First Day of Year 2!!

Well, it is finally here!  The first day of year two of homeschooling.  Last year it was just B and I and we had a fantastic year.  I was (and still am) a little nervous about homeschooling all three kids ... especially my youngest who is very strong-willed.  Some say she is just like her mom.  Not sure where they get that but whatever.

It started this morning with me getting up very early (7am) with the intentions of making a big breakfast to celebrate our first day.  When I walked downstairs I saw my two youngest (the homeschool newbies) at their desks already doing their math!  They woke up early with anticipation and wanted to get started even if mom was still asleep at the late hour of 6:30am.    So, instead of making breakfast I went in and started to help with any questions they had and next thing you know sleepyhead older brother stumbled downstairs and into the schoolroom.  I think it was about 8am at that point.  I then decided to remove myself for a couple of minutes to put a quick baked oatmeal in the oven after I realized that we were out of eggs.  Poor planning on my part.  You can't make pancakes without eggs.

Needless to say, our day did not go as planned.  We stayed in pajamas for school had unbrushed messy hair and finished extra early.  I will take that! Not bad for a first day. 

We even had a special visitor to the classroom.  E brought her three dolls to class and also brought her guineau pig, Julee. 

A Real Man

The recent book Fifty Shades of Gray and movie Magic Mike are being called "mommy porn".  What is most disturbing about this is the amount of women, even Christian women, accepting these forms of (so called) entertainment as ok.  Personally, I think that I am probably in the minority but I feel that they are  disrespectful to not only women but especially men.  At first I thought I was crazy because it seemed like no one found anything wrong with this recent trend!   I have absolutely no desire to see the movie or read the book.  I know what a real man is.  He can't be found in either of these.  Thankfully, God has blessed me with a real man.  My husband is a real man.  A Godly man.  And I am so thankful for Godly men! 

Here is what a REAL man is:

• He loves God.
• He works hard so that he can provide for his family and his wife can stay home to be with the kids and homeschool them.
• He coaches every sport that they play.  Not because it is easy or for the glory (because it definite is not easy and there is no glory!) but because he loves his kids and the other kids on his team. 
• He respects his wife and all women.  Teaches his sons to do the same.
• He is kind and loving.  Always doing things for others.
• He waters the plants because his wife has a black thumb.
• He makes breakfast for his family on the weekends because his wife is not a morning person.
• He takes his kids to birthday parties when his wife can't.
• He walks or rides bikes with his daughter because she loves to spend that quality time with him.  And so does he. 
• He doesn't go golfing or do boys nights out.  He would rather spend time as a family.
• He is committed to his marriage even when it's hard.
• He is committed to God even when it's hard.
• He compliments his wife and tells her she looks pretty ... even after 12 years of marriage.
• He paints a bedroom with his wife, even though he hates to paint.
• He drives all over creation to take his kids to hockey games because they love to play hockey.
• He does things that glorify God and doesn't care what is 'in' or 'cool'.
• He doesn't wear gel in his hair (ok, even if he had hair he wouldn't!), get waxed, or manicured.
• He would rather go on a date with his wife than any other woman in the world.   

I could go on and on .... My husband is a real man.  More of a man than any character in Magic Mike or Fifty Shades of Gray.  And check out that picture.  He is pretty darn handsome to boot!  I am a very blessed woman and I know it! :-)



Another benefit of homeschool - Confidence

We are officially done with year 1!!  :-)   In PA we have a lot of hoops to jump through in order to homeschool.  Today, I had my affidavit notarized and handed all required documents plus my portfolio into the district office.  It felt so good!  I have to say that I am little sad that the first year is over, but I am really looking forward to next year.

This year has been such a blessing for me and B.  We have grown closer and he has become such a happier kid.  I feel like he has grown up a lot and matured more than I would have ever expected.  People always talk about kids socialization and how homeschooling is detrimental.  B is living proof that homeschooling can be such an incredible gift.  Throughout the year, I have seen him talk more comfortably with adults, do his work responsibly and without a whine (well - maybe some days a little whine - but it was rare), and confidently jump into new environments.  As a shy kid, I am so proud to see him grow in confidence and come out of his shell.  When we started this adventure, I never imagined all the benefits that I would see.  I was focused more on what good things would happen academically. His growth in confidence, not only in school but in life, has truly amazed me! 

My youngest two are finishing up their public school years this week.  I have most of my curriculum and I am looking forward to getting ready for next year.  I hope to start in early August so that we can take some breaks year round.  This summer I am having them do some reading and a little bit of math to keep their minds working until we get started. 

Although I am nervous about having 3 kids at home instead of 1, I try to remind myself that that is how I felt at this time last year.  Although, I do have more confidence than I did last year.  I guess we both have improved in that way! ;-)

Lazy Dog Days

Here are two of our dogs sleeping in the schoolroom.  This is a bean bag chair that I bought to use as a reading spot.  Needless to say the dogs quickly turned it into their new dog bed.  By the way, Ladybird is fast asleep in this picture and actually snoring ... loudly ... in that position!

