Still Learning Lessons

Oh My GOODNESS!! What a week+, we have had! It seems like Team Drennan is taking care of their issues within the span of a couple of months. At least that is what I am telling myself. LOL My favorite saying lately is, "A girl can dream, can't she!!" 

Anyway, school is getting done but not as quickly as I had planned. Honestly, our schedule had been so disrupted that I only plan ONE (1) day at a time now.  Yep! That's right. The visions of weeks of lesson planned are no longer dancing in my head. I am now a realist plus, I was really wearing out my eraser and figured this was a much better use of my time and energy to just stop the madness.

Friday week, our AC went out and it took them until Tues morning to get it working. Right after that resolved itself (or was repaired), the septic system took a dive so there was that issue to deal with. (No description needed!) Fortunately, the Lord blessed us and the repairs to both systems were minor in the scheme of things and didn't cost near as much as we expected. Factor in the fact that, Kiddo had his bi-annual cleaning AND I had to make an emergency trip to the eye doctor because my new contacts didn't agree with me AND Kiddo had a follow up appointment with his asthma/allergy doctor AND our Crystal Springs Preserve monthly trip fell on this week AND Awana started at our church AND swim practice times kept changing AND Kiddo had to put in a 2 mile run before he ran his first cross country meet this past Saturday.  WHEW!! I'm exhausted just writing all of that! 

Nevertheless, school was done and lessons were learned. Some of it was purely doing math in the car by me quizzing him and going over history lessons by having him re-tell me stories and "clarify" things I couldn't exactly remember. He loves to think he's smarter than me! To be honest, many times he is and I am blown away by the amount he retains. I kick myself every time he does this, because half the time I am not even sure he is paying attention and then BAM!!, he shows me that he was paying attention! 

To be fair, with the exception of the household issues and doctors' appointments, the rest was pretty fun! I am thankful that I have allowed us the grace and simmered down and not stressed.....well not as much as I used to.... about getting everything on MY list done. 

Kiddo impressed me and showed so much fortitude with his first cross country meet this past Saturday. We got up at O'dark Thirty to be at the event by 630am. He ran at 9 against Middle school JV and V kids from all over the state.  He did great!! He finished and had a huge smile on his face when he saw his Grandma, cousins, Mom, Dad and his coach on the sidelines cheering him on! I was (am still am) very proud of him. This after only ONE (1) month of training. This from a kid that for all intents and purposes is perfectly happy sitting on the couch playing video games. He showed me that it's okay to push him because he will rise to the challenge. Not only will he rise but he actually likes it. Not to mention the fact, that seeing his confidence increase along with his physical endurance brings tears to this momma's eyes.

So, as a family we have persevered and pray that we get a break for a little while. But at least we know that "we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us." (emphasis mine - Phillipians 4:13). 

I also have been reminded that Kiddo is capable of so much more than he lets on that he can do. I am going to try and challenge him more with my expectations of his work and the things we do at our humble learning environment.  

That's it kiddies -- that's how this momma homeschools this week!! (Again, just taking it a day at a time and trying to be FLEXIBLE!)

An Internal Struggle

TGIF!!! TGIF!!! This week seems like it has gone on forever and that is no reflection on the homeschool part of our life. I have to keep reminding myself that "flexibility" is my mantra for this year. The problem is that "OCD-compulsive-list-making-rule following" side of me!! SHE needs to understand that we need to be ready to change on a dime. Some weeks are easier at this than others and I can keep her happily at bay when it all goes according to plan. But the past couple of weeks, SHE has been none-to-happy with me and my new love affair with my eraser.

Honestly, I have the hardest time not letting things go. I stress about getting it all done!! I stress about not meeting expectations. The problem with this last one is that I haven't been able to determine who's expectations I am not meeting!! My self-imposed LEGALISM is killing me. LOL

I have had to adjust many of the days of work ahead for us to compensate for Kiddo's activities. This is the first year he has been excited about any type of sport. To compound things, he has picked two that he loves (Cross Country and Swimming) that are in the same time of year and currently meet on the same days for practice. The Principal (aka Hubby) and I have never pushed him to stay in a sport or activity once he has tried it to determine if he will like it. These two sports, he relishes. We have seen an improvement in his confidence and his overall ability to focus. One of our reasons for homeschooling was to allow him to stretch his wings and try things he would not otherwise be able to do if he attended brick and mortar schools. Basically, use the time we have together to learn, experience new things and to grow!

