Curriculum Choices

Here is what I know so far...

We are joining an informal co-op this year called Classical Conversations. It is informal since it is new to our community and we are starting a bit late, we are hoping to have a formal campus next year. Classical Conversations will meet once a week and will introduce our lessons and memory work for the week. Subjects covered by C.C. are math, science, literature, Latin, history, geography and fine arts.

Difficulty keeping up with reading was one of the main reasons we brought the kids home to school. We have taken in lots of information on different phonics, language arts and reading programs and have decided on the following.

Teaching Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Writing Road To Reading Phonogram Cards and Interactive Cd
Sonlight Launguage Arts 2 Reading Program

As for math, all I have to say is I am thankful for my husband. I am thankful he likes math (I do not) and is willing to help teach it! For now since Tage and Simon are so close in age they will be doing math at the same level. They are welcome to move through their books as fast as they want! OH!! I almost forgot...We are using Singapore Math Level 2.

Learning Curve

Before I get to far into this post keep in mind that I have been homeschooling all of 4 days so please do not take this as an advice/ I know what I'm talking about type post. This is mostly a post for me to document all of the bazillion things I have had to research, decide on and act on over the past two weeks. I have learned a lot about myself, my kiddos, my relationship with God and what an absolutely amazing husband I have!

Things Learned So Far:
(In addition to being reminded how none of this is possible without God's help,kindness, love and mercy, and how thankful I am for a husband who is actively participating in schooling our kids and structuring our day.)

1. A home school cannot possibly function without a printer!
We purchased an Epson Stylus NX420. It's a beauty! It's a wireless printer, which means you can simply pick it up and move it where ever your little heart desires! I am fanatically opposed to computers and all their clutter, cords and massive dust...which is quite humorous since I am married to a computer geek and we have at the moment 3 computers networked together throughout our home. Oh and don't even get me started ranting about all the random hard drives, software and other unmentionable computer pieces we have scattered all over the house!:)

2. Finding the right tables or desks for your schooling area is key! I love these desks from IKEA! They were only $20 and they are working out quite nicely!.


3. A friend of mine suggested a whistle for outside games and such. At first I chuckled and wondered if that was really necessary since I only have 4 kiddos.....YES it is necessary. It has come in handy for play time and get their attention time. I love it and so do the kids!

4. It is ok for the kids to have lots of snacks! The first day I was hard core no more than one snack from breakfast to lunch. Benji was a puddle by the end, so I have been providing several snack opportunities throughout the morning and that seems to be helping a lot. All this learning business is hard work!

5. Even though they are home they must raise their hand to speak! We have 4 kiddos...4 grades...and only one of me. In order for us to come out on the other side loving one another we need to be sure to use our manners and wait to be called on before speaking.

6. We are training them how to be schooled at home before we dive into our hard-core curriculum. Since they have been in a day-school setting we wanted to be sure they understood what it means for mom to be their teacher.

7. Freshly cleaned carpet and freshly painted walls did my heart good when thinking I was going to be spending a lot of time in one particular room of the house. I know many people may roll their eyes at this...But hey, that's who I am like it or not! There is a fresh/newness about our home school room that I love.

8 Who cares if the dishes (or the laundry) are done. I can do them later!

9. Celebrating accomplishments is a must! Today we had Wendy's for lunch to celebrate our first successful week of homeschooling.

Very Busy Saturday - Picture Diary

Our day started with an 8am football game, then dance and the Harvest Festival! Next week we add soccer...oh and swim team!

Seasons Change

(I just love this picture of Ben...totally unrelated to this post...:))

Here we go again! A new school year has begun and I was supposed to have a 3rd grader, 2nd grader, kindergartner and Pre-kindergartner all at The River Academy. I was supposed to start my new job as the Director of Advancement at The River Academy AND the First Choice Pregnancy Center of Wenatchee had offered me an amazing part-time development position as well! We have moved from infants/toddlers to school-age kids and it was time for us all to move to the next phase...kiddos to school and mom to work to help pay for school! I can honestly say this is the year I have been dreaming about and have spent many hours working and planning to get it all organized. Little did I know God was in the midst of planning too. It was happening right before my eyes and I was so focused on my own selfish day-dream of big kids, school and work that I failed to see Gods hand closing doors and opening new ones! God very obviously closed the door (for now) at The River Academy and opened the doors at home...They are WIDE-OPEN here at home! We are all home now and I have become an educator, a teacher...A job I can honestly say I would have never wanted! I am seeing the flaws in my selfishness and I am thankful for this opportunity to nurture the soul of my children and to help them develop a love for learning and a love for the Lord our God. We are participating in a home-school co-op called Classical Conversations and I can't wait to get my hands in all the wonderful history we get to study! I have so many thoughts I hope to have time to share. For now this is all...Blessings on all your adventures this school year!