Back to Homeschool 2017

At last, school is back in session. One big sigh of relief from me!  Not that I didn't love summer, but after awhile it just gets too loosey-goosey for me and I am ready for schedule and routine again.   This is my 11th year of homeschooling! It all started way back when Mister was four and now, incredibly, he is fourteen.  

Here's the updates for this year:

Here I am, homeschool mom of four crazy kiddos.  11 Years and Loving It! my sign says, but after I wrote it, I chuckled, because it could also look like 11 Years and Losing It!  Depending on the day, either could be true.  This is the best and hardest thing I get to do.

When I'm not homeschooling, I'm baking, trying to read good books, trying to blog, dreaming of travel, sipping coffee, and planning. Something. Anything. I thrive on planning.  I'm one year away from 40, 17 years into marriage, and full of wonder (still) at this amazing life I lead that is so unlike what I had planned.

 Mister is in his last year of middle school! Eighth grade! I am excited and terrified all at once.  This is an important year as far as preparation for high school (which we do plan to keep on doing here at home), but also because I feel like it is my *last* year of all of us learning around the living room together.  Next year, he will be on his own a whole lot more.  So this year, I want to read lots of wonderful books aloud, ones I don't want him to miss, and savor what feels like his last year of childhood. Sad face.  No more talk like this.

Mister loves making stop-motion movies with Legos. And he is so good at them. Just this morning he told me he had over a thousand followers on his Youtube channel.  I think that is so very cool and I'm excited to see where this interest takes him.  (As a side note, I have like five blog followers. Hmmm... he is way more popular).  He continues taking karate and is eligible to test for his blue belt this fall!

Brown-Eyed Girl is in seventh grade this year.  She has changed so much in the past year. Not only is she growing into a lovely young lady (vs. my little girl), but she is maturing. Leaving behind toys more and more. Totally obsessed with having friend time. Wah! Stop it. No more of this talk!

She is a huge Harry Potter fan right now.  Huge. She and her friends all pretend to be different characters and she is Harry.  She loves books that take her to made-up worlds and she continues to grow in her sewing talents and is overall just super creative.

Petite is my third grader this year.  She is such a little sponge, so eager to learn, and takes creativity to a whole new level.  She loves doing more school work because to her, it means more time to express herself.  With doodles and drawings and stories and fancy writing and lots of ponies.  She is huge fan of My Little Pony.   She's still my little homebody and I have no fears of her wanting to leave me any time soon.  That's good news.

 And then there is Little B.  Homeschooling is going to be wild and chaotic with this guy around.  He is the busiest of any of my children, mostly because he is just so curious about everything we do.  He is very hands on, longs to be outside, and already wants to learn how to drive.  He is a natural performer, athlete, and heart throb.  We all adore him and as crazy as it will be, he is one of the major reasons I love homeschooling.  All my kiddos, growing up together.  Day in and day out.

Little B currently loves Mickey Mouse, tools, tractors, frogs, and helping Daddy work around the house.

As for curriculum, I feel like we have found a pretty good fit for us in most areas.  My older two use Teaching Textbooks for math, Petite is doing great with Singapore.  We are using The Mystery of History for the first time this year and will integrate science when applicable.  My older two use Wordly Wise (I really love these workbooks and they like them too- I feel it is a great resource for vocabulary but also reading comprehensions skills for test taking).  All three school age kids use Spellwell.  The older two use Essentials in Writing (LOVE!) and I use Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind with Petite. I do a lot of reading aloud, often fiction that coincides with what we are studying historically, but also great books I want my children to hear before they grow up.

All right new school year! Let's do this!