It's Been Beautiful and Good So Far

Our school year is a bit different this year. For starters, I only have 2 students (our oldest graduated in May). That's kind of nice. We sit at the dining room table together in the mornings and do our school work.

Of course we use various other parts of the house---the computer in the living room, Dad's desk in our bedroom, the 15 year old's bed, the kitchen, etc.

We are using a new-to-us curriculum this year called The Good and the Beautiful for Language Arts. It is single-handedly the best decision I've ever made for our homeschool.

Even though our youngest is in first grade, the placement test put her squarely in level K. (Their website says their levels don't follow traditional grades) It has been just perfect for her. The above picture was her reaction when I told her it was time to begin reading THE BIG READER. Up until now she's been reading little stapled together mini books. She was so excited about the big reader. And is reading it beautifully.

She's using Level K for math as well. It's been pretty easy for her but I feel like it is laying a very solid foundation in math. This is my 3rd kid and I know very well how important that is.

But it's really, really working well for our 15 year old. I used the placement test on her as well and the level it put her in has been great. I mean, it's still school, but it's not that bad. They even kind of enjoy it.

For the first time in a really long time, I feel like school is not taking up all of my time. When the older girls were little, it seemed like all we did was school--either planning, preparing, or implementing plans. Maybe it was the curriculum we were using. TGTB is much more user friendly and ready to go. I'm really enjoying that as a teacher.

Or maaaaybe, I'm completely forgetting to do a lot of really important things this year. Why does it feel so easy? Perhaps those 12 years of homeschooling and 11 years of teaching public school have paid off?

Whatever. I'll take it.

Good. Beautiful. And easy.

Signing off,

In Which Sparky Gets Replaced

The girls and I went to a fire prevention class earlier this month. In talking about fire safety before we went, I realized that our 2nd-born daughter was really young last time we had a fire drill or talked about fire safety much. In fact, I think she was 5. And of course the youngest was 1 last time we visited a fire station.

So...it was an overdue trip. The oldest begged to go and I thought "she's just trying to get out of her work" (college work). But she said she really wanted to get out of the house. Fair enough.

Turns out she thought we were only going to a clarinet lesson (which we did before the class) and was as surprised as could be when we pulled up to the fire station. **insert eye roll here**

The fire department was in Santa Fe, the same town that suffered a high school shooting back in May. The girls and I were thinking about that during the class--that these were some of the same EMTs and firefighters that probably responded to that horrible scene just a few months ago. I have all the respect for them.

And why wouldn't you respect them? DJ Blaze put on a great show.

But I felt a wee bit out-dated. Instead of talking about stop-drop-and roll, they talked about never charging your tablet and putting it under your pillow. And about not overloading your plugs with electronics. Okaaayyy...this is a bit more "modernized."

And then--THEN! He pulled a little stuffed Dalmatian out of his pocket and asked us who it was. Oooh! I know this one! I started to holler out, "SPARKY!" just as all the kids yelled out, "MARSHALL!"

Huh?

Oh. It seems poor old Sparky the Fire Dog has taken a backseat to Marshall from Paw Patrol.

But they kids really learned a lot and we got to tour the fire house. Now all that's left is to practice our home fire safety plan. Oh, and to get a new fire extinguisher, because ours expired.

They had to practice rolling out of bed, crawling to the door, feeling it for heat, and escaping through a window. 

Do you have a fire plan? Do your kids know 2 ways out of their room? Do they know 2 ways out of your house? Do you have a meeting place?

October is fire safety month, so get your plan in place!

Signing off, 

From Higher Education to the ER

I'll cover it all in this post!

Our oldest daughter is finally going to be starting her higher education in the morning! Working out a life-plan with her has been challenging. What do you DO when you still live at home and yet haven't started school yet? What about a job? A job with enough flexibility to allow you the time to study and be with your family?

What she's been doing, while she waited to start school, is a lot of housework. Not sure she'll look back on it as the most fun chapter of her life, but it sure has been a huge help to me!

So we think we have a plan worked out for that now...and a lot of my friends will be quite happy with it, I believe. She's excited, I'm excited, Dad's excited. So I feel like we finally have her starting on the right path.

I'm glad she's still home anyway because over the weekend I was ironing a pile of Steve's dress shirts and it occurred to me that she doesn't know how to iron a man's dress shirt. I taught her to iron many years ago, but it hasn't been practiced enough. Also what if one day she is married and her husband needs his shirts ironed? (I know a ton of people who just send everything to the cleaners but that isn't always in the budget!)

