Keeping Myself Busy

While I'm waiting for this darling baby to make his way into the world,

(3 days overdue, but who's counting?  ;) )

I have been planning for our 7th year of homeschooling.

Some of our curriculum

 7?!  Holy Smokes.  I have a Middle Schooler...

And a 4th grader, a 2nd grader, and a Kindergartener (he's pretty excited to be "officially" joining the ranks!)

Some of his Kindergarten curriculum

This will be our second year in Classical Conversations and I am looking forward to it.  

I feel like I finally have a grasp on how this year should go.  Last year was a learning curve, a good one, but a curve nonetheless.  It will be nice to have a "general plan" for the year.

I'm going to add lapbooking to our curriculum this year.  We've done it before with unit studies, and my kids loved it.  So, I decided to buy these lapbooks (only the first 6 weeks to start just to make sure we use them).  They look great!

 

 I've been having so much fun!

I truly enjoy the buying, prepping, planning stage of homeschooling.

Now, if only I could keep that excitement throughout the year.  ;)

Attempting to enjoy this day that the Lord has made (even if I'm not holding a baby boy at the end of it),

A Homeschool Day in Our House

Here are a few pictures from a recent homeschooling day in our house.  I didn't catch each child doing each subject, but you get the idea.  :)

No day ever looks the same.

The kids work to accomplish their subjects as the day goes on around the little ones and in between completing important things like...LEGO creations.

Sometimes I sit and nurse the baby while answering questions from someone on my left and another on my right.

One of the changes we made for this half of the year is in History and Geography.  We started out the year doing Trail Guide to Learning, but after a couple months I realized that program wasn't working for us for various reasons.  So, we sold it and bought Switched on Schoolhouse History and Geography 3rd grade so that Emilia and Jonny could do it together.  So far, it's working well - they're able to accomplish that part of school completely on their own (big sigh of relief from me!).  We'll have to see how it goes as the year goes on.

Lydia takes a couple naps during the day.  This is a great time for me to work with the kids more individually...or clean the house.  Not that it ever needs cleaning...

Math time with the older kids.  

Notice the note on the blackboard (it says, "I can't do it!").  I've since banned negative notes and talk from the kids.  After the initial laugh, it creates such a pessimistic atmosphere for everyone.  I'm hoping that there will be less negativity when it comes to completing their school lessons.  We've been praying about this problem and have had multiple opportunities to "practice" being more optimistic throughout the day.

After completing his printing workbook, Matthew found this cursive workbook in his basket.  Although I wasn't planning on starting this with him yet, he wanted to do it.  And he's doing great.

Jonny's cursive practice.

Tommy plays a lot throughout the days.  He has a couple workbooks that he goes through, but he's only 3.5, so he mostly plays.

Remember how I said my house really doesn't need to be cleaned much throughout the days?  Yup. Totally clean.  All the time.

I must add that I really, really don't like when our house is messy.  To keep it neat, we clean up a couple times during the day.  I took this picture to show how it can look at any given time, but soon after taking the picture we took a "pick up" break.  I tell each child to pick something up or fold the laundry.  We all work together to get the job done quickly.  Cleaning up the inevitable messes throughout the day saves my sanity and helps the kids to be responsible.  If you look back at the picture where I'm holding the baby, the floor is free of messes.  Sometimes I can't do school stuff until we pick up.  This is both a blessing (our house is usually fairly clean and organized) and a curse (sometimes we don't do much school because I'm in a cleaning/organizing frenzy).  I'm constantly trying to balance these important aspects of keeping a home and raising children. 

Had to end with a pretty picture.  And yes, that candle was burning throughout the day...even while the living room was a complete mess.  A touch of beauty in the midst of chaos.  :)

So, that's a look into our homeschooling day.  What does yours look like?

linked to HHH

Our (yes, I know it's still early, but I've got a baby on the way) Curriculum Plan for 2013/2014

Even though I’m not due until July, I’m in major nesting mode. I’ve been doing many organizational projects around the house, and I’ve been researching different curricula for next year. Thankfully, we’ve narrowed down most of our choices because, you know, a baby is coming and will be here before we know it. Really. Time flies…until there’s only two weeks until my due date. Then, time drags on and on and on. Anyway, getting back on track…

Without further ado, here’s our 2013/2014 plan (Lord willing):

For the bulk of our curriculum next year (our fifth official year of homeschooling), I have chosen a unit study called Trail Guide to Learning: Paths of Exploration (POE)...
To read the rest, head on over to Heart of the Matter where I continue.

Easter with my *2* girls!

Linked to the HHH

March So Far (Picture Post)

March Happenings

Staged picture.  ;)  Matt lost.

Sister-in-law at Cousin's Wedding Shower held at my mom's house

My mom knows how to throw a beautiful shower.

My other sister-in-law!

Part of the banner I made for the bride and groom - see the following pictures - banner in background.

The Bride (my cousin) and Groom to Be  :)

Bride's sister (my other cousin) and my daughter

My sweet boy with my sweet niece.

The ladies in my family who came to the shower.  Emilia is sitting on my mom's lap.

Going on a family walk/bike ride!

YUM

He loves to steal my tea...  :)

Oh those hands...

More tea (a common occurrence at our house) sweetened with yummy homemade maple syrup.

Love those lips.

Cuteness!

Silly brothers

Favorite game to play right now.

This is how you can usually find Emilia.

Cooked the sap a little too long.  I prefer it when it's lighter in color.  But this was still quite tasty!

Ordered some new curriculum because the kids have flown through their other stuff already.  Pretty fun to get some new stuff before the year is over.  Helps us stay excited!

This particular morning was in need of a specific schedule - not something I do everyday...

Sometimes school needs to come last if the whole house and kids all need a good cleaning.  :)

And again with the chess...

Love these kids.