Hello Friends!
What a week this has been and this next week is busier than that! I am trying to stay on top of it all and not get overwhelmed! Lots of stuff going on!
I have got a lot of questions lately from friends and family about homeschooling, so I just thought I would sit here and answer a few things while I am feeling chatty! If you just want to see the menu for this week, go ahead and scroll to the bottom for that.
I never really thought about homeschool until Abbey was about 3 years old. I wanted to homeschool her starting in Pre-K, but Big Daddy was against it, he wanted her to go to school. When I found out a very close friend of our family was the Kindergarten teacher a the school closest to us I felt at peace with her going. I knew she would be fine. And she was! And she still talks about the bond she has(to this day) with Mrs. Cristy, and things she learned, friendships she made, etc..
Then came 1st grade, Abbey was to have Travis's 1st grade teacher, he really wanted her to have her so that was no question there she would still go. She loved Ms. Sherri just as much as he did and made more friends and had a fun year. Moving on to 2nd grade, while we loved the teacher, and Abbey had lots of fun, this was the year we started looking in to homeschooling as an option for us.(Big Daddy still wasn't completely on board) By the end of 3rd grade it was decided, and if I had known that I could have pulled her earlier in the year I would have! We had her signed up to homeschool August 2013.
Oliver has never been to public school. (Although he has mentioned it a few times)
Homeschooling has been wonderful for our family. When Abbey was in school before she would have to get up around 6:30 or so, and every morning would be a fight(we aren't morning people) In the afternoons when I would get her back she would be hungry, grumpy, tired. We would do school work, and then get maybe an hour with her before it was bath and bedtime. I'm glad to not have to do that with Oliver.
The freedom that comes with homeschooling is amazing, not living around public school schedule is amazing, having family time all the time is amazing. In some ways homeschooling definitely changed our lives!
Recently, I changed my schedule so I can be home 4-5 days a week again and it is working out so much better for our family.
So like I mentioned in my last post we don't really have a weekend. We usually take Sunday and Wednesday off. This just means I am at work and they are home with Daddy. They don't crack open all of their book work, but they both still read their books,watch documentaries(or Magic School Bus or Brain Games, etc) play games together, draw and color, help Daddy with chores, sometimes cook dinner for Mom, etc.. Still lots of life learning even if the workbooks aren't out!
Since we do not take all of June-August off we can take more time off in other areas. So the plan is to have days off in October and then we will "take off" from the week of Thanksgiving until New Years.(Taking the days we didn't use in the Summer) Now we absolutely will not be laying around and being lazy that whole time, although I do admit there will be days of that too) Even though I say we will be off, I just mean that we will have a very light load during those times. We will still be doing Math most days because my kids do not do well taking weeks at a time off from Math. We will also be working on our Holidays Around the World Unit Study, making Holiday Crafts and Cooking, watching documentaries, etc... That time of the year is the favorite for my whole family which is why we decided to adjust our schedule accordingly.
We will also take a few days here and there in the Spring and in May/June as well.
I want people to see the other side of homeschooling. We are(obviously) not homeschooling for religious reasons. They are not locked in a room all day. We are not letting our kids lay around and play video games all the time! But they are also not tied down to a desk all day. Both of the kids can get their bookwork done in about 2-3 hours which leaves time for Art,Computer, playing outside, running errands with parents or Papaw, help with chores, going fun places, spending time with friends, etc.. And they do still get to interact with other kids and get "socialized"(I hate that word now) Heck, we just had a couple of our favorite girls over for a sleepover and I had them bring their school work with them. They didn't mind, they did their work and then they all did Art together, cooked, dyed hair, etc...
My kid gets more focused social time with people now then when she was in public school.There is usually something going on each week. For example these last few weeks Abbey volunteered at the Fair, she also had 4-H.
And this weeks schedule looks like this:
Both kids are going to a Historical Society picnic with my parents.
We are going to a Dessert Social(a get to know you) picnic with our Homeschool group
Possibly P.E. class and a Fine Arts class
Junior Master Gardeners
Both kids have Dr Appointments
Now obviously not every week looks like that, but as you can see they will be interacting with many different people through out all of that. Some their age, most not, and I like it that way!
Right now Oliver's base work is:
Handwriting
Math review work before we step in to a new 2nd grade curriculum.(Can't wait until next year when he can move in to 3rd Grade Teaching Textbooks!)
Grammar and Spelling
Reading and Reading Comprehension
Social Studies (which at this level is basically communities, our country, continents, family, etc...)
Daily Geography
Science- We are loving reading MANY Magic School Bus books, watching the shows, and doing experiments.
We add in lots of books, documentaries, experiments, Art,Field Trips, extra classes, etc...
Right now Abbey's base work is:
Cursive Writing
Math
Grammar and Vocabulary(Wordly Wise)
History
Science
Geography
Reading
Typing
And same as above we add in read-alouds, documentaries, experiments, Art, Music, Field Trips, extra Classes such as 4-H., P.E., JMG etc...
Obviously, this is not all I have to say about that subject, I could keep going on about how much we love it, the benefits we have, etc...
If you have questions about homeschooling I can help you the best I can or I can get answers from other seasoned homeschool Moms for you.
I understand that it is not for everyone, but like I said above it's what works for our family!
Now on to the Menu! Crazy busy week, not even sure we will be home for some meals so I am just throwing out what I have down and I will fill in with what I have on hand as we go.
Breakfast:
Shake
Smoothies
Giant Breakfast Cookies
Cereal
Eggs and Toast
Lunch:
Eat Out
Salad
Sandwiches
Leftovers
Dinner:
Sweet Potato Taco Foil Dinner with Corn on the Cob (Carry Over)
Low Country Bake (using my grill recipe and just baking it on a sheet pan in the oven!)
Eat Out
Turkey Kielbasa, Taters, and Kraut in the Crock pot with green beans
Mississippi Chicken with Cauliflower Rice
Chicken Sausage with Veggies
Hope you all have a great week!
