Changes

Things have been crazy over at our house.  I guess that is the life of a busy family of 4! McDad hurt his knee last month, so he's been laid up until they could get him into surgery, on top of the fact that we just moved from our home to a house closer to McDad's job.  It was a tearful transition, mainly for Sunshine and me.  I have a hard time letting go of memories that were created in our old house, and Sunshine doesn't know any differently! We are just about settled in our new place and I'm sure it will feel like home before we know it.

I've been so busy with the move and our company (Mark DuRant Photography), that I haven't really had time to plan or prep for a new school year.  Public school kids went back to school today, and I felt a bit guilty that I didn't start with my kiddos.  I guess that is the beauty of homeschooling though- we can set our own schedule!  We are aiming to start after Labor Day- our schoolroom needs to be unpacked and curriculum purchased.

Honestly, I've been second guessing our decision to homeschool our children.  We have support from family- mostly-- but we hear a lot of , "When are you going to put them in school?" and " Don't you think she's missing out?"

Ugh...

I understand people's concerns, but seriously, it gets old and it starts to get in my head.  Today, I was doubting myself majorly.  Seeing all of my friends' kids in their first day outfits on facebook made me wonder if we are doing the right thing for our children. 

So I spent the morning thinking and praying about it.... I texted McDad my feelings because, as the leader of our home, I trust his judgement.  As I was doubting, I was reminded of the fact that WE didn't decide to homeschool our children, God led us to this place and we just chose to be obedient to His calling. 

Both McDad and I were led to consider homeschooling separately- so as we have prayed about our chidlren and considered future decision for them, I am reminded that we have been called to homeschool- at least for this time and until God tells us differently. 

There are days I wish I could send my daughter off to school and spend the day cuddling and playing with Slugger.  There are days I want to focus on our business and home and not worry about planning lessons.  There are times I would love to count down the days until my children are in school so I can finally have some "me time".

But then I remember that we were led to be a homeschooling family for a reason.  Even when I feel inadequate, even when I doubt, I know we are where we are supposed to be. And I take lots of comfort in that.

So, its off to send emails for Mark DuRant Photography and then start planning our school year-- praying every step of the way.

Our schedule and curriculum

Since Sunshine is still just 4, our school schedule is fairly flexible and I try hard to follow her lead.  For now (though I'm planning on making some changes), she has Math (Math-U-See), Writing (Handwriting Without Tears) and Reading (All About Reading Level 1) every day. We do science and life skills about once a week.  She is making great progress in each subject, but we work slowly.  One of the things I've learned about Sunshine is that she is a bit of a perfectionist (I suppose she gets that honestly).  I have had to be creative about making sure she is completing her work relatively quickly.  We have an app on my iPhone that she uses when doing her fluency worksheets with AAR.  I'm so very proud of the work that she has done!

We attend a Homeschool co-op once a week- I am so happy we found this group! Not only does it give my very social daughter a chance to get some extra socialization, she is able to do things at co-op that I just wouldn't be able to do with her.  They did a song for the talent show, sang in the musical and even went to the fire department!  I am looking foward to starting up again soon. 

Sunshine got a science kit and book for Christmas so we can start doing experiements.  She loves nature and I think she'll love doing experiments of her own.  I'm hoping to do put science in our schedule at least once a week, if not more.  I'm reworking our schedule right now, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to fit everything in!

The beginning

January 31, 2012... the end of a year, and the beginning of another... welcome 2013!!

2012 is the year that brought us to homeschooling my daughter, Sunshine.  She is 4.5, though I'm pretty sure she thinks she at least 22.  She is thriving at home, but homeschooling sure is a lot more difficult than I anticipated.  Slugger, who is 19 months, is a little ball of fire and is really starting to enjoy more learning type playing.  His current favorite toy are his stacking cups!

A little history... I am a former school teacher.  I taught middle school for 4 years, worked as a paraprofessional for a year prior to that and pretty much worked with children my whole life (babysitting, camp counseling, etc).  I love kids, and always have.  After having my daughter, my husband and I decided that making the necessary sacrifices to stay home was important to our family.  At the time I didn't think much of homeschooling- I always figured I would return to work whenever my husband and I were finished having children. 

God had other plans...

I'm sure I'll give the back story at some point about our journey to realizing that homeschooling was the direction that God wanted for our family, but for now, I'll just say, I have been homeschooling since August and I love it, but its hard.

Sunshine is doing great- she can write all her letters, has gotten better at using scissors, can read most three letter words now and knows her number up through 100 and can do simple addition.  She is thriving, but I am getting burnt out.  Slugger makes things complicated too-- I spend much of our homeschool time chasing him down and getting him off the kitchen table.  But he occasionally sits down long enough to practice skills and I look forward to doing Tot School with him as he gets older and focuses more on tasks!

Anyone who has homeschooled, realizes the abundance of information out there-- I took on too much, and tried to do everything, and compared myself to other families, especially blogging families, and constantly felt as though I fell short.  Little tip- don't do that.  Homeschooling is a personal journey.  Homeschooling doesn't have to be "school" every day.  For a 4 year old, homeschooling is helping with dinner, exploring outside and helping with chores as much as learning to read, doing math and doing craft projects.  Life is school- and I want to provide as abundant and rich life as possible. 

I'm starting this blog to help focus myself- to share bits and pieces of our homeschool life, to focus on the now, to celebrate each accomplishment, and gain wisdom from other homeschool families.  Welcome to our little corner of the web!