School Week 2

Week two of school was another good one. When I say "good" I pretty much mean that attitudes were positive.  Negativity and complaining are contagious diseases so when one person is in a bad mood, it spreads like nasty germs.  I confess Monday was a rough day, one of those nights I went to bed with nothing good to say about the day.  But as I was telling Josh about how awful it was, I hit upon an idea.

One of the things that seems to send one child on a negative path is making mistakes.  Getting something wrong and having to fix it.  Sometimes it's just an honest mistake.  They are learning, after all, I try to explain. But it often does no good. Anyone else have a perfectionist around the table? Or a child who rushes to get their work done and makes mistakes in the process?

"Maybe I need to reward them for each mistake they make so they learn they aren't a bad thing!" I threw up my theoretical hands.

Hmmm.... why not?  For each mistake they correct, they get a little treat. I tried chocolate chips. 

"How many mistakes did you make?" I look over each of their math papers.  "Five? Okay, did you correct them? Good! It's no big deal to make a mistake! Correct it if you can.  Mistakes help us learn!"  And I metered out five chocolate chips.

Did something so simple help? You betcha!  And no, they didn't start making mistakes on purpose.  For the rest of the week, the older two were each telling me their number of mistakes and receiving a commensurate number of chocolate chips. In fact, when Brown-Eyed-Girl was erasing things, she'd suddenly say "Chocolate!"  And bad moods were banished. 

Each child has a love language, a currency, a motivator.  My son's love language is definitely gifts.  In fact, all the kids love a gift.  B-E-G loves affection and praise.  I can't believe how motivated she is by a sticker on her schoolwork that tells her she did a great job.  The promise of a sticker if she stays on task or completes something in a certain amount of time (for she is our resident Pokey Little Puppy) keeps her moving.  Mister can stay on a positive path with just a little gift of a piece of gum or those tiny chocolate chips.  Or the promise of some DS time.  Petite is motivated by all kinds of things.  She'll pick up her toys quickly if someone will read to her afterward. Capitalizing on these motivators is a smart thing!

The kids had their second and third karate classes this week and got their gis. They were SO excited about these and can't wait to have their patches and stripes sewn on.  They love the class and I am equally excited about it. It is exactly what they need. I also met another homeschooling mom in the viewing room which was an answer to prayer.  I love how the Lord set this up for our family.

Josh is rarely home during school days, but with his new schedule, he will be much more often. This week was the first time he'd really been around for school.  I confess, he is a distraction. The kids didn't like the idea of doing school when Daddy is home. Josh is far more fun than I am and creates extra noise that distracts me most of all.  But having him home opens up so much more opportunity for all of us to learn because he has his own unique strengths to share with us.  He also was a great help with Kathryn, spending time with her so that I could teach the older two.

One of the highlights of the week was when we were learning about Galileo for our Scientist Discovery page in Considering God's Creation.  We looked up information about  him online.  Mister knew he had invented the telescope. B-E-G knew he had dropped things off the leaning tower of Pisa.  We learned about his theory of heliocentrism- the belief that the sun is the center of the universe and that the planets revolve around it. This was in direct contradiction to what the Church said was true- that the Earth was the center of the universe and everything revolved around it.  So the Church considered it heresy.  Galileo would not agree with them and was put under house arrest for the rest of his life.  Of course, we now know that what he believed is true.  The Church was wrong, he was right.

Reading the sentence of the Church, I was angry. I launched into a lesson on why we should not accept the beliefs or views of any man made institution blindly.  It's okay to ask questions, it's okay to disagree, as long as our source of truth is always God's Word, the Bible.  Galileo believed in the Scriptures and his interpretation of them and what the said about the Earth was different than the Church's interpretation. It turns out his theory of heliocentrism was true and backed up the Bible, and vice versa.  I want my kids to know it's okay to question things.  But we do have one source of absolute truth.

So after I gave them a lesson on dissent, Josh launches into a lesson physics.  Speed, velocity, force, e=mc2.  Basically, Greek to  me.  But I just love how, together, we make a great team when it comes to raising and teaching our children.  When it's time for physics, or other higher sciences and maths, he's got us covered.  Me? I teach ideas, thinking through issues, literature, the arts. Between the two of us,  our kids are going to receive a well-rounded education!