A brief aside for a little momma brag: His swim coach told me yesterday that Kiddo was a pleasure to coach because he was eager to learn, responded well to coaching and was focused on improving his form. WOW!! My first response was, "I am so proud" and immediately after, I thought --"do you want to come home and go over math with him too?" Of course, I didn't say anything out loud yet, I thanked him for his kind words and explained we were very proud of him as well.

If I could only find a way to motivate Kiddo like that! I know it's because he's passionate about the sport and he also thinks it's a lot of fun. I am trying to find a way to work that type of approach into sometimes boring subjects. For instance, I must admit I was never a fan of math and that has not changed in my many years around the Sun. Kiddo likes math but struggles with math facts and memorization. He totally gets the complex functions and processes.  Half the time, he teaches me how to do something. We make a good team because I know the math facts and he knows the processes. Unfortunately for him, we can't always do the work together!

I can see it now.......(cue screen fade and dream sequence music here). Kiddo is at his desk at work and the boss needs a report ASAP. Kiddo and I are literally joined at the hip while he works on one part and I work on the other to complete the best doggone report his boss has ever received. Actually, this report will be the report in which all other reports are judged by... UHmmmmmm.. Back to reality here Ms. Paula. A girl can dream, can't she?? Who am I  kidding? I can't even get him to hug or kiss me goodbye in public! I highly doubt he's going to let me go to work with him. LOL  (cue bubble burst and insert reality).

Anyway, what I am basically rambling on about is that we made it another week. We completed the assigned work. Kiddo is actually learning through all the flexibility. He is learning key skills and wonderful character traits in his swimming and cross country. We now have to work on ME!

The "only" problem I have is truly letting it all go and allowing all my personalities (yes, I am talking to you Ms. Compulsive) to relax and just go with it. After all, he's not going to be young forever and I often fail to acknowledge the merits of the education he is receiving outside of math worksheets and lapbooks!

That is honestly how this mom is homeschooling this week! Check back next time and it could be all different.

I'm off to chant my mantra "FLEXIBILITY," "FLEXIBILITY," "FLEXIBILITY..........."

Do I have any hair left?

We are in the thick of the homeschool process and we are ramped up and should be ready to go. Life, however, continues to throw kinks in my plans.

Kiddo really enjoyed his first day at his STEM class on Thursday so that was a "no plan" day for me. I had planned to get some work done on Friday but instead lessons plans were shifted again. (See! That eraser is already getting a workout!! )We've had some health issues at our little abode the last couple of months. Thanks to great insurance and wonderful doctors that want to find out what is wrong with Hubby, scheduling his needs has taken top priority. 

Friday, Kiddo and I changed our writing assignment to list making then combined that with a lesson in economics by visiting our local store to pick up items that we needed for the weekend to help the Principal feel better.  Real-life math lessons came into play with calculating if we were getting the best value when looking at sizes and brands. Later, we continued the science and math aspect of our day with cooking. We were able to utilize measurements, cause effect and time management.  I feel better being able to rationalize it that way!

We did get a little "book learning" in during the day but it was limited and we were really distracted with all that we had going on. 

Monday came and Kiddo went off to a friend's for the day so I could tend to the Principal and take him to some doctor's appointments. I sent Kiddo off with some work that was to be completed. Once he came home, he advised me he only completed one page because he thought it was just busy work!!

Well, that didn't sit too well with me. Kiddo learned a hard lesson today because not only did he have to do yesterday's work that he incorrectly deemed as "busy work" but he also had a full load of work today as well. 

Fortunately, all looks well with the Principal but I discussed with Kiddo today that at almost 11 years old, he is expected to work independently at times. I explained how we work as a team but I can't be there all the time to make sure he gets his work done. 

I know it was a little extreme to have him do everything today and we missed our weekly park day with our homeschool group as a result. I must admit, I didn't intentionally miss park day -- I truly forgot about it because I neglected to put in on my planning calendar. YIKES! I need those park days just as much as he does.  

He did get a lesson in Civics today as we voted in our local Primary! I am glad that he is interested in the democratic process. So, I am putting this one in the "WIN" column for today.

He and I agreed that he will be more focused on getting his work done and  he realized that the more he goofs off, the more work he will have to do in the end. He is going to start using a daily checklist that we created together to make sure he gets his work done. We agreed that there will be days that we don't do it all and are not expected to do it all but at least by looking at the chart, he knows to check to make sure.

At this point, I am just trying to get both of us back in the routine of doing school but allowing flexibility to take scheduled, as well as unscheduled, breaks. 

He and I differ on our views of education. I loved school and would have devoted my life to being a professional student if I could have found a way to make a decent living at it. LOL  He, on the other hand, is very laid back and doesn't see the need to "dig deep" and go beyond what is expected. 