So she learned to do that. And it's just nice that she's still here and there is still time to teach her little things like that for adulthood.

We have another field trip this week. I'm so happy that we are getting to go on field trips again after several years of not really going on many (because oldest needed to finish school and also we had a lot of therapy and tutoring appointments). However, it stresses me out a little to see another day of school not getting done. Last week's field trip was at least educational, but this week's is pretty much just fun. That's OK. There will be other days to do book work, right?

My oldest sister has been taking my oldest daughter on Friday night fun nights for awhile now. They will go get some food that we normally cannot have due to food allergies, and then watch a movie that we can't watch around here because of little eyes and ears. It's nice for her to get to go do something "big" and stay out late. So this last Friday night, sister picked up the 2nd born for her turn. And now this coming Friday, she is planning a daytime fun day for the youngest. She's a good aunt.
They feel special getting to do something by themselves.

Brave Aunt T and 2nd born at her birthday last year. 

So while 2nd born was out with her aunt, the rest of us RAN NOT WALKED to Whataburger and ate. Whataburger has soy in pretty much everything except their drinks and ketchup packets. So we never get to eat there anymore. It was so cheap! It made me realize how when we do go out, it costs so much more than other families because we have to choose allergy-friendly places and make substitutions that cost more. Food allergies stink.

Steve in the ER last year. I'll spare you his face. He looked miserable. 

Speaking of food allergies, one year ago yesterday we found out that my husband also suddenly had food allergies. We found out through the fun of anaphylaxis. It was an hours-long ordeal and it took us way too long to figure out what was going on. In the end, he ended up taking a ride in the ambulance.

A picture of his side showing the hives he broke out in once he arrived at the ER. 

After seeing that anaphylaxis is a very scary beast, we got Epi-Pens for both he and our 2nd born. She had been diagnosed 2 years prior, but we were under the (very mistaken) belief that her allergies "weren't that bad" and no doctor even offered an Epi-Pen nor suggested that we needed one. We are wiser today and they carry them everywhere they go.

Which is why, tonight, I made banana bread from scratch. Daughter wanted something sweet and it's so nice to know exactly what's in the food because I made it. Actually, it's on my weight loss plan, which isn't actually going very well. But I have lost 2 pounds in a month or so....so there's that.

Signing off,

Driven and Divided

Driven. That's a word I would use to describe my husband. That hasn't always been true. I've known him all our lives. We've been married for 25 years. But the last 6 years...possibly longer but definitely the last 3 or 4, have found my husband being very focused on his dreams.

He is a visionary--the type of man who sees the big picture and sees things for how they can be--not just how they currently are.

This really doesn't describe me, however. I'm not sure how to describe me. Since our oldest child graduated in May, I have felt very different. Our homeschool is obviously very different. Instead of having 3 students, I now only have 2 again. And it isn't anything like it used to be when I had two students. Our life is just very different.

And I'm more tired. I love homeschooling and I have enjoyed it so much. But now when I think about the tasks ahead, they don't seem that challenging. I don't have to expend quite as much energy on things because we are, in some ways, on auto-pilot in the homeschooling life. I'm working myself out of a job here, people.

Also, I have so much more help these days. Two of my children are teens/young adults. Only one of them I would still consider "little" and I'm not the only pair of hands around to help with her. Instead of everyone being little or everyone being big--they are both. I have some of each. We don't have little kid movies on all the time, because the big kids want to watch things.

But I also just don't feel as motivated as I once did. I think it used to seem like I was going to be a Mommy forever and also that they were growing up too fast all at the same time. I remember planning sewing projects for them and delighting in making quilts for them, painting things for them...I was forever coming up with some project for them to enjoy.

But with my youngest daughter it just feels different. Maybe she's not as easily impressed as they were (That is partly true) and so it's not as fun to come up with surprises for her. Maybe it's because she's the only little. Maybe I'm tired and burned out.

Maybe it's that instead of being all-immersed in being a Mom, I'm starting to dream about what I will do "one day." That day seemed forever far away a few years ago. Graduating that first child really made me realize that one day I WILL be through with them. At least in the hands-on, I'm fully responsible for you type way.

I've been working on writing a book. The motivation, when I started, was money, plain and simple. We need income. I started writing. I would very much love to be a published author. It has always been a dream of mine. But now I'm starting to see that it could happen. "One day" doesn't seem as far off.

