It has been such a long time since I updated here, and so much has been going on. Long story short we have had so much happen in our lives that this fell by the wayside along with any structured instruction.
We had to evict our tenants, who were family members. We spent a month cleaning up from them, and trying to make repairs. We got new tenants in this summer, and have been steadily working on our side as well. We have turned our downstairs bathroom into a pantry closet, and our kitchen closet now has pots and pans and such, like a giant cabinet. I now have a sink in my kitchen! Which is amazing!!! It saves me so much time, and I love it. Next up is to put a bathroom in the old pantry. We also have had a lot of work in the garden, which has also fallen by the wayside in the past few, ridiculously hot, weeks. We have been harvesting some, but a lot of the plants have had troubles this year. Next year will be better.
We have been making frequent trips to the Science Center, CJ's new favorite place. We had coupons and just decided to go one day, and the kids loved it so much we bought year passes. We go at least once a month and the kids look forward to it so much, and it always teaches them something new. It helps drive our science instruction by showing us where the kids' big interests are. Last week we went to Southwick Zoo, and the kids thought that was amazing too. They prefer zoos and museums to carnivals and amusement parks. The Southwick Zoo, though, also has some kiddie amusement park rides, and they let you bring in your own food. I would love to go again.
Rich and I went to a homeschooling conference, but were underwhelmed. We went to a few workshops, only one of which I thought was a good use of our time. It talked about book discussions, and how to get kids to really get the most out of what they read, and what we read to them. It was practical and appropriate information, unlike several other workshops. We did enjoy the vendor area, which gave us some ideas on building and buying curriculums. I still haven't decided if I want to buy one or not. The kids are ahead on what they need to know by grade level, but physically are not. They can't do all the writing associated with a first grade curriculum, but are beyond what most kindergarten curriculums include. So we are still deciding. For now, I am building what they need, and doing it as we go.
We instituted a new routine recently. I prepare some activities or worksheets they can do independently each day. I put it all in a binders on their desk with whatever they will need. Each day after breakfast and cleaning their rooms they do that independent work while I do some chores and clean up from breakfast. This gives us more time to do fun things together like board games, and crafts. We still try to go to the library once a week, do computer work, listening centers, and cooking projects.
It has been such a crazy crazy spring and summer, but we are all looking forward to this "school year". I don't think we are going to be taking summer breaks as most schools do. The kids love learning, and over the summer kept doing science projects, brainquest workbooks and other learning activities on a daily basis. I just felt a little out of control with it, no planning ahead, no thoughts as to my goals. From now on I want our learning to be a little more intentional. Next week I will post some ideas and plans I have for the year, along with some of our resources. Thank you for joining our homeschooling journey!
