Well HI!!
Its been a few months. Ok its been a year. Sorry. I am not even going to offer excuses other than its been a crazy year.
We are in a new place and have a new schedule with a new baby....and I am hoping I can get in the groove of blogging again...I REALLY WANT TO.
Here is what our life looks like right now.
My baby boy turned 6. SIX YALL!!
We not only had TWO birthdays since the last time I checked in, we ALSO had a baby girl. She is the happiest baby alive and we love her.
Just look at that cute slobber! I just cant get enough. As I type this up she plays happily on the floor. I would have a 20 more just like her. --That will be a blog for another day.
Now that we have had a few pictures to catch up on our little family, back to the reason I wanted to write.
HOME SCHOOL!
Now that we officially have two years of schooling under our belt I wanted to share a few things that I have learned and what has "worked" for our family. I will use the word "worked" because not all days are created equal. I always had this romantic idea of home school, but lets be clear...its nothing like I thought it would be.
Its so EXHAUSTING. Rewarding YES, but I am totally tired by the end of our 2/3 hour day. lol. My son is smart and stubborn. A combination he came by honestly. He is MY child. (I am so sorry mom) I wish I was the kind of home school mom that is totally cool with unschooling. Watching learning shows and taking fun walks and talking about what we see. Not that mom and I wish I WAS! My son is lazy like I am and I am afraid he would have zero desire to learn to read until he was like 30. Just like potty training...we struggled yall. We struggled.
So this year and last year we used Horizon phonics and math. Its old school phonics. Teaching long and short sounds and its worked great for my son. When he goes to pronounce a word he is learning the rules and it has helped. Is it perfect? Nope. Its a work in progress. Its a lot of review and I am perfectly fine with it. He needs it. I need it. I wouldn't recommend the "Health" portion of this curriculum, but the rest has been good.
I have added these last few weeks (we are behind from taking 2 months off for the baby and move-which you can DO as a home schooler) a journal. I let him draw and he writes about it. I dont tell him how to spell anything until the end. I love how he sounds out words. It makes me so proud he tries. We also have been reading The Aesop for children. Its ADORABLE. If you dont know what fables are I highly recommend you look into them. Its like moral character building in stories children understand. After I read him the story I like him to tell me what he heard. (Narration) Its pretty cute what I hear. His point of view makes me smile.
I really focused on phonics and math this year- Character training was a big part of that (that is an everyday training process) but we had two "subjects" math and phonics. I feel like those are the building blocks of life. We do chores and play with friends but that is about what our home school looked like for kindergarten. I have been told by more seasoned home schooling moms that kindergarten isn't about "school" as much as exploring. I have to constantly remind myself of this. We spent a lot of time playing with friends and learning how to be little, but I feel like he is smart enough he needs a little structure. What I have learned 1-2 hours of "sit down learning" is plenty for his age. Otherwise he would be classified as a ADHD kid, when in reality he is a boy.
First grade will most likely start in October...yet again. I can't seem to start school ON TIME! We are legally registered for school in Utah, so we are LEGIT. I am going to be using a curriculum called Weaver- Its a unit study and I am beyond excited to get started. We will still be using horizon for math a phonics for now, adding a little bit more for first grade. For me home school is more about educating for life than teaching to a test. I want him to be a well rounded Father and Husband than making sure he passes next weeks exams.
Pelley
Pelley
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