Fast Forward

Since the last blog post was about our first day of school, and that was at the beginning of July…let’s fast forward. 

I’ll use this post to reflect on what went well and what didn’t, what we kept and what we changed, and what I expected vs. what I NEVER expected and how we coped. 

Freezing dinosaurs in a big bowl of water makes for FUN summer science play!

We have gotten really good at taking school work with us to wait for S during her dance class.

Also...I quickly abandoned the notion that "my kids will never do school in their PJs"...

Here we are, 70+ days into the school year and A LOT has changed from my original plan. Let’s take a look at the curriculum/activities we were using when school first started:

Wow, was I ambitious! It was a great plan…as a plan. In real life? Most of it flopped! Of everything we started with, the only things we’re still doing are some of S’s activities, All About Reading (though we’re now on Level 2), and Time4Learning. Here’s a look at our days right now:

What did I think my challenges would be at the very beginning of our homeschool journey?

1.  G would be my challenge. His boundless energy would surely get my defenses up. Maybe we would butt heads? Maybe I would yell…a lot? 

2.  S would be content to do the work laid out for her, on her own, with very little input from me. I mean, she plays on her own so well I figured she would be the easy one…

3.  Handwriting would be THE WORST.

4.  Reading would not be far behind it. G had always been very hesitant to read.

5.  History would be the most interesting topic to G and he would be THRILLED to do it. ALL. THE. TIME.

6.  I would LOVE the science experiments.

7.  Art and Music would be heavily incorporated into our studies and both kids would be over the moon excited to participate in them!

Now…what have I learned about my two kids over the past 4 months?

1.  School is the best time of day for G. I am able to get complete concentration from him while we are doing his school work. When my friends comment about how they would “never have the patience to homeschool their kids”, I constantly joke about how it isn’t school time I’m worried about it’s the other 21 hours in the day…

2.  S IS my challenge. A switch flips for her as soon as we head into the school room. She goes from very willingly entertaining herself to needing my UNDIVIDED attention. “Mommy, look it’s a blue bead. And another. And another. And another.” If I ignore her? She gets LOUDER. She becomes very disruptive and distracts G. We are “sort of” settling into a routine with her. It involves the iPad…A LOT. But my thought is that, right now, it is more important that G gets what he needs during our school hours. And as he becomes more self-sufficient (and he is) I can devote more time to working with her.

3.  Handwriting IS THE WORST.

4.  Reading has astonished me! HE LOVES TO READ!!! We flew through Level 1 of All About Reading. We are already 4 lessons into Level 2 and he is THRIVING! This makes me beyond giddy! There is nothing like seeing your first born reading and enjoying it for the first time! AMAZING!! I’m so glad we get to experience this together, as a family.

5.  History Odyssey was WAY too intense for us! It had so many activities, most of which seemed forced. I know he loves the material, but right now, at his age, he’d rather just look at books and read what he’s interested in than being forced to do 15 activities to reinforce it. I think HO is very thorough and will be an absolutely wonderful curriculum…in about 3 or 4 years. We’ll save it for then! Until then, he has been playing a couple of iPad Apps that really capture his interest. He LOVES Geography Drive USA and now has an incredible grasp of the 50 states and where they are. Not bad for a 5 year old.

6.  Science was not nearly as much fun as I hoped. Neither of the kids were super interested in most of what we did. I forgot to gather all of the billions (probably more like 4…) of things we needed for each experiment. And when we did do experiments, they got so rambunctious that the control freak in me came out and took over. They don’t learn much when I’m the one doing all the work. So, formal science was quickly forgotten. Right now, we’re trying to get what we can from science shows (Magic School Bus, Sid the Science Kid, etc.). We have also ordered a years worth of Magic School Bus Science Kits. Hopefully those will be easier to stick with!

7.  Doing structured Art and Music flopped. Big Time. We tend to listen to a variety of music through the day (right now it’s Christmas carols…I’m a tad bit obsessed with Christmas…). We also do unstructured art projects plus a few crafts. I think that works for us. At least for right now.

So, after much juggling, I think we’re finally in a good place. At least until something else changes! I’ll keep you updated! In the mean time, what has worked for you? What hasn’t? What were some of your biggest surprises about homeschooling?

First Day of School!

Welcome to our first day of school (only a few months late…)! What fun we had starting out this brand-new adventure! We started the morning with sprinkle covered cinnamon rolls, because who wouldn't want to teach 2 young children who were hyped up on a ton of sugar?

(The kids loved them, in case you were worried.)

Official "First Day of School" pictures were snapped:

Followed by a ride to class in the "school bus" (if you have boys...or probably even any kindergarten aged children...I'm sure you understand that this was THE REASON G wanted to attend public school):

Once we got to class, we met up with our "official" school mascot:

Then we settled in for some work:

Once we were done with our schoolwork, we had lunch and had a fellow home schooled friend over for a little popsicle/swimming afternoon. All in all it was an exciting, fun, and eventful first day!

Catch Up! (Ketchup??)

