At Home with a Purpose

Since I can remember I've wanted to be two things (besides a wife to an amazing husband): a mother and a teacher.

I can't describe in words how incredible it feels to be living the life of my dreams.

Did I ever imagine that I would be doing so in the comfort of my own home? Absolutely not!

Does it feel amazing? YES!

Living this lifestyle has completely changed my outlook on parenting. I'm no longer just their mom that plays the role of cook, maid and chauffeur. I'm the one they look to for the answers to their every question. I'm no longer having to ask question after question wondering what my son learned at school that day and hearing, "nothing".

It is so much fun watching Josh learn to read and learn new math concepts.  Math is something he really enjoys, mostly because he finds it easy and that means it can be done quickly :)

In fact, the week before last we were in a bit of a rut and Josh was dreading his Language Arts worksheets each day so much that I decided to spend last week just doing a letter a day in his Writing Without Tears book and math.

I also printed out some fun math activities from Homeschool Creations; the St. Patrick's Day "Tracking with Tally Marks" and the Angry Birds Roll and Graph worksheets with die.

 You can tell from the expression on his face that he enjoyed our week of math.  That look of excitement is what I love about homeschooling... when something isn't working we reevaluate and make it work for us.  I'm also loving the fact that none of the kids are required to complete any school work this year so we are taking our time and figuring out what fits best into our lifestyle.

 We continued with our read-alouds which is still one of his favorite things about homeschooling!  When he saw the cover of this Magic Tree House book he ran and found his coon skin hat that his Grandma and Grandpa bought him so he could look like Jack and Annie while he listened to the story :)

  That was last week, this week we are taking our Spring Break.  I'll try to post some fun pictures from our adventures with Daddy soon.

Butterflies

Thanks to a certain uncle (thanks again, Piet!) the boys and I embarked on a butterfly journey back in January.  Our family really enjoyed watching the caterpillars change each day.  We marked the arrival of our caterpillars by creating a couple of our own:

The boys would check on them every day and were very excited when they made their way to the top of the cup to begin their chrysalis stage.  

A couple weeks later we came home from church to find one of our butterflies had completed his transformation and had emerged.

Unfortunately, even though we were lucky enough that all 5 of our caterpillars arrived alive and completed their transformations, we did not get to witness any of them emerge from their chrysalides.  Even though we were at home (besides the first one while we were at church) we were either sleeping or working on something in another room/outside.

We observed our 5 beautiful butterflies for about a week and when the weather was nice and warm we decided to let them go.

To wrap it all up we did a butterfly craft:

Research Research Research

Choices, choices, choices....

Reviews, reviews, reviews...

Do your research about homeschool curriculum choices.  CHECK!

For someone new to the home education world the choices for curriculum seem endless.  So, I got to work, doing my research about every type of curriculum I could find.  Any moment I had; when the boys were playing outside, when they were napping, or after they were in bed I would crack open my laptop and do some more reading.

The wonderful thing about homeschooling these days is the opportunity to discover all of this from the comfort of my own home, on my computer... most of the time in my pajamas :)

I quickly discovered that there are several ways families go about educating their children at home (or on the road).

Some of these methods include:

*Traditional- where your day at home resembles that of a public/private school setting.

*Charlotte Mason- instead of using traditional textbooks you read "living" books (a.k.a. novels, biographies) to bring that information to life for your child through read-alouds and/or readers. 

*Unschooling- when you don't force the child to learn anything they aren't ready or showing an interest in learning, it's a student-led approach.

*Unit Studies- you implement all subjects into a unit with one theme/topic.

*Eclectic- taking from several different approaches and creating your own unique experience.

These are just some of the many examples that I've read about in some books and/or blogs over the past few months.  

Once I had a handle on the different methods I did some experimenting with the boys at home, getting into a routine and figuring out what works for us.  As homeschooling itself isn't for everyone, one homeschooling approach that works for one family may not work for another.

I quickly found that although I love working within the traditional school method (because, let's face it, that's what I grew up doing and how I was taught to teach) my boys could only take so much of it.  After the first week of doing calendar time and worksheets together it was no longer new and exciting and they didn't want much more of that and I knew we needed to change our approach a bit.  I know part of their reluctance toward this approach is their age and short attention spans so I decided to try breaking up the couple of worksheets I wanted Josh to complete in a day (usually only 2 or 3... Nathan only a little when he feels like joining us, since he's only 3) in 15-20 minute increments.  I also stopped doing a full calendar routine every morning, which they seem to appreciate.

One method that I was very interested in during my research was Charlotte Mason's approach.  I know from my own experience that history didn't come alive until a professor in college told us the information in story form and we didn't have to read it in a textbook and fill out countless worksheets.  I then started reading the Magic Tree House series to Josh and he LOVES being read to and remembers the historical parts of the stories better than I ever thought he would.  

