!! Overwhelmed!!

I'm looking at all the stuff I have lined up for Emperor to get done next year and I'm thinking it won't all get finished.  I'm scared to death that there is no way that this huge pile of books on my shelf is going to get read through, that all the science the kid needs to get into his brain is going to make it there, and Latin?  Is he even going to have time to crack that book?

Instead of having that happy "new pencil and notebook" feeling each summer, I get anxious. Why?  We've faced some tremendous challenges as a family during these past two years and still most of the schoolwork is done by February. 

How far ahead does my child have to get before I can feel I can relax and slack off a little?  How can you tell whether your concern is disproportionate?  Because I know people who (in my opinion) slack of tooooo much and their children suffer for it.  Then again, I also am good friends with a mom who literally blocks out her kids' days in fifteen minute increments - I mean every waking hour! - and the children don't seem the least overanxious.  

One thing I've noticed is that when things are really awful in one area of my life, that I find myself getting into "organization" mode in homeschool.  Especially if I know I'm going to be down for a while.  When I got my hernia surgery last year, I knew I'd be hepped up on drugs for almost a month (really).  So.  I sorta had to over-rely on worksheet centered stuff and "here is a book" sort of learning experiences for a bit.  I was too loopy to even discuss a plotline for a while there.

Do you know what?  Some of the best learning happens from "here is a book."   I wouldn't structure my child's entire education around it, but I think I'm going to just pick a few weeks and do that sort of thing later on this coming school year.  I think it's one of Emperor's favourite homeschool times as well.