It's been one of those days in which I try to remember what it was like when he went to school for the entire day. All I can remember is, how much I missed him! I realize that even on these rough days, I am still called to travel this homeschool journey. That's what I hold onto when I start getting frustrated with him. It's the little things that get me through.

That's how this momma homeschools and today it is all about transparency.

Love my eraser!

Today, I am thankful for my eraser.  That may sound crazy but for a list-making, compulsive Type-A, rule-follower like me, this is HUGE!  One of the many lessons I learned over the past three years on this homeschool ride, is to use pencil when making my lessons plans. YEP! You read that right -- it's a wonderful piece of advice that has saved me hours of "itchy teeth" (my description for something that really bothers me).  ANYWAY...... Today was a day that I had penciled in quite a few activities and nothing went according to plan.

To start, my kiddo had cross country practice at 7am and it lasted until 830am. After we arrived at home, we had breakfast  and then it was off to the dentist for his 6 month check up.  Our Principal (aka Dad) had a couple of doctor appointments today but had time to go with us to lunch. So, we took him up on his invite and trudged across town to our local Mellow Mushroom to eat at 1974 prices. TODAY only!! Woo hoo! I love a good bargain.

Once we finally got home, all of us were too tired to start school. Kiddo did make it to the school room and completed his required 30 minutes of vision therapy exercises. During that time, I just moved all the activities I had planned to Friday and conveniently erased it from today!!!

That's what I love about this freedom I have allowed for myself.  FLEXIBILITY, FAMILY, FUN and FREEDOM and of course there is learning through life lessons in there too!

Tomorrow is another day and Kiddo will go to his morning STEM classes. I am sure this will not be the last time I get to use my little pink friend during our school year.

I'm not saying this is the right way to do things, but this is how this momma homeschools!

We're Back......sort of....

We started almost 2 weeks ago but I have been lax in taking the obligatory beginning of the year photo or even posting about our return to our home classroom complete with new books, papers, pencils and all the normal "school" flair.  My original intent was that we would school through the summer so there would be no actual "First Day of School," rather "a constant progression of learning with frequent breaks" was more my plan. But I should have learned by now in my many years of revolving around on planet Earth -- Paula doesn't always get her way.

I digress and shift back a couple of month. It started on Saturday morning April 19th when I received a frantic early morning text then a phone call from my mother. My brother was in ICU after emergency brain surgery and was clinging to life on a ventilator. She had suffered through the wee hours of the morning without calling because she didn't want to bother me. OY VEY!!! Anyway, the world shifted upside down and we can began a very hectic ride on a very unpleasant roller coaster.

Suffice it to say, I basically moved to the hospital located 45 minutes away to wait with my mother around the clock until we got some direction from the doctors. During that time we prayed and waited. All the while, schooling stopped for us and my kiddo was shipped off to wonderful families that were willing to take him into their homes while hubby and I held vigil with my family. Two weeks passed on with this ordeal and my brother was deemed to have no brain activity. He never regained consciousness and we had to honor his advanced directive and remove him from life support. SIGH!!!  As very blessed side note, he was an organ donor and his gift saved the lives of three people.

The following weeks were spent planning a funeral, dealing with grieving, caring for his minor children and establishing some sense of normalcy in our lives. As a result of his death, his minor children were placed into the custody of my mother. In order to help her out, we took my nephew with us for a month. Not that we were in the mood or frame of mind to school, but it was very hard to attempt to school with my nephew here. He attends public school and in his mind, he was on vacation and also in a period of mourning.  Rightfully so! Plus, none of us had the emotional energy to "buckle down." So, we enjoyed ourselves and tried to make him as happy as possible with the passing of his dad.

A couple of weeks later, hubby came down with something and to this day he is seeing doctor after doctor to try and figure it out. So, here we are!! April came in like a LION and kept roaring all through the summer and it still purring pretty loudly in August.

I must say that we have been doing a pretty good job of getting some school work done and my star pupil has stepped up this year. Hard to believe he is in the 5th grade. It is amazing how independent he can be when I get out of the way!!

I tested him all the first week using Hewitt Homeschooling PASS testing to give me a benchmark. The second week (last week), we started our curriculum but I haven't added everything in just yet. We are taking BIG baby steps (how's that for an oxymoron?) and biting off big pieces but not shoveling in the whole thing.

