Monday, February 28, 2011

TO School or NOT to School...That is the question

So, I have a big decision to make and I don't know what to do. Right now my kids go to a Christian school. I used to homeschool them but that all got to be too much to handle so I had to send them to school. Even before we had kids we didn't like the idea of having to send them to public school.
There are a few problems with the current arrangement.
The biggest problem is that neither one of the boys can read very well at this point. Isaac just turned 8 and Tommy will be 7 in a few months. Tommy is learning to read slowly but is making progress. Isaac is having real problems. He is unable to sound out the words. He's trying to memorize the words by sight and not by the sounds the letters make. That doesn't sound so bad until you think of just how many words there are in the english language. That's a lot of memorization.
Another issue is that they rarely go on field trips or have any kind of fun activities together. They don't even have any playground equipment. I feel like the kids may be missing out on a lot.
At the same time there are lots of good things to consider.
It is a CHRISTIAN school. All of their lessons are centered on God. I love that.
The curriculum is Paces from Accelerated Christian Education. They are allowed to learn and progress at their own pace. This makes the reading problem not seem like such a big deal. Because they can go at their own pace, I know they will eventually learn to read as long as they stay in this program.
The problem with that is that we have two more kids coming up right behind them. There is no way we can afford to send them all four there. We can barely afford the tuition and books for Isaac and Tommy. I don't have any idea how it will be possible to pay for the younger two.
I do have the option of home schooling again. There are some things I could change that would make it more manageable than it was before. It would definitely be cheaper than paying the tuition. I'm just not sure I can handle it. Home schooling is NOT easy!
I really don't know what to do. No matter how hard I try, I just can't feel comfortable with the idea of sending them to public school...for many reasons. But I'm afraid that I may have to. It may be the only option if I don't home school them again.
What to do...what to do?

I HATE housework!

So right now there's about a million dirty dishes in my kitchen and my garbage can is about to overflow. I can see no floor in my laundry room and the living room is filled with toys. My house is a wreck! Of course having four kids, it would be a miracle if it was clean. It is kinda funny that I love a clean house yet I never have one. It's not just that I can't keep up with my little mess makers...It's mostly that I HATE house work with a passion. I know, I know, it has to be done...but why oh why does it have to be done by me?
Little Samantha is almost 20 months old and already seems to be something of a neat freak. She's always picking stuff up out of the floor and putting the boys' toys back in the box. Maybe she will grow up to love to clean and I can bribe her to live here forever! How awesome would that be?
My dear hubby gets pretty irritated by the mess. I feel bad...but apparently not bad enough to clean for him. However, I do sit around and think about cleaning quite often. Unfortunately, I rarely make it past the thinking stage. Poor Tommy.
Okay. So now I have come clean and you know my dirty little secret. I HATE HOUSEWORK!