Joyful Heart

I always thought that our entry way was the most unused, largest waste of space in our home  – until recently.  Two weeks ago, our entry way was altered to accommodate several events during our indoor winter Olympics.  Then, last week, it was transformed into a trail ready for our pioneers to blaze!

Where the trail begins… Independence, Missouri (aka the front door).

The ‘Rocky Mountains’ and a river for the wagon train to bravely cross…

Where the trail splits – Will the pioneers head to Oregon or to California?  (Most of the pioneers in our home decided to follow the California trail to the living room to see if they could be successful at panning for gold!)

Our youngest pioneers using the trail (Yes, that is a dolphin in my toddler’s hands.  These two little ones also experimented with trying to cross their toy trains and cars over the mountains.)

And, of course, the covered wagon!

What will our kiddos think of next?

This week, we reached 100 days of our homeschool year!  Each year, on our 100th day of school, we have a day long celebration with loads of math activities and lots of fun!  Here are some of the things we have done over the past few years.

Welcome to our final week of participation in the Not Back to School Blog Hop!  So far, we have talked about our curriculum, our homeschool set up, and our first day.  This week, we get to share a ‘typical’ day.

We currently have four children, a 7 year old 2nd grader, a 5 1/2 year old K student, a 3 1/2 year old preschooler, and an on the move 18 month old who wants to do everything the older ones do.  Homeschooling our four precious children can sometimes feel like a circus – Yes, you might even call it a 4 ring circus!

It is difficult to admit this, but I am hoping that it will encourage someone else…  I have experienced a very trying and tiring first month as I tried very hard to fit everything in that I wanted to do with the kids.  It created too long of days and too little down time for both our kids and for mom!  I was a few weeks into the start of the year and I was already feeling burned out – Definitely, NOT a good way to start.  I felt that I was daily performing in a circus act in which I was dropping all of the spinning plates!

I am still adjusting things and trying to make our weekdays more manageable.  Here are some things I have done, so far…
- cut down on the number of days we planned to do certain subjects (specifically grammar, structured writing, and science)
-moved the much wanted weekly nature walks to an ‘as the opportunity arises’ basis
-simplified spelling (I actually did away with the separate workbook and am now using words from what she is already learning in her ETC phonics book plus a couple sight words each week.)
-said ‘no’ to additional things outside the home that sounded beneficial and good, but would have added stress to our week
-worked on developing a good ‘flow’ to our day (We are finally starting to get into a good routine!  We are not on a timed schedule, but we have our flow from one activity to the next.)

Our Day Wall Schedule

As a note, ‘workboxes’ take a large portion of our mornings as it involves the older girls doing independent language arts and math as I rotate meeting with them (for reading, spelling, etc.) and their younger brother for preschool.  Once they finish their workboxes, they are free to play as they wait for the others.  We do MFW Bible, History, and Science all together.  Art and music, is generally, just with our 2nd and K children with the younger two coloring and/or listening in.

To someone walking in, our days may still seem to be somewhat disorderly, but it IS organized, thought out, AND the kids are learning.

So, without further ado, here are the stars of our show…

In Ring 1, we have our 2nd grader!
Here she is working on some independent language arts or math from her daily workbox…

reading and writing in her Bible notebook…

and reading aloud to mommy (and our toddler, if she can sit still long enough).

Ring 2:  Our kindergartner!
Our K child doing some independent work as well…

She loves to read and share books with her younger siblings!

Ring 3:  Our preschooler!
He can be found doing hands on educational activities or playing as his big sisters work with mom…

Ring 4:  Our toddler!
She can often be found in her dress up shoes and pushing different items around in her big brother’s dump truck…

or learning to color (scribble) and enjoying every minute of it!

I am also discovering that I need a large dose of grace for each day – both for myself and to pour out onto my kids.   There will always be diaper changes, discipline issues, a little extra loving from mom needing to be bestowed on our toddler, and occasionally asking an older sibling to play or read to the littlest one – things that sometimes just don’t seem to fit when we are in the ’school’ mode.  I need to remind myself frequently that we are, first of all, a family that happens to school at home.  I can’t let the curriculum and academics take precedence over love of family and relationship building within the home.  It truly does ALL go together and, no, it is not really a circus here.  Hopefully, on most days, it could be called a well coordinated balancing act.

