I get this question or comment (I don’t know how you do it) just about every time I tell someone new that I am a stay at home mom and I home school.

So after thinking long and hard I will give the honest answers. I WANT to do it so I make it happen. I know what my priorities are. I plan for what I can and make the chaos work. I humbly sacrifice a personal life outside of my family. I like spending time with my kids. I let go of the little things. I recognize that this is a small chapter in my life….and because it deserves repeating….I WANT to do it so I MAKE it happen!

This lifestyle is a choice. It’s a sacrifice, but it’s a choice that I happily make.

First let’s tackle work. I work inside my home. Some people may think I sit on my ass and read all day, but I work. I have an in home day care. 1 child is all day long, 1 child is half day, and a couple others are before and after school care. Luckily the littlest one that I watch is on a great routine schedule and that is a huge help! 

I also dabble in two direct sale companies….

Shameless plug: www.k4213.myubam.com is My Usborne Books & More website- I LOVE these book and use them in our homeschool. www.keepcollective.com/with/charitydaugherty is my KEEP Collective website. I do not plan this company to be long term, I really just want A LOT of jewelry and its cheaper (and hopefully will end up free) by signing up to sell. Uplines in both of these companies have made the comment that if I put myself out there more, if I assert myself a little more, if I book 1 in home or 1 book fair event I could really get this going. I know what my priorities are and these companies are pretty low on that list. I want to do them for the benefits that they get me personally because I really like the products. BUT do I want them to be long term jobs that I do in and out of the home….no. I don’t have time for that in my life right now. You want to host a facebook party….hit me up girlfriend because I can hook you up!

I am busy with work, especially the home day care aspect. It takes a lot of time to take care of and keep my house clean enough for watching, and after watching, extra kids. So why do it? The answer is simple….money. I hate that is the answer, but it’s true. I stopped babysitting for a while right after our 3^rd child was born and we started struggling. To maintain the lifestyle we do I need to bring in some income also. I do enjoy babysitting and my kids do too. They get to socialize daily, have a little play date every day after school, with the kids I watch. They get to help with the baby’s needs and they get to feel helpful too, so it really is a good thing.

Next is cleaning. I feel like I clean CONSTANTLY with nothing to show for it. When 3 kids are present 24/7 and a few other kids are present for several hours 5 days a week it’s pretty much like a constant tornado. There are no breaks. It is constant. It is crazy. It is frustrating. It makes me feel like I don’t have a clean house, but short of hiring help (which I can’t afford) I have no other option than to continue the cycle.

So how do I do it? Prioritize. What part of the house is most important to keep clean, which rooms can slide when things get tough, which areas can be delegated chores for kids, which areas drive me insane? Well the part of the house that is cleaned up constantly throughout the day is our main living area. That is where the baby crawls around; the toddler plays and eats things off the floor, and where everyone is the majority of the day. That area is played in and picked up a few times a day, vacuumed once a day, straightened a couple more times, dusted most often, and shampooed a few times a year. Next is the kitchen and bathroom. Laundry is in there too. Rooms like our classroom and bedrooms take a backseat because my daycare kids do not go in them and neither do any visitors we have to the house. PRIORITIZE. Clean what NEEDS to be done every day and do the rest when you can. We run our home school on a 6 weeks on 1 week off rotation schedule. My whole family knows on our week off it is go time for cleaning clutter areas! This past week was our week off and I rearranged, reorganized, and cleaned our class room out. Cleaned and reorganized my daughter’s room, cleaned all the little clutter piles that started showing up in the main area of the house and got all the laundry caught up and put away. Whew not much of a break if you think about it, but it was a break in our normal routine and it makes me FEEL good to tackle problem areas. My husband thinks I am weird, but it truly makes me FEEL BETTER when areas that have been building up and bugging me get cleaned up. I actually feel really great about doing that, and when momma feels good everyone is in a good mood!

Now School-- Lesson planning, worksheet printing, sitting down for one on one time in subjects that need special attention, planning, science and art projects, planning, organizing, cleaning, planning, reading, learning, planning, learning, planning, learning….sound like a broken record yet? Home school is also a constant. There are learning opportunities everywhere and my brain somehow seeks out those ideas all the time now.

So I have come to the conclusion that working in my home, cleaning, and homeschooling are constant busy things in my life soooo….now let’s tackle the social aspect. Hahaha.