Here's the line up for us this year:

• My Father's World - Rome to Reformation
• Math U See
• IEW - Writing
• Winston Grammar (which he enjoys  -- really, he loves to do this program)
• Phonetic Zoo
• Rosetta Stone (Spanish)
• Handwriting without Tears (general cursive review)
• SKrafty - Minecraft Classes
• STEM classes weekly with our homeschool group 
• Cross Country Team
• Stroke School in preparation for the swim team

I am sure I am forgetting something and you know what? -- That's okay!! I've had a lot on my plate and it's completely understandable. I am giving myself permission to just roll with it this year and take it literally one day at a time! I know God is Good - all the time -- All the time -- God is Good!! 

Hope everyone has a blessed school year!! 

Taking it a day at a time,

Paula

This and that

Kiddo has been doing a great job of getting his work done lately. I "borrowed" a friend's daily checklist (with her permission) and tweaked it to show Kiddo what he has to get done each day. He is in charge of marking off what has been completed and it is up to him to check with me to see if there is anything to do in each of the categories.

It's been nice to have him take some ownership and I think it motivates him to mark things off and see his list shrinking. Ooppss! I may have passed that list making gene down to him!!

We are scaling down as we will be integrating school when we go over the river and through the woods to grandma's house for Thanksgiving. We are making a couple of overnight stops there and back to historic areas of the country. Kiddo is excited because he will get to visit forts and complete work to earn Jr Ranger Badges at the national parks! He is so excited, I may have to develop patches for Math,  Writing, etc.

That's the beauty of homeschooling in that everywhere and everything is a school room. In some cases, like our upcoming trip, it's easier and more defined as an educational experience. But, remember a trip to the grocery store can be just as informative or taking them to shop when they have to spend their own money is an even better "life lesson."

Tweaking (not to be confused with twerking - that's a whole different subject and I am not even sure what it is) and Flexibility are my two favorite words this year. That along with writing in my agenda with pencil has been, oh so FREEING!!!  It's the little things that make this momma happy and it's why I homeschool!

Winding down....

Can't believe November is here!!! My kiddo celebrated his birthday a little over a week ago.  We are trying to get our school work done. He and I both are a little distracted by all that is going on around us.

Daddy is still gone for extended periods of time but did come in town long enough to hang with us for Halloween and to celebrate Kiddo's birthday. It was hard to do school because we wanted to hang out with Daddy. But, Daddy still had work to do so we went back to our work too.

Now, the school year is winding down for Kiddo's outside classes. He takes a robotics/programming class and a STEM class that all end this week. I am looking forward to that as I can get some of our other work caught up and really focus on our studies. We can actually do our week long study in a week vs stretching it out over a week and one half to two weeks.

We are also looking forward to Thanksgiving. We're planning a little history tour complete with overnight stops on our way "across the river and through the woods to Grandma's house we go...." We will pull back from our regularly scheduled schooling and add in car-tripping with a fun flavor!

That's the beauty of homeschooling. Everything and every place can be a lesson -- and not just the grocery store!!! That's how this momma homeschools!

Less is sometimes ENOUGH

All is well and good in our little neck of the woods! Kiddo and I have been chugging along and just kind of taking it easy with a fewer less helpings of stress in our daily activities.  Given the year we have been dealt thus far, with our "Principal" (aka Daddy) MIA from the organization due to outside pressures of "WORK" and the extended family drama that continues to smack repeatedly at our boundaries, we have taken a more relaxed approach to schooling.

That does not mean we don't school - as the very thought of not working on our curriculum makes my teeth itch. What it does mean is that we have slowed down and cut ourselves some slack. We do what we can do in the time allotted and finish the rest when we have time or in some cases (GASP!!!) - skip it all together.

Let me illustrate. According to the agenda book that I keep with my lesson plans and the things we get accomplished, we show that we are in our 11th week of school but in our MFW curriculum, we are only in week 7. Normally, these non-matching numbers would send me in a tailspin but given my new focus on school work and life balance, this works for us and to be honest, it's freeing!!

I decided that it's okay to skip some stuff and/or to take our time to really dive into some topics. It's much more beneficial if we can stay just a little longer on a topic that is especially interesting to my young scholar. Right now, the discussion of pyramids along with their form, function and general design have us a little captivated.

Plus, Kiddo is busy working on (well - needs to be working on) his year end project/presentation for his meteorology portion of his weekly STEM class. Plus, he is also knee-deep in the study of wildfires for his First Lego League team.  So, he's learning A LOT of different things and applying many different skills even though it's not written in any of the curriculum I have purchased.

It does make the OCD Control Freak in me feel better when I look at the agenda and see all that we have accomplished each week even though we may not be moving quickly through our "core" products.

