Motivation

Seriously lacking motivation these days to finish up our school year. Any help? With multiple sicknesses (yep, we're all sick again - including ME this time), visitors, a trip, another visitor coming to town next week and just major burnout, I'm D O N E. I want to clean up the school room, be done with this past year and start thinking about curriculum for next year. I want to let the kids play outside all day, go hiking on a whim, throw out the schedule, plan good meals for the grill and just relax. Can't be done. According to Colorado law, I have to have 172 days of school, with 4 hours of "instruction" per day for it to count. Guess that means we'll be doing school for the next 6 months to finish up this year. Just kidding! I think I figured out we'll be going until June 12 or something. Unless I can count field trips when my mother-in-law is in town. :-)

Next year we're majorly revamping our curriculum. What we've been doing just is NOT working with 5 kids. Only 2 are seriously doing school. Two are getting into serious trouble most days. And one is seriously cute all the time (except for today when she will not nap). Seriously.

***Edited: About the homeschool law in Colorado. Yes, it is stricter than Maryland's law. At least I feel it is. In Maryland you had to have a portfolio review once a year. Here you have to take standardized tests (GAG) every odd year, starting in 3rd grade and you have to log attendance. I think the general feeling is that you just log attendance and assume you're getting 4 hours of instruction per day. Doing math counts as one hour whether it takes you 10 minutes or 2 hours. Kids in school have a "one hour class" no matter what gets accomplished in that class. I have been logging attendance (and I count field trips). I haven't felt right counting every day as a school day (I mean, Saturdays cleaning the house are educational, right?). So I only count days we are actually working on "school" or on a field trip.