S before the wedding

We attended our first wedding together as a family, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure how G and S would do.  As it turns out, they had a ball and so did we!  They absolutely made the whole event enjoyable for all of us.  Just wait until you see the pictures of them on the dance floor…  Above is S looking over the ocean before the wedding started while the guys got their pictures taken.

The Ringbearer

G was quite the serious little ringbearer but he had trouble staying with the flower girl.  He was more interested in getting to his goal (standing next to Mr. Mike) and holding onto the shell holding the rings.  He held the rings, delivered as requested, and at the end exited the festivities by holding Mr. Mike’s hand instead of walking with the flower girl.  He must still be in the “she’s got cooties” stage.  I’m not sure.  Regardless, he was the most handsome little ringbearer ever.

S kept busy during the wedding

S worked on sand castles during the wedding.  Well, as much as you can in dry sand.  We then moved into the reception hall to enjoy the meal and the music.  Once the first dance was over for Larry and Jenn, G and S were happy to take over the dance floor.  Take a look.  G was helping S do spins and everything!  S also liked to push us off the dance floor so she could have the whole space to herself.  It was S’s personal stage apparently.  :)

Dancin'

Dancin' with mommy

Both kids had no shortage of dance requests for the dance floor.  They also invited themselves into many couples’ arms to join them in their dances.  Our children?  Shy?  Nope, apparently not.  It must be a recessive gene in mine and Chris’s DNA that became dominant in their DNA.

Another miracle?  Our children actually got Chris and I to dance in public *gasp* for the first time – you know, in front of real people and everything! We only dance by ourselves in the comfort of our own home because my musical skills usually don’t translate to my feet.  In public.  I’m still trying not to hyperventilate over that one, but I think we did manage to keep a good rhythm and look great!  Besides, everyone was watching the cute kids, right?  :)

I read and researched, read and researched.  I asked endless questions of friends in real life and online who I knew homeschool.  I called friends who lived far away, and if I met or heard of friends at church who homeschool I said, “Hi, I’m Tara, I hear you homeschool, I have some questions!”  I was fearless and determined.  If I overheard conversations about homeschooling, I approached and boldly offered my services to continue to listen in.  Everyone was so friendly and ready to offer information and advice.  I loved it!

There are so many excellent curriculums out there for so many subjects that it was hard to choose.  There are even books published on how to homeschool for free!  Entirely possible with your public library and some footwork and the internet, I am sure.  The trick to all of it is figuring out what is right for my family. What are my educational priorities?  How much time can I put into preparation?  What about my teaching/learning style and G’s learning style?  And lesson planning?  I have zero experience in lesson planning on this level!  Piano lesson planning, sure, but this?  Nope.

I had two options:  put together some curriculums for all the needed subjects and then put together lessons plans each day from those subjects or buy an all-in-one type of curriculum that does it for me.  I was leaning heavily toward the latter for this first year especially because of my lack of experience – to ease any frustration level, and to give us the best possible advantage as we get started.

That said, we chose Sonlight.  Sonlight is a literature-based Christian homeschool curriculum that lays out the lessons plans for you (yea!!) for all your chosen subjects.  You can read about it on their website, rather than me detailing their selling points here.  I was very impressed with everything I read about them and heard about them.  Any negative comments came from families who said that Sonlight just didn’t work for their family, but that it was a great program.  This was very encouraging.  And we have 18 weeks to decide if it works for our family and if it doesn’t – full refund!  Can’t beat that!  They even have an article on their site detailing 27 reasons why Sonlight might not work for us.  Did you read that?  Might NOT work for us.  Very interesting reading and honest.  I was impressed.  Yes, it’s pricey, but we believe it’s worth it for us at this time.

One thing I am going to change is the math program.  We are going to opt out of their math program and instead choose one called Math-U-See.  This program was developed by a homeschool dad and I have heard nothing but rave reviews about it.  It uses math manipulatives for a very hands on approach and we think G will really enjoy that.   Not to mention Dad.  And Mom.

So what about art, music, PE?  No worries, G is very artistic, and we’ll get that covered.  I have great artist friends and there are art courses in the homeschooling world I can take advantage of, even classes I can enroll him in.  Don’t forget I am a piano teacher, and we have soccer, swimming, and lots of sports options.  These children will not be neglected in any way!  :)

I hope you won’t tire of reading about my homeschooling thoughts…this topic isn’t going away anytime soon!  It’s going to be a very big part of our lives in the next year!

We are excited, perhaps a little nervous, but more excited than nervous, about this new adventure that will be our school this year!  I look forward to sharing all the details with you be they fun, exhausting, nerve-wracking, maddening, or exhilarating.

I am already anticipating your questions!  Your first question?   Why did we decide to homeschool?  This is a unique decision to every family – just as there are unique personalities in this world, there are unique homeschooling families.  If you are curious about this topic, I highly recommend the book So You’re Thinking About Homeschooling by Lisa Whelchel.  This book portrays fifteen unique families, their situations and why and how they homeschool.  Excellent reading.

We are taking this year by year, month by month, and day by day.  We are taking G’s kindergarten year as it is – his first year – and see how it goes!  G is a very sensitive, personable personality who loves to work one on one with whoever is around him.  This, plus other personality factors, a mild speech delay, and my personal teaching philosophy and other convictions led us to choose homeschooling.

