Summer is almost here.
This week has been devoid of a SINGLE obligation. We have gone VERY lightly on the schoolwork and VERY heavily on the fun.
I've also focused on an exciting something (more later!).
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Summer is almost here.
This week has been devoid of a SINGLE obligation. We have gone VERY lightly on the schoolwork and VERY heavily on the fun.
I've also focused on an exciting something (more later!).
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Do you ever find yourself stumbling into a unit study?
This recently happened in our home. Finding one sweet book about Benjamin Franklin at a used book store led to asking the librarian to help us find further Ben Franklin resources, which led us to more and more resources.
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There are books every homeschool mom needs to have in her library.
When I was a new homeschool mom a friend loaned me a bag of books to borrow during our beach vacation.
They were her stash of best homeschooling books for moms. I devoured them on the car ride there, while we were on the beach, and on the car ride home.
I learned SO MUCH from those books. They gave me inspiration, motivation, ideas, encouragement, and just the TOOLS I needed to begin my journey.
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We have been notebooking in our homeschool for as long as I can remember.
Notebooking allows my children to have a scrapbook of their learning. It allows them to express themselves through writing, drawing, cutting and pasting, and more.
Notebooking can also be done across ALL areas of your homeschool. We have notebooked our way through history, science, and music - with sprinklings of Bible copywork, math notebooking, and notebooking with literature.
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It's been an odd week. We're not QUITE done with our schoolwork (more on that later), and we have been jam packed with special activities.
Last weekend we went to see a local high school production of Hairspray. It was excellent! Our friend, Olivia, who we go to church with, has babysat the kids, and was also one of my piano students, had a part in the show. Anna and I had a fun night, and we're still singing Good Morning Baltimore a week later!
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One of the best ways to sneak music appreciation into your homeschool day is to incorporate it with whatever you are studying at the time.
This week we have been learning all about birds.
Two pieces naturally came to mind. Both are by the French composer, Camille Saint-Saens.
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There's just something about little boys and their toys that is wonderful.
The organization, imagination, and creativity that goes into my little boy's playtime is astounding.
Now that my son in 8 years old, he's been through a few "stages" of toys. As I look back, however, it's just been a few toys he's loved and focused on in his life.
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The older my children get, the more I can clearly see the importance of some sort of "anchor" in their lives.
By an anchor I mean a skill and/or passion they can call their own - an area in which they can excel and develop their unique talent.
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I have been amply blessed in this department.
My own mother (who had me after she already had been a mother for 13 years) is the person who inspired me to be a mom. She is all those things you think of when the term "super mom" is thrown out there.
As I matured into an adult, I remember her supporting me in my every decision, even those I knew she didn't agree with. She taught me how to care for my children when they were newborns, and came to my rescue a few times when I just needed that extra help only a mother can give.
As we are drawing to the close of this school year I'm looking back and wondering when my kids grew up?
This will be the end of our fourth year of homeschooling, and while it seems like we've been doing this a while now, it also seems like we are just starting.
Next year we will be making a big change and joining our local Classical Conversations community.
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