Day 19

Day 19?  How did I get here? 

Anyway, somehow, it's 7:30pm, and my daughter is in the dining room working on her math without complaining.  It's a mystery to me.  Not just that she's not arguing (though she was earlier) but that somehow school is taking longer and longer.  How can we not be done before 7:30 at night? 

I have heard from other homeschoolers that fourth grade is a tough one.  Maybe it's because we finally realize that we ARE doing academics, and we need to really buckle down but I think what it comes to is that this is the age where independence and youth are at war, and the homeschool parent is in the middle of the battlefield.  There is nowhere to hide.  I know some homeschoolers who went to school in fourth grade.  One returned to homeschooling the following year, one stayed in school.  It is hard to be in a constant tug-of-war.  On the one hand, you want to give independence, on the other, the kid is too young to handle "Take these papers and have them done by 3pm."  So we have been trying to meet in the middle.  Seems like it's always the middle!

In other news, Emily is now coming down with the cold, which could explain why she seemed so out of it in History class.  Ah, well, may as well get it out of the way early.  Hopefully we won't be sick all winter.  Ugh!