Browsing Tag

homeschool

September iPhone photos

Happy October! I’ve been looking forward to this month all year because we’ll finally get to meet this precious little life inside of me. I can’t believe we’re just days away now!

But before we jump into October, I still want to share our September of iphone pictures. There are some repeats from my instagram but half of them are pictures that I never did share.

3 of these photos are from my Grandma’s house, on the prettiest property. The front porch steps are where I would sit as a child to do sibling/cousin photos. So it’s fun to carry on that tradition. Then there’s this picture of Desmond sleeping–it totally cracks me up. Most days I feel like how he looks.

Not much to say here except that I love my family and can’t wait to squeeze another sweet face in the mix.

Anniversary dates are a bit different when you’re a month away from meeting baby #6. We went over to the side of our church to take some photos for the blog header. Then we had Liam snap a few pictures of Don and I before we all headed out to dinner. We took the kids through McD’s drive thru, then planned to get them shakes at Fuddruckers while we ate our meals there. Shake machine was down, lame! So we took them to Lion’s Choice for those 25 cent ice cream cones. It wasn’t how I would have pictured spending our 9th anniversary but it was perfect!

When it feels overwhelming to have all these children, all close in ages, I need to look back at pictures like these because it’s so worth it all.

Joining with everyone else out there, I took some “first day of school” pictures of the boys. In the past, I don’t think I ever did them. I guess this year was the year to start. Liam started 3rd and he is loving it. Kai is in 1st and he likes it but is not as enthused as his brother. Of course we had to start the day with a donut tower!! (that last picture is unrelated but Liam had an irritated, itchy eye one day so I gave him benedryl. He passed out for like 3 hours. It was adorable and had to be documented. He says he was “awake with my eyes closed.” Sure.)

1) 37 weeks.

2) Evangeline helping me make some brownies.

3) and 4) a lazy day, reading in the little nook in Evangeline’s room.

A couple of weeks ago was National Talk Like a Pirate Day. If you dressed like a pirate, you received a free dozen glazed donuts from Krispy Kreme. All 7 of us dressed up (no shame in our game!) and got our free donuts (it should be noted that we gave away a few dozen to friends!) The Wendys right by Krispy Kreme was giving away free Frostys if you talked like a pirate! And Long John Silvers was giving out a two piece fish or chicken meal if you were dressed as pirates. Can you guess what all we did that day? The kids loved it!

Fall adventures and pregnancy documentation! I’m going to miss this belly soon! I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can right now.

Right behind my dad’s backyard is a field of cows. The picture of the 4 kids and the 4 cows totally cracks me up.

That picture of me on my couch? Pretty much how I’ve attempted to pass the past few days…eating a 3lb tub of cake in my pajamas and robe. Yes, I linked to the cake. Because it was amazing. And is it just me, or do fresh flowers make everything better?

kids looking at cow, eating cake and colorful flower bouquets

A few iphone shots from our pumpkin patch adventure this past week.

For any of you Kids Say enthusiasts, I’m sorry to tell you that either 1) my kids fell short on saying notably cute/hilarious things this month or 2) I just failed to document them! I only had two little entries that I’ll just save for next time around! Sorry!

And can I just say this one more time? It’s October! We will be meeting our baby girl any day now and I can finally start referring to her by her sweet little name! Any final guesses on the birth date? Or does anyone want to take it to the extra level and guess her birth weight?

October 2, 2016

Blog, Family, Homeschool, kai, kids, liam

Homeschool (why and how we do it)

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Purchasing through these links provides me with a small commission at no extra cost to you. But feel free to shop around for the best price!

The other day, I texted a friend to ask a question about the math curriculum we’re planning on using. At the end of the text, I added “I feel like I’m the biggest failure when it comes to schooling my children…like everyone else has it figured out (and organized) way better than I do.” When she told me that most of the homeschool moms that she has talked to feel the same way, I realized that it really doesn’t get talked about as much as it could.

Every year at this time, I notice all the “back to school” items filling the stores. That’s when I realize “Oh, I should probably start thinking about curriculum!” I feel very scatterbrained and lost about where to start. So when a mom on instagram (hi @jordynspeakman!) asked me homeschooling advice, I thought I would share a few thoughts. I know, that whole introduction really makes you want to read what I have to say 😉

I thought it would be best to start with sharing WHY we chose to homeschool. But before I start, I want to make sure it’s clear that I am not implying anything negative about those who choose to use a public/private school! Not only is homeschooling not an option for every family, but everyone has their reasons for how they school and I think it’s a personal choice that each family needs to make for themselves. We’ve been asked multiple times why we homeschool so I’m simply sharing why we felt it was best for our family. (These are in no specific order and some thoughts kind of overlap each other)

