There are two things I really love about homeschooling.  First, I love that I'm learning right along with my kids every single day.  For example, I realized this past week that I am left brained and a very visual learner.  I wish I had known this years ago!  I also realized that there are no words in the English language that end with a "J".  Go ahead. Go look. If you find it, it isn't English.  Second, I love that I can switch up our homeschooling plan at any point.  If something isn't working, we just change it.  If I don't like a curriculum, I find a new one. If the schedule isn't working, I change that, too.  If formal learning just isn't going to happen on a particular day, I just make changes and go with it. It's a wonderful thing! And so -- we're changing.  Six weeks in and I'm switching it all up.  As much as I love the curriculum we were using,  it just isn't enough for Ella and it's way too much for me! I need more guidance and she needs more of a challenge. … [Read more...]

This is our 4th week of homeschooling and we spent the week reviewing.  I was kind of nervous that we wouldn't have anything to DO this week, but after over scheduling weeks 2 and 3, we had plenty to catch up on.  But just in case there wasn't enough to do -- we went to the pool Monday morning and called it P.E.  That's the beauty of homeschool! Ella has been asking to learn to knit and a friend of mine posted a great website for teaching young children to knit.  I'm going to add this  project in to our homeschool time next week. We're going to start by making our own needles!   … [Read more...]

Today is the last day of our third week of homeschooling and it was a rough one.   I got frustrated a few times when Ella didn't want to do her schoolwork, but later (or earlier) in the day she would start asking for her "homework". Now that I have somewhat gotten a handle on planning, I decided that we needed a system for getting the lessons from my planner in to Ella's hands.  Right now,  I have piles taking over my counter -- all neatly stacked and ready to go until Ella decides to start sorting through them looking for something to do!  I'm debating between a folder system, where I would put her work for the day in the folder and she would move it to a "finished folder" when it's done, or a tray/basket system.  I'm going to Los Angeles next weekend for a knitting conference (WOOT!) and hopefully I'll have time to stop at IKEA to peruse.   This week we followed week 3 of the 4 year ABC Jesus Loves Me Curriculum.  We studied the letter H and the number 4.  My … [Read more...]

This week was our first official week of our "unofficial" homeschool.  I decided to start this year with a pre-school program with Ella, who is 5.  Although she is technically old enough for Kindergarten (at least by the state's standards), she has a summer birthday and I'd rather she graduate from high school at 18 and not 17. So I'm giving myself this year to learn the ropes of homeschooling. I gotta tell you, by Monday morning at 9 AM, I was ready to throw in the towel.  Ella was so excited she wanted to do everything I had planned!  For the week! And little brother was not happy that his playmate was otherwise occupied (even though I had activities for him to do) so he sat on the floor crying.  It was utter chaos and there were only two of them. But after thinking and talking with my sister Monday evening, I realized that Ella needs hands on activities and lots of them.  So Tuesday went better. I tossed the coloring pages because she really hates coloring, … [Read more...]

Ever since Ella was old enough to show an interest in books, I've been on a hunt for a good "little kid" Bible.  It's hard to balance good illustration and short stories with authentic translation.   I finally realized that up until about age 4, great illustration was most important to hold their interest.  At about 4 years, Ella was able to interact more with the Bible story. This summer we started using this devotional: I really like it.  It has gorgeous illustrations.  The devotions are short and sweet and offer both a scripture verse and a short prayer.   Ella makes sure we read one devotion every night. But for the school year, I wanted an actual Bible to use with our lessons.  I looked at several on-line, but when I found My First Hands On Bible, I knew it was the one.  I had seen a version for older children and had filed it away to get "someday" so I was really excited to see a new "little kid" version. Unlike most kids Bibles this one does not use … [Read more...]

One of my baby steps this school year is to get the kids and I on a daily schedule.  For the past five years, we've mostly just winged it during the day.  Thursday is laundry day.  Ella had gymnastics on Tuesdays last Spring, to which grandma graciously taxied her.  And we always (mostly) have breakfast by 8 AM and lunch between 11 and noon.  What happened in between all that was whatever I decided on the spur of the moment.  But this year I want to provide a little more structure hoping that I will gain some sanity! In order to gain some structure, I decided a chore chart or two is a must.  A chore chart, that is, for me.  I'm working on some chore cards for the kids, too, but mostly Mama needs some organization.  I spent a lot of time perusing the internet for some ideas. I found this cleaning chart at Kamley Lane (she has some other free printables, too!).  I'll just use the bigger categories (bathrooms, vacuum, kitchen, etc).  I liked the pretty background and hey, … [Read more...]