Wow! Those first few days (er…4 1/2 months) really threw me for a loop. Now that I'm FINALLY feeling like we "may" be hitting our stride, I thought I'd come back and share with you some of the highlights from the last few months...and also some of the challenges. In my next series of blog posts I'll go through our first day and all the fun we had. Then, a quick catch-up to show you what we are still doing from the first day and what we've changed. Finally, we'll look at some of the fun we've been having as a family not involving school. So join me for the quickest 4 1/2 month update you've ever seen!

Our School Room

As the day inches ever closer, (2 days, YIKES!) I thought this would be a good time to take pictures of the school room itself. I’ve been keeping the kids out for the last few weeks, so once school actually starts it’ll seem new and fun. For a week...maybe. I’m pretty sure it’ll never look this neat and organized again. So I wanted to record the moment.

We were lucky enough to move into our fantastical new house in March. I planned this house to include a school room. We were in limbo over homeschooling or not during the design and build process, but decided to include it anyway. Boy, am I glad we did!! It’s a cozy little room tucked off the back of my kitchen. It has access to a bathroom and the outside. I’m in love with it! It might be my favorite room in the house...or that could be because it’s the only one that’s decorated. I need to get on that in my "spare time"...

Here are a few pictures I snapped to share:

This is our main storage in the room. This room was not designed with any kind of closet, so we’ve made as much storage space as we can with floor to (almost) ceiling cabinets and bins. It’s great...but I could still use more space. I had no idea how much physical space was necessary!!

This is one of our workspaces. I have the kids arts / crafts supplies on this table. I envision us using this for some of our sit down work (handwriting, art, some math...). We also have a bench in our little breakfast nook just out in the kitchen. G has seemed to gravitate toward that to do a lot of his computer work. We will most likely spill out there and use the floor in both rooms as well. Preschool and Kindergarten seem like they will be a TON OF FUN because they are so hands on...but they also seem like they’re going to need a lot of physical space.

This is one of my favorite parts!! It’s our art wall and water station. I put up some burlap covered boards fashioned with twine and clothes pins to hold the kids art projects. This way we can enjoy some of their favorites before they go to “the box”. I also have their art smocks and kitchen aprons hanging (at their level) along with a motivational poster (you're never too young to be motivated...right? Right?!?). The little white stool is a water station for the kids. They’ll each have a cup and there will be a pitcher of fresh water, in case they get thirsty. I got this idea from their old montessori school. Pouring practice and refreshing water all in one cute little area!

This is our circle time board. After I put this together, I felt so much more relaxed about everything. I have no idea why. Ha! We’ll look to our board each morning to start our day. We’ll discuss the date, day of the week, season, weather, temperature, how many days we’ve been in school, what our monthly themes are, and our monthly poem. This year all of the poems are from Robert Louis Stevenson. I’m also pretty sure we’re going to learn the Pledge of Allegiance this year...though I still have to figure out how to set up a flag.

These last pictures show our shelves. This was my way of trying to keep a little bit of montessori in our day. Each kid has a set of shelves. Each set of shelves has a set of trays. Each tray has a specific subject's daily assignment. And each day, the subjects will coincide with what’s on our lesson plans. That’s where my structuring ends. The kids will have the choice of what they work on when. S will have free reign of her shelves. As long as she puts away her “work”, she can do one, two, or all of her trays on any particular day. G will need to get through each of his trays every day, BUT he will get to decide the order in which they are accomplished. I’m hoping (fingers crossed!!) that this will encourage him to complete his work and will help keep the arguing to a minimum. Stay tuned...

About...ME?

Oh how motherhood has changed me. Almost 6 years ago, I had a masters degree and lofty career aspirations. Then, BAM! One cold January afternoon everything changed. G was born and life, as I knew it, would never be the same. 3 years later, S came along and I was a GONER.

Since then I've gone from wanting to work while raising my kids to wanting to stay home (both of which are noble choices...no judgement here ladies). I've changed my attitudes on so many things. Homeschool my kids? Never EVER saw that one coming. And...I've started sewing clothes...uh...I swear I haven't joined a cult. They're cute! Promise.

This blog is dedicated to the two things that have gotten me through my life as a mom thus far, Starbucks and yoga pants. It's a rare day that I go anywhere without at least one, if not both, of these things attached to my body. And anyone who wants to hate on yoga pants...try some...seriously. I’m convinced.                 

I'm a mom to two spaz-ball (but amazing) kids (G and S) and two crazy dogs. 

My wonderful and supportive husband, let’s call him Hubs, has been putting up with my insanity for almost 10 years now, though he’s only been been “legally obligated” to put up with me for 8.5 of those years. He says it just keeps getting better...I think he’s delusional. But I’m ever grateful that his friend hit on me all those many, many years ago. Hubs and I make quite the team, if I do say so myself!

Right now, I stay home. It's the best job in the world. But, if you ask the guy at my dry cleaners, I've never worked a day in my life. So, to appease my "friend" and new career counselor (he must be good at his job if he works at the dry cleaners...) I decided to start this blog. Well, that and to chronicle our homeschool journey. I may be the only one who reads this...and that's ok by me! If, by chance, someone else stumbles upon this thing...I'll do my best to not offend. BUT...if you know me in person, you know that may not be easy for me. It's part of my charm. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Some posts may be short, some posts may be long. I want to keep you on your toes. So, come join me on our journey of the good, the bad, and the crafty...