So, after looking at a couple of different curriculums that use this approach I have decided to use Sonlight's program as the Core of our curriculum. This will include read-alouds and using "living" books for History/Geography.

We are, however, taking a traditional approach to Language Arts and Math with Horizons (since there are just some things that are best taught through worksheets).

As for Science I'm still a little torn.  I have heard wonderful things about Sonlight's science program but I'm intrigued with Apologia's science program.  Apologia uses a notebook approach and has recently included junior notebooks for children in primary grade levels.  Since I am holding off starting Sonlight's Core units until Josh's first grade year (until Nathan is a bit older and I can use one core for the two of them) I decided to start with Apologia's Swimming Creatures of the fifth day along with their junior notebook.  (Notebooking along with a student-led approach since Josh specifically requested to learn more about the ocean this year :)  (I also got a good deal through Christianbook.com with their overstock discounts.)  I will then be able to make an informed decision on what science program to go with later.

So for now, call us Eclectic ;)

Stepping out of my Comfort Zone

If you've kept up with my blog at all you know that my boys have been sick a lot this year.  (NOT a big fan of 2013 so far....)

Recently we were held hostage in our house for almost three weeks because of fevers and lung issues, if it wasn't one it was another type of situation.

Unfortunately that meant we had to miss sunday school, church, music class (our church provides a music class for the younger kids at church during our evening service), and CBS (Community Bible Study) three weeks in a row.  Fortunately the boys were all well enough... and the weather was warm enough... that we didn't have to miss park day the one friday but other than that we were under house arrest!

This meant that my boys were spending an enormous amount of time with each other and none with their usual playmates elsewhere.  I am blessed that they, for the most part, get along really well.  Just as with any other sibling relationship, however, they have their ups and downs (best friends one minute, mortal enemies the next).

Josh voiced his desire to play with his other friends at one point during this very long period and I felt so bad for him... hey, I was a kid once, I remember wanting to play with someone other than my sisters!

That night, after they were all tucked in I was sitting on the couch watching TV with my husband when I remembered I had taken the number of Josh's BFF from preschool last year.  We had discussed wanting to get the boys together over the summer but it didn't work out with vacations and David joining our family, etc.

I must admit, I sat there contemplating this idea for quite a bit before I decided that I was going to give her a call the next day and see if we could set something up.  The idea of calling this person made me a little nervous.  After all, I only knew her from a few short conversations at the school when we were dropping the boys off and picking them up two days a week.  I remembered her being very sweet and kind but I only knew her as well as you can know a person in passing.

Our boys sure hit it off though, they were best friends from the first day of school.  Josh makes friends easily and had several others in the class that he would play with and talk about later at home but he would tell great stories about what he had done with his friend Colton that day.

The next day, after we finished our morning routine, I sent the boys outside to play and picked up my phone.  We had a wonderful conversation and agreed that we should get the boys together again.

So, Thursday we met them at a local Chick-Fil-A and the boys had a BLAST!  We all sat down and had some lunch and then the boys played for almost two hours in the play area.

While they played I got to sit and chat with Colton's mom, Courtney, and get to know her a little better. I really enjoyed our conversation and we actually have a lot in common!

After we got home that day I got to thinking about how this whole homeschooling journey has really encouraged me to step out of my routine, my "comfort zone" and try new things, meet new people.

Soon after we made this decision I took the boys to our first "park day" and I was a little apprehensive. After all, I didn't know the women who were going to be there.  I knew of one who was a friend's family member but I hadn't met her in person yet and it turned out that I did know another from a choir I sing in each year but I had no idea what any of them were going to think of me and my boys.

I know, I know we're not supposed to worry about what other's think of us but hey, I'm only human!

So many questions going into a new setting such as these.  Will the boys get along with the kids there?  Will I get along with the other mothers?  Will I have anything in common with any of them?  Will I be the youngest mother there?

My age has always been something I wonder about since now-a-days I am considered a younger mother and the fact that I have 3 kids now before my 30th birthday is amazing (even crazy) to some.

Don't get me wrong, this doesn't matter in the least it's just something I've noticed over the past 5 1/2 years :)

There you have it, my friends, this journey is definitely not just for the kids but I'm along for the ride as well.  I can't even describe in words how different our lives have been since we made this decision, how our attitudes toward each other have evolved... but again, another post for another day.

How do you challenge yourself and step out of your "comfort zone"?

  

A Labor of Love

It came!  Everything I need to make the boys their Child Training Bible came today and I was anxious to start putting it all together.  (I got the chart set from their website and ordered the Bible, highlighters, and tabs from Amazon.)