More First Week of School

 

I seem to do a lot more posting about school at the beginning of the year, when things are still exciting and fresh.   As I watched Petite working on her  number puzzle with such enthusiasm, I couldn't help but think that these days are short lived.  When "school" is literally fun and games.  So I want to soak it up and take lots of pictures because these really are precious days.

 

With Josh on a funky schedule these days, he is sometimes home in the afternoon and then going into work in the evening.  I find that I still have to make a real dinner on these days because he needs something to take with him besides a sandwich.  I made Pizza Pasta one day this week for lunch (and it provides plenty of leftovers).  It's super easy and the kids love it. 

Cook one pound of pasta elbows, shells, or something of similar size. Drain.  Brown one pound of burger and drain.  Add two jars of pizza sauce (or make your own like I have been).  Spread enough of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a large casserole dish just to cover.  Add a layer of pasta.  Cover with sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni slices.  Repeat the layers, ending with mozzarella on top. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, til bubbly.  You can add any of your favorite pizza toppings to the layers.

This first week of school, we were preparing to celebrate the Sabbath from sundown Friday to Saturday evening.  Two loaves of challah bread on the table are traditional so I enlisted the kids' help to make some. They really enjoyed kneading (and beating up) the dough.

And they braided it themselves too.

We set the table with our finest, which isn't very fine and is an eclectic mix of yard sale finds, but with lots of candles lit and a fresh bouquet of flowers, it was special.

The challah bread covered in the cloths the kids made.

Traditionally, the father of the family says a blessing for each child on the night Sabbath begins.

We wash our hands, sip from the same cup of wine (or grape juice in our case) and bless the Lord of the Sabbath.

No knives are used on the Sabbath- we broke bread off the same loaf.  Petite called this "halala bread". Adorable.

We made this centerpiece of floating candles and were excited to see that it worked!  We cut circles out of cork and stars out of an aluminum pie pan.  We poked a hole in the middle and stuck a candle wick through it, with most of it below the surface.  We filled a large bowl (or trifle dish in our case) with oil and about a half inch layer of vegetable oil. We lit the candles (one for each of the children) and they burned!  They will burn until they've used up all the oil. 


It was a really fantastic first week of school.  There were moments in each day that reminded me why I do this. Why it's so important to me.  Like when the kids asked that classic question "Who did Adam and Eve's kids marry?" and "Why did God make a tree and tell them they couldn't eat from it?"  We had wonderful discussions. My kids are little thinkers already and it blesses me so much.

There was another moment that encouraged me, as well as hurt my heart.  We were taking the kids to the YMCA to sign them up for karate. It was just after three on a Friday afternoon and several school buses full of children were showing up and dropping them off for after-school care.  I watched little kids getting herded off the bus and later being escorted to various activities by Y workers.  Can I confess it made me kind of angry?  And really sad?  So many kids get on the bus by seven in the morning and don't get home until five, maybe six at night.  Then off to bed early for another day of it tomorrow.  These are little kids.  Then I realized this is "normal" and what I do is "weird" to many.  There's so much I can't give my kids because of my own limitations and it's also simply impossible for me to do it "all" (read my recent post on The Drive).  And I do need help raising them.  But I'm thankful that the majority of their waking  hours are with me.  Those questions they ask about God?  They'd never be answered in school. 

We wrapped up our week with an idea I got from The Busy Mom on notebooking. We began notebooking last year with the student sheets includes with our Exploring Countries and Cultures core.  And we have more of them this year. But it's also suggested that the kids make notebooking pages  on their own. I won't get deep into this because I think you should read this excellent post (and I think if you homeschool, especially if you are newer to it, you should subscribe to Heidi's blog because she is a fresh dose of grace and you won't find formulas!).  Anyhow, on Friday we made a list on the white board of topics we studies. I gave each of the kids a new, large sketchbook and told them to choose two of the topics and make a notebooking page for each.  They had to title it and date the top.  Eventually, I'll ask them to start adding more captions.  This notebook will serve as an instant portfolio of what we've studied all year and it gives them a little bit of choice (which they always love). Mister made pages on the Sabbath and dinosaurs. B-E-G made pages on Joni Erikson Tada drawing with a brush in her mouth and one on dinosaurs. 

Oh yeah, other great moments of the week:

The kids seeking me out and saying "I thought you were going to read to us!"

"Read another chapter!"

