Fresh Starts

Even though we are finishing up Week 9 of the school year, I wanted to document for grandmas and others we know who are far off the start of the year for our two students. We now have a kindergartener and a first grader and they are both doing well with their studies at home as well as at a charter school within our district that offers a 1-day-per-week program for home school students. We loved the program we were part of last year, but the distance was becoming an increasing obstacle as I am now trying to meaningfully teach two children and as we expect our fourth child during the school year. For this novice homeschooler, it is assuring to know that there are other teachers investing in my children's education and covering some of gaps I haven't filled in at home yet like music, art, and p.e. and supplementing the language arts and science we are doing here at home. Another benefit is that their primary teacher can provide me with insights into what may be beneficial to their 80% of school time spent at home. It seems like a good balance for us this year. Even though we are 1/4 of the way through the year, I feel I am still working on finding routine and consistency in managing the responsibilities of teaching, homekeeping, mothering, and managing our 3 year old while we are doing school. I have a lot to learn, but I'm thankful for the journey.

Year-End School Events

Our family really benefited from the combination of homeschooling and sending Sportster to a charter academy homeschool program a couple times a week this past year. He loved the interaction with his class and his teacher and the fun things that I may neglect or not find feasible in a one-on-one setting here at home.

With the end of the school year, there was a flurry of activity which was great fun. But I also felt relief when the school year was over. Here is a little recap of things that were squeezed into about 2 weeks in May.

Field Trip to a nature center in town
My dear husband took a morning off so I could be one of the drivers and go along with Sportster's class which I really enjoyed.

Field Day with lots of fun activities for the kids

Keeping this young one out of the action was a challenge!

Patriotic Program
Sportster's teacher did a great job of putting this all together and I'm glad he is now familiar with many patriotic songs and parts of speeches and written documents. At the end of the program, his teacher also showed a DVD of photos from the year set to music. I don't think there was a dry eye left by the time that presentation had ended. Next up: a summer of fun and First Grade in the fall.

First Days of School

Sportster started his official education back at the end of August, both at home and in a homeschool supplement program run by a charter school. So far he is enjoying both settings a lot.


At home:

At the "school building," as we have come to refer to it:

Little Sister had to be part of the action, too. They share a special relationship and I think it is bit hard on her for him to move forward with school and not be involved in that yet, though she does participate in some of our lessons at home.


It is bittersweet to be at this phase. It is so exciting that Sportster is learning so much and growing up but hard to imagine that the years since his birth have passed so quickly.

We are so proud of our smart boy! The photo below was from May, about a month after he started reading on his own, much to our surprise and delight!

Barely Keeping Up

There is much to write about, though I honestly have not had the time or motivation to sit down and work on it much. I do hope to get back to blogging soon, but I make no promises. This last month has been filled with lots of fun changes and events for our family and we are still adjusting.

In a nutshell, Sportster started his official academic education at home as well as in a homeschool supplement program (two 1/2 days per week) at the end of August. At home we are using this core curriculum and a random selection of other materials. My husband and I just decided on this option at the end of July and I had just missed the Colorado homeschoolers convention so I basically went with a curriculum that came highly recommended from a mentor friend, blogs and Facebook friends. It is going well so far, though there are the challenges of the charter school homeschool program being 30 minutes one-way from our home and keeping up with a happily destructive and active 2-year-old while we try to focus on schoolwork on our "home days". So we are certainly still working out a routine that works for our whole family, without the teacher/mom becoming exasperated and without children being neglected. We are very blessed that Sportster began reading on his own in April which makes my job so much easier now! Although his core curriculum is for Kindergarten, he is blowing through 2nd grade readers without a problem. I love to listen to this boy read and hear his speaking progress into more thoughtful and articulate conversation!

Our house came off the market in early September so we are in the process of moving things back in from the garage and rearranging our furnishings to best suit our family-focused lifestyle once again. Even though we had very few showings, this was a big weight on all of us throughout the summer so it is a relief to just get back to normal life around here. We've also had a delightful week-long visit with my mother-in-law. We were busy with normal weekly activities, but I think she enjoyed just being here with us and seeing how the kids have grown. It is fun to watch relationships continue to develop between our children and their grandparents. Fall activities are in full swing and include soccer, children's choir, a mid-week church children's program and a small group for us is still to come. It feels like we are entering a season of activity that may very well last for the next 17 years or so.

So, that's roughly what is going on around here, with all the everyday stuff of life, of course, happening, too. Which reminds me, laundry awaits.......