Once we were done with our regular school schedule (as well as all of the day to day Mommy chores) I laid it all out and got to work while the boys played outside.  I only got about 1/4 of the way through when I had to tend to the baby but I got a good start and I'm really excited about how it's looking so far.

The boys came over to the table several times while I was working on it and kept asking questions.  I explained to them what it is and how we're going to use it and they seem equally as anxious for it to be ready.

I am excited to have an easy resource at my finger tips to share Biblical truths behind the morals that we are teaching the boys.

There are a plethora of passages for every season and emotion that we may face in our lives and I have always wanted to know the Bible well enough to spout the location of those passages off hand.  I know some very special people in my life that can but I am most certainly not one of them.

I will have to keep you all posted on how this resource works out for us but from what I can tell I think it's going to be the perfect addition to our "schoolroom".

Laying out the ground work for this homeschooling journey (the teacher in me has come out in FULL force) made me start thinking today about how this really is a labor of love.  I am putting a lot of time and effort into busy work for Nathan and work for Josh that is engaging to keep everything new and exciting (for as long as possible anyway).

I have spent a lot of time over the past few months setting things up so our day can go as smoothly as possible and I am really pleased with how it's all been working out.

I have also done A LOT of reading and comparing/contrasting different methods of homeschooling as well as the curriculums available.  I'm pretty excited that after all of my research I've figured out what works best for our family and the boys are absolutely THRIVING :)

All of the time that I've spent doing these things has been such a privilege for me.  I know that this is my "job" but because it's something I absolutely LOVE doing it doesn't feel as though I'm working.  This is exactly what I'm meant to do and I'm determined to do it to the best of my ability.

I'll share more later about the schedule and curriculum choices that are working best for our family so stay tuned.




 

A Date with my Husband

My husband and I were able to get away for a couple hours the other day and we decided to go out to dinner.

While at dinner (at Red Robin... one of our favorites) we were discussing how well the boys are doing; how quickly Josh started to read, how driven Nathan is to catch up/ keep up with his brother and how much they're enjoying the Magic Tree House series.

You know, parent/teacher conference material ;)

Anyway, our conversation continued and Craig started telling me about work and how he had a conversation with a co-worker that day about the benefits of homeschooling.

Let me step back a minute, one of his co-workers and his wife homeschool their children so when Craig comes home and starts talking about homeschooling and someone at work I assume it's this one particular person (whose name I can never remember... big company, lots of names).

Back to dinner... so Craig's going on about this conversation he had and I was agreeing whole heartedly about all of the benefits he listed when I realized this conversation he had was with a co-worker who works out of state (a.k.a. not the particular person I had in mind).

I stopped eating and got this huge smile on my face.

You see, when we first started discussing the option of homeschooling in a more serious light we were both at odds about the subject but Craig was a bit more leery than I was.  He wasn't completely opposed but he definitely needed more time to process.  So, when he said to do some research and we'd discuss I kept filling his ear with all of this information and we talked (and talked and talked) it through.  I was sold after only a day or two of reading, research and discussions with friends who homeschool.  It took Craig a day or two longer for it to really sink in and know that this really is the best option for our family.

So you can guess how happy I felt at that moment, sitting there listening to what he told someone at work that day and how he went on about how great homeschooling is and how it's going to benefit our family in the years to come.

I know that this isn't the path for everyone, but we are excited that God is leading us in this direction!

The Internet: A Blessing

I have always enjoyed social media and the plethora of ideas shared on the internet (now more than ever since we started homeschooling) but I have never implemented these ideas into our every day life as much as I have these past two weeks!!  

Thankful only begins to describe how I feel about the opportunity to 1) ask for prayer requests for my boys' health from friends and family members on Facebook and 2) use so many different ideas/ worksheets/ games/ crafts from the amazing, talented, and creative women I have found via the internet.

Not only do these women whole heartedly share their talents but they encourage and lift up newbies like myself every day by posting about their experiences.  I can relate to so many of them on several different levels and I LOVE reading their stories.  (In fact, that's what I do during breathing treatments late at night or early in the morning on Facebook and Twitter :)

One such inspiration's name is Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations who made these awesome (and I use the expression "awesome" because that's exactly what my boys said when they saw them) Angry Birds Printables.  When she posted about them on Facebook and Twitter I knew the boys would love them, and what better way to switch things up a bit than with worksheets featuring some of their favorite characters?! 

So, Thursday I printed them all out (both the Preschool and Kindergarten sets) and I went to work cutting and laminating everything.  (I knew they would be a hit and I wanted them to be able to use them over and over again.)  I put them out on their desk Friday morning and they had a BLAST!  Nathan even begged me to pull them out again today :)

Here are a few pictures I took while they were hard at work Friday:

 

It is because of women like Jolanthe that I started blogging about our experiences.  I hope to some day encourage anyone who is or might be considering this incredible journey called homeschooling.