Yes, we are all loving The Tanglewoods Secret. Even Petite is listening in.

First Days of School

School is back in session here at the Mathews home!  And oh, my, the kids may not be loving it, but I AM!  I love structure, I love schedules, I love being productive.  Summer included none of those things I love (though I love it in it's own way, of course). 

 

As a teacher, I get the blessing of having the same students as I had last year :)  They are just older now and still growing.  Meet my class:

 

 Petite is in K-4.  K for her first name, 4 for her age, though she's in denial about being four.  Three is her favorite number.  She loves Minnie Mouse more than anything, as you can see by her dress and her painting.  She also loves to be read to, will draw on every sheet of paper available to her, and complete a coloring book in one sitting. 



Mister is fourth grade this year.  He's a budding magician, inventor, Lego Master builder, and quite a few other things interest him as well. In fact, we never quite now what he's going to ask to do or what sense it makes, like digging a giant hole in the backyard, but we know the Lord is really up to something with Mister and we're blessed that God entrusted him to us.

 Brown-Eyed-Girl is in third grade this year. She still loves animals of every kind and art is her favorite subject in school, except for reading.  She's a free-spirit and lets her paintbrush go wherever the mood takes her. In the case of her back-to-school painting, she went through about 23 coats of paint and ended up with this.  She wants to take a tumbling class and loves Sonic the Hedgehog.

Meet me, in my seventh year of teaching.  I LOVE that I get to homeschool my children.    It's the best and the hardest thing I do.  When I'm not lesson planning, teaching, and taking care of the house, I can be found cooking just for fun, reading just for fun or reading because I'm continuing my own education.  I love finding wonderful used books at Goodwill and yard sales. The UPS man frequents my house because I. love. Amazon. Prime.  Latest purchase today: youth biography on Harry Houdini for Mister and Season Three of Duck Dynasty.  I watch very little television, but two other shows I really enjoy via Netflix are Man,Woman, Wild and Wild at Heart.  I think I'm really British and meant to live in England because I love their classic literature, roses, lavender, rainy days, and Winnie-the-Pooh.  But I don't love tea so much.  Good strong coffee is what gets me out of bed in the morning.

 

Our first two days of school went much better than I expected. Honestly, I just really felt this week would be awful.  Perhaps because I so badly wanted it to be awesome.  Perhaps because no one else was ready to see summer go.  In any case, a family meeting the night before school started seemed to get everyone on the same page and attitudes have been very positive.

 

Just a few fun things we've done so far:  Mister wanted to make a fossil using a recipe found in one of our Kid Concoction books.  He even went out and scooped sand out of our driveway to make the impression in.  We mixed up some plaster of Paris and let it set and voila!

A rather cool fossil (sorry for the sideways photo).  And we just happen to be learning about dinosaurs too. 

This Friday to Saturday evening we'll be celebrating the Sabbath.  Friday night we'll have a feast and really make things special. One of the suggested activities was to make a challah covering for the traditional bread served for Sabbath.  We each made one (minus Petite. Where'd she go?  She never passes up the opportunity to use markers!).

Oh, there she is!  Coloring as usual.  And soon-to-be covered in markers!

It's pretty much sacrilege to serve your kids anything healthy to eat on the first day of school.  Even the strictest vegan, organic, whole-foods homeschooling moms agree with this.  "Happy first day of school! Here's a veggie burger and a salad!"  As Grumpy Cat would say, NO!  For us, it was the special and rare treat of pigs-in-a-blanket for lunch.  Be it known that I do buy nitrate free turkey dogs that are darn good, but there's not much I can do about those pesky crescent rolls in the poppin-fresh can.  Except maybe make the kids try to sound out the names of all those unknown ingredients and call it reading for the day.

Whew- we made it!  Two days down.... 173 more to go.  Can't wait!  There is just so much to learn and so much fun to be had.

Love the ones your with!

School Room Reveal

About a year ago, I got a vision for a much better school room than we had.  Perhaps it was born out of pure envy as I peaked into the school rooms of other homeschooling families via their blogs.  IKEA furniture and fixtures seemed to dominate the decor and I quickly learned that nearest store was about three and a half hours away in Boston.  So I started scheming and brainstorming ideas for a new and improved place to keep our  homeschool materials.