 I’ve lost friends…or more precisely I have lost acquaintances and “social friends”—you k now those people who only hang out with you as long as you are doing fun stuff. Or only invite you to those parties so you can buy things. As I have crossed over into my 30’s (gasp) I have embraced the saying “quality friends are better than quantity.” Once in a blue moon I get to let my hair down and go out…it’s rare, but it can occasionally happen, usually for a wedding reception ;-) On those occasions I can chat people up and have a really good time with social friends. But on those days when my hair hasn’t been washed in….maybe 2 days, and I haven’t changed my clothes in 24 hours, and I can’t remember if I have drank anything since my cup of coffee I probably left in the microwave this morning because I know I haven’t peed in like 7 hours. On those days, when a friend texts just to ask how my day is going, those are the real friends. That friend also sent a text because she knows I can’t talk on the phone. She knows I haven’t checked snapchat in days. She knows I will forget to respond to a facebook message. She also knows that I may not text her back for hours because when I picked up my phone to check who sent the message my hands were too busy to text back. Socially I am a hermit, because my social life is at the bottom of my list of priorities. I know that makes me a shit friend, but this is only a chapter of my life. I will not be this busy with all these little kids for the rest of my life. My friend knows this and understands that keeping a small line of communication open with me during these rough times will guarantee a stronger relationship when this rough chapter is over.

Does laying all this out make me seem like a tattered ol’ house maid? Sometimes I feel like that! BUT I WANT TO DO IT, SO I MAKE IT HAPPEN!

So how do I do it?

 PRIORITIZE ….PRIORITIZE….. PRIORITIZE

Don’t worry about what other people think (harder to do than say), realize who you are doing this for, cherish the friends that have stuck around, and when you go to bed at night (if you don’t crash immediately) sink into a good book-everyone needs a brain break. Take advantage of a night out or date night if you are lucky enough to get one because everyone needs a little adult time.

Do the best you can. That is all any of us can do. I try every day to be my best and do my best. Learning as we Grow

(fun fact-it took me 3 days to write this because, ya know, who has time to keep up with a blog when every day looks like this)

Following our 6 weeks on 1 week off schedule, we are just finishing up our first week off since the start of our new year. It was far from a relaxing week off for me but I did get a lot of stuff done. The kids took a break from scheduled plans (except PE and Music 4 days a week) and I did some Fall cleaning, decorating, and clothes swapping. Our first 6 weeks were low key with schooling, 3 days a week. Most of what we did was review and making sure they had certain concepts down before we progressed. We tried out some new websites, signed up for some trials to try some new things, and continued with some website that we love.

Some of these websites include:

www.teachyourmonstertoread.com the kids love to play this

www.education.com we tried the free version and decided we like it enough to buy a 1 year subscription. There are some great resources including worksheets and lesson plans available here

www.teacherspayteachers.com I have printed several worksheets and resources from here. I have bought a couple too, but there are so many free ones!

https://allinonehomeschool.com/ (EasyPeasy) good free resource but we do not care for the reading section at all and we don't do the religious section either.

http://www.k12reader.com/ I am loving this website. I have decided we are using this for our spelling for sure and I am still exploring the site for other resources as well.

Www.abcya.com is a website the kids like to play on

I have several more, but that is what I am coming up with off the top of my head. I use Pinterest and just search google when I am looking for something specific.

So why did I decide to do a 3 day work week for our first 6 weeks (and our last 6 weeks before Summer break as well)? Mainly because school should NOT be a stressful,tiring burden for kids. I am striving to make our home school a fun and low stress environment. Learning takes place all day every day, but we do have a schedule for our structured school times. We do not mimic public school and plan for 6-7 hours of confined desk work. We have a list of things to do in a day and we do it. By making a slow transition from having a few weeks off to a 3 day work week it lets myself and the kids adjust to having sit down school time again. Our school/work and relaxing/play time is all in the same location so we all need a little transitioning time to get into the mindset of learning at home.

Last school year was our first time home schooling so we had a bit of a learning curve, trial and error situation getting into a routine that worked for us. Here is or schedule for this year: 

Monday—Reading, Writing, Math, Spelling, Health & Etiquette, Music

Tuesday—Reading, Writing, Math, Spelling, Spanish, PE

Wednesday—Reading, Writing, Math, Spelling Test, Computer Science, Music

Thursday—Reading, Writing, Math, Spanish, Kid's Choice, PE

Friday—Reading, Science, Social Studies, Art

The goal is to be up and done with breakfast by 8. Then we will do a little exercise routine (for all our benefit) for about 10-15 minutes, say the Pledge of Allegance, and start our learning time by about 8:30 to 9am. We will work until lunch time and hopefully be done for the day so they will just have Music and PE scheduled in the afternoon and then be free for imagination play and chores for the rest of the day. Is this a set in stone schedule....NO! Sometimes someone will need a little extra sleep. We will have an appointment scheduled and only some of the work can be done on the go, or someone is just having a bad day. We can and will be flexible. Starting at 10am, taking breaks after every subject and not getting done until 7 in the evening, or being so interested in what we are studying that we just keep going and explore something from 9am until 9pm. Every situation is adaptable, everyone is entitled to a bad day, and as long as we learn something then it has been a successful day. 

