time in the morning.
Second-the light bulb has come on in respect to our daily schedule. Guess what the solution was? Throw it out the window. I'm not talking about our weekly schedule. We have to school 4 days a week in order to meet our yearly requirements. I'm talking about a daily schedule...start school precisely at 0800, Math until 0900, Phonics until 1000, Lunch at 1200, finish school day at 1400. ..you get the idea. That stuff is for the birds! Now if you follow a schedule like that and it works for you and your family then by all means keep doing it. But for us it was more than a hinderance. We begin school when the girls are up, fed and clothed. We start with a subject of their choosing and continue until we're finished or until they need a break. Some days take longer than others and that's okay. This is a BIG change for us. Our first year of homeschooling, I tried so desperately to stick to a schedule and most of the time it didn't work out and I ended up frustrated.
The third change I've noticed is my willingness to discontinue a curriculum that is not working for us. Wait a minute- it's only day 3. How do you know it's not working? Mother's intuition? I don't know. What I do know is that my children are not ready for the Language Arts curriculum I bought. The very first lesson was asking them to copy a sentence and fix the capitalization errors. The problem is the sentences were way above their reading level. If they can't read what they're writing, what is the point? I have no doubt they will be ready for it by Christmas, so we'll just pick it back up then. Besides their phonics and reading curriculum covers the same information at a level they can understand. But you see last year I *never* would've humbled myself enough to abruptly stop a curriculum, even if it wasn't working. I had the I paid for it, we're going to use it and like it mindset. I'm so surprised we've even made it to a second year! That's living proof of God's grace!

What's brought about these changes? Is it because I have one year under my belt and I feel more confident? Is it because I'm adopting more of a homeschooling spirit? Or is it my prayers that God would open my eyes and my heart to do things differently this year? I like to think it's a combination of all three.