Volume of Homeschooling

As I type this I am overwhelmed by the loud volume in my home school.  When we began our journey I envisioned reading quietly together on the couch or sitting around a table working on books.  I knew we would do field trips and hands on projects and I was all for non traditional school experiences which I expected to have varying volumes.  What I did not expect is the cacophony of sounds that would fill our day.

I did not expect the continual interruptions of each other and the delicate dance we do of who I teach when and working on independent subjects while I am working with another child.  I did not expect the kids to yell over each other to be heard.  I did not expect one to cover her eyes and yell "You are too loud, my ears are sensitive" and go running off into her room.  I did not expect that for mother's day I would ask for and actually want a pair of earplugs and one of my favorite possessions would be a pair of noise reducing headphones.  This gets filed in the unexpected moments of homeschooling.

It is not that I have no control over my kids or they can not observe silence, it is just that it is rare and nearly impossible to attain for any length of time while actually schooling my children.  We have found benefit at this time of year to splitting up into seperate rooms and enforced outdoor times.  Returning to the days of reminding my kids of the difference between an indoor voice and an outdoor one, like when they were toddlers.

At the end of the day I have found the sound of silence or of my favorite music to be what I crave the most.  As I sit down to read my book and not answer anyone's questions, teach anyone anything or just answer to the word mom one more moment of my day, I am thankful for the moments away from the loudness of school.