The New Kid

Yep ... this is our happy school face! 

I knew that homeschooling would be great for my son.  I knew that he would be happier.  But I didn't realize how much of a change and how quickly I would see it. 

At the beginning of the school year we were happy that B didn't have the upset Sunday nights that used to plague us.  He wasn't anxious about school anymore.  He was a much happier and relaxed kid.  The times that we used to spend together were rushed and stressed, trying to get homework done in the short time before evening activities started.  Tension was high and tempers would flare ... I am not proud to say it was usually my temper.  Weekends would be rushed too.  Even when we didn't have a lot of things going on, there was always the anxious "I have to go back to school on Monday" feeling that affected B.  He wasn't a sullen, unhappy kid but he also was not what we have seen emerge over the past 6 weeks.

B and I have fun.  The other day my husband told me that he could see us growing closer.  I can see it too.  Our worst day of homeschooling (so far) is still  far better than any day when he was in the public school.  We have a special relationship.  I wouldn't give it up for anything! 

Why I Homeschool - This Week

I'm linking up with Hammock Tracks Blog Hop this week.  Go on over and check out what other homeschoolers are up to! 
 Hammock Track Homeschool Blog Hop

5 Reasons Why I Love Homeschool This Week -

Fun at the grocery store.  Yep, I said fun at the grocery store.  B and I went to the store together after his work was done and actually had fun together.  I'm not saying that we don't usually have fun together, but it is rare at the grocery store.  The grocery trips with kids in tow are usually frantic and tension gets the best of me.  Now we go the grocery store together during the day and laugh and enjoy ourselves.  Who knew going to the grocery store could be fun!

No doctor/dentist notes.  My two youngest are still in public school (only one more year - yea!).  They had dentist appointments today and when my husband went to pick them up he was reminded to bring a doctors note back so the absence is excused.  This really irks me and my husband.  Why do we need permission to take our kids out of school?  .... only one more year ...

Johnny Tremain.  B and I started to read this book this week and we have really enjoyed it.  I would say that it is our favorite this year, so far.  We are only on chapter 3 but I can't wait to see what happens to Johnny!  I love having this time with B!

Politically Incorrect Guide books.  I recently found these books on Rainbow Resource and I am really interested in getting some of them.  They are too old for B (they say 8th grade and up) but I would like to read them myself.  The books aren't actually one of my 5 reasons, but the ability to use all different resources to teach is.  I am sure that these books aren't 100% accurate, just like public school history books aren't 100% accurate.  What I love is having the ability to give B all different viewpoint and sources to learn from so that ultimately he can decide what make the most sense. 

Math.  We had a bad test last Friday.  That is obviously not one of my 5 reasons but reviewing what he didn't understand and ultimately giving him a retest is.  Last week his test had some word problems.  Word problems are the part of math that B hates.  He doesn't like them and doesn't get them. We are going over more word problems so that I can make sure that he fully understands them before moving on.  This would never happen in public school, unless the entire class didn't understand them!

Here is a little homeschool humor.  I just found this christian comedian and he is really funny!

Science fun - The edible cell

Last Friday we made the much anticipated edible cell.  B has been looking forward to this day since he found out about it.  First, I had to go to the store to get all of the candy to add to the jello.  Second, we had to not eat all the candy before the jello cell was made (hardest part).  When the jello was ready, we got started.

Check out all that candy!  I realized pretty quickly that I got way too much candy.  Darn.  This is what was left over after the cells were made.  Woops.  Whatever will we do with all that candy? 

After dinner, C and E got to join in the excitement of testing out the cell.  It was also great to hear B tell his dad all about the different parts of the cell.  There is something adorable about hearing him say Endoplasmic Reticulum.  And I was impressed with all that he remembered!

I also wanted to share a picture of B that I took 2 weeks ago enjoying the great weather.  These are the times that make homeschooling worth every second.  From a kid who hated reading ... he now reads everyday ... and actually seems to enjoy it! 

If I could only freeze time ...