Time. Public and private schooling take up many hours in the day. In my opinion, too many hours! When the child comes home, they often have to spend many more hours completing homework. Homeschooling for us right now only takes an hour or two, max, depending on distractions that day. That leaves us more hours to play and encourage them to develop any interests or hobbies.
Family. We feel that (especially in these early years) we want our children to be home with us, learning from us. If we send them to school somewhere, they would be spending a good chunk of the day away from our family, under the teaching of someone else. I believe that in order to “train up a child in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6) that we should be the main influences in their lives. As the parents, we want to be the ones shaping their worldview. (That’s not to say that there aren’t wonderful teachers out there!)
Curriculum. Not only do I not like some of what is being taught in public schools, but I also love that I can cater to each child’s needs at home. Children learn differently and at different paces. I love being able to choose how to teach each child, based on their personalities. For example, my oldest is a grade ahead what he would have been in public school, just because he was eager and ready to start school at 4 years old. On the flip side, my current 4 year old is a wild one (to put it nicely) and I think if he was in public school, he would likely be “labeled” when I know he’s just a normal, active kid.
Peers. I know not every child out there is a bad kid. But we’ve been on playgrounds enough to know that there is plenty of stuff that young children are being exposed to that I don’t want my children exposed to. But don’t worry, my kids are not suffering from lack of socialization. We are actively a part of a church where the children interact with people of all ages without a problem. And at the playground, they are always eager to make new friends and treat them with respect.
Flexibility. When we want to take a vacation, a sick day, a field trip, or simply just sleep in, we are free to do it whenever we want (and in our pajamas haha.) I love being able to take the kids to the zoo and use it as a learning experience for our Science class. We are able to use much of our days focusing on life skills rather than solely on book work.
Safety. As a mom, I want to do everything I can to protect my children and their hearts, souls, and bodies. And no one with access to the news can deny the amount of stories that are popping up all over the country with heartbreaking, sickening things. I know we cannot and should not live in fear, but just as you would lock your doors to keep out intruders, this is one way we can guard our children from some of what is happening in the world. That may seem overprotective, but my children mean everything to us so we will do what we can to protect them.

I could go on and on with reasons, but I will spare you since it’s already super wordy. While I don’t always feel like the most qualified teacher, I do believe God has equipped me with just what I need to teach our children. Certain subjects may not always be taught by us, but we will always be active in deciding the next step. So while I sometimes feel like a failure, I know that this is what we have been called to do for our family. If you want to homeschool but don’t feel qualified, just know that you are not alone! And if I can do it, anyone can do it.

And for anyone curious how we do it and what curriculum we use, keep on reading!

Like I said, I am definitely not the most organized person. I feel like I’m constantly in a state of feeling scatterbrained. I also am not big into activity based teaching (hello, more organization and prepping!) But my kids love it so I know I need to get over that.
We don’t have a set time to get up in the morning. Basically, I try (and usually fail) to convince my children to let me sleep until 8am. But they know the rule is that we won’t be eating breakfast until 8.
When we finish eating, we immediately start schoolwork. I currently have 2 who are officially schooling. Because of Missouri’s laws, I only have to log for my oldest until the next school year. I usually have Liam (the oldest) working on all that he can do independently while I work with Kai (usually I just have to give him instructions and he is able to do some work independently as well.) On a good day, we can get this all accomplished right away. But with 3 other children (and soon a newborn) we sometimes have to wait until the youngest takes a nap. We also do some subjects together as a group, which I love! We are always done by lunchtime and we’re able to enjoy the rest of the day together, doing whatever needs to get done. Except, of course, on those days when things just get crazy and I finally just call it quits for the day. But remember, flexibility!

As far as curriculum goes, I LOVE Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It is scripted (which is perfect for me) and usually takes 15 minutes or less for each lesson. It is the book that taught Liam to read at 4 years old and the book I continue to go through with Kai.

For math, we have loved using Horizons for grades K-2. This year Liam is ready to start grade 3 math and we’re super excited to try Teaching Textbooks (a computer based math program that starts with 3rd grade math.) I have heard many, many good reviews from good friends and after looking at a sample lesson, I know this will be perfect for our children.

For Science, we use Apologia. It teaches a Biblical perspective (which is very important to us, especially in the world of science!) We just read the textbook together as a group and sometimes do the experiments and activities suggested in the book. We also like to look up extra information online to make it more fun. Last year we learned about Astronomy. It was amazing how much my boys retained and how eager they were to do it every day. By the way, this year we will only be doing it twice a week! Last year we overdid it and were finished with the book within months.

For handwriting, we used A Reason For Handwriting. Each week they are practicing letters/words and by the end of the week, they will have learned a Bible verse. My oldest was the only one who did it last year (Kai will do it this year and he’s really looking forward to it!) and he loved writing out the verse at the end of each week and coloring the page.

This year for History, we will be using Mystery of History. Again, it’s from a Biblical worldview. We haven’t used it yet but we plan to also do this as a group.

For Bible, we have been going through Long Story Short. The lessons are short (as the name implies) and easy for my kids to understand.

As far as the rest of the subjects go, we are still undecided. I just haven’t loved some of the other stuff we have used in the past. My goal is to do math, reading/language arts, handwriting, and Bible every day. History and Science will be alternating and only done twice a week. We also plan to incorporate art, typing, and coding..along with any developing and skills or interests that they have. And of course, working on life skills (cooking, cleaning, chores, etc.)

For the younger kids (pre-k) I would say–DON’T STRESS! They have plenty of time in life to learn. Just focus on teaching letters, numbers, colors, shapes, etc. But make it fun! Do art projects, use chalk, play outside, sing, read to them. Don’t worry about workbooks or doing something every day. If you incorporate learning into everyday activities (counting as you take steps, pointing out letters as you look at books) they will be ready for kindergarten when the time comes!

I know this post was long, wordy, and not very thrilling. But I hope it helps for anyone who may be interested in homeschooling but doesn’t feel qualified or know where to start. If you have any questions (or advice) leave it in the comments! I know everyone homeschools differently (we are the laid back type) so this may not all apply to everyone. But someone may have advice that could be helpful to someone else–so share away!
***I also want to repeat that I am nowhere near qualified to give out advice! Do your research, ask around, shop for the lowest price, and do what suits your family best! Thanks for reading!

August 12, 2016