Our First Day of School!

Today we started our first day of school! Homeschool, that is...

Well, I guess they've always been learning at home (minus a year at a Waldorf school) so 

we just started a different rhythm to our day...and a bit of traditional work. 

Turner is doing Kindergarten work, Eli is in Tot School and Deacon is in Teeny Tiny Tot School. 

Here's my big Kindergartener! He's been needing a  challenge since the beginning of May
but I held off switching to Kinder items since we were traveling almost the entire summer.
Boy, was he happy to do something more difficult!

My big Tot Schooler! He's a quick one so I'm sure he'll keep me on my toes.
I've got TONS of Tot School stuff planned for him! 

Last, but certainly not least, my Teeny Tiny Tot Schooler!
He wasn't too excited to sit for this picture and kept trying to throw the sign behind him!
He's walking now (finally!), so this should all be interesting.

Today was very hectic because we had guests leaving early in the morning. The baby was sleeping in our room and as I was going to bed, I kicked a box, woke up Deacon and it was downhill from there. He was up all night, and I felt all disheveled from the lack of sleep and my wreck of a house. 

Since it's a holiday, John was home all day. We told the kids it was the first day of school and that we'd have some things to do today so we could kick the year off right. We had breakfast together, then the kids decided it was a great day for making a tank. So, that's what they did. 

Eli in the tank. 

Turner buckling Eli in to his seat. 

 After about a hour and a half of outside play, they came in and were ready to do the 10 minutes of work I had planned (apparently, I did a good job planning because I only had one math lesson and two tot trays on the docket for the day!). Turner really likes his new Horizons Math book. I'm thankful that the first lessons are super easy and more of a chance to feel out what he really does know about numbers. 

Squeezing glue for Eli (note to self, but new glue). 

He really enjoyed the independent work! 

This shows the kids's personalities. Turner is patient and focused, Eli is, well, three. 

Turner is very uncomfortable writing, so I gave him the choice to do a handwriting page today.
I think he's just nervous about making mistakes so he doesn't want to give himself
enough credit (he can actually write many letters but they're not "perfect" to him).

Both boys were eager to do some "work" so it made the few things I had planned easier to do. Turner did two math lessons (very, incredibly simple), 3 or 4 pages from his Go For the Code series, and some handwriting practice. Eli completed two Tot Trays (I'll be posting more about those on Tuesday) and was rarin' to go! 

The rest of the afternoon was spent outside. Hours and hours outside... the way it should be. 

Almost There

School starts tomorrow and the school room looks like this. 

Thanks to Hurricane Irene, we had to move Turner's birthday party back a week. There were 5 adults in the house and people were sleeping everywhere. My house is an absolute train wreck and the kids haven't slept well (excitement) in four days. 

I have zero expectations for tomorrow! As long as we get one math lesson done and take pictures with the Kinder/Tot School signs, I'll be happy. 

Just keepin' it real. 

Our Homeschool Room

Formal dining room for a not-so-formal-family = school room! We just happen to have a space to contain our mess, but that doesn't doesn't mean everything happens in here! The kids go NUTS in their "FROG" (aka massive bedroom where we bounce in the bouncy house, play soccer when it's cold, etc), play for hours on end outside, bake in the kitchen, make a mess in the in-formal dining area. They're all over the place, but here's the room we try to contain ourselves in...

The corner holds most of our supplies (for now), the wires to hold art work are just made of
picture hanging wire, wrapped around screws. 

Table taken from the eat-in kitchen area, lights from IKEA, hanging pocket organizers from
Wal-Mart. The calendar is a replica of Counting Coconuts. I hope she finds this flattering
because I adore her site! 

The black shelves will be for Eli for Tot Trays, I made the circle rug, pillows, and a
friend made the flags while we were traveling. 

I enjoy art and creating so I try to share that with the kids. They made these signs
that I originally found on Pintrest

I had Eli do this one because, well, he's the one that finds the most enjoyment painting. 

The kids love maps! Since their dad is in the Navy and travels the world I thought
I'd put up all the continents, though it's a bit early. They're always asking where he's at
and where our US friends live so here's the place to track all that! 

...behind the curtain is the mess...

Progress

We have been traveling almost the entire summer! The Silver Bullet has driven from Virginia, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and aaaalll the way down to Florida (and countless miles around said states)! I am happy to report, I've been abel to be creative and teach the kids a few things along the way...kind of...

What I've been doing since we returned home two weeks ago is become "official!" I submitted a letter of intent to our school board and immediately began to work on our school room. Luckily, we have a room (the formal dining room) that was available for use and just collecting odds and ends. As soon as I finish it up today I'll take some pictures and I'm going to link up with a blog hop about the room. I'm always curious to know how other decorate/plan and do just about anything so I thought it'd be fun to share our room! 

Here's to a new year! 

Planning, Planning

I have read a LOT of homeschooling blogs lately! Some just for fun and some to really learn from. Most veteran homeschoolers will tell you that when starting a new year, take...it...sllloooow! As in: Don't plan to do to much, too soon. It's, sort of, a "duh" but as a new homeschooler, the words are welcomed. Because you're teaching your family, it's hard to stop yourself from doing anything and everything! 

Right now I'm planning. Not necessarily scheduling, but planning so that I'm not sitting around Sunday evening (usually the only night John and I have quiet time together) thinking of what to do the following week. I've made it to December with a general idea of what I want to do for the month and a few "musts" for some days (i.e. birthdays, co-op day, holidays, community oriented days, ect). 

I'm really excited, now. I really believe I'm making the right decision for my family, at this time. I'm excited to see what the next year will hold for us and ready to get started!

2011-2012 Curriculum

So far, these are the choices I've made for curriculum: (obviously, I have no idea what will work and what won't or if we'll even get to use everything!)

Rocket Phonics (along with finishing up Get Ready, Get Set & Go for the Code Books)

Horizons math with manipulatives

Nature in a Nutshell for Kids and home spun experiments for science (to fill time when needed)

The Hand Book of Nature Study by Anna Comstock along with Handbook of Nature Study ebook

Continent Bags a la Counting Coconuts for geography

Five in a Row for everyday reading

Pink & Green Mama for art inspiration

Lesson Pathways for a free curriculum for just about anything (i.e. if I'm fumbling and need something to do)

Tot School for Eli, if he so chooses! 

History and all things between the lines of this list will be seasonal, eclectic (classical education to Waldorf!). We'll bake, prepare meals, play, build, pretend, dream...we'll pretty much continue life as we already know it. Just, maybe, a little more organized.

We're DOOOOING It!

After MUCH deliberation, we will be homeschooling! 

We finished the rest of preschool with some wonderful weather so I abandoned the blog and we went outside. Really, we worked on getting Turner ready for kindergarten in case the decision was made to send him to the local public school. 

In getting him ready, I found all the rest of my reasons to go ahead with homeschooling. Turner hates writing at the moment: he's not ready. He hates coloring. Um, hello, I know they color all the time in kindergarten classrooms. He's not ready for sitting, nor should he be forced to do so. He still takes naps and, really, the thought of him giving them up abruptly in September to go to school just saddened me. 

Then I thought: "Why be sad when I can educate him?" 

What I know Turner wants is to stay home. Whether it's to play, laugh, love or learn (let's hope all), or just be is fine by me. This moment, the boys love painting, getting dirty, baking, helping around the house, doing homemade science experiments, fighting, playing together and learning from me. 

And they love driving me nuts, too.