Our school year finished nearly a month ago, but I haven't stopped thinking school. New curriculum planning was in full swing and I really wanted to be prepared for the HEAV convention. I don't think anything could have prepared me for that!!
The number 1 thing I walked away from convention with is the need to simplify my life. More than I already think has been done. Being busy is getting us nowhere. I want the kids to remember more than just "We ran this errand, cleaned this, worked on that." I want them to love homeschooling so much they want it for their own kids.
We found great curriculum options there. The best part about having my husband there with me was feeling so empowered to say NO. I get excited about books. I can't help it. He was able to bring my focus back to "Will you really use this? If yes, let's buy it. If not, or if you're doubting, then skip it. The boys won't lack in their education if you don't get it." I can't even imagine how much I would have spent without him there to make me really think about it.
We walked away from a great history curriculum because after mulling it over for hours, it just didn't make sense. It's cyclical, so we thought it'd be perfect. But, with the age differences in the boys and wanting to keep them all studying the same thing (so I'm only teaching it once), it wouldn't work. Maybe in the future in might be better for us, but right now, it is not the one.
We bought a Bible curriculum from Positive Action. It looks great, and I think the boys will really grow from it. We've decided to stay with Abeka for Language Arts and Math, so we bought all we needed there to get free shipping! We're going to do American History this year, just based on library reading. It will be a challenge for me, to be sure I plan it all well, but I have a good vision for what I want to do. Now to follow through!
We were so excited about The Fun Clase Spanish language curriculum. I was certain though that we were out of money. I think by the time we got there, we had just $50 left for book spending, and level 1 was $110. We hadn't bought the Bible curriculum yet either. So, we decided to just save up for a while longer and get the Spanish stuff later in the year. How awesome is God that just as soon as we got home, He showed me how I'd made a $100 error in my convention budget, and we had $27 left over from other budgeted areas for the weekend! I was able to order it right away!!
This summer, we'll have field trips and visits with family. The boys have started in "summer review" mode already, but it's pretty leisurely at this point. I'm considering shifting our school schedule a bit to make our months off more late April through mid-June instead of summer. Not one of us really likes being outside in the summer, and if we're inside anyhow, we may as well do school. We'd much rather be outside when the temperatures are more bearable and it's not humid!
Starting in August, I'll have a kindergartener and a 2nd grader. Who told my babies to grow up? I better slow Sam down. He already counts to 12 and tries to say parts of the alphabet. We just can't have him growing to fast, right??
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
When less is less, and less is better
It's another episode of "What they don't have, they won't miss" around here. I packed away a TON of stuff. I left their Imaginext toys and castles, as well as their Christmas presents. Everything else that was not neatly stowed in containers in the closet in the family room got put away. And you know what?
They don't care. Not one little bit.
And in fact, they aren't even searching for the boxes I used like they normally do.
I'm going to hit the playroom soon too. That stuff is far more organized, but it's still alot. Trucks, cars, trains, dinosaurs, loads of action figures....Time to thin it all out a bit more. They are happier with LESS.
I remember as a kid, I never felt like I lacked anything. (Or, at least, that's how I remember it. My mom may beg to differ.) I had a big wooden toy box at the end of my bed that was pretty full, and around Christmas it'd get weeded out to make room for Santa's gifts. That was it. I didn't have all the space my kids do now. They have SO MUCH SPACE to have toys. We have play space upstairs in the family room. They have a basement playroom. They keep a couple of small toys in their rooms (but they have to fit on the shelf of their bed, no more than that). But with the little space we had in our 4 room apartment growing up, I felt satisfied. I didn't feel like mom & dad were holding out on me by not getting me the next best thing. Except for that one fit I still clearly remember throwing in KMart because I was certain my dad had promised me a toy and I wasn't getting it for some reason. As if that fit was going to convince him to buy it for me, right?
Sorry guys. :-) I'm sure glad you still loved me after that.
And so, this is a new year. I can see clearly that my kids don't NEED stuff for entertainment. The fact that they run around the house constantly with a blanket tied around them and waving my wooden spoons at each other tells me that what we have is sufficient. More than sufficient really.
I'm starting to look forward to consignment season.
They don't care. Not one little bit.
And in fact, they aren't even searching for the boxes I used like they normally do.
I'm going to hit the playroom soon too. That stuff is far more organized, but it's still alot. Trucks, cars, trains, dinosaurs, loads of action figures....Time to thin it all out a bit more. They are happier with LESS.