I am feeling pretty confident. Hopefully I will have more time for keeping up with this blog in the future. Thank You for keeping up with us. YAY for HOMESCHOOLING!! I can't wait to LEARN AS WE GROW this year!

I have been an Usborne Books & More Consultant for over a year now. I was researching the idea of Homeschooling my kids when I was introduced to this company. It was like a light bulb...YES I can do this! I can sell these books, use my commission and discounts to purchase these great books and use them to teach my kids. I signed up and a few months later I pulled my kids out of Public School and started Home Schooling. I use Usborne Books on a daily basis. Are Usborne Books the only books I use? Absolutely not. BUT they are GREAT books and you CAN create a full curriculum using them if you wanted. Several books are Internet Linked and Internet Referenced. That means inside these books there are links and scan codes for you to use with your tablet or computer to expand the information that is within the books. Very awesome.

So I wanted to Explain a little more HOW these books can be used. Here is a list of Curricula that have Usborne Books built in. If you are using one of these than the books are already built in and you can purchase the books directly from me to go along with your already created curricula.

If you intend to create your own curriculum and want to use Usborne Books & More to do that I have created lists to help you. You can also browse other books for all age levels by searching with the options on the left side of  My Website. There are over 2,000 titles to choose from so the possibilities are endless!

 PRE-K – Kindergarten Age Range

Here are some suggestions for the Pre-K to Kindergarten level. Please note this is only A FEW suggestions there are still so many more options to choose from, this is to just give you an idea of the possibilities.

Reading/Phonics: My First Reading Library, Wipe Clean Books (Letters Focused ones), Learning Pallette K Reading, First Hundred Words, Lift-the-Flap Word Book, Lift-the-Flap Opposites, Finger Match: Reading Readiness and Pre-K Readiness, Farmyard Tales.

Comprehension: Any story book you can read and ask questions for retention some great ones- A Tale of Two Beasts, Going to School, I’m a Dirty Dinosaur, The What if Monster, Who’s Next, Nibbles,  Dan the Taxi Man, Cow Takes a Bow and Other Tales Farmyard Tales, Classic Stories for Little Children (or any illustrated book)

Writing: any Wipe Clean Books help with pen control, letter tracing, and word writing are available as they grow

Math:  First Dot-to-Dot, Wipe Clean book of numbers and first math, Learning Pallette K Math

Science:  themed Flap Books such as Space, What Makes it Rain, How Deep is the Sea, Body Book, Weather Picture Book Pack

Geography:  Children’s Picture Atlas

Art: I can Draw, My First Color Book, Big Drawing, Coloring Books, Fingerprint Activities

Critical Thinking and Fine Motor Skills: Finger Match Sets, Stickers Books, Fingerprint Activities, Maze Book, All Better all Wipe Clean books help with Fine Motor Skills.

This is a list of all the books mentioned above: Pre-K and Kindergarten List

Browse what would interest your little learner and start there, building upon their skill sets and abilities as they grow.

1ST – 3RD Grade Age Range

Reading and Writing: Phonics Readers (Box set available), Phonics workbooks, Series Fiction- Hey Jack and Billie B, My First Story Writing Book, Illustrated Dictionary, Illustrated Grammar and Punctuation, Palette Sets

Reading Comprehension: Illustrated Books such as Aesop, Amelia Who Could fly, Any Series books, Beginner Books

Math:  Learning Palette sets, Wrap-ups, Mastery Sets,  Illustrated Math Dictionaries; Lift the Flap Times Tables

Science: Beginner Books, Weather and Climate, Planet Earth, See Inside How things Work, 50 Science Things to Make and Do

History and Geography: Who Were the First North Americans, Atlas Book and Sticker book available, Timelines of World History, Exploration and Discovery

Art and Fine Motor Skills: What Shall I Draw, Step-by-Step drawing, Paper Airplanes, Sticker Books

This is a list of all the books mentioned above: 1st-3rd Grade List

Browse what would interest your little learner and start there, building upon their skill sets and abilities as they grow.