Your next question?  Ahhhhhh, yes.  The Big S.  SOCIALIZATION.  Let me stop you right there.  Every child, public school or private school or homeschool is as socialized as each parent or guardian determines.  Think back on your school experiences.  Some children participated in nothing, some in everything.  The same goes for homeschoolers.  As a parent, there are numerous opportunities to socialize with people of all ages throughout the day.  Just because we do school at “home” does not mean we stay at home all day!  School can happen anywhere!  Think of your day running errands:  Target, the grocery store, the bank, changing your oil, the doctor’s office, etc.  Some many chances to talk to people of all ages and personalities!  Field trips, sports, dance classes, piano lessons, church – the opportunities are really endless.   Excellent social skills for children, no matter how they are schooled, happen in every day situations with people of all ages.

Your third question?  How does G feel about this?  That kid is excited! We have talked with him about it several times and he is so excited he can hardly stand himself.  As soon as we told him we were setting aside the “formal dining room” of our home for a “classroom”, he immediately went and got his “Bob Books” (early readers) and his toys and ran to that room and sat down and said we had to start class.  ”Let’s go, Mom!  We have to have class now!”  He routinely calls me “teacher” and wants to have class.  I have already started buying workbooks (Kumon Workbooks) and he loves them, soaks it all up like a sponge.  My goal in doing small activities like this in our classroom is to start planting the idea that that room is the classroom, a work room, and not a playroom.  We have our old breakfast table in there now, a bookshelf (and plans for more), some posters on the wall, plans to move G’s computer in there, and other decorating ideas.  I can’t wait to share pictures with you all as we go!  The room is not clean at the moment so “before” pictures will have to wait.

Ah, your fourth question!  I can hear it already.  What in the world are we going to use to teach him?  I’m so glad you asked!  Initially, I was overwhelmed with the plethora of information out there about homeschooling – books, the internet, more books, more internet, blogs, oh my!  Where did I even begin??  Well, by jumping in…so I did.  I checked out some books from the library and started reading.  I surfed the internet and googled endlessly.  Until my eyes crossed and uncrossed.  Now, if I had just started with this book, I would have saved myself a lot of time:  100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy. Genius book.  Truly.  Ms.

Duffy first examines your own learning style, teaching style, philosophy of education, then your child’s learning style, reviews homeschool curriculum styles (unit studies, Charlotte Mason, literature-based, Classical, etc.) then has a chart for you

complete to reveal what styles match yours the best.  Very revealing.  Next, she reviews the most popular curriculums out there for the various subject areas, listing various other resources as well.  I saw several websites and blogs list her book as a top resource for parents to purchase and it didn’t take me long to see why!

Continued tomorrow…

PS…I need a “G” category for homeschooling.  Ideas?  :)

On the first evening of Daylight Savings Time.

The bane of parents of young children trying to get them in bed on time, an hour earlier.  Sigh.

S went down beautifully.

G not so much.  In fact, it is 9pm and we just had the following conversation:

G:  Mommy, I’m scared

Me:  Ok, go to bed, talk to God about it.  He’ll help you not be scared.

(a few minutes later he comes out again)

G:  Mommy, God told me that S is asleep.

Me:  He did, huh?

G:  Yes.

Me:  Did He also tell you not to be scared?

G:  Yes.

Me:  Did God tell you there were no monsters?

G:  no…

(a minute later…)

g:  Mommy, God said I could read more books…

(this is a classic delay tactic to avoid going to bed, but I had to give him credit for creativity, it made me laugh out loud)

(another few minutes later)

G:  Mommy!  I love Jesus!

(I couldn’t help but grin.)

(a few minutes before that…)

G:  Mommy, God said he’s holding on, and letting go…

(I’m not sure of the meaning of that one, but it means something to G I guess)

G:  Mommy, Jesus loves Winnie the Pooh

(Now, he’s really pushing the limits, but it sure still is cute)

G:  Mommy, Jesus wants to play the computer with me, he doesn’t want to go to bed

Me:  G, God wants you to go to bed.

G:  God didn’t say that.

Me:  Well who do you think put me in charge?

Never a dull moment…

On a nice day recently (chilly for our neck of the woods, hence the jackets), I loaded up the kids and bikes and uber furry dog and headed to the local park around the corner.  We had a great time riding around the bike trail through the “woods.”   Considering I grew up in the wilderness of Kentucky, it’s hard to call this a nature trail when the interstate is roaring mere yards from where we are, ahem, peacefully riding, but it is a nice ride and great exercise.  We are so excited that this great park opened so very close to our house.

Next on my shopping list is my own bike.  Their little legs are starting to get a little fast for my stride.

A pink bike.

I’m all girl like that.

That would be the question…that plagues our thoughts and minds and hearts and energy now.  That and a cold virus.

His continued speech delay and other factors lead us in this scary, exciting, daunting direction.

Any advice?

• G, upon picking him up from school on Groundhog Day with a craft of a groundhog coming up out of a styrofoam cup via a popsicle stick:  ”I’m hibernating.”  Me:  ”Oh yea, did you learn about the groundhog today?”  G:  ”Yea.  He has to go back in the cup to get his shadow.”
• S, while playing with G’s knight and horse play set, “Look!  I’m playing with Frodo!”  Huh?!  When did she watch Lord of the Rings??  Where does she get this stuff??
• Trying to get G to blow his nose…  ”No, Mommy.  I’ve FIVE.”  Me:  ”Huh?”  G:  ”I can’t blow my nose because I’m five.”  Apparently, it’s a super power that you get when you turn six.
• I threatened to throw all of S’s toys in the trash if she didn’t clean up her room in five minutes (I had given her several hours and several reminders.)  S:  ”Ok, go ahead.”  The only things in her room now are her bed, dresser, and toy chest.  Never fear, the toys are in the garage but they will probably get weeded out this weekend before returning to her room.
• She still hasn’t asked for her toys.
• G, when I hugged him.  ”Mommy, you’re too squeezy.  I’ll hug big and you hug small.”