The following are the "before" pictures I took last August.  Wow, what a mess!  But I was grateful to have a good size room to keep all our supplies in... 

along with other things like gift wrap and bags...

and our makeshift coat closet.  Wow, these pictures are really keeping it real!

Josh was on board from day one to redesign this room into something more organized and more attractive.  I spent some sessions online at IKEA trying to design the room using a variety of their products- kitchen cupboards, wall shelves, media cabinets, etc.  I had planned to go with black cabinets and shelves, but then I painted the room this dark teal color....  and quickly realized black would be too dark and overwhelm the room.  On a visit to Home Depot, I noticed they had stock cabinets in white and we decided that this would be the best and easiest way to go!  They were already assembled, plus there was a sale going on for an extra 20% off!

Josh is the best guy for the job when it comes to home improvement projects.  Not that I'd know how to attach a cabinet to a wall, but even if I did, would I use a level?  No way.

The cabinets went in quick and easy!  How often can you say that when it comes to home projects?

The cabinets lined one wall, and the other wall was devoted to floor-to-ceiling shelves.  Josh custom built them so that that they were not as deep as typical shelves.  We had about 12 inches from the wall to the door, which is plenty deep enough for most books.  He designed and cut the shelves, I primed and painted them.

And here they are (minus the final one on the end)!  It's ridiculous how exciting this is to me!  I was giddy with excitement when I saw it all coming together and couldn't sleep at night as I dreamed about how to organize our books on the shelves!

I painted the frame around the window and I plan to put a bulletin board over that big box shaped thing sticking out. We're still not really sure what it was put there for, but the other side is in the kitchen and it's the place where I store all my cookbooks, so I actually like it.  Plus I have some baskets of supplies stored on top.

As you can see, it's not a huge room, but it's such a blessing to have one place devoted to our homeschool supplies and growing library of books. While I still have plenty of extra room right now, I know it will only be a matter of time before I'm running out of space.

A peak into our art supply cupboard...

And the drawer for adhesives...

Petite's cupboard with preschool goodies inside....

One shelf is devoted to homeschool helps.

Another for poetry.

Bible resources

 And one whole column of shelves is devoted to history books. I divided them according to the cores we will be studying from My Father's World. Shelf one is for Creation to the Greeks, two is for Rome to the Reformation, and the next three I separated by Native Americans and explorers, American Revolution, Civil War, western expansion and frontier life, the 20th century, civics, and geography.  I divided all the read-alouds that were historically relevant this way, too, so that hopefully when we study a particular time period, I don't forget the great fiction I have to go along with it.

There's also a shelf for art books and music resources, and then one for things like health and money management.  The best  thing about this room is that it is already fulfilling it's purpose! The kids have been going in and looking for books and supplies they need without my help.  Mister went in one evening and asked if we had a book on robots. I showed him the science section and we looked in the index of several books until we found some information on robots. He happily went off to read about them!  I also divided up some of the fiction into a "boy" shelf and a "girl" shelf.  When it was time for Mister to choose a new book to read, he checked out was on the boy shelf and chose one.  Because things are so much better organized, and visible, they are already getting used more often.  I also love that we're able to devote a whole room to our homeschool because I think it sends them the message that this is an important part of our life. I realize not everyone can have a whole room for homeschooling.  We don't have room for an actual classroom, nor is that what works for us.  I admire lots of those beautiful rooms online with the desks, or big tables, and charts on the wall, comfy chairs to curl up in, etc, but it's always worked best for us to school at the kitchen or dining room table, or overflow into the living room. 

While I'm loving the new school room, I'm learning that there are spots all over the house that can be dedicated to learning.  I recently transformed the space between the living and dining room, next to the staircase landing, into a little "learning corner" for Petite. I put our number rug there and the Little Tykes table and baskets of books and she brings her toys there.  I have a bookcase in the kitchen for my teachers guides and the kids notebooks, as well as supplies we use regularly. I still use the black entertainment stand in the living room for my Staples cube that holds our core books and math, English, etc, plus the math manipulatives we use most often, music CDs, and more.  We have baskets of books all over the place, and more bookcases too. The white board is set up on an easel in the kitchen most of the time.  We learn all through the house.  Homeschooling is more of a lifestyle than it is a portion of our day.