I remember as a kid, I never felt like I lacked anything. (Or, at least, that's how I remember it. My mom may beg to differ.) I had a big wooden toy box at the end of my bed that was pretty full, and around Christmas it'd get weeded out to make room for Santa's gifts. That was it. I didn't have all the space my kids do now. They have SO MUCH SPACE to have toys. We have play space upstairs in the family room. They have a basement playroom. They keep a couple of small toys in their rooms (but they have to fit on the shelf of their bed, no more than that). But with the little space we had in our 4 room apartment growing up, I felt satisfied. I didn't feel like mom & dad were holding out on me by not getting me the next best thing. Except for that one fit I still clearly remember throwing in KMart because I was certain my dad had promised me a toy and I wasn't getting it for some reason. As if that fit was going to convince him to buy it for me, right?
Sorry guys. :-) I'm sure glad you still loved me after that.
And so, this is a new year. I can see clearly that my kids don't NEED stuff for entertainment. The fact that they run around the house constantly with a blanket tied around them and waving my wooden spoons at each other tells me that what we have is sufficient. More than sufficient really.
I'm starting to look forward to consignment season.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
And it's January...
We're half-way through our school year now!! It's amazing. Drew is still flying through the material. I'm just aching to teach him something he hasn't already figured out!! He picked up a 2nd grade math book over our vacation and started answering questions. Umm...someone tell that kid he's in 1st grade! It's great though. I'm looking forward to opportunities to challenge him. We're moving into the "experiments" part of our science book, so he's defnitely getting more interested there. AND...we signed up for a chick-hatching project! We'll borrow an incubator from the local extension office, care for the eggs until they hatch, and then for the chicks for 4 weeks after. At that point, we will bring them back to the farm to do what chickens do best. Drew and Ben are really excited for this. I just hope our dog behaves!
Drew's going through a funk these past few weeks. He's decided he is scared of the pitching machine and doesn't want to play baseball this year. He really dislikes Cub Scouts. I told him he should really do something, and he said he'd like to start swimming lessons regularly. I think that's very ok. I'm going to see what we can do to get that going again. He's a natural in the pool and really enjoys it. Swim team could be in our future?? He's super competitive though (read: hates to lose), so he may struggle with that. He's got to learn somehow though.
Ben is flourishing even though we aren't formally doing school with him yet. We do a lot of reading together, and just tonight he started sounding out some simple words with me. He can write all his uppercase letters and numbers. He's so quick to pick things up it makes me feel bad that we aren't doing something more regularly with him. It has to be on his terms though right now, because when I ask him to do it, he fights against me. I told him that in the fall he'll have to do a bit more with me every day instead and he said "Well, of course mama. That's what kindergarteners do!" So, he'll be ready soon enough.
Sam is finally talking. It's so nice that he is truly communicating with us now!! Short sentences, clear words most of the time, and the rest of the time we can figure out what he's trying to tell us. All this from a child who was just grunting 4 months ago.
Well, I'm off to put a ton of toys into storage. All I've seen is toys strewn all over the floor for the past several days and no one playing with them. For the first time in ages, when I gave the boys a heads up that my plans were to do that tonight, they said "Yeah, that's probably a good idea mom." Yep, they've got far too much and they know it.
Drew's going through a funk these past few weeks. He's decided he is scared of the pitching machine and doesn't want to play baseball this year. He really dislikes Cub Scouts. I told him he should really do something, and he said he'd like to start swimming lessons regularly. I think that's very ok. I'm going to see what we can do to get that going again. He's a natural in the pool and really enjoys it. Swim team could be in our future?? He's super competitive though (read: hates to lose), so he may struggle with that. He's got to learn somehow though.
Ben is flourishing even though we aren't formally doing school with him yet. We do a lot of reading together, and just tonight he started sounding out some simple words with me. He can write all his uppercase letters and numbers. He's so quick to pick things up it makes me feel bad that we aren't doing something more regularly with him. It has to be on his terms though right now, because when I ask him to do it, he fights against me. I told him that in the fall he'll have to do a bit more with me every day instead and he said "Well, of course mama. That's what kindergarteners do!" So, he'll be ready soon enough.
Sam is finally talking. It's so nice that he is truly communicating with us now!! Short sentences, clear words most of the time, and the rest of the time we can figure out what he's trying to tell us. All this from a child who was just grunting 4 months ago.
Well, I'm off to put a ton of toys into storage. All I've seen is toys strewn all over the floor for the past several days and no one playing with them. For the first time in ages, when I gave the boys a heads up that my plans were to do that tonight, they said "Yeah, that's probably a good idea mom." Yep, they've got far too much and they know it.
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