Over the past week I have had this thought many times.  I have had several things happen that made we want to stop time and stop my kids from getting bigger.   Maybe not a screeching halt (although that would be OK too).  But at least a slow down.  I know we all think this way.  It is just what has been on my mind a lot recently. 

I took my daughter shopping for school clothes.   I had some really great ideas about what would be adorable for the first day of school.  Unfortunately for me, E had some ideas of her own.  She is 6 1/2 years old now.  She has her own sense of style.  Last year I picked out a cute little dress with puppies on it for her first day of school.  She loves (still does) puppies.  It was so cute with a matching barrettes, socks and dog purse. 

I figured out pretty quick that I won't be getting away with this this year.  I thought that a cute jean dress would be nice.  E did not agree.  She told me that she is the only one that wears dresses. Don't get me wrong.  I don't dress her in uncomfortable dressy things to go to school.  They are usually cotton dresses with leggings underneath.  Pretty comfortable stuff.  Just not her style.

I still got the jean dress.  I know that it won't be picked the first day but I am sure that she can wear it day 2 or 3, right?  I will put up pictures Monday of her first outfit.  Spoiler alert - it is jean shorts with a t-shirt and vest.  The t-shirt is sparkly and has bright pink butterflies bows.  Betcha can't wait to see it now! 

I am trying not to squelch her creativity or personality.  As long as what she wants to wear is modest, I have learned to let her go.  Even if it is jean shorts with a bright pink sparkly butterflies bow t-shirt and vest on the first day of school.  Oh, I can't wait until next year when all this stuff doesn't matter!!  :-)

My son C also broke my heart a little today.   By that I mean that he made me gasp and think "oh no, please, stop growing up!" as I fanned my eyes to stop from crying.   He needed to get a folder for school.  He had a plain blue one picked out when I happened to see what I thought was a cool Star Wars folder.  He said, "Nah, I'll just go with the blue one."  Which we all know meant ... "Of course not mom!  I am waaaay to old for a Star Wars folder!  Geesh, I am 8 1/2!!"

So, once again I am so thankful that we will be homeschooling all 3 kiddos next year.  I don't want to miss a minute!!  And I won't have to see the look in this picture again!  Isn't it heartbreaking.  Thankfully, no one took a picture of the sad momma on the other end of the camera lens.  Even worse.

(This picture was taken last year on the first day of school.  B is now homeschooled!!  Much happier face on our first day this year!! )

Am I ready? ... Part 2

So, I took part in a blog hop by Heart of the Matter called the Not Back-to-School blog hop.  It has been awesome!  The first week was curriculum and it was interesting to see what everyone was using.  I was really excited about week 2 - Schoolroom.  I thought it would be really fun to see everyone's schoolroom.  I was partially right.  It is fun to take a peek at everyone's schoolroom and see how they are decorated and what they use for storage.  But what I wasn't expecting was seeing all kinds of things that I don't have and wondering if I should... 

Should I have a workbox system? 

Should I have a morning board?  (I didn't even know what a morning board was!)

Should I have a designated art area?

Well, after hyperventilating and getting myself worked up, I realized that it will be OK.  Who knows what kind of organization will work for us?  It is really too early to tell.  Should I have a morning board?  With B in 5th grade ... probably not?  But if I change my mind, I know where to find some great examples of some!  Should I have a designated art area?  Probably not necessary for us, but B loves art so it could be a good idea.  The wheels are turning ... with ideas of where to put it ... and how to organize it... Better go find the hubby to let him know that I have a honey-do list starting!  He will be SO excited!  :-)

Countdown to Day #1 - 6 days!!!