20 Questions

Chances are if you’re reading this blog then you already know me. If not, let’s play a little game of 20 questions. How about I tell you some things about me that might not be common knowledge? If you feel inspired, leave me some cool comments with your “little known facts”. Here we go:

1. I do CrossFit. To maintain my weight and my sanity...and so I can eat cupcakes. Mostly the cupcakes.
2. I wake up 2-3 mornings a week at 4:55am to go to the gym.
3. The sewing bug bit me about a year ago. My mom always sewed while I was growing up. She tried to teach me. I was a jerk. (Sorry Mom!) I’m totally infatuated with it now!
   
4. I have my motorcycle license, though I haven’t ridden in YEARS. I once owned a super fast “crotch rocket”. I do miss it every once in a while.
5. I’m super sarcastic (as if you couldn’t tell...), I’ll thank my dad for that one.
6. I love to take selfies! Mostly so I can make Hubs grumble...he HATES my selfies...he’s also usually included in them. I hear this makes me a narcissist. Cool.
   
7. My undergraduate degree is in Communications. I worked in TV News for a millisecond...mostly behind the scenes...but I had great aspirations.
8. I have my MBA. It was a great time. Then I got pregnant...we all know what happened next.
9. I’m an only child. Yes, most of the stereotypes are true.
10. I love all things girlie. Makeup, clothes, shoes, hair-dos, purses, diamonds, blush pink, glitter, lace.
    
11. Hubs and I met on New Years Eve in New York City. It’ll be 10 years this coming NYE. We shared our first kiss at midnight CST...we had just talked about how we were both moving to Texas for various reasons. It seemed fitting.
12. I have had many random jobs through the years. I’ve worked at a flower shop, an insurance office (sort of...I was like 13...and it was for my mom), a skating rink, a fast food place, a bank, a TV station, an accounting firm, was a personal trainer...I’m a floater.
13. I like to shoot...and I'm pretty good at it. Watch yo self.
    
14. Both of my kids were born within two weeks of Christmas. 
15. I delivered both kids without any medication. I’m crazy. And I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
16. I used to have a pretty negative attitude. Sometimes I can still be pretty whiney. But I “attempt” to find something positive in everything. It’s funny how just doing that changes your whole outlook on life! Give it a try...it will change you too!
17. I’m a dog person. Cats smell funny.
18. I have a best friend...it’s name is coffee...
    
19. I live in Texas. Have now for 2 + 3 years of my life. About 5 total. If it’s up to me, I’ll never leave. I LOVE it here. Texas.
20. I’m so happy with my life that some days I want to do the Maria thing from Sound of Music and spin around singing at the top of my lungs. Don’t get me wrong, some days stink and are exhausting but overall I feel so gosh-darn lucky that my life has twisted and turned the way it has.

And...I’m excited to meet YOU!

Ready, Set, Here We GO!

Here we are, one week away from what might be the biggest adventure of our lives (or, possibly a very short blip on my kids educational career). Next Monday, homeschool begins. I'm thrilled! I'm nervous. I'm elated! I'm petrified. I'm content.

We aren't your "typical" homeschoolers. I digress. There are so many reasons to homeschool, that I'm not sure any homeschoolers are "typical". Our main reason for making this decision is to create the "ideal" (whatever that means...) learning environment for our oldest. He's 5 1/2 (it's very important to him that I don't leave that 1/2 out). I'll call him G. Now G is excited about the world. SO EXCITED that he has an EXTREMELY hard time sitting still. Ever. He's curious, always questioning, always probing, always wanting more. Those of you out there with 5...er...5 1/2 year old boys know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. He's joyful, loving, sometimes helpful, active, imaginative. He's my guy. Various preschool programs through the last couple years have taught me that he doesn't learn in the traditional way. While he LOVES to learn, he HATES sitting still to hear about something that he already knows. And he knows (or thinks he knows) A LOT. Our main priority of this homeschooling adventure is to tailor his learning to his interests and his style. We want to encourage his curiosity and teach him that learning is awesome. What fun is a life where you don't love to learn?

Along for the ride, is my sugar-sweet, precious as pie, sassy-pants 2 1/2 year old baby girl. I'll call her S. She is little miss independent. S went to preschool last year and LOVED it! She seems to be a complete 180 from her big bro. She loves to sit down and do work. She is very content to work on something she's done 20 times before. She loves order and organization. I haven't truly figured out her "learning style" yet. But we have LOTS of time before that really becomes important.

So I've decided to take the leap and keep not one, but both kids home with me this school year. G is beginning Kindergarten. S is continuing Preschool. I hope to be able to use this blog as a sort-of living journal. I've never been very good at keeping "memories". I take pictures...but that's about as far as it goes. I'm hoping that by posting to this blog, I will be able to look back on our adventure, long after it's over and fondly (or laughingly...) remember what helped make my kiddos the AMAZING (I hope...) adults that they are.

So...JOIN US! It's sure to be a crazy ride!