We have still managed to have a few field trips and time with our friends. Kiddo was telling me last night that he is very happy that he has had a chance to see his friends so much lately. Being the parent of an only child is hard at times in that I need to be cognizant of the fact that he needs more than ME and honestly, I need more than him. I have worked it out to make sure he interacts people almost every day. That may entail him being in a class, going to a church activity, having dinner with friends, park days, field trips and old-fashioned play dates! Wait- we're going to have to call them "hang-outs" or something since Kiddo reminded me that he is almost 10 and play date just sounds "too girly." Oh well! I guess he has a point.

That's where we are at this point in our journey and that is just how this momma continues to homeschool.

Real-life lessons

Where does the time go?? It's been a week since my last post and I internally promised myself that I would update something at least 2 or 3 times a week to chronicle our journey. Oh well, there's always tomorrow, that is after I post today!

Our little family is quite busy and things are a little crazy around our house. Hubby (AKA - Principal of the Academy of Awesome Learning) has been assigned to a major project at work that takes him out of the state from Sunday to Friday afternoon. That being said, I am now wearing multiple hats and doing the single-mom thing. As an aside - KUDOS to all the single parents out there!! WHEW!! I have the utmost respect for you.

Anyway, along with Daddy being gone, we have some external family drama consuming some of my mental energies, then compound that with ailing parents on both sides, a terminally-ill grandmother and an uncle recently diagnosed with cancer. I guess now that I see it in print, it's okay that I don't update my homeschool blog on a daily basis.

Just goes to show that life goes on and it has lots of curves, dips and even loop-de-loops to throw at you. As those that homeschool know, homeschooling isn't just about the books we read, the math facts we learn, the field trips we take or even those cool science experiments that may or may not involve a chemical reaction. It is so much more. Teaching life skills and the ability to "roll with" the proverbial punches is a valuable life skill.  Kiddo is learning lessons that I would rather not teach him in his young life but it's a fact of life that "into each life a little rain must fall." (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Sometimes, that rain is slightly a mist and other times it's a torrential downpour causing us to seek shelter. In any event, we are learning as a family to navigate these rough waters by drawing closer to each other and to our Lord Jesus Christ.   Getting through life one prayer and day at a time and sprinkling in some official learning along the way. That's how this momma is homeschooling these days!

Field Tripping

We are blessed with a couple of active homeschool groups and a wonderful community ripe for exploration.  This time of year in Sunny Florida, the weather is cooling off (in the low 80s - Lol) and the initial shock from the start of the school year is somewhat over  and I notice my calendar is filling up with wonderful field trips.

The month of September is typcially busier because we have "Swap-tember." What that means is if you have annual passes to a place like the Florida Aquarium, Lowry Park Zoo or MOSI then you can go to the other places for FREE in the month of September. As we have MOSI passes, we took advantage of the offer and went to the Lowry Park Zoo and the Florida Aquarium.


Last Tuesday, we visited Old McMicky's Farm in Odessa.  My kiddo and about 60 others in our group had an opportunity to milk a cow, ride a horse, hold a chicken, pet a goat, visit with a real-life turkey (not our Uncle - lol),  learn more about pot-belly pigs and a few more encounters.  The staff was really nice and very patient with our group ranging in age from toddler to middle school.

This Tuesday, we planned a visit to Working Cow Homemade Ice Cream in St Petersburg. Our kids participated in a service project as well by bringing a recycled cooler full of non-perishable food to be given to Meals on Wheels. After presenting their gift, we toured the facility and learned how they make that wonderful ice cream. Just to make sure it was good, they offered us double-fudge brownie right out of the mixer! GREAT stuff.

We have upcoming field trips planned to Dakin Farm, Publix Dairy Plant, live plays and much more! It's fun homeschooling. I have to remember that even "Field Tripping" is a learning experience and this does take the pressure off and these days that helps this momma homeschool.

Learning to say no....

We've been so busy, that I literally had to write "update blog" on my To-Do list. Once I started typing, I paused and checked my calendar to find out exactly why I hadn't updated this piece of our family homeschool journey. I found the problem!! The calendar has been full of activities, appointments and general life! We've been doing school but it's been a variation of "homeschool meets car schooling with a sprinkling of field tripping along with a dash of family drama to pull it all together."

I am sure you have days, weeks, months or even years like that!! I know I am not alone out there in my struggle for balance. There are so many wonderful opportunities out there for homeschool families with activities, trips, and experiences that complement our learning. But, I have learned that I can't say YES to every one of them no matter how enticing they may be. An extremely overloaded calendar does not a happy momma make!!

Reluctantly, I had to back my kiddo out of an upcoming activity due to the cost and time commitment. He understood, but a part of me really wanted to make a way for him to do it. Why? I don't know -- I guess because he didn't get opportunities like this when he went to school and well - neither did I!