Welcome to part 3 of our participation in the Not Back to School Blog Hop! So, far, we have talked about the curriculum we plan to use this school year and where we ‘do’ school.  Today, we take you on a look at our first day of school!

Since, as homeschoolers, we don’t have the typical first day back to school requirements of needing to learn where things are, learning the names of all the kids in our class and playing getting to know you games, going through procedures for the cafeteria, rules for walking in the hallway, etc., we decided to have a fun filled first day to build excitement for the year!

Our ‘fun start Friday’ took place on July 3. What made this day extra special was that Daddy was home to enjoy it with us!

We began our day with a special number 1 (for Day 1) breakfast.  The kids had scrambled eggs spread out to form a numeral one, a strip of bacon, pancakes shaped as a numeral one, and tiger tail donuts that are long and skinny like a numeral one.  I know, I know.  It wasn’t very healthy, but it was something different and fun!  Each child had a sign on the back of their chair to indicate their ‘new’ grade level (2nd, Kindergarten, and 3’s Preschool) . Our oldest even decided that our toddler needed one for her chair, so she handwrote a sign saying ‘First day of toddler school’ and taped it to the back of the highchair!  They even had a new patriotic pencil waiting for them.  (It’s often the little things that can spark their excitement!)

Next, we took our first day of school photos.  It took awhile to get all four of our ’students’ to look in the same direction.

My husband and I then assisted the kids in filling out their ‘favorite things’ sheet.  We have not done this in the past and we thought it would be interesting to see how their favorite things and what interests them change from year to year.

Next, the girls excitedly received their binders for our MFW History curriculum and used  stickers, ribbons, and crayons to decorate the covers.  These binders will hold all of their drawings, writings, words to patriotic songs, state information sheets, etc. as we learn about the United States this year.

The three oldest kids made a festive fourth of July craft.

Next, the older girls enjoyed their free choice reading time as the younger two got some read aloud time with Daddy.

Then, while at the swimming pool with Daddy, the oldest three practiced some things they had learned from their recent swim lessons.

We ate some homemade fourth of July fruit pops and then all of us took a field trip to go cherry picking for the first time!

That was our first day and the kids had a blast!   Next week, as part of the Not Back to School Hop, you will get a glimpse of what a more structured, typical, school day looks like for us.

Hop on over to see other homeschool families on their first day!

This is week two of the NOT Back to School Blog Hop.  Last week, we had a ‘curriculum’ hop.  This week is a ‘school room‘ hop! I’m also submitting this post for The Homeschool Lounge 2009 Open House.

So, where do we actually do our ’school’?  As you can see from the photos below (mostly taken from last year) – just about anywhere and everywhere in our home!

Our kitchen island is a perfect spot for doing messy crafts, baking, science experiments, and any other tasks which need to be completed without precious toddler hands reaching for our work.

The kitchen table is good for coloring, writing, workbook work, hearing Bible stories during breakfast, etc.

In the living room, you might find us reading, watching a video, or playing a game to reinforce learning when the little one is napping.

Our office provides a comfy place to read next to lots of book choices!  Our oldest might also be working on typing up a story or putting her spelling words in ABC order.

In our basement, we have a large room divided by a partial half wall. The larger side is dedicated to a ‘playroom’ while the smaller side is a living room with space for schoolish type things.  On the ’school side’ of the playroom, the kids can be working at the table on independent work, having one one one teaching with mom, reading on the couch, listening to a book on tape, doing calendar, participating in hands on literacy and math games (tucked inside the closet), or using the magnets and wipe board for word work.

We’ve even done school up in the bedrooms – finishing up on history read alouds during the younger kids’ rest times.

I feel that we truly utilize the space in our home that God has blessed us with.

Next week, join us for a peek at our first day of school!