Wordless Wednesday ~ First Day

Side Note: When I first had the girls fill out their "favorites" list I didn't do a great job of guiding. I just  sort of handed them the lists, and let them be.  So, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I got Makenna's back, and she had filled in, Salt for her favorite season.  Oh my.  I laughed so hard I almost cried.  That's my girl!
We've since decided that Summer is actually her favorite season ;)

Back to {Home} School 2010

Another school year is upon us, and I couldn't be more excited! This year I have two in school. And by school, I do mean homeschooling at our dining room table. {Watch out, because in a few months, when we've moved into our new house, we're actually going to have a homeschool room. Whoa.}

I haven't talked much about our homeschooling journey. I suppose that the decision to homeschool can be a touchy subject, so I've stayed away from it. But no longer, friends. One of the things I love most about blogging, and meeting new blog friends, is that we are all so diverse. Some of us work at home, some of us work outside the home as well. Some of us have homeschooling children, some of us have children who attend private schools, or public schools. And some have babies that are too young to be attending any kind of school ;) My point is that we're all so different, and I love that! Unique, just as God made us. So, I'm about to do a little more talking about our homeschool journey. Simply because it is such a big part of our lives, and that's what this blog/journal is all about. I recognize that the choices we make for our family may very well work wonderfully for us, but would not work at all for you. I just wanted to put that out there because I am so passionate about homeschooling for us, but understand fully that it is not for everyone. Okay then.

Our story.

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away {that's how my dad started every story he ever told me}, there lived a little family of four {this is pre-Kam, don'tcha know}. A Mama, Daddy, and two beautiful girls ~ aged nearly 5 and 2. Okay, enough with the fairytale. Funny enough, I had no idea that I desired to homeschool our children. None. Actually, it would have been so much easier if I had. At least Jeremy would have been clued in ahead of time ;)

In May of 2007 we excitedly attended Kindergarten round-up, filled out all of the proper forms, and were preparing for our oldest to start Kindergarten several months later. But then, something happened. Word got out that the Kindergarten classes were changing from 2 days a week to full day/everyday. I started feeling uneasy about sending her to school. Thoughts of homeschooling started creeping in. I spoke with Jeremy about it. He was not . . . thrilled. The school we were about to send Sierra to, it was the same school Jeremy attended from Kindergarten on up. The same school I attended, for that matter. The same school system in which his mom had served on the school board. The same district in which his grandpa was a teacher. The same physical class room in which I spent my 6th grade year. The same class in which Sierra's cousin, Kolby, would be in. Get this, the same teacher that Jeremy had when he was in school. Yeah, I know. I was going against the grain, I guess you could say.

To say I was an emotional mess during the weeks leading up to the start of school, would be a major understatement. Major. Jeremy at least wanted us to give school a shot. So I reluctantly went out and bought all the school supplies on the list, and we prepared to send our barely five year old off to school. And I couldn't turn off the millions of thoughts floating around in my head. What if she gets hungry in the middle of the day? What if she needs to go to the bathroom, and is afraid to ask?

Looking back, I know without a doubt that homeschooling was God's calling for us. Isn't it funny how God's voice is so loud and clear after the fact? I always seem to doubt if it's "really" Him while I'm in the thick of it. I'll spare the millions of other details. Some I want to keep as private memories for myself, anyway. We did send Sierra off to Kindergarten. She made it through her first day. And the second, and third. But it didn't seem to get easier. In fact, there were more tears shed as each day passed. That weekend we took a quick trip to the beach, and so enjoyed our time together. When Monday rolled around there was a meltdown. Apparently Sierra had thought that once she had gone to school for the week, she was done. Sigh. I took her back to her classroom, crying and clinging. And vowed I wouldn't do it again. We didn't.

We've been homeschooling ever since. Jeremy was hesitant, and I'll admit that the first year was difficult as we all came to terms with our new normal. There were a lot of dreams, goals, and expectations of the future that changed when we decided to embrace God's calling on our lives. But now, we could not be happier. We love this journey, and are so blessed to be taking it together.

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Thanks for letting me share! Hope y'all have a fabulous school year ~ wherever it may be!

Gearing Up . . .

For our big first day tomorrow.

Anyone else?

Back to School? Not us.

I don't write often about our homeschool journey. I'm not sure I've ever even explained how we got here ~ what made us decide to choose this path. I suppose the short version is that I never thought I had the desire to homeschool. I wasn't homeschooled, nor was Jeremy. It hadn't even crossed my mind . . . until we attended Kindergarten round-up for Sierra, in May of 2007. Something just didn't feel right. That entire summer I cried daily because I couldn't imagine sending my daughter away to school. And I did a lot of praying. In the end, I knew God was calling me to homeschool. Jeremy wasn't as convinced ;) But I think he now enjoys it almost as much as I do! And that, folks, is DEFINITELY the short short version ;)

Anyway, one of my very favorite bloggers, Jenny, at Our Nifty Notebook is participating in the Not Back to School Blog Hop going on over at Heart of the Matter, and I wanted to join in on the fun too! We haven't yet started our homeschool year {we still have a few weeks left of summer vacation to enjoy}, but I have finally chosen the books we will use this year. I have two homeschoolers now, don'tcha know.

Makenna

Makenna is joining us at the homeschool table this year ;) If truth be told, Kenners joined us most of last year too. We will be focusing on the three Rs, of course.

I've chosen Christian Liberty Press for Math. Sierra has switched to Horizons, but she started with CLP, and we liked it.

Makenna will be using Sierra's old Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

I LOVED this book. It was fabulous for Sierra, and I'm hoping that I'll enjoy it as much with Makenna.

I've also chosen Christian Liberty Press ~ The World God Made for Science, though it is likely Makenna will join in on Science with Sierra as well. At least for some experiments.

Makenna will join Sierra for History, and we will work on Handwriting together.

Sierra

We've chosen to continue using Horizons for Math. Last year I bought the workbooks, but didn't realize there was a Teacher's guide to go with them. This year I'm buying the guide too :)

I was not crazy about the Horizons Phonics & Reading workbooks that we used last year, so we will not be going that route this year. We're going to try Spectrum Phonics, Spectrum Language Arts, and then Literature Pockets ~ Aesop's Fables. Sierra is a fantastic reader {and she loves to read!}, so we will continue to read our Little House books together with questions after each chapter.

I've enjoyed the CLP Science Series. This year, Exploring God's Creation, is the last in the series, and I'm going to miss it. We will also be using a couple of the Young Scientist sets for hands on experiments.

I have yet to find a History text that I'm super excited about, but I cannot say enough about History Pockets {by Evan-Moor}. I LOVE them! Does anyone else have experience with these? We used Life in Plymouth Colony, Ancient Civilizations, and Native Americans last year. They make learning about history . . . fun! Each week you create a new "pocket" with construction paper, and there are crafts, vocabulary, and handouts that go along with the subject you are learning about. It keeps little hands busy, that's for sure. And the best part is that it is something that both Sierra and Makenna can do together. I may need to abbreviate some of Makenna's assignment, but they are learning alongside each other, which I love. I could go on and on . . . but I'll spare you :) But, if you are looking for a great history supplement, definitely check these out!

Along with History Pockets we will be using See the USA, and our text, American Pioneers & Patriots. And I have ordered Map Skills {Sierra loved her workbook from last year}

We will continue using A Reason for Handwriting, working more on cursive. And, of course, we will continue to keep God at the center of our studies by reading the Bible daily. I'm also looking into the Discover 4 Yourself Series. What a fun way to travel through the Bible!

And that's about it!

Whew! That was a long one.

If you're still with me, stay tuned for a quick house update later ;)