Almost Done with Year 1!!!

I can't believe that we only have 4 weeks left!  We did it! :-)

B and I have had a great first year.  We have learned a lot.  I think that I have learned just as much as he did.  It's like going to school all over again ... but much more fun! 

I have most of my curriculum for next year.  But I have a lot of planning to do this summer!  Next year will bring many new challenges.  Homeschooling three kids will be much different than homeschooling one.   I will need to be organized ... not one of my strong points.  I need to figure out more storage for our schoolroom... I need to get organized ... did I already say that? 

Our evaluation is on the 24th.  I am really interested in seeing what it is all about.  I am slightly nervous (see above lack of organization comments) but excited to show our evaluator what we have done. 

We are going to finish our Math, Singapore Math 5B, this week.  I am planning on going back through 5A and doing all of the reviews again.  This way I will know that he has a strong foundation for next year. 

We completed our Science, Apologias Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology, on Friday.  After having Science every day, I thought we might miss it so I am filling in with nbclearn.com's free resources.  They have 10 videos on the Science of NHL Hockey.  We watched the first 5 minute video today called Hockey Geometry.  I know it's supposed to be Science but they include Math in the videos as well as Science.  At first B said, "I don't use geometry in hockey!"  but he quickly realized that he uses it all the time.  It was fun to learn that when he passes a puck off the boards to a teammate, he is actually using Geometry (angle of incidence and reflection)!  Or when he is trying to score a goal ... he is using Geometry (angles)!  I was worried that the videos would be over his head because the lesson plans that they offer are for middle or high school kids.  I don't know if it was his love of hockey but he loved the video.  He wanted to watch it again ... then he wanted to watch another one ...

Tomorrow we will be learning about Newton's Three Laws of Motion .... through hockey! 
Happy Homeschooling!! :-)

Time for Curriculum Choices and Decisions!

I have been thinking about curriculum all year but it is starting to get close to buying time.  The final countdown.  This year I had curriculum for one.  Next year I need curriculum for three.  I am trying to not get too overwhelmed. 

This year I quickly realized that if something doesn't work it is easily changed.  We changed Science curriculums early on.  We tried several language arts books.  We tried two math programs (completed both of them). 

The research for curriculum is actually fun.  I enjoy looking through catalogs and websites to see all of the different options.  Maybe I am odd but I have a feeling that most homeschool parents enjoy it too!

I think that I have come up with our curriculum for next year... this may change .... several times. 

MFW Exploring Countries & Cultures (includes Bible, Social Studies (Geography and International Cultures), Science, Music, Art, and Read-Alouds)  and can be used for all three kids!  WooHoo!!

Singapore Math 2A/B  4A/B and 6A/B
Additional math workbooks (B loved Mind Benders this year.  He actually was disappointed when we finished one and wanted the next book right away.)

Language Arts ... not completely sure about this.  We tried the books that MFW recommends and they didn't work for us.  Might try Abeka Language Arts ... maybe something else... still looking.  I am going to get Spelling Power though.

Spanish - Rosetta Stone for LV1 Latin America Spanish.

I am also contemplating adding an Apologia Science.  We really loved our Apologia Science (Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology) this year! 

Getting finished with our current books!  And yes, we have Lego Stormtroopers protecting our books.  Don't you?

Silly String, Shredded Paper & Peanut Butter Pie

My oldest turns 11 today.  I am amazed at what an incredible kid I have been blessed with.  11 years ago, early in the morning, B was born 6 weeks premature at a tiny 4 1/2 pounds.  You would never know it by looking at him.  He is strong, athletic, smart, and probably about to overtake me in height.  Ok, so that last part is not too tough.  I was never known for being tall. 

This morning we woke him up ... at 6:30 ... by singing Happy Birthday and then attacking him with silly string.  We each had our own can and luckily he woke up with a smile and laughed.  I was hoping that we wouldn't terrify him.  I thought of dressing up as clowns and waking him up ... but that idea scared me too much.  I don't hate anyone and try to remember that all people are God's children but ... I hate clowns.  And I don't feel bad about it.  They are just asking for it with their scary makeup, honking noses, and big shoes.

I asked B what he wanted to do for his birthday.  Since he is homeschooled, his birthday is a school holiday and he had off today.  Do you know what my newly turned 11 year old wanted to do?  Yep, go to the office with his dad and shred paper.   Just like every other 11 year old, right?  Ok, I never said he was normal.  But who wants to be normal.  Normal is boring.  I think I wrote a post about that a couple months ago...

And who could forget peanut butter pie.  This was B's other request.  He wanted breakfast for dinner and peanut butter pie for dessert.  Nothing like pancakes and syrup then a little peanut butter pie... YUM!