Adjusting my way of thinking

When we decided to start homeschooling, I jumped in with both feet. I read all the articles I could, I joined some online groups to get information each week, and I researched curriculum. We started a month ago and I felt like I was doing great teaching the kids. They were getting their assignments done and with only a few quirks, things seemed to be going well.

And then we hit yesterday. Jacksonian Democracy. It is almost impossible to make JD interesting. I think Ellie stared at me with a blank look on her face while I read the history readings. Ben kept groaning and asking when we would be done. Abby went off and played - she was the lucky one. Now I actually found it interesting what we were reading. The kids thought the only cool thing was the story about how Jackson' supporters literally ransacked the White House on the day of his inauguration.

What am I doing? Just reading boring history lessons? Something has got to change. I need to create a way to actually reach these kids or else I'm going to be talking to a wall each week.

My mom is the one who pointed it out to me. I am normally a very creative person. I can come with a craft at the drop of a hat. It's served me very well over the years at church. And yet, here I am, pushing my gifts to the side. All in the name of getting the subjects done. I've lost my creativity in the midst of planning.

As soon as my mom told me that, the creativity started flowing again. Now there's not much I can do with Jacksonian Democracy, but I did find some clipart that corresponded with things that happened in Jackson's life. I made each into a card and the kids had to match the picture with the statement. It actually worked. And the kids had a smiles on their faces while they took turns picking the right card. Yeah!

And the best part - they must have been listening yesterday, because they actually knew the answers :)

Now if only I had the time to get really creative!