Regrouping, Happy Hanukkah!

Caroline has fallen into an academic rut, and I must say it is not entirely her fault.  This fall has been incredibly challenging for all of us, and with Bill home every day, it has been hard to maintain the homeschooling schedule with which we started in September.  In fact, there has been no schedule to speak of lately, more like, "Go do this subject, let me check that later, oh we have a doctor's appointment, we will have to finish that after dinner."  Caroline has seen her grades slip in the homeschooling co-op and we realized we needed to crack the whip again in order to catch her up by the end of this month.  I redid the schedule and we spoke with her about the need to regroup and buckle down before Christmas.  I am trying hard not to schedule morning appointments but sometimes you can't avoid it.  Having my senior in high school come home from school every day at 12:30 is also really distracting.  We are not close to being done at that point but as soon as she walks in the door it feels like the school day is over.  Now that Elizabeth can drive, maybe I can arrange to have her gone until 2:00 at least.

The Navy has "un-retired" my husband, which is the first step in putting him back on active duty so they can treat his benign tumor.   We still don't know when he will be able to draw a paycheck again.  That would be a very nice Christmas present!

I am wondering if I will continue to homeschool Caroline next year.  Part of me doesn't want to be responsible for her education, but the other part sees all the benefits of keeping her sheltered from all the temptations of being in a regular school.  We find it so challenging to keep on top of her activities and whereabouts just having her at home.  She still manages to push the boundaries constantly.  We are always having to stay a few steps ahead of her or risk disaster.

Anyway, hope you are enjoying the season!  Happy Hanukkah to all who are celebrating right now!  There is a hilarious video on You Tube of some very cute Jewish young men from New York City singing Hanukkah songs in a whole new way acappella.  They are really good!