4TH – 6TH Grade Age Range

Reading and Writing:  Any Series Fiction; Write Your Own Story or Write Your own Adventure Story; Illustrated Thesaurus, A Year In My Life, Illustrated Dictionary

Literature- Illustrated Myths, Adventure Stories, Illustrated Stories

Math: Wrap-Ups, Illustrated Math Dictionaries, This is Not a Math Book

Science:  Discovery Books (Astronomy, Sharks, Snakes), Encyclopedias, Science Dictionary, Pocket Books, Start to Cook, Survival Skills

History and Geography:  Atlas Books, Ancient World, Second World War, Survival Skills, Wrap-Up States and Capitals

Art and Fine Motor Skills: Classical Music, Famous Paintings Children’s Book of Art, Drawing Books, Activity and Sticker Books

This is a list of all the books mentioned above: 4th-6th Grade List

Browse what would interest your little learner and start there, building upon their skill sets and abilities as they grow.

7TH GRADE+ Age Range

Reading and Writing: Write Your Own Story; Write Your own Adventure Story; Write and Draw Your Own Comics; Illustrated Thesaurus, Series Books, True Stories

Literature: Illustrated Originals; Any Series Fiction; World of Shakespeare; True Stories; Dickens, Shakespeare,

Math: This is Not a Math Book, 99 Math Puzzles, Illustrated Math Dictionary

Science:  Illustrated Science Dictionaries- Biology, Chemistry, Physics

History and Geography: World History, World War books, Medieval World, Romans, Greeks, World Religion,

Art: Famous Paintings, Coloring Books, Language Books (French/Spanish)

This is a list of all the books mentioned above: 7+ Grade List

Browse what would interest your little learner and start there, building upon their skill sets and abilities as they grow.

If you would like more information on these books, Homeschooling with them, or joining my team so you can get these books at discounted prices while making some money to pay for extra things then feel free to contact me and visit my website at:

www.k4213.myubam.com

Schooling As We Grow with Awesome books to help us on our Journey! 

Before making the decision to homeschool I researched for about a year. I looked into private schools, but they were too expensive for us. I made pro and con lists of staying in public school versus schooling at home. Although the pros of home schooling far outweighed the cons for us there are still a couple of things that I don't want my kids to miss out on. Seeing their friends regularly, camaraderie with peers their age, participating in Christmas programs, learning and participating in different physical activities in P.E are just a few things on the cons list. So what if we had the opportunity to home school with all the amazing pros, but we were still able to take advantage of some of the pros of public school as well. Would you take advantage if you had the opportunity? Well we decided to take the jump and try it out!

Our state (Illinois) is a very relaxed state to home school in. Thankfully there are not many rules and regulations in regards to home schooling and school districts are able to decide for themselves if they are willing to work with home school families. Luckily for us our district is willing to work with us. Today I enrolled my two homeschoolers part-time for Music and P.E classes only in our local public school. They will both attend together for 45 minutes a day 4 days a week (one class a day alternating days).

The Best of Both Worlds!

This is not an option for everyone. There are also several opportunities for homeschoolers to come together to create their own events and opportunities such as co-ops, YMCA and other similar facilities as well as church groups and activities. We happen to be in a small community with a practically non existent home school community. The closest co-op is 40-60 minutes away and it just wasn't a practical option for us.

My kids are excited to see their friends regularly. They love music and are eager to learn and explore opportunities in that class. I am also glad they will be able to be active regularly through the Winter months with P.E twice a week.

This will be an interesting situation for our family, but we are all eager to try it and hope it works well.

Schooling as We Grow and loving every minute!

WE ARE BACK...but not quite in full swing! 

After 3 full weeks of complete chaos (a.k.a Summer Break) we are slowly getting back into the swing of things. By slowly I mean we are starting off our first 6 weeks with 3 days of schooling a week. Tuesday through Thursday is our buckle down time. Getting back into the swing of things. Back into a routine. Back into a schedule-- I function much better with a schedule and so does everyone else! If we know what to expect from our day/week there are less melt downs, less fighting, less tantrums, and more fun. Don't get me wrong we do some spontaneous fun too, but the overall structure of our day/week is scheduled and that is what works best for us. 

So for our first day we had some fun and did some traditional fun things that I know will be nice to look back on when they are older.

 After pictures. They sat down and filled in some "About Me" type worksheets. Handwriting practice and a base to compare their progress to at the end of the year. We talked about what they would like to learn and explore so I will be looking into trying lapbooks this year. It's time to research and explore now!

I am currently working on our calendar and schedule. I will update those parts of my blog when I have them done! I had 3 weeks off too ya'll so I will be getting back into the swing of things and nailing down some plans as well.

We are Schooling as We Grow....thank you for joining us/keeping up with us on this journey!!

WooHoo It's Summer Break

But What does that mean for us?

We home school year round, so what does Summer break look like for us? Pretty much the same as everyone elses, but in a smaller dose....wait what?

