Our first vacation week

We just finished our first vacation week in our new year-round schedule. It was a fun and welcome break from school work! But we definitely still did a whole lotta learnin'! On Sunday we had Della's birthday party and on Monday we went to the Pacific Science Center! It was so fun and educational. We hadn't been to PSC for about seven years and there were some new exhibits, but mostly it was how I remember it. Many of the exhibits and activities directly related to the concepts we learned the last few weeks, especially Newton's Laws. The kids had a lot of fun, and I think in a few years will appreciate it more in relation to what we are currently studying. Monday night we had community group costume party! So fun to dress up and spend time with friends!

On Tuesday we had a jammie day and it was also Della's birthday. Staying home, playing games and watching movies was a perfect follow-up to such a busy Monday. I wanted to get working on laundry and chores and Della just followed after me and screamed. I realized she just needed some Mommy time, so we cuddled on the couch. It was exactly what she (and I) needed, and I'm so glad I was able to look past my chores and spend time with her.

Wednesday was my birthday and we went to the zoo with Bill and my mother-in-law. It was a homeschool day with special events and homeschool groups. It was so fun, but Amelia was sick for most of the day. Thankfully Nana sat with her in the car while she rested and was able to join the rest of us for more exhibits. I really liked the Northern Trail with the bears, elk and wolves. It was so peaceful and quiet, and all the animals were out and able to be seen. We ended up getting a membership too and I am excited to go more this year.

Thursday was Halloween and another low-key day. The kids got to spend a lot of time with Nana, which was great. And of course trick-or-treating! The big kids and Bill walked around the neighborhood while Della and I passed out candy at our house. They got SO much candy! We sorted it together--math time!

Friday we went to the library and did "movie day" in the afternoon. Overall it was a fun week with many educational opportunities. I appreciated the break from regular lessons and hopefully it will help with the burnout I felt at the end of last school year. However, I am looking forward to a much more normal week next week!

School Year 2013-14

Hello blog land!

We are finally into a routine for our school year, and it's going pretty well. The biggest change this year is we are doing a year-round schedule. I spent a lot of time researching year-round school and there are many schedules that are used. We settled on a modified three weeks on, one week off schedule. Our first break is the last week of October, which works nicely because my and Della's birthdays are that week (plus Halloween). It's kind of working out that our birthday weeks we don't have school. We are taking several weeks off in January/February though because we are expecting another baby! Hooray! This baby boy is due January 25. I'm thinking he will arrive around January 20th based on previous deliveries.

I am noticing that Amelia is very mathematically inclined, much in the same way Caley is reading-inclined. It's so neat to see their preferences and talents come out, and how God has made them so uniquely.

We are studying "Inquisitiveness" this year. It's a lot of science and history. So far we have studied the scientific method (very basic) and some of the big scientists and philosophers such as Galileo and Copernicus. Later this fall we will get into astronomy and geology and will be studying things like earthquakes and volcanoes. Today we did a little learning about Isaac Newton!

This year has been more difficult so far than others. One reason is because the kids are older and demanding more difficult projects, and also because Della and Wes are not reliably napping like last year. Della will nap in the early afternoon, but sometimes she just screams. Wes doesn't really nap but will do quiet time. There are just a lot of bumps in starting out this year. It has crossed my mind more than once--why are we doing this? The local school is great and a 10 minute walk away. And if I sent Amelia and Caley to the public elementary school they'd both be gone the majority of the day and it'd be "easier." Also it feels like Caley being in 3rd grade is "real." Not that it wasn't real before, but it just feels like we have both feet in the pool and the pool is just getting deeper.

It's days, or seasons, such as these that I have to remind myself we are homeschooling because Jesus told us to, not because it makes the most (or any) sense. And, I like it, despite the hard days. It's the right choice for our family right now.

As promised...some pictures from this Spring!

 They set up a tea party during quiet time.

 End of March snowstorm and Della's first time playing in the snow! I wrapped her feet in plastic bags and I think she had about 12 layers of clothes on under her Mariner's suit.

 Caley stayed out the longest and built a snowman!

 Della was much happier when she came inside and had some milk.

 We had a Lego birthday party for Bill's 40th and got these Lego molds. We had Lego ice cubes and then made Lego crayons! A fun project.

 We went to Grama and Papa's after Easter and of course they took a bath! A Grama pasttime!

 We visited the UW Planetarium with our friends Rachael, Lenora, Noelle and Holden. We saw the fountain and the herb garden.

 We also walked through Red Square in the pouring rain. Maybe someday these kids will be students at the U like their moms. :)

 Also in playgroup we learned about family crests and did jousting.

Caley and Emma at a birthday party.

 Caley and Yuuka at Yuuka's birthday party. They met at VBS last summer and really hit it off! I love seeing Caley's friendships.

 Caley went to work with Daddy, so the rest of us got ice cream!

 We practiced fairness and ran races in the yard.

 Secret Beach

 Biking day

 This is how Wesley and Della entertain themselves during school time.

 Della's first time with playdough, she did great! Since this picture (May) they have played playdough for hours. I love how their creativity and imagination comes out in playdough.

We made it through ANOTHER year! Praise Jesus!

