homeschooling, hooping and hair

Well,we've taken the plunge...made the suicidal lemming leap from the comfort of sending Peanut to school to BEING the school. Many of you have politely questioned the sanity of this,pointed out that school teaching + working 20 plus hours a week = total mental breakdown.Well,you are all right...it IS knackering,Ive been getting up at 7.35,getting the washing on and the house ready,waking the Peanut at 8,starting lessons at 9 and then either rushing off to work 2 till 8,or more lessons.When evening comes I am normally to be found cramming lesson plans and working out teaching strategy.That or reading texts and working out how to break them down,scouting new ones etc. My brain is on the go from the second I wake up to the minute I lie down,and the only thing that stops me thinking enough to get to sleep is an iPod loaded with sleep enhancing tunes to drift me off into a coma. And you know what? I am absolutely LOVING it!!! We have had a week of the most stress free mornings ever! Peanut wakes up naturally,has time to read,eat brekkie and get the all important laxative dose numero 1 down her BEFORE starting school. No tears over maths,no stressful screaming matches,not even a raised voice...unheard of in our house! The seemingly insolvable maths riddles of last year are actually proving strangely do-able with an hour a day one to one tuition,and the odd hackey sack juggling whilst reciting times tables methodology.History is so much more alive when taken out of the classroom setting and placed in museums,family recollection and books.English is amazing,she never ceases to astound me with her grasp of fairly advanced concepts,and poetry analysis is way more fun when choosing poems involving her beloved felines-big thank you to TS Eliot, Yeats and Kipling there :) It IS hard,but it is also so amazingly fun! Best of all, me and Peanut have time together to actually talk,and share stuff. No more hurried convos on the way to school,no more being too tired to catch up at the end of the day. I have more patience than I ever thought I would,and most importantly,Peanut is happy! Life is good.
Hooping-well,Im buying a new hoop,been a while since I hoop danced,but Im thinking of starting again. Could be a fun addition to PE lessons too :)
Hair-yup,the dreads are back! Only on either side,but I feel better having a couple of them in again-no more full head dreads tho ;)
Peace and calm guys,or at least calm-peace in our time seems unlikely,and peace in our house even more so!