It was not until I kissed my boys goodnight tonight that I realized the impact T4L has really had on our lives. As I was walking out of the boys bedroom I heard my oldest (he always has to say just one more thing) “Hey mom? Is it okay that I get right up and start T4L before breakfast tomorrow?”. You have to understand that September and October are very busy months for us. It is probably the only time of the year that I actually keep a calendar close by and make copies for all the family members. We are running in so many directions because of the addition of our “back to school” activities. For either child to “want to” get right up and do work is amazing to me!

Fall for us means the addition of soccer, Master’s, home school group and now Boy Scouts. They have Karate all year and even though it is only one night a week, it still is challenging to keep up with everything else. In the past it has been difficult for the boys to sit and do their work (book work..ugg..) and still do the extras that they want to do.

Our transition from summer into fall this year has gone so much smoother than in the past years. T4L has really helped us stay on track and is so much easier on me. Gathering lessons, grading work, fighting to just get them started in the mornings has always been an issue with me. For my oldest to want to wake up and sit at his computer and do his work first thing in the morning is such a milestone.

I am still met with a bit of resistance when they are done with their lessons on the computer and I ask them to pull out their writing note books, spelling note books, boy scout note books or their Sunday school assignments because they know that writing is around the corner but it is so much easier to get through now.

I can not, nor will I try, to make everyone understand how much T4L has helped in so many areas. I am thrilled at the science and social studies and enjoy hearing the boys discuss the lessons to each other. They have also gotten into “googling” things that they learn in science or social studies to further along the learning process!

As just a side note, my youngest child is 6 and if not for finding T4L, I know that he would have had a very hard year. He is really doing well with his language arts and having the stress of “writing” off him I see him flourishing and enjoying every bit of school work now. I know that I will have to go back and have him review and re-take some quizzes but he is soaking up so much information every day that he would have never gotten in traditional book work lesson plans! DS2 really has benefited so much with the addition of this program in our home.

I don’t say it enough… Thanks guys! Our busy fall this year is a bit easier to handle knowing that every day my kids are excited to get started on school work. It is now 11:30pm and instead of putting together mounds of work for tomorrow I can go to bed and know that the boys can sign on and start first thing in the morning! (even if I am not fully awake!)

My life as a home school mom has always been met with complaining from my boys. They really enjoy learning as long as it is not sitting for hours doing mundane work. Neither child enjoys writing and since moving into the T4L program we have been enjoying a calm through the house like never before.

This morning I had a list that we needed to do after they finished T4L. Both boys knew that a couple of the projects included writing and in order to stall they used T4L to their benefit. I was getting some stuff together to work on after lunch and both boys kept putting off getting through their lessons for the day. Finally I had enough and said “Common guys, you need to finish up.” For the first time ever I heard the words, “Is it okay if we go back and do one more in each lesson?” Of course I said yes and let them and as I continued to set up for the project that the needed to do; smiled at myself because they were actually enjoying lessons!

Every day is met with such a nice pleasant mood and it is not until I bring up that we need to do our writing projects that I am met with a little resistance. The writing goes so much better now though, because they have not spent all day working on problems in a work book that gives no satisfaction or interaction!