But this makes me sad as well. I want to spend time making things for my little girl while she's still little. I want to enjoy reading to my girls as long as I can. Do I really want my "spare" time taken up with selfish dreams of my own? I used to be all-Mom-all-the-time. Now I feel like I'm cheating on that. I'm divided.

I don't know if that makes any sense.

Joining in on husband's dreams and plans divides me. Am I being the best Mom I can be? Am I being a good wife?

Am I having a mid-life crisis? 😉

I just feel that I have a lot of things going on at any one time. I don't feel like I'm just raising little girls anymore.

And I kind of miss those old days.

Signing off,

The One Room School House

We had a little field trip this week. We went with our homeschool group, although I've mostly edited the other kids out of these pics. You know, I don't have parent permission to put their kids on my blog and all. Just wanted you to know we weren't there alone!

Ready to go!

The dress our 2nd born wore used to be the oldest's. And the dress the youngest wore used to belong to my niece. The bonnets were souvenirs from their big sister this summer when she went to Kansas.

This girl just LOVES dolls. We had to wear white gloves to handle all the items in the museum part of the tour.

After the museum tour, our group got to have some old-fashioned recess. 

Next, we had a real classroom experience--just like in 1898. The school marm made sure everyone sat up perfectly straight, with their feet flat on the floor. They had to raise their hand and stand beside their seat to answer a question. 

Our oldest hasn't started her classes yet, so she was able to join us. This was her 3rd time to come on this field trip.  And that little cutie up there? Last time we came, she looked like this: 

They worked very hard today in "school". 

And we had to use real ink and pen to write with. It was very challenging! Especially for the left-handed among us (me!). 

Afterward, we washed up and joined our friends at the park for lunch and some splash pad fun. 

It was a good day, but a tiring one! And boy the mosquitoes were awful. 

Tomorrow is co-op and then Friday, perhaps we'll have a real, whole day of school? 

Signing off,

There's No Tired Like Thursday Tired

Whew.

We have co-op on Thursdays. If you don't know, co-op stands for "something I don't want to do but would be really good for my kids."

Not really. I resisted joining co-ops for years but finally gave in. Co-op actually stands for "cooperative" and that part means "parents do all the teaching."

Which means I'm really tired on Thursdays. Because, see....it's a fine arts co-op. And since I can't read music, they don't want me teaching choir, or music, or band.

And so, I get to use that degree in Early Childhood my parents paid for. I really like teaching the preschool class. The preschool world is where I belong. It's so ridiculously easy for me to come up with activities for that age group. And really, the morning is not what wears me out.

Our 6 year old got to hold the flag today at our co-op morning meeting. 

We eat a really quick lunch (reminds me of being a teacher in public school) and then it's off to 5th period. THAT period is the end of me. I'm only the assistant in that class, but it's late, the kids are tired, they aren't listening the way I'm sure they did earlier in the morning, and I feel like a bouncer. The period lasts about 10 minutes longer than any of our thresh holds.

But we are home now. The first few weeks I just came home and fell asleep. I wonder if I'm getting too old for this gig? I better buck up because my girls love co-op and we have many more years there.

So now the only thing left to do is unload the car. I usually put this off as long as possible. It's full of all manner of junk---my rolling crate, a ton of library books, my flannel board, a giant stuffed bear, the girls' backpacks, and all of our water bottles.

I did, however, bring in the lunch kit and clean it out.

So I'm doing 50% better than last week already.

But I'm too tired to care.

Signing off,

Almost There (& the Dreaded Garage)

Well, it seems I kinda missed writing yesterday. Short weeks are always so confusing. When we have Monday off, it feels like Saturday and then the next day seems like a Monday.....

I hope you had a good Labor Day weekend. It rained all weekend here. But it was nice to be off.

Next week we are off of school. It's been 5 1/2 weeks already so it's time for our first break. The girls are excited to get a whole week off. Steve took off also on Monday and Tuesday so we can get that great garage clean out accomplished. It's really bad, y'all. I know we will need to move our cars and spread things out on the driveway and I'm afraid folks are going to stop by thinking we are having a garage sale.

I just might sell them some things too, if they do.

It's going to be a struggle. I REALLY, REALLY want to get the garage completely cleaned and organized. Even the workbench and tools, which we never seem to have time to get organized. We're always just hacking a path and straightening. I want more than that this time. But (you knew there was a but coming, right?), Steve and I approach these things differently.

Oh look. Our garage. (Not really. But almost.)