I know I shouldn't feel any sense of guilt. He already does far more than he used to do and he has positive experiences in most of the activities and trips we have taken. But for our family, I had to stop and realize that these $5, $20, $50 opportunities don't sound like much at the time but when compounded and added to the calendar, it quickly mounted up in time and MONEY!!! So, now we're cutting back and trying to stay close to home or do more super cheap things or free stuff like park days with our friends.

I  have absolved myself of any guilt because let's face it, my kiddo has it pretty good. He is progressing nicely (albeit - a little unfocused at times). We are working through our calendar, commitments and life that comes our way.

It's not perfect and I don't think that this momma would know what to do it if was! I appreciate our homeschool journey! At least remind me of that from time to time, will ya when I question why this momma homeschools! See ya later!

My sweet boy

My boy and I were working on IEW and he was completing his paragraph using his key word outline.  I stepped out of the school room as I needed something in another room. When I returned... this was on the board!!!

I was shocked and very excited! Of course, I had to thank him right before I grabbed my camera!! It's validation like this that reminds me why this mom homeschools!

We're stil here!

Our weeks have been a blur! We are in full mode with all of our activities and actual schooling in full-swing! Thus, the reason for my lack of posts lately.

We haven't added anything - as if I had the time - and we haven't really changed anything about our days. We do have a functioning homeschool room and that has been a blessing for us! It is not completely done as I once envisioned but I totally need to avoid inundating Hubby with all his extra stuff that sits in the corner. I have already piled a good chunk of stuff in the corner of his office. To be fair, I will be helping him organize his office before moving onto the final phase in the homeschool room evolution.

Had a rough couple of weeks - emotionally with schooling and my attitude. I am in the process of composing a blog post about that as well. I must admit that I have taken solace and comfort in the fact that many of my homeschool friends are experiencing the lack of honeymoon phase in their own homeschool journeys.

I am not in the least glad that they are feeling challenged and even discouraged but it does bring me comfort that I am not alone and for that reason I am not the "bad mother" I kept thinking I was and that I not "messing my son up" in his education or psychological growth.  Hang in their sisters and we will get through this with lots of patience, prayer and good old fashion cry sessions.  At least that's how this momma currently homeschools.

Welcome to our Hectic schedule

We are moving into week 3 and doing quite well. We are still processing our new curriculum and finding what works and what doesn't. This morning, my kiddo started his first full week of all of his activities. This is how our week plays out:

Monday:

• AM: Computer Programming and Robotics Classes
• Afternoon: Archery

Tuesday: 

• HOME - schooling 
• Afternoon: Park day (for both of us -- we need to be able to run FREE)

Wednesday: 

• HOME - schooling
• Evening: AWANA

Thursday:

• AM: STEM Classes
• Afternoon: Park day (see above!!)
• Evening: FLL (First Lego League Practice)

Friday:

• HOME - schooling and/of Field Trip

Lots of enrichment activities but also lots of learning going on with our busy schedule. 

We have also made great strides on the Homeschool room. We bought our furniture in place but we still need to move out some items and clean off some shelves. I would say we are 75% complete and once we are done. I will post progression pics! I can tell you that Kiddo is absolutely ecstatic about his new learning space. We have made it bright and very inviting!! Everyone loves that "new school room" feel and smell! 

That's it for us as Kiddo is almost finished with his programming class and then we are off to the library. Such is the life for us and we are so happy that this is how this momma homeschools. 

Evolution of the Homeschool Room Update

The homeschool room evolution continues. This past holiday weekend, Hubby and I spent most of Monday cleaning out the homeschool room. We pulled out the luggage and put it in the attic and took some of Hubby's work items and put them in his new office on the other side of the house.  At the end of Monday, the room was about half cleaned but not quite ready to start all the AWESOME learning we plan to do in there.

On Tuesday, Kiddo and I spent time in there after our school work was done and started organizing and placing into piles what was still left to go and what needed to stay. I have a nice plan in my head about how it's all going to work. I informed Hubby (aka - the Principal and general custodian of this fine school of ours) that I needed to move the remainder of his office to well, HIS office!! He understood completely. We are working a plan to get his new office organized to make room for some of the things he left behind.

IKEA will be getting a visit from us soon as I have picked out a nice desk for Kiddo along with chairs and some organizational items that transform that room into a bona fide education Mecca! Okay - maybe that's a little much. BUT, it will be a place that we place our school books, supplies and general items in one place without living out of a rolling cart as we currently do.

