Being Fluid & Random Thoughts

The most important thing I have learned in our days is to be fluid, it seems there is always something changing the flow of our day but we don't let it ruin our day. Today our Dentist Office called and asked if I could bring all of our Kiddos in to have their teeth cleaned, they had a cancellation and they could get all three kids in if we could be there in a little over an hour, I thought for a second and then thought heck ya lets do it, we have the time and they have the time so why not! That task is one of my least favorite in the whole wide world and now it is done for six months. As we were driving earlier Hallee was noticing all the EVERGREENS or as she calls them FOREVER GREEN trees, it is always fun to see her learning and taking in the world. Hunter asked me where I was on September 11, 2001, I vaguely remember the details of that day because my stroke took alot of memories or pieces of memories, I tried as detailed as I could to tell him what I could remember, but what I do remember is that it was as I described to him almost as if the world stood still for just a bit, even though I know it didn't and it was a day of disaster! There is a Kid, I say kid because he was only in his 20s so to me he is a kid, anyways he asked me why I always seem so happy! I told him that I'm not always happy but I do try to face life optimistically. He looked at me as if I was speaking a foreign language. So I just said "Listen, When You Sit In A Hospital For 7 Days After You Have Had A Stroke Not Knowing If You Are Gonna Live Or Die, You Live Each Day As If It Is Your Last" He still looked puzzled.....No one gets it unless they have had a near death experience, it really isn't worth trying to explain. Trust me I have days where my mind is as negative as everyone else but then the positive thoughts commence and onward and upward we go. I live with one of the most negative people I know, my Husband is a natural doom and gloom person, trust me it wears on a person, you just have to stay positive always as best you can, trust me it can always always always always always be worse!! Keep Calm & Mom On!

Keep Calm And Mom On

Homeschooling asks a lot of us, it asks me to be more organized, patient and creative. It asks me to teach on days like today when I have a migraine and I am tired or stressed.

We spent the first few weeks of September on break this will be an annual time off with our county fair and Labor Day holiday.  It is a natural time to break when everyone else is headed back to the grind of school and work.

Now we are back at it, weather is cooling, leaves are changing, soccer has started, dance is back in session.  It feels like lots of new beginnings.

I've been revitalized with some curriculum changes, I am not what I would have thought I would be as a homeschool teacher.  I haven't planned out our entire school year, which I would have leaned toward or so I thought.  I have became more of an adaptable free flowing more fluid schedule, like yesterday when Hayden asked to do more math because what he did the say before was so fun, thus he just did more math :)

We are having fun with new books by scholastic called Word Ladders, I haven't purchased much scholastic stuff but these are great. A brain teaser! Always something fun and new if you are adaptable to change and not stuck on certain ideals.

Keep Calm & Mom On

What Would I Tell Myself About Homeschooling

A Letter To Me: You will have doubts and lots of them and they will sneak in and out of your mind at many different times. Your philosophies will change many times, don't be afraid just go with it. You will need support, it won't always be there, you will find it in the oddest places with people and things you didn't expect. Education for the masses (AKA by grade level) will fall away so you can truelly see your individual child. READING, out-loud can help more than you know, we have done a lot and started small with The Magic Treehouse books in order to give Us a plan. You will love homeschooling more than you could ever have imagined, knowing that beyond any quantifiable education there's a closeness, connection and the gift of time to explore the wild wonderful world to explore. Housework equals who cares, it will get done when it gets done and will always be there. Your whole house will become a classroom inside and out, you don't need desks, throw those out or sell them but basically forget it, learning happens everywhere It is annoying, kids in brick and mortar schools don't get asked to solve equations out of the blue, but people will ask your kids to prove themselves, Hmmmmm Rrrrrrr this never gets less annoying. Be flexible with everything, school can start at 8am or Noon or Midnight, it can be 3, 4, or 5 days a week, year round or not, any way you do it, it is OK! If a curriculum isn't working drop it and fast, find something different don't waste time with something that isn't working. And last but not least, Have Fun, Don't Stress! PEACE OUT LOVES

Facing An Overwhelming Week

Today is day one of what could be an overwhelming week and even facing it positively I will surely be happy to see the end of it.

Monday equals extra kids, school, dance classes, soccer practice, shooting practice and soccer board meeting. Dinner!? In between there somewhere!

Sunday we decided to unplug and take our Kiddos to the movies, we saw Bears, & Moms Night Out, I was excited for both, Moms Night Out being created by a homeschooler was especially exciting, Kiddos could not quit talking about Bears, our local theater was not showing either movie, such a bummer so we drove to a theater 1.5 hours away, it was well worth the trip.  Our middle Son had been counting down the days to Bears release and was super bummed when it wasn't going to be shown in town.

With taking this half a day to ourselves I had no idea it would create drama with a certain family member, even though I am the Mother, Mother's Day has yet to be about me, I always do what everyone else wants to do or accommodate others.  I find it interesting how once people with children don't have little ones at home and aren't going 24/7 they forget what it was like and suddenly think you also have lots of free time, I mean really, so fricking irritating and people who don't have kids also don't have a clue.  I am so Thankful My Mama actually gets it and remembers.

I wanna say, Hey grab a cup of coffee, let me just show you on this here calendar just what minute in 2024 I have free!

Our Daughter is having her tonsils removed Wednesday the 14th, it is a routine surgery but with her because hers on a scale of 1-4 are a 4+ need to be done like yesterday, she is choking on food and sometimes feels like her throat is closing up.  I am so ready for her to have the surgery, this also takes place out of town. Wish they would let me know now what time surgery is but unfortunately we won't know until the day before :/

Not so conveniently before her much needed surgery was scheduled I had scheduled our Boys for their yearly homeschoolers testing, so Thursday the 15th out of town again for that all day event.

