Off topic food for thought………..I think the biggest lie I tell myself, especially on a low key Saturday or Sunday is: “I will just do a couple things then I will sit down and relax for a while.” Then when those things are done its “well the kids are playing nicely I will get a couple more things done.” Then when those are done it’s “I should really be taking advantage of the fact that everyone is playing so nicely. I’m on a role, I will just knock some more things off my to-do list, and then I will sit down and relax for a bit.” After all of that is done the day is over and I don’t even remember the last time I sat down.

I also want to take a moment to mention that as much as I would like to go on a political rant, I will refrain (for the foreseeable future). This is a blog I started so people can follow our home schooling journey, not for me to express my political views.

Priorities. That is what it is all about. I’m sorry to say this blog is not close to the top, so I update whenever the priority list gets down close enough to this line item haha! On January 2^nd the kids and I celebrated our first full year of home schooling! Woohoo! By celebrate I mean we had an entirely normal day with no extra celebrations except for acknowledging at the beginning of the day that it was 1 year. No big deal, it’s just a little milestone, but it is still a milestone so I wanted to write up a little post about our year.

So the question I get asked ALL THE TIME is…How is homeschool going?

The answer is…Good. I don’t know what exactly you are asking when that question is posed so the answer is simply…Good. The kids are not driving me insane. They are not running wild and tying me to chairs or locking me the bathroom. They are not eating junk food all day, watching Spongebob in 3 day old clothes, or becoming illiterate mutes. I am not stressed beyond belief, going bald from pulling my hair out, and I am not sick of spending time with my kids.

I am enjoying the opportunity I have to watch them grow and develop. Every day they are learning something new. We are truly learning as we go. Learning about each other and our different personalities; different learning styles, different interests, strengths and weaknesses. I am learning right along with them and that is one of the great things about schooling at home. Do I know everything to teach my kids? Nope. BUT I do have a good network of knowledgeable people, I do have resources, and I am eager to learn and teach just as much as they are.

Another Question……Do I follow a good Curriculum?  

No. I think that is the one that surprises people. I have looked into some all-in-one curriculum such as aBeka, Sonlight, BJU and we may do something like that when the kids get older, but for now I wanted something a little more erratic. I don’t want to sit down at the table and talk and do workbooks for hours. I don’t want them confined to one space for all subjects. I want to be able to follow them when their mind latches on to something not be stuck with a grade level. For example-states and capitals. My first and second grader know the name of all the states and their placement on a map, and are currently learning capitals. We found a couple of app games that they ask to play all the time. That doesn’t fall into their grade levels in an all-in-one curriculum, but it is something they WANT to learn about.

Now for Math I do want a solid program so I have found a program that I am really liking: Teaching Texbooks. It is a spiral program as opposed to Mastery, which is exactly what my 2^nd grader needs. That just means that some of the concepts introduced in lesson 1 and 2 will show back up in lessons and quizzes in lesson 20 and so forth as opposed to learning one concept and moving on without having to review previously learned material. The first set in the program is TT3 which is for 2^nd/3rd grade level. It is a CD-Rom program with a lecture, practice problems, and graded problems in each lesson. After a few lessons there are quizzes. My oldest and really liking this program and I really like that it is all done and graded with reports for me to review. If he has a problem with something I can delete and make him do the lesson again. My first grader is still doing grade level workbooks right now until she is ready to start the TT3 program.

I have a list of subjects that we cover in a day or weeks’ time. Practice makes perfect, repetition leads to memorization, hands on leads to understanding. We are progressing and it is GOOD! Am I worried about keeping on track with public school....No. Why? I believe the Common Core Standards (which is not solely just a different way to do math) is a little more vigorous in the early years than it needs to be. I want them to love learning. I want them to be eager to learn something new. I want to teach them how THEY learn best, which may or may not be in that straight line the CCS think it should be. Education is more than making the grade on those standardized testing. It is more than meeting quotas before deadlines. An interest and love for learning is what I want for my kids, that is why 1 year ago we stepped out of the box. 

If you have any questions about a specific subject or you are curious on how we do certain things please feel free to ask!

We are Schooling as we GROW!

What do you do on Christmas break? For me and my house….we deep clean.

We took about 2 ½ weeks off our home school schedule for the holiday. It was originally supposed to be 2 weeks, but I also do home day care so I had some extra kids a couple days due to weather and before public school break ended. One of the perks of schooling at home is flexibility!

We had a great Christmas with the kids raking in several school related items as well….much appreciated!  

I always take the week between Christmas and New Year’s off from babysitting to regroup and clean up the chaos from the holiday (and let’s face it the entire year), and this year was no different. I spent the entire week washing walls and baseboards, shampooing carpet, organizing bedrooms, reorganizing furniture, and other general deep cleaning. 

I like to start my year off with a clean house, because Lord knows I cannot keep up with everything all year. My family is physically drained from my chaotic cleaning, and honestly I am too, but it emotionally helps me so much that it is so worth it. There is something about having all the cleaning done all at the same time that puts me at peace. Is that weird? Last night I sat down in the recliner, for the first time in pleasure all week. I looked around and let a pent up sigh of contentment deflate my stressed mind.

Not having a clean house stresses me out. I can barely keep up with the daily and weekly chores so the bigger jobs keep getting put on the back burner. It is a huge de-stressor to have all those back burner jobs done (well the ones that pertain to cleaning anyway). 

Along with refocusing all my attention around cleaning I also decided to take a break from social media, Facebook in particular. I have noticed lately that I am cruising facebook when I definitely should be doing other things, and it is wasting time that I don't have. The first few days I thought about checking it several times. I was curious at what I was missing. Other people's lives were happening and I was missing it....what!? It was actually in the back of my mind more than I think is healthy. I am glad I took a break and from now on I am going to try to limit my cruising time. My life and home have to be a bigger priority to making sure I am keeping up socially. So to those that read this blog who are also my facebook friends---I am sorry if I have not "liked" or commented on your status. If I didn't, chances are I didn't see it. If it is something you want me to know or see feel free to send me a message!

So now with some of that pent up stress released I am ready for us to throw ourselves back into school stuff.

Today is also our 1 year anniversary for Home Schooling! WooHoo!! I will have a separate post about his later….

I am spending the day planning our next couple weeks and getting some worksheets printed. I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to what 2017 has in store for us… Schooling As We Grow!

I challenge you to de-stress! Do what you need to do to let out your own sigh of contentment! 

Thanks for reading!