Not that there is anything wrong with this method because we have used it for 2 years and worked just fine. My lack of acceptance in the routine came about with the somewhat cluttered, but not-being-used room beckoned me to come and make use of it!! Since the beginning of the summer, I have been excited to move into the room but not quite motivated to get the ball rolling to transport the aforementioned clutter to the dump!! Now that we are in full swing with school, I am motivated and have done more in one week than I have all summer with that room.

My goal is to have it ready and functional by the end of next week. Of course, this will involve the Principal making room in his office. That is a feat in itself, not because he won't do it - but because he has been so busy with work that making room for the stuff is not able to fit on his calendar. Hoping this weekend,  we can make it happen!

So, for now - IKEA will wait and I will dream of the reading nook, computer corner, discussion table, shelves loaded with individual marked containers of supplies, neatly arranged books and folded rolling carts!! AHHHH!! The "dream" will be a reality soon - I just know it! That's what will make this momma happy when she homeschools!!

(pictures and updates coming soon!

Change time

We are on to week 2 and I have already made a change to our schooling process. The last 2 years, we have saved Fridays as "Fun Friday" in which we did field trips, family stuff and generally just hung out doing whatever we liked. I quickly noticed as I looked at the things we want to accomplish this year (including the additional time we want to take off around the holidays), that "Fun Friday" may be relegated to an occasional option. 

So - much to Kiddo's chagrin, we are implementing "light Friday" in which we will do some basic schooling including math, science experiments and those things we just couldn't get to during the week. 

I must explain that starting next week, we lose out on Mondays and Thursdays as really viable "at home" homeschool days. My kiddo starts his robotic and computer programming classes this coming Monday and for some insane reason, I added 6 weeks of Archery to Monday afternoons. So, that takes away most of the time to school.  On Thursdays, he has his STEM class that runs from 845a-12, park day (which is must for both of us) and then he starts Robotics practice from 630p-8p. As you can see Thursday is not an option at all, plus he is learning from 845a-12 by very wonderful teachers!!  

I don't know about you, but if we don't get our work done in the morning or shortly after lunch then we don't get it done. Honestly, the morning is the best and the afternoon is optimal for tying up loose ends. Both of us lack the focus or motivation to do much after lunch (related to school work). We would rather read, play out back, swim, etc than look at math or grammar. No offense - Math U See or IEW!! 

Who knows if this will stick, as we have a tendency to change things up quite a bit with our homeschooling methodology. Bottom line is that we ARE learning, we ARE growing closer one another and we ARE making it work for our family. That is how THIS momma homeschools! 

Day 2 in the books

The day started out much better due to the fact that I got some sleep and partnered that nicely with my French Vanilla K-Cup.

Kiddo worked very hard today and it was a lot easier today as many of the items were to complete things we started yesterday. Now, once I work on my lesson plans for the coming weeks, I will know NOT to include certain things as a starting lesson. For instance, NO starting a new IEW lesson (video) on the same day we start a new unit in My Father's World, along with science homework from the STEM class that we missed due to vacation. LESSON LEARNED!

I am finding myself already glossing over some things - for instance this week at the start of MFW Creation to the Greeks, we are supposed to do an actual Jewish Sabbath celebration. I can tell you that isn't going to happen this week because first, I am unprepared! Second, I just can't wrap my head around all that it entails.  Thirdly, I don't want to do it half-way, I would like the family to experience the process the right way and give it the reverence and attention it deserves.

So, I am using my executive powers and moving it to another week down the road. I am going to check the family calendar to make sure we an actual Friday and Saturday we can do this properly. If not, then we will do the "major" things in the celebration.

Currently, he and I  are talking about the various aspects of the celebration in the lesson and we are even making a list of the items we need in order to do this in our non-Jewish household. The way I see it is that I will make a lesson by taking my kiddo to the store to purchase the various items needed. The beauty of homeschool is that we can adapt and adjust!!  At least that's how this momma homeschools!

We survived our first day!

We made it! We did it!! Self-back-pats all around!!! The official first day of our 4th grade homeschool year is behind us!! My kiddo and I made it through unscathed but slightly scared!! I didn't realize how much work we have to cover this year!!

A couple of weeks ago, I made the lesson plans for the first couple of weeks and boy did I overbook us. I must admit, it could be part attitude and timing that makes me feel shell-shocked today! We just returned late Saturday night from a Caribbean vacation where we completely unplugged. In my effort to get ahead, I did not factor in my sluggish attitude when I enthusiastically scheduled our first weeks of schooling. Ironically, it was more my attitude than my kiddo. He said several times throughout the day, how much he was liking it. Not sure if that was a caffeine-deprived hallucination that I was suffering or if he really liked it.