We have 3 weeks off for Summer Break. July 11th through the 29th. BUT for the past 6 weeks and for the 6 weeks following our break we only school 3 days a week. Also because we run on a 6 week on 1 week off schedule we get more free time during the "school year" that those in a traditional school setting don't get.

What can I say about our homeschool journey so far....it has been AMAZING!! For those just clicking in to this blog I pulled my 6 and 7 year old from public school at the Winter/Christmas break (semester end). So for the entire second semester we have been on our home school journey and we are all so much happier. Less fighting, less struggle, less attitude, more sleeping, more family time, more one on one individualized learning.

We are DEFINITELY moving forward with home school and it works well for us. We have had some strange looks, some lost acquaintances, some snooty comments, and blatant eye rolling lip curling attitude from people but you know what....even that is a good learning experience for us. I saw US because we are all learning together, moving forward together, growing together and I wouldn't have it any other way.

So what does Summer break have in store for us? A water park trip, our first professional ball game, a couple Fairs, camping, swimming, exploring....yep just like everyone else! 

What about vacation? We have a little something in the planning stage, BUT we are waiting until school gets back in session so we don't have to fight the crowds hehe! 

During this siesta for the kids the home school mom role isn't so much on break. Sometime within this 3 weeks off I need to write up our year end reports (for our own record keeping purposes). Do some more research and get a schedule lined up for how we will be starting back up and I plan to get some projects planned out. BUT I can do all that pool side with a nice cool drink in my hand because it's Summer Time Baby!

Loving this journey! Schooling As We Grow!

July 4th, 2016

A Great American Holiday. One known for playing outside, barbecues, fireworks, and fun. This year the 4th fell on a Monday so we did out big party and firework show on the Saturday before. When we woke up on Monday to a rainy dreary day I thought it was the perfect time for a school lesson.

WHAT?! School on a Holiday!
Yep! We did school on a holiday, because it was a good teaching moment.

It didn't take long. There is a plethora or information and ideas on the internet. YouTube video's galore and project out the wazoo.

Here is what I went with, but I tweaked it a little for our use: http://townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/2011/07/02/do_this_for_10_minutes_on_the_fourth_of_july

I set the kids up with a coloring sheet while I read and asked them questions.

Before America was a nation, it was a dream -- a dream shared by many people, from many nations, over many generations.

It began with the Pilgrims in 1620, who fled Europe so that they could be free to practice their religion. It continued through the 17th century, as more and more people arrived in a place that came to be known as the New World. In this new world, where you were from didn't matter; what mattered was where you were headed.

As more and more people settled, they started to see themselves as new people -- Americans.

They felt blessed: The land was spacious. The opportunities limitless.

By 1776, a century and a half after the first Pilgrims landed, this new liberty-loving people was ready to create a new nation.

And on July 4 of that year, they did just that. They pronounced themselves to be free of the rule of the English king. We know this statement as the Declaration of Independence.

Q: Why do we celebrate the Fourth of July?

A: Because the Fourth of July is the birthday of the American people -- the day we chose to become the United States of America, a free nation.

Q: Why was America different from all other countries?

A: Because in 1776, all countries were based on nationality, religion, ethnicity or geography. But America was created on the basis of a set of ideas. This is still true today.

Q: What are those ideas?

A: Three ideas summarize what America is all about. They are engraved on every American coin. They are "Liberty," "In God We Trust" and "E Pluribus Unum."

No. 1: "Liberty" means that we are free to pursue our dreams and to go as far in life as hard work and good luck will take us.

No. 2: "In God We Trust" means that America was founded on the belief that our rights and liberties have been granted to us by the Creator. Therefore they cannot be taken away by people.

No. 3: "E Pluribus Unum" is a Latin phrase meaning "From Many, One." Unlike other countries, America is composed of people of every religious, racial, ethnic, cultural and national origin -- and regards every one of them as equally American. Therefore, "out of many (people we become) one" -- Americans.

We Then stood together and said the Pledge Of Allegiance to our flag: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

We then talked about or flag. What it looked like in the beginning and what it looks like now and looked at several pictures on-line.
 Its Symbols

The stripes represent the 13 original colonies.

The 50 stars represent the number of states.

The colors of the flag have meaning as well:

• Red symbolizes Hardiness and Valor.
• White symbolizes Purity and Innocence.
• Blue represents Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice.

They each finger painted their own flags and after they were dry we hung them on the wall in our dining room...and will stay there for a while.

They were so eager to learn and soaked up all the knowledge they could. After doing the flag project we listed to the Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America.

Then we went out to celebrate and play in our own ways Schooling As We Grow!