I am going to want to look through boxes. Truly look through them. How can I know if it's trash if I can't look through it? Some stuff needs to be kept. Some stuff needs to go. Steve is more about 1. If we're keeping it, Imma stack it right over here where you can never hope to retrieve it to go through it but at least its out of the way and 2. If it's trash, its going now. All of it.

Doesn't he know there's an in-between?

In other news, today is our first park day with our homeschool group. It should be nice and wet at the park. We also have to go to the library because I am not ahead of my game and keep going to just get what I need right now and not getting stuff a few weeks ahead of time, which would be much better.

All things considered, we probably should have started school by now. Guess I better get the troops up and going since we have a lot of running to do today.

Two more days of school and then a break. We can do this.

Signing off,

NOT Back to School

I loved seeing all my friend's pictures yesterday on Facebook of their children all shiny and dressed and ready for school. I love first day of school pictures. My favorite might have been Steve's cousin, who snapped a blurry picture of her 10th grade son riding his bike to school from about 2 houses away. There. She remembered.

Of course, we took our first day of school pictures 2 1/2 weeks ago so the excitement was over for us. I was actually kind of glad. We've already settled into routine a bit and I'm glad we have that many days under our belt.

I realize not every area of the country has gone back to school, but where we live the major districts have all started. And this, my friends, is when the homeschoolers REALLY celebrate!

We love you, public schoolers and private schoolers......but we are profoundly thankful when you start back. Now we have our parks back. Our museums. Our libraries. Our beaches.

Our homeschool group is meeting at the beach this morning for our NOT Back to School Bash. We picked this day on purpose because--no crowds. Summer is exhausting for those of us who are used to having play places to ourselves. I'm sure the preschool moms understand. I bet they are all flocking to Chick-fil-a this week.

But what the Not Back to School Bash is really about, is celebrating the fact that we don't have to send our kids back to school. See, most homeschool moms I know truly WANT to be with their children. They like them. And they like homeschooling. And they like the lifestyle and freedom of it. Many of us have done public school at some point and we're thankful to have our children home with us now. Thankful to not have to worry about being late all the time. Glad to not have so much homework to deal with. Happy to be in charge of our children's education.

So today we celebrate by not getting much school done at all. Makes sense, huh?

Don't worry. We'll be back at it tomorrow--in our dining rooms, our homeschool rooms, our cars, on the couch, on the trampoline in the backyard. There will be math, and reading, and history, and extra things to run to like lessons and sports. Homeschoolers do all that stuff too. We're crazy and run around a lot.

Just not today. Today we celebrate with sand in our cars.

Signing off,

The Extras

Last week, I shared with you about how homeschool is legal in all 50 states and gave some links to help if you are considering homeschooling.

But today I want to address some other concerns. These are always questions in people's minds when they first begin thinking about homeschooling. If you personally know successful homeschoolers, then you can just skip on down and read another post. Because if you do know a number of homeschooling families, then you know for certain that socialization is not an issue--well, not in the way we often think it is.

What about the prom?
What about sports?
Won't they miss their friends?
What about special classes and extracurricular activities?

These are all valid questions! At first glance, public school has a lot to offer and then of course we all picture those poor homeschool kids all alone at home.

The reality is, unless you live far out in the country (and some do!), there are many, many choices of activities for homeschoolers. In fact, our experience has been that it is difficult to stay home and get our school work done!

For those who want the most support possible, there are classes for homeschoolers that you can pay for. Then you just drop off your child and they sit in a classroom with other homeschoolers and a teacher and learn. (What's the difference in that, you say? Well, there are some differences but yes, it does look a lot like public school.) You can also join a co-op. A co-op (short for cooperative), is when parents get together and offer classes for homeschool students. The parents themselves teach the classes. Some homeschoolers handle the bulk of their core academic classes that way. Others enjoy the "extra" classes through co-op such as P.E., music, Lego classes, cooking, etc. That way, if you feel you can't teach math to your student, but another mom can....then you can use your talents to teach guitar while your child goes to math class. Everyone wins. These classes usually meet once a week. Our family has been involved in a fine arts co-op for the last 4 years. Our girls have been able to take choir, art, band, music theory, and drama classes.

Besides these structured classes, there are homeschool groups that just get together for fun things like holiday parties and field trips. Holiday parties felt like a big deal to me when thinking about my children not going to public school. I'm happy to say there hasn't been a Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, or Christmas yet that we haven't had a party with our homeschool friends! Of course you can go on field trips by yourself, but with a group you often get a discounted rate. 