"I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves." Anna Quindlen

A Petite-Size Curriculum

My baby will be four very very soon. One week from today, if I happen to publish this post today.  When Mister was four, we began formal schooling at home.  I had a curriculum (The Weaver's Interlock, Singapore Early Bird Math, a growing pile of Usborne books) and I sat him at the dining room table with his two-year-old sister and we started doing school.  I had him sequencing numbers up to 100, he began reading, much to my surprise, and I expected a lot out of him.  I really did enjoy the time together and I look back and remember lots of the fun, preschoolish things we did... but my thoughts and feelings about early childhood education have changed in the six years since.

The first child is always the guinea pig.  Petite gets the benefit of not going through so much trial and error with me as her mom.  She's getting the mom who is a little more relaxed this time around when it comes to schoolish things.  She'll probably have a lot less of the task-master mom I was to poor Mister.

Petite also has the benefit of having two older siblings to emulate and learn from.  She picks up on everything they do and I often hear her copying it, for good or for bad.  She uses bigger words, like they do.  She tries to write like them.  She's always been a part of our homeschool and loves to have a school box like the older two.

She is a natural lover of books.  Her two favorite things, in fact, are Minnie Mouse and books.  I already see the incredible effect  that reading aloud to her has had.  Books are real to her. They carry over into her play.  Her toys reenact the stories she has heard.  She gives them the names of characters in her books.  She is alert to details and studies the pages carefully.  She reads to herself, reciting aloud the stories she knows so well.  I feel very blessed that she loves books so much.

Much of her preschooling will be just wonderful books.  Books like the Madeline series, Eloise Wilkin stories, Robert McClosky tales, and even silly stories by Mo Willems. She loves nursery rhymes, Richard Scary, and the Llama Llama series.  We have baskets of books everywhere you look in our house.  There is a shelf of "special" books in the new school room.  They are on the bottom of the shelf so she can access them, but they are special in that they are the very nicest and best books for her. 

Books are the very best in education, but with two older children to school, I can't be reading to Petite all the time.  That's why we've invested in some other great resources to keep her occupied and learning right alongside her siblings.  I keep many of these items in a special corner cupboard and pull them out when she seems bored or in need of direction.  If I need to spend concentrated time with the older two, there are plenty of activities she can do independently.

Inexpensive foam number and letter puzzles (I found them for 50% off at the Family Dollar Store- a whole 50 cents each).

Lauri toys, many purchased from the My Father's World preschool kit.  Lacing and stringing activities, shapes and sorting, peg boards, and an orientation puzzle.

I also purchased the activity cards for these to diversify the learning even more.

She loves puzzles and Play Dough

and Melissa and Doug makes many wonderful learning toys for children.

I keep these in the cupboard so that they remain special, instead of being things she can access at any time.  Of course, if she asks for them, she may have them.  And we're teaching her to pick-up when she is done.

Petite loves to color and lately loves to draw and is even writing letters. I stocked up on the cheapest spiral notebooks to keep her papers contained and give her plenty of freedom to put pen to paper.  I also purchased the Rod and Staff preschool workbook series. I love this series so much! It is inexpensive and thorough, addressing lots of preschool and kindergarten developmental needs.  I think Petite will love them because she'll have "school books" like her brother and sister.  I plan to let her set the pace for these activities.


I used Handwriting Without Tears with my older children, so we'll use the wooden letter pieces to start teaching letter formation. I also purchased the HWOT chalkboard for her so she can practice her letters if she wishes.

I have times in my daily schedule sectioned off to spend one-on-one time with Petite.  I've found that if I don't purposely set that time aside, she doesn't get it.  It's easy to focus on the older two who "have" to be schooled and to neglect the little one who doesn't have to be yet.  But of course she thrives on attention and she wants to feel like part of things, too.  I also like to employ one of  the older two to read to her or do an activity with her while I work one-on-one with the remaining child.  Somehow, we make it through our days and get plenty of things done. 

So no formal lessons for Petite this year, but I know she'll be learning lots and growing by leaps and bounds!

Curriculum Choices 2013-14

Just call me a curriculum junkie.  I won't be offended.  I don't have to own it, but I'd sure like to.  And I at least love to know about all the cool and amazing teaching tools out there, even if I'll never use them.

Cause the goal, when buying curriculum, is to use it. 

I really enjoy the process of choosing curriculum each year.  I've had moments of uncertainty, frustration, and of feeling overwhelmed, but overall, I love that I get to tailor our curriculum to fit each of my children.