Our Curriculum choices for 2011/2012

Well, this is our first year of homeschooling and all of the curriculum has been purchased!  I started looking into curriculum last summer when I first made the decision to homeschool.  I think I made the final decision to go with Sonlight in the spring.  I was a little leery because it is literature based ... and my son is not a big reader.  But, I think that the subject matter is interesting enough that it may change his view on reading.  At least that is what I am praying will happen.  The idea of putting together my own curriculum terrified me so that was not an option!  We haven't started school yet (August 15th - yeah!!) but the Instructor's Guide seems easy to follow and very detailed.  Less work on my part!   So choosing Sonlight was pretty easy.  We are starting with their Core D+E (includes History, Geography, Bible, Readers and Read-Alouds) because B loves American history. And we also added Sonlights Science F - Health, Medicine and Human Anatomy (it looked really cool). 

Sonlight's Language Arts program coordinates with the reading in Core D+E so that was a no brainer.  We are also trying Sequential Spelling for ... you guessed it ... spelling curriculum.  For handwriting we are going to do Handwriting Without Tears.  No reason other than that is what they used in the public school.  I don't think it would be good to teach B a whole new way of writing cursive now!

Now the hard part ... it took me a long time to decide on math and art.  Ok, I haven't officially chosen the math curriculum yet.  I have two and I am going to try both.  My problem was one (Teachable Textbooks 5) seemed too easy.  He took the placement test and got all the problems right.  And the other curriculum (Singapore 5) seemed difficult.  We did a little bit of Singapore 4B this summer to prepare and he did well.  I am going to start with Singapore 5 and use the Teachable Textbooks as more of a review.  That is my thought right now?  It will probably change!  Love that about homeschooling!!  :-)

My hubby is going to help out and use the Money Matters for Teens Workbook with B.  No, he is not a teen yet, but it says it for ages 11-14 (and B is 10).  And my hubby is much better at the money stuff than I am.  I can hear it now ... B "How much money should you save?"  Me "As much as you can unless there is a really good sale at Ann Taylor Loft".  Yep, my hubby will be much better at the money matters workbook.

For Art we are doing the Worlds Greatest Artist's books with the great Unit Study that Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler put together.  If you're interested, I have the link on my curriculum tab.  It looks great!

P.E.  should be pretty easy.  B plays ice hockey (2 practices a week plus 1-2 games a weekend) ... Also, Sonlight's Science includes some health and nutrition as well.

Oh, and I almost forgot, I ordered some DVD's from Mike Huckabee's Learn Our History.  We start with one on 9/11 and then get another video each month.  Can't wait to check them out!!

So, that is pretty much how I came up with the curriculum for the year!  I have everything listed with links on my 2011/2012 curriculum tab.  Check it out!  Thanks for stopping by!

Our Schoolroom - Not Back-to-School Blog Hop

This month I am participating in the Not Back-to-School Blog Hop over at Heart of the Matter.  This week the theme is school room.  I am so excited to take a peek into everyones schoolroom!!  I already posted about our schoolroom a couple of weeks ago.  It is our den/office that we converted into the schoolroom last spring.   So, here it is...

Here is the desk and computer for the kids.  There is a third desk to the left that I couldn't fit in the picture.  Right now it has a Cricut machine and laminator (love my laminator!!) on it but I will need to find other places for them by next year.  The rug is so cute but kind of a pain because it gets caught up in the chairs.  But it's too cute to remove, right!!  The map is a USA markable map that we got with our Sonlight curriculum.  It has a world map on the other side.  I like that we can use markers that came with it to draw on it throughout the year.  Everything (furniture and storage) is pretty much from IKEA.  I love IKEA!!!

This bookshelf has all of our books for the upcoming year.  Dry erase boards are to the right. And who doesn't want a Darth Vader cup to hold their pencils??  I am definitely going to need more storage next year (with all 3 kids) but this will do for now. 

The bean bag reading nook.  Our dog seems to think this is hers.  It is pretty funny to see a big long Bassett Hound laying on this bean bag.  She makes it work though! 

My desk.  Organized for now ... hopefully will stay that way.  Filing cabinets to keep all the paperwork.  There are two printers because one is the everyday printer and the other is a color/copier printer. 