As I reflect back on our day, I must give him credit that he kept a great attitude,  he really did seem to be enjoying most of what we did and he adapted well to the our new curriculum choices for the year. The lesson I learned today is this -- don't allow yourself to come back from vacation and be out of French Vanilla Cappuccino K-cups!! It's made for a rough day for me! The kiddo on the other hand is giving today a "thumbs up."

Planning for a better day tomorrow with caffeine and all! (And no I didn't write that in my planner - but maybe I should!!!)  Dinner is in the crock pot, the laundry from 8 days of paradise is washing and drying and I think it's time I made a run to the store to pick up that much needed caffeine for tomorrow's lessons. At least, that's how this momma is going to make it through homeschool tomorrow!!

Almost ready

I find myself getting really excited with the new school year. I have friends that have already started back this year. I love seeing the pictures and reading Facebook posts about their adventures. We are starting a little late as we have a weeklong vacation approaching and we didn't want to conflict with our flow. So, we decided to start the end of the month once we return from a week of relaxing and family bonding.

I sat down a couple of nights ago  and finally planned out the first couple weeks of learning. I only planned that far for a couple of reasons. First, I typically only plan a couple of weeks out so as not put pressure on myself and allow a little wiggle room. Second, I am a little compulsive and abhor eraser marks in my planner - lol. So, by planning shorter periods of time, I have less erasing and less of a chance of me having to rewrite the entire thing. Seriously, I NEED HELP - lol! Finally, we are using new curriculum this year and to be honest, not sure how they will work time-wise. This will allow me a couple of weeks to determine how our daily flow will go and when and where I need to tweak our workload.

I feel much better now that I have my planning done. The last of our curriculum arrived in the mail today.  I have stocked up on school supplies while they are cheap - whether we need them or not!! My planner is ready to go, along with all calendar dates marked with our classes and confirmed field trips.
So, freeing for me.

This year we are using the following curriculum. It is subject to change just as it did last year, but that's the freedom of doing what we do! LOVE IT!

• My Father's World - Creation to the Greeks (Bible, History, Geography, light Science)
• Math U See - Math (new to us this year)
• IEW -  Writing (new to us this year)
• Fix It Grammar - Grammar (new to us this year)
• Phonetic Zoo - Spelling (new to us this year)
• STEM class (one day per week) - Science
• Awana - (additional Bible)
• Home Art Studio - Art
• Rosetta Stone- Spanish (this we will start a little later once we get the flow of IEW & MUS in our schedule) 
• Handwriting without Tears - Cursive -- going to work through this pretty quick and then incorporate the techniques with our writing and project assignments
• Computer Programming and Robotics Class (1x per week each) - one of kiddo's favorites!!

Looks like a lot but, most of it works well together or so far that's the way it appears.  Looking forward to putting all this to use and see if my planning skills are on target. If not, then that's okay!! Flexibility is the key to how this momma homeschools. 

Why we Homeschool

I can't believe the summer flew by like it did!! We were so busy and I must confess that we didn't even get to close to my idealistic summer plans of "light schooling." Kiddo, for the most part, completed his required daily 20 minutes of reading and did his 15 minutes on Dreambox.com, but we did little else. But that's all water under the proverbial bridge and we are fired up and ready to go.

I say, "WE" because my kiddo is excited to move into the 4th grade. A week and half ago, I pulled out our brand new Math U See, which is new to us this year. Kiddo watched the first video in which Steve Demme tells the students they should be proficient in the prior steps before moving on. I was very proud of my son when he said, "Mom, not sure I am ready for this as you and I both know, I don't know the other stuff really well." Proud moment but then I scrambled and ordered the next level down with the reminder to my son that he would be moving on to the current math level in no time.

That's one of the things, I love about homeschooling is that there is no pressure to be like everyone else or to be on the same level as everyone else. I love the diversity in approaches and curriculum choices. What I once deemed as overwhelming had become comforting in the variety of choice. I don't feel "stuck" if something isn't working. I am becoming one of those homeschool moms that has a closet or box of curriculum that didn't work for us, but am happy to say, we have found some that work really well.

My goal is to keep my kiddo motivated, encouraged and confident in the work that he does. He likes the idea of being in 4th grade, but I think he really likes the reality that he is right where he needs to be in regards to his education progress. Gone are those days where he feels inadequate because some kids are "getting it" while he struggles. Gone are those days in which he feels insecure because he has questions and is too afraid to raise his hand.  He's in a safe environment in which he can be himself and learn in his own way! Bringing him home from institutionalized education is helping him blossom and grow! He is free to raise his own bar and does so exceptionally well!!

That is one of the main reasons why this momma homeschools.