H Is For Homeschool

 Week two was an adventure! We spent some time out of town so we did our schoolwork at a Mexican restaurant, a picnic table and a couch while we were gone. We also enjoyed the outdoors and cooked over a campfire, spent hours in the pool, and read a ton of books. We also enjoyed a field trip to the Wade House which is a stage coach museum and reenactment area. Seth's favorite was the sawmill while JJs was the blacksmith. I personally enjoyed seeing the hotel and Melody liked the horses while Cyrus's favorite was definitely chasing the chickens around. It was a rainy day but we made the best of it in our rain ponchos! On Friday afternoons I review what we did for the week, noting if there were any areas that we fell behind or that will need special attention the following week. Then I pull out resources and quickly glance over the lessons for the following week and tidy our school area and house. I love going into the weekend set for the next week and with a ti...

We wrapped up our first week on Friday and my goodness, it was a wonderful week. It went a lot smoother than I thought a first week might! We got our school work done each day and even had extra time and went on an adventure one day afterwards. I am very pleasantly surprised by the modest amount of time our book work takes and how much time we have left for learning through life and play -the best forms of learning! My favorite part so far is getting to see them learn and never having to say goodbye. Next week we are going camping for three days but school went so well we are not stopping but rather taking it with us. What's not fun than reading around a campfire or doing math on a bunk bed?! This is the beauty of homeschooling. Below I will share how we are taking only what we need so we aren't loaded down or risking losing expensive curriculum. Everything we need for the days we are gone fits in here! I took out the pages we needed and slid the stack into sheet pr...

I love first day pictures - but I do not love doing them on the first day! My type A self needs to hit the books running, not spend time getting dressed nicely, interviewing the kids and taking photos! So we do ours a few days before. Our first official day is next Wednesday but we have been easing in with a few subjects already. My girl! My little man! My boy <3 Moms count too! Outtakes :) Hey a winner! This, this togetherness...this is a huge part why we homeschool <3 There is no love like a gently cultivated, consistently nurtured sibling love Oh it's going to be a fun year!

Here are our curriculum picks for this year as well as a bit of a tour of our room! Our calendar! All ready for our first day :) These aren't a scheduled activity for us but just available for whenever interest arises. I purchased them used and I'm not 100% on what they are called but they are similar to these . They are great when the kids need something to keep them busy while I am helping another kiddo for a few minutes. J can pick out his own right pieces but I pull the right ones out for M and then let her pick from the cup so she doesn't get discouraged digging around for the right ones. This also makes it self-correcting because she will be out of pieces when the puzzle is done correctly.  These are a mix of wood and plastic pieces that I got at a conference and used at a sale. The cards were a free printable I printed from Confessions of a Homeschooler and then laminated. They are a big hit and help with capital and small letter recognition....

Welcome! This is where I will be blogging about our homeschool adventures as we begin this new season. This year I will have almost five year old (J) in kindergarten, three and a half year old (M) joining in for some things, one and a half year old (C) keeping us company and we're adopting a new baby (L) so we don't know when she'll come home to spice things up!  The primary reason we are choosing to homeschool is so that we have more time to pour into our children throughout their waking hours. I think there are many benefits to homeschooling and I also acknowledge and respect that it is not the right choice for every family. It's just the right choice for our family so we are boldly pursuing it. To those who would worry that we are sheltering our children too much, rest assured that they are not being sheltered, rather cultivated in the greenhouse of family until they are strong little plants ready to go out into the world. Sincerely, Ashia