Honestly, we are happy when we have a day to "just" stay home. The homeschool world is busy and active. Yes, there are proms and dances. Yes, there are sports. Yes, there are friends (and they can still see their public school friends evenings and weekends!). And YES there are special classes and extracurricular activities. In abundance! 

Our daughters were in a book club for years. That club had a lot of fun together! 

And if your child has siblings, don't discount them as friends. When my girls were used to being away from each other all day, they didn't play together very well. But after being home together every day for awhile, their relationship really changed. Brothers and sisters can be great playmates!

My purpose today is just to allay the fears of those who may be considering homeschooling. If you have any other concerns or questions about homeschooling, feel free to ask in the comments or shoot me an email! I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. 

Signing off,

The First Day

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Today was our first day back to school for the new year! Our theme this year is:

Looking Forward to a Fantastic Year! In addition to the large googly eyes on the chalkboard, I added a lot of eyes around the room. The girls were cracking up.

Eyes on buckets, eyes on our apple, eyes on the doors...

Eyes everywhere!

We had a special breakfast.

Eyes on the cups. Hee hee

And took our annual back-to-school pictures.

One thing we did this morning was go on a scavenger hunt. They had to read a map of our house (that my husband drew--thanks honey!) and follow the clues to find a treat.

Finding clues.

18 year old sister helped me hide them. 

Opening their new maps

I got them both Scrunch Maps since we are studying Geography. We did a little geography this morning too.

The 14 year old had a clarinet lesson this morning so the 6 year old and I hung out at the park while we waited for her. We found some Kindness Project Rocks while we were there. It was very cool. Now the girls want to join in on that project.

We found 2 more after these!

After lunch, we did some math and called it a day. Everyone was tired from the snap decision we made last night to drive to the ocean and eat. So, early bedtimes for everyone tonight!

Later in the afternoon a friend came knocking to play and we all rode our bikes to the local school to play on the playground. It was hot. It took me about an hour to cool down. I bet I burned so many calories though!

Tomorrow we'll try to get a bit more done. It was a great first day back.

Signing off,

The Best Decision

If you are one of the folks trying to decide where to send your children to school this year, I want to tell you something:

There is good and bad in any decision.

Don't let the bad stuff make you think you've made a "wrong" decision. If you have approached the decision carefully, with prayer, and in harmony with your spouse, then you have made the best decision you could.

As parents, we are charged with the responsibility of training our children. That doesn't mean we can't let others help teach them. Even though we homeschool, we have relied on both math tutors and therapists to assist us in recent years. But we are responsible for making sure we choose the best folks we can to influence our children. The ultimate responsibility for these kiddos is still ours.

So if you have decided that your local school is the very best situation for your child, then good for you! There are good schools still out there. I worked in one many years ago.

If, after much prayer and discussion, you absolutely do not have peace sending your child anywhere, then perhaps homeschooling is for you.

Here are some quick facts for you:

• Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states of the U.S.
• Each state has it's own requirements that must be met. Some states, like Texas, make it very easy for homeschool families. Other states have more hoops for you to jump through.
• Here is a link to all the state homeschool laws. 
• There are Facebook groups for everything these days. Find a homeschool group near you. You can also look on this site to find a physical group to be involved with. 
• Curriculum can be purchased online quite easily. Choosing might be harder! We have so many, many choices available today. You can choose a boxed set (buy a "fourth grade kit") or you can pick and choose each subject. I will be happy to help you wade through the curriculum choices. Just shoot me an email at projectfamily5@gmail.com and I will be glad to help with any questions you might have. 
• Yes, some folks work full-time and homeschool. How, you might ask? Well, it works well if your kids are older and can be home alone and get some work done while you are gone. Then in the evenings you can work on other subjects together. Some folks also have grandparents who help out with the homeschooling. It doesn't take NEARLY as much time to homeschool as it does to go to school. In the younger years of elementary, 1-3 hours a day is plenty. Really. 
• Don't forget that school doesn't have to happen between the hours of 8-3 on Monday through Friday. You can "do school" anytime. Anywhere. It's so hard to break out of our public school mentality, but it really is OK to do school work on a Saturday. Or in the evenings. Work around your family's schedule! 
• For most families, I believe homeschool is freedom. When your life is no longer run by the public school calendar, you find out there is a lot to enjoy together and you have more time together. And *gasp* there is more to life than school!

I hope you can make a decision your family is at peace with for this school year. If you choose homeschooling, I hope I can be of assistance to you. 

As for us, we start back tomorrow. So I have a lot of things to do to get ready! 

Signing off,