If you've read my blog in the past year, you know how much I loved My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures.  It was our first homeschool year departing from The Weaver curriculum and as much as I loved The Weaver, I had no idea what I was missing!  Having the lessons all planned and all the core books included was exactly what I needed.  I felt like our year was complete and didn't have a lot of gaps in it.  I loved the notebooking pages and the general emphasis of the core.

So it's no surprise that for the 2013-14 school year, I've chosen My Father's World again!  We will continue to follow the Family Cycle and take the next step, doing Creation to the Greeks.  I've spent the last two weeks acquainting myself with the books in our new core and I'm really excited!  You can see the entire package here, but these are the elements I'm most excited about:

English From the Roots Up

My Father's World breaks this study of Latin and Greek word roots up into the next two years. This year, we'll be learning Greek word roots.  It looks fun and simple! Our first Greek word root is "photo" which means light. We'll think of lots of "photo" words we know and some of their definitions!  As a word lover and  the kinda gal who loves diagramming sentences, this kind of geekery is right up my alley!

Patricia St. John Read Alouds

 I've heard amazing reviews of her books from other moms. In fact, I haven't heard a complaint, ever, from moms or their kids.  I love reading aloud and I'm amazed at how the stories stick with my kiddos.  The power of story is profound.  I can't wait to read these for the first time.

Celebrating Biblical Feasts

I have long been interested in the significance of the major feasts of Israel.  We know several families who celebrate Passover each year and have participated in the past.  This year we'll be celebrating the seven major feasts as a family, assisted by this book which is full of recipes, crafts, songs, prayers etc.  I'm hoping and praying these will be memorable celebrations for the kids, or at least a great time of learning more about what God intended when he instituted the feasts.

I'm also really excited about the new math program we're using this year...

JUMP Math

I first learned about JUMP (Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies) math from the Timberdoodle catalogue.  They sell the JUMP at Home workbooks and gave them rave reviews.  JUMP breaks math down into the smallest incremental steps and their philosophy is this:

JUMP Math is a numeracy program. JUMP Math is dedicated to enhancing the potential in children by encouraging an understanding and a love of math in students and educators. JUMP Math replaces the self-fulfilling myth that some people are born with mathematical ability while others do not have the ability to succeed with assumptions that all children can be led to think mathematically.

JUMP is a not-for-profit company founded by John Mighton.  I read Mighton's book The Myth of Ability which covers how JUMP Math began and it's success with students that were otherwise far below grade level in mathematics.  It is a Canadian based company but provides books to meet US standards as well.  I purchased the Canadian versions for my kiddos via Amazon Canada.  The cost for BOTH children with shipping was $56 for one year of math.  That's because teacher's guides are FREE online.  The company truly is not-for-profit and interested in helping teachers and students achieve math success.

And we sure need some help in that department!   I am really, really excited about JUMP Math.  Our philosophy this year, as encouraged by Mighton in his book, is "I will not let you fail".  We won't move on til the kids are ready and I'm going to do my best to eliminate the math stress from our home.  Stay tuned through-out the year for updates.

(As a side note, if you are looking into JUMP Math, teachers guides are FREE online with registration.  Both my sister-in-law and I had major failure trying to register on the website.  We would never get a confirmation.  However, I ended up creating a Yahoo Canada email address and got my confirmation within ten minutes and I'm now in the system.  I emailed JUMP about this problem and received a personal email with access information for my regular email address. )

Considering God's Creation

 

Our core from My Father's World includes science using Genesis For Kids, a book of science experiments based on the seven days of Creation. I have to admit I am not at all excited about this book.  One glance through and all I could do was turn up my nose and curl my lip. However, Josh will be doing these experiments with the kids and I'll be doing Considering God's Creation with them!  This notebooking, Charlotte Mason inspired program is also based on the Creation week, but is much more my speed when it comes to teaching style and what I think is effective for my kiddos.   We'll be getting out in nature and keeping a notebook of what we learn. 



I'll be writing a separate post about what Petite will be doing this school year, but these are the highlights of the upcoming school year for the oldest two and myself!  I am always amazed at how much I learn, too. If you're homeschooling, I hope you're excited about the upcoming year and the curriculum you've chosen.  Have a great time growing together!