Another year down

Our 2012-13 school year has ended! We survived! 4 kids, first year with two being homeschooled (officially) and we had a great year. A few highlights for me, with pictures to come:

• Doing kindergarten with Amelia was far easier than when we did kindergarten with Caley, both because Amelia's a different kid than Caley and because I'm a little more confident in teaching kindergarten. 
• We learned about the Revolutionary war in conjunction with the election in November, I plan on doing this during each election cycle and look forward to their deepened understanding each time we hit these topics.
• Taking all of December off seems to work very well for us. It's a busy season and I love being able to focus on Jesus instead of feeling like a failure for not doing the math lesson for the day. 
• I am the teacher. I do not have to obey every instruction in every curriculum. Amelia finished her math book two months early because we didn't do every lesson because she already knew the material. 
• I am not owed a break every day. If I don't get up early to exercise or read my bible, I shouldn't get mad if I can't find the time later in the day. 
• This was the first year Caley had to take a standardized test. She is right on for her age, in most areas. Her strengths are language arts and social studies. Her weaknesses are math and science. It was redeeming for her and me to get an unbiased view of her learning. Still, the test did not test exactly what we focused on this year so I shouldn't be discouraged that her math was lower than I wanted.
• It's okay to take a day off here and there. Both the kids and I need it. I am not a failure. 
• Life happens. Caley got a headgear in April, we thought Wesley was going deaf, somedays school is just learning to slog through the daily crap together.

Fall Quarter Pictures

 Caley's "school photo" 2012

age 7

 Wesley, age 2

 Amelia, age 5

 kindergarten, 2nd grade, preschool

 Mommy with Buzz Lightyear, our school mascot

 Despondent Clifford at the P Patch

 Our annual Pumpkin Patch trip with playgroup friends

 Wesley and Holden

 Halloween carnival with friends!

 Toy Story Halloween costumes!

 Our crazy community group

Grama and Della on Della's first birthday

My plan for KONOS

One of the things I LOVE about our curriculum (and a huge reason I decided on it) is that it can be used for multiple ages and learning stages and re-used. I mapped out what volume we will use each year and basically one volume covers two school years, there are three volumes total, and we will re-study each volume every six years. So right now we are studying volume 2, Courage unit. We will study this same material again in 2018-19 (Caley would be in 9th grade, Amelia in 7th, Wesley in 5th, and Della in 4th). HOLY COW I just wrote that my BABY will someday be in 4th grade!! However, I will amend the plan as needed and probably study elections and presidents every four years (at least) to capitalize on the election cycle.

This is my loose plan. Of course, we will ask Jesus each year if he has different plans for our children's schooling, and as Caley and Amelia reach middle school and high school age we may "outsource" some things. Right now I am looking into Family Academy.

Sometimes I get self conscious about all this. It's really a part of my sanctification that we are homeschooling. I went into it with the wrong motives. I wanted to get the credit if my kids turned out well. God quickly smashed those idols in my face. I am nothing if I am not following Him. My good motives are bad unless I am following Him. My children are created to image HIM, not me. 
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This is from the KONOS website, for reference.
VOLUME I
Attentiveness
Ears/Eyes/Other Senses
Sound/Music/Frontiersman/ Indians
Tracking & Trapping
Birds
Obedience
Authority/Light/Bible
Kings and Queens
Military
Friction/Resistance
Horses
Crime and Punishment
Orderliness
Sequencing/Counting/Measuring
Planets/Moons
Calendars/Seasons
Animal Classification
Plant Classification
Rock Classification
Trust
Deception/Illusion
Sheep/Weaving
Floating/Ships
Flight/Airplanes
Patience
Plant growth/Gardening
Grain/Bread/Yeast
Human Birth/Growth
Animal Birth/Growth
Stewardship
Ecology/Conservation
Managing Time and Money
Possessions/Career
Abuse/Prevention
Nutrition/Exercise/Rest/Fun
Honor
Attributes of God/Hymns
Pottery and Sculpture
Tabernacle
Cathedral/Church Architecture
Countries/Cultures
Kindness/Service/Etiquette

VOLUME II
Inquisitiveness
Research/Reference
Scientist/Scientific Method
Explorers/Navigation/Sailing
Earth
Weather
Africa
Detectives
Responsibility
Pet Care
Beavers
Ants
American Settlers
Colonial America
Love/Generosity
Christmas
Easter
Valentines Day
Courage
New Testament Men
Modern and Fictional Men
American Revolution
Wisdom
Proverbs/Old Testament
Choices/Safety
Government
U.S. Constitution
Presidents
Electoral Process
Loyalty
Family/Friends/Marriage
Immigration/Citizenship

VOLUME III
Cooperation
Systems of the Body
Bees
States and Regions
Town/Community
Family/Church
Determination
Olympics and physical skills
Handicaps
Great feats/Expeditions
Atomic research
Honesty
Books
Newspapers/Media
Business/Advertising
Self Control
Body/Appetites/Emotions
Poetry
Singing/Dance/Speech
Resourcefulness
Frontier Life
Inventions/Simple Machines
Energy/Electricity
Industrial Revolution
Joy/Cheerfulness
Environment
Humor/Laughter
Gratitude/Contentment
Suffering

A new year!

Hello Internet world!
We have been MIA on this blog, but I wanted to stop in and say we are still doing school! We took the month of December off (as is becoming a tradition) and did lots of fun Christmas activities and adventures. We went to the Nutcracker (all five of us) and then out to coffee and treats, we did lots of crafts and made many gifts, visited family and the kids even spent four days at Grandma's house in Oregon, without Mom and Dad!
So it is January again and we are back in the swