Homeschooling with a Substitute Teacher
I had always planned on December being a light month for my crew. Traditionally, I set aside most of our formal lessons (with the exception of math for the big kids, and phonics for kids who are still learning to read) so we have more time for holiday activities. December is a time for a much needed break. It’s time to bake cookies, and watch movies, and do crafts and read stories.
This year, I went ahead and stocked up on crafting and baking supplies early, and pulled out our Mother Goose Time materials to make sure everything was good to go before December hit. Our fourth child was due sometime mid-month, and I didn’t want to miss out on the fun of the holiday season, or overwhelm myself either.
But- even the best laid plans can get mixed up when you are waiting on a baby. We had last second changes with our child care/holiday visitors, and then, the first week of December, contractions started.
I’ve always been an unpredictable pregnant woman. My labors come with long, irritating prodromal stages, where I will contract regularly for hours, until I am exhausted…. and then, everything stops, only to pick back up again the next week. I wasn’t sleeping, and I wasn’t comfortable, and no matter how much I wanted to, I wasn’t going to get much of anything done on my own.
Thank goodness for Grandmas.
Luckily for me (and my kids, who would much rather have holiday fun instead of sitting on the couch while Mama whines) my Mama was willing to pick up my slack…. and pick up our holiday plans for us.
This month, the Mother Goose Time theme is Winter Wonderland, so I wanted all the kids (even the bigs) to enjoy the lessons together and celebrate the season. I handed my mom the teachers manual, and the box of supplies, and went and sat down.
It was pretty easy for her to run with the lesson plans- all she needed was a quick minute to read it over, and then she jumped right in. Granted, my mom has taught Sunday School to the 3-4 year old crowd for 20 years or so (so, she’s a natural!), but the open and go lesson plans made it easy.
Here are some pictures of the fun she had while I waited on Baby:
Sadly, Mama has gone home now, and the rest of this month probably won’t go as smoothly. While adorable and squishy, Peanut doesn’t really believe in sleeping at night, and… I’m tired. I am so relieved I planned for December to be a light month, and I am looking forward to getting back into the fun in January! I’ve been spending some of my time on the couch working on our editorial calender for the blog, and planning out the next month of school, and I am so excited about all the projects I have in the works.
Next month with Mother Goose Time, we’ll be going on a Dinosaur Dig, so stay tuned for some cute dino themed printables and projects coming your way!
We received our Mother Goose Time curriculum for free in exchange for participating in their Blog Ambassador program. All opinions are my own.
