I've often been asked how I get as much done as I do, with three small children to look after. Here is my answer: we have a governess. Her name is Emily and she homeschools Jenna and Kate.
Her bedroom doubles as her classroom, and it is stocked with more school supplies than she has toys (which is saying something). She has markers, whiteboard markers, magnets, small whiteboards, a pointer, alphabet flash cards, maps, color and shape charts, recognition stickers and certificates. She has spare pencils and pencil toppers for prizes. Each student has her own stationery box and place to store it. She saves her allowance and spends it on more classroom stuff. When we are out shopping, she asks, "while you're looking at soup, Mum, can I go to the school supplies aisle?" She creates worksheets and colouring sheets for her sisters, which she duplicates on our copier. She had me make her this wall calendar so she could teach the days of the weeks, months of the year and the weather.
Every day after lunch, she sets up school and Jenna and Kate disappear into her room for almost an hour, emerging to show me the latest thing they learned from Miss Teigland. The other day, they made a paper laptop and I joined in as an extra student. Mind you, her students aren't always eager to be in class, but for the most part, they really do enjoy sitting with her and doing projects. Some days Jenna and/or Kate want to play with dolls and Emily has had to learn to respect that. We've worked through the idea that school, while a serious occupation to Emily, is still largely play for Kate and, to an extent, Jenna. She's also trying to understand that small children may not always want to follow instructions to the t, or draw only when told, or sit still forever. She was particularly passionate and firm about class attendance earlier in the winter and when I noticed that during one week, she had mysteriously not rung her school bell once, she explained, "We're on spring break now. Just like in my real school."
And now that the warm(ish) outdoors are beckoning, she even lets a day -or three- slip by without a single lesson.
Or, she might just take school outdoors.
This was art class, out on our front yard.
Everyone brought appropriate eyewear.
Oh, my children. Life would be so blah without you.
So sometimes when they're suspiciously quiet, I don't assume they're secretly wrecking stuff. Sometimes they're actually in school. And then I can load the dishwasher, or sweep the floor, or transfer the laundry, or check my email.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I get anything done.