There are still things that I need to get.  Mainly minor school supplies... pencils, composition books ... I am hoping that I will realize what I need concerning organization as the year goes on.  Less than three weeks until the first day!! :-)

** Update:  I think I have everything that I need to get started now.  Only one week away!!!

I am also linking up to

When did childhood become a job?

When we were on our way back from a hockey tournament this weekend, my husband mentioned that some people take hockey (or any sport) too seriously.  It is like a job.  It got me thinking.  When did childhood become a job?  I remember being in elementary school.  It was fun.  We didn't have homework unless it was a special project (and the projects were usually interesting and fun).  We ran out the door right when we threw our backpacks down to play outside with friends.  We played on sport's teams... but they did not consume our whole life.  Are the children of today more educated than 30 years ago?  I don't think so.  Do more kids make it into professional sports than 30 years ago?  No.  Why do we put so much pressure on ourselves and our kids? 


Our kids play on a travel hockey team.  Does it take up free time?  Yes ... but we love it.  It doesn't matter what level team they play on.  They just want to play hockey (a game they love) with friends.  We don't want to move them from team to team based on which one will have the best record or highest level.  We just want them to have fun and make great childhood friends and memories. 


I am not saying that my kids don't work hard.  They work very hard at playing hockey but it is because they are passionate about it.  They love it.  That is what I pray will happen with homeschool.  It will take time but I pray that they will work hard at learning because they want to learn.  Not because it is a job and they have to do it.


By the way, the boys got second place at the tournament.  More importantly, they had a blast doing it.

It's almost here!

I decided that we are going to start school on August 15th. Only one month away!!!  I am so excited I can hardly wait!  B on the other hand still thinks that school is a bad word.  If you mention it he runs and hides.  When I told him that we are going to start school two weeks before the public school ... he was a little apprehensive.  But after I explained the benefits of starting earlier he seemed to come around.  He said OK then ran and hid just in case I decided to start talking about school even more.   I don't know if his feelings about school will ever be excited, like mine.  But I know that they will get better.  Hopefully by the end of this year I will be able to mention school and not get the obligatory 'I hate school' response. 

However... me ... I am thrilled.  Sure I'm nervous about starting because it is new and unknown.  I know that it is going to difficult and there will be days I want to pull my hair out.  I know that there will be days when I wonder if I can really do this.  Nevertheless I know that it will all be SO worth it.   And that is why I am excited!! 

From the beginning ... How I made the decision to homeschool.

Whenever you do anything that is against the grain or not "normal", you are always going to be asked "why?".  I have been asked this question anytime that someone finds out that I am homeschooling.  I don't mind the question.  So far I haven't had any rude or mean comments (at least to my face).  ;-)  In fact, I love to talk about my reasons and what I am planning because I am really excited about it.  I thought that it would get old but it hasn't ... yet. 


My reasons start with my oldest, B, who really dislikes school.  He doesn't have any issues with bullies or friend.  In fact, his favorite part of school was recess and lunch because he was with his friends.  He just hates school.  And after the past two years of having to force him to do at least an hour of homework right when he gets off the bus ... we were both really frustrated! 


If you asked me 5 years ago about homeschooling I probably would have said that homeschoolers were weird unsocialized kids.  Then, a good friend of mine started homeschooling her kids.  I was really surprised because she wasn't weird at all!!!  :-)  When we were at their house I saw a story that her son had written on the fridge.  I couldn't believe that it was so neat and well written!


I started to think about homeschooling and talking to my husband about it.  Thankfully, I have a very supportive husband and he agreed that homeschooling could be great for our family.  We made the decision last summer but I needed a year to really prepare myself.  When we brought it up to B for the first time he was really excited.  That was the clincher! Now I am looking forward to having our own schedule.  There is something very freeing about not having to follow the traditional school schedule. 


I truly believe that God changed my heart about homeschooling 3 years ago.  Unfortunately, it took me a long time to listen... as usual! 


There are many more reasons why I am excited to homeschool.  Maybe I will write about them next time.  This is just the story of how I came to the not "normal" decision to homeschool....


Many blessings!!!