still not in the zone

chana had a sleepover last nt. add that to being in "slow-as-molasses-mode" and it's not an excellent combination. but one of the things i try to impart in homeschool is not just the ability to work well, when the juices are flowing, but to also find the strength in yourself to work, albeit much more slowly and with more mistakes and less access to your memory, when your brain is in less than ideal working order. i think it's important that you realize when you are not in optimal mode, and be more patient with yourself, but not think that you are completely unable to function. there is, i think, a different confidence that comes along with getting through the subject when it is hard for you.

so we did the beginning of rishon plus 2 pesukim. interestingly, chana started off as she's been starting off, with a tantrum and whining. i asked her how long did she think this was going to take. she was saying it's too hard, it's too long, she can't do it. she said she didn't know. i said she must have some number in her head that she thinks is too much. i said do you think it will take you an hour? she said no. i said, 20 min? she said yes. i said, you think 20 min is too much? i was genuinely surprised. because she regularly does so much more than that. for a child of her age and her concentration ability, 20 min is really not a major issue. she said yes. i said, you know that every day you do about 1.5 hr, right? then she started debating on the minutiae of what she usually does, which at least put her back into her regular "lawyer" mode and less in the "i-can't-do-this" mode that she's been in lately.

when she whined again i said this is your warning that next time is time-out. throughout the whole chumash time, she was saying she wanted to go to time-out. but she wasn't speaking chutzpadik-ly or angrily enough to get herself sent there. she kept saying she had a headache and she was so tired. i would then point to the next word. i figured if she really couldn't do it, she would escalate the complaint level, and then i'd take the cue and stop. but she never escalated it.

then we did 10 min of chamishi, which she finished in 6 with the timer (but i paused the timer when she stopped to moan and complain ;)

then we didn't do rashi. tomorrow i have stuff to do so maybe we'll skip school. or maybe i'll just do rashi.