Back to School 2017!

We officially kicked off our FOURTH YEAR of homeschooling last week! Our homeschool journey began when LO was in 2nd grade, and she's starting 5th this year! Chase is going into 2nd grade, and E will now be joining us as a K4'er! I can't believe there will be three of them... I'm so outnumbered! And of course I've got little Squish to entertain in between lessons. It will certainly be an interesting year!

Check out my sweet not-so-littles:

LO

LO will be starting 5th grade. She has one more year (after this year) of Foundations and Essentials in our Classical Communications (CC) curriculum before she starts Challenge A as a 7th grader. This is our first year in Cycle 3, and we are all thrilled about it because it's U.S. History and Geography! I taught LO the states and capitals when she was in 2nd grade, and she can't get her hands on enough U.S. history and geography books, so I'm pretty sure she's gonna LOVE this year! We won't begin CC for another 3 weeks, but I wanted to get the kids grounded in the courses we're doing in addition to CC. My hope is that they won't be overwhelmed when we add in our CC memory work! I'm confident LO will excel in ways beyond my expectations as she is such an incredible student with a never-ending thirst for knowledge!

Chase

This handsome fella starts 2nd grade this year. I can barely believe it! He has grown and matured in so many ways just over the past 6 months or so. He's so responsible, and he actually follows instructions now without massive meltdowns! WIN! One of my most favorite things about this kid is his love for organization. Yes, I said it! My 7-year-old son loves things to be organized! When I was cleaning up our schoolroom in preparation for the new year, I was sorting through art supplies (endless crayons, colored pencils, markers, etc.) and this guy asked if he could help me! Of course I said an emphatic YES! He sat patiently and sorted through the mess of school things. So yes, he's like a mini-me! #swoon While he was putting the glue sticks in a storage container, I helped him out by putting one in (upside down!) and he immediately removed it, turned it right side up, and put it back in the container. Seriously, a man after my own heart! LOL! Chase has already taken a MAJOR interest in math, and he's proven to have some pretty incredible coding skills as well. I'm looking forward to seeing him continue to develop and excel in the areas that he enjoys, while also hoping for his continued cooperation (minus meltdowns) with the subjects he's not too thrilled about (Ahem ---Grammar --- I'm looking at you!).

E

The Class Clown is officially starting school! This little dude is always keeping us laughing. I'm not exactly sure what school is going to look like with E as I haven't homeschooled this young yet, but I'm pretty sure it will involve lots of ABCs and 123s! Although he already knows his alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes, and more, so it will be interesting! I think the key here will be finding ways to get LO and Chase working independently so I can focus my time and attention on E. In addition, I will also have LO and Chase working with E, reading to him and working on his basic skills. It's nice that as the kids get older, they are more helpful with the younger ones! This will come in handy in 4 more years when Squish joins our homeschool class!

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I'm really excited about our new school year and can't wait to see how the kids learn and grow over the next 9 months! And I'm so glad I opted to start a few weeks early so we can solidify our extra curriculum before CC begins, while also adding to our flexibility to take days off once the weather is actually cool enough to enjoy the great outdoors!

When I think about our homeschool journey, I can't help but be amazed and so very grateful that God has led our family here. I remember how difficult the decision was at first -- I didn't think I was qualified to teach my own children! God promised me that He would be with us and bring us through that first year, and He certainly was faithful to His word! Each year I've told myself I would reevaluate and pray through the decision about whether or not to continue homeschooling. Thankfully, God has placed it on my heart to continue this journey through high school! He continues to meet our needs and provide for us in ways I don't expect, and I couldn't be more thankful. To have the privilege of spending ALL.THE.TIME. with my precious kids so the years don't pass by in a blink... To see firsthand as they learn a new concept and light up with excitement to finally understand something new... To carefully craft curricula that expands their knowledge and love for learning while keeping GOD at the very center of our studies... there is literally nothing like it! Praise be to God for His perfect plan for our family!

Bring it on, 2017-2018! Let's do this!!!!!