To Do for School

I have felt so very unprepared for the start of school with an anxious tummy to show for it. I am not great at flying by the seat of my pants. I know so many people who homeschool without much thought for planning ahead or without planning at all, and, if you are one of those people who can do that and feel successful, more power to you! I can't wrap my mind around it. I am a details kind of gal. I've done this homeschooling thing both ways. When life hits the fan, you cope in any way possible, but we are not in a coping season. We are most certainly in a season that allows for proper prep and planning, which will allow us to thrive. I want all my ducks in a row. All my Ts crossed. I want a definitive plan that isn't going to cause me to find myself panicking in mid-March because we are behind the eight ball to get it all done again. Oh how we know what that is like! I seek a return to the days of homeschooling that allowed me to feel fulfilled and my children learning and accomplishing daily tasks. Awesome school year, here we come!

Today was the day. I planned my to-do list last night (incidently, a to-do list is ever evolving, isn't it? Mine is now longer than it was this morning, and I crossed a bazillion things off). I began first thing this morning with a quiet time. I started my first load of laundry, and then I made four piles on the table. Math, science, language arts, history. I chose some great music that wouldn't be distracting. Oh, and last night? I asked a friend not to call me today, and I sent my husband to work with his lunch and our only car so I couldn't leave the house, nor would he be interrupting. I know. This was some serious planning preparation. I might be crazy. Or I might have OCD. Or something.

At the end of today, not everything is done, but I didn't expect it to be. I will do this again on Thursday. The math pile is gone, and Ava's portion of the language arts pile including spelling, reading, language arts, and hand writing is gone. My planner is updated for this school year (since I used it so little last year, I just updated instead of purchasing a new one). Three loads of laundry are clean. Two healthy meals cooked. More books reserved. I even remembered to call and make an appointment for Lukas to get a hair cut tomorrow. Woot!

I know how I tick. I know what allows our school days to run smoothly. This is important to me. 

We are going to blow school out of the water next week. Oh, there is still so, so, SO much to do (um...I haven't even thought about school supplies yet, let alone planning a shopping trip to get them), but we will get there. I'm thankful for a team effort. The kids and my husband will help around the house extra this week while I am immersed in books and internet research and whatever else I need to do. 

My anxiety level has decreased immensely today, and I'm getting excited for all the great things we'll be learning together this year.

So tomorrow...errand running day. Except for the school supplies. As I said, who really knows what we need?