There isn't one free night this week at all, once we catch our breath from those two days, it is the weekend of our local Relay For Life event and we get Fair Pigs Woo Hoo, Relay is going to depend on how Hallee is doing, I would love to invest more time, but Kiddos come first for me and basically there are only so many hours in a day, only so thin one can stretch themselves and frankly life is short.

~MOMMY ON MY FRIENDS~

Better Weather

As the weather gets better, we have been taking our studies outside, enjoying the sunshine.  Maybe this summer as we continue schooling year round we will find some amazing places to study outside of our own home and yard.

Once my Daughter heals from surgery next week, I want to plan some exploring adventures.

Ghost Towns in our area, hikes, fossil digging etc.

The possibilities are limitless!

:)

Spring Break

Was so nice to take a couple weeks with my Kiddos for Spring Break! We ended with a four day camping trip, weather was awesome & both boys filled their turkey tags.

I am Loving our History, The Story Of The World By Bauer, it is especially fun when it includes an art, writing or science element.  Always nice when studies intersect!

Grammar, was going well, now I'm not clicking with it so much, keeping an eye out for something different, then again maybe it is just me!

Loving Life!

Settling Into A Routine

We have settled into our 4  day school week, we were doing Tuesday through Friday, then work schedules changed and we are schooling with books Monday through Thursday, then Friday will be our Field Trip day when one is planned and I foresee some camping trips as the weather gets better.

I am liking the 4 Day schedule with Spelling Workout! Three days of studying spelling words then test on the fourth day.

A couple exciting things this week, both boys are working with fact family number sentences but at their own appropriate age levels, Hayden was excited to see his bro does that stuff too.

Hallee was amazing to watch this week, we were working on math, I explained to her the three answer choices and she either forgot what I said or wasn't quite listening, I was also working with Hayden so while I was busy helping him, Hallee instead of waiting for me reasoned through what the answer would be by looking at the previous problem, I love to see them problem solving on their own. So Exciting!

All three Kids show really strong math skills, Love to see that!

Fun Times!

Where Do You Study!?

Does your family study at a set of desks, the kitchen table or where!? We get lessons at our kitchen table as a group and if they are working independently I let them studying anywhere that they are comfortable, couch, floor, bed, etc. What are your thoughts!

Weekend

We are facing a four day weekend, so exciting, tomorrow will be an almost all day celebration of Valentine`s Day, and then hopefully a relaxing weekend, with President`s Day Studies on Monday!

Need to start adding some of our more comical times on here to make our blog more exciting!

Happy Valentine`s Day Everyone

Art

My Mom bought all three Kiddos a 9x6 sketch book so what to do with them came to mind, before they get randomly tossed into their rooms, so today we started with pick any subject you want and any medium you prefer! I had some excited Kids!

When we do art another day we will randomly pick a subject and at the end of the year they will have a book full of their drawings!

Happy Thursday Everyone!

Resouces & Schedules

We are into the groove per say of our 4 day school week, with 5th day for adventure, appointments, field trips and catch up!

Stumbled upon some resources www.watchmehomeschool.com has a compilation of free online reading assessments for those interested!

Enjoyed reading some posts at another site www.theunlikelyhomeschool.com

Keeping the momentum and excitement going, most of our curriculum has arrived, we are working with, Saxon math for all 3 kids and The Story Of The World for history/geography, Spelling Workout for the older boys, First Language Lessons for my younger two and Rod & Staff grammar/writing for my older Son, I am impressed thus far with what we chose! Mind Benders have been a fun addition to our curriculum also!

All 3 Kiddos started guitar lessons together last week, besides the now need for three guitars stressing me out a bit I am excited and they seemed to enjoy it, looking forward to watching them grow this new skill!

Not Missing Homework

Loving our new curriculum layout, flowing more naturally, Happy Kiddos & Mama!

I am sad for for all our friends doing the nightly homework! I Love that after school is our time, time for family and play! Kids Getting To Be Kids!

Life Is Good

Saxon

I am using Saxon math for all three Kiddos, so far I have been very impressed with the lessons, layout and thoroughness!

They seem to enjoy the lessons also, which is an integral part of learning!

Just received our Mona Brookes Art Books, Super Excited to teach the Monart Method of art!

Drawing With Children
Drawing For Older Children & Teens

Exciting Times Ahead!

Happy Friday

The Switch

Several months ago we started homeschooling using WAVA K12, but once we delved into the routine I realized it didn't have the freedom to add in things I wanted to study like Kennedy, MLK, Presidents Days, it was too much public school in my home, so when we went on Christmas Break we/I went rouge and began pouring over more books and hand picking my curriculum based on each of my Kiddos learning styles, of which I realized based on a short assessment I gave to them, even though I knew in my mind what their styles were, proof is good, because as many of my fellow homeschooling know we fall under more scrutiny, having to prove what our kids know!

Curriculum is arriving now and I am seeing the learning & comprehending that I had been longing for as we implement it!

I also acquired my WA State Homeschool Certification, I don't take my new roll lightly, I want to do things by the book. We as homeschoolers have so many freedoms that we received when the laws were created by previous homeschooling. We need to continue to fight to keep them, thus my reasoning for certification and filing our Declaration Of Intent!

Have A Great Day All!

Welcome

A blog to share all about our homeschooling adventures, information for other families! To assist and support one another along the way!

Looking forward to sharing!

Take Care