Back to School!

We've been back to school since labor day, and we are getting back into the groove of things. These past couple weeks as we've enjoyed starting our routine I have been reminded of WHY we home school. People always ask me why. As I've reflected back on these first weeks I've thought of the 6 top reasons why we love it.

1. We get to spend TIME TOGETHER! This has got to be my favorite part. I love watching my kids learn and grow academically, but also develop positive sibling relationships that will last their whole lives. There is something "bonding" about being together all day, and getting excited together about learning new things. I enjoy the open communication I have with my kids. We feel comfortable talking about pretty much anything.

No, I did not pose these children. I found them reading and working together and found it so sweet...

2. The kids can learn at their own pace and in their own "style". Whether that means they can race ahead in a subject , or they can take their time on something that is hard for them, it is great to be able to let them learn how they specifically learn...whether it be visual, audio, or kinsthetic.

3.When they are finished with their work, they can pursue their own interests...developing talents, creativity, imagination, etc.

4. The evenings are free to spend how we choose, rather than the stress of staying up late to get home work done. We also get to avoid the morning rush off to the bus.


5. "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
-- William Butler Yeats--- To spark that inborn love of learning, and keep it alive for a lifetime... We can learn about things we are interested in. It seems you always learn better when you are interested and excited about something, rather than having to memorize for a test because you have to, then forgetting it all. **This homeschooling thing has really resparked MY love for learning!! I am learning so much that I either forgot or never learned in school. A nice added bonus for mommy.

6. We can start each morning with a prayer and a scripture and a devotional, and we can talk about God and any other values we want to instill in our children all day long. I've been able to take advantage of many "teaching moments" with my kids throughout the day. I don't think those opportunities would be so frequent if I was only with them a few hours before bedtime each day.

(No, that paragraph does not go with the snake picture...We went to our homeschool opening social at the Nature Park, and some boys were being mean to this snake, and they gave it to Spencer...it must have had an injury from being tossed around so much, because it let the kids hold it without trying to bite or slither away...Kami enjoyed it, as you can see.)

Besides WHY, I also get the question HOW do you do it?
The 3 most important things I've found to make things run smoothly--

1. Having a schedule, and sticking with it, thus creating a routine and good habits is key. Before long the kids are on autopilot and things run smoothly. The first weeks are crucial to creating that routine. They do a big share of the chores...we never start until the house is orderly and the dishes done.
2. Having expectations, and following up. This is most effective when the kids chores and schoolwork are scheduled out for the week, and they just look at their chart and know exactly what they have to get done each day. We have school Mon-Thurs. If there is anything on their schedule that didn't get done during the week, they have to finish it on Friday. If they do accomplish everything expected of them on school days, their Fridays are free of schoolwork. Great incentive!
3. Having the right balance of structure and flexibility...for instance, Monday I got a call from my friend to go hike to wind caves on Tuesday. So we said OK! We got our chores done quickly that morning and took off for a fun day with other homeschool friends. I love being able to go and do stuff like that...the real hands on learning stuff.
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This is wind cave. It is about 2 miles up to this point,then everybody hiked up to the very inside of the cave (except for me and my belly, plus kami and Dallin.) We stayed below at the point before it got really steep.

Kami and Dallin had fun playing in a creek while we waited for everyone to go explore the cave.

ROCKS!!

Homeschool friends

The 4 mountain mamas.

Well, there is a general idea of why we homeschool, though there are lots of other reasons, too. And other questions, too, like...What about their social life?? Maybe another post for that one...

Here is the curriculum we chose for this year, and so far it has been awsome.

History/Geography/Literature--Sonlight Core 4- Introduction to American History Part 2. We are starting at the Gold Rush, and will study up through the Great Depression, Civil War, and the World Wars. We do this through reading classical literature of the time period, and learning about great people in history. This method fits my kids because they LOVE history! My favorite part is reading aloud together in the evenings with dad. We all look forward to it. * These first two weeks started out with a unit on South America. We have had so much fun learning about this continent because our very own Uncle Jeffy is serving a mission there in Argentina right now! It has made it extra special to learn about where he is.

Writing/LA/Spelling--Writing Strands. The two older kids are going through a program that teaches them the writing process. They take their spelling mistakes from their writing and create their own individualized spelling lists. We also use the Explode the Code workbooks.

Science--Sonlight Biology. We are studying biology, physics, taxonomy, and human anatomy. There are lots of cool experiments in store.

Math- Teaching Textbooks. For Spencer and Lindsey, this has been the best year ever for math. The kids love this learning method, and have been doing math with out complaining. Porter and Kami are working in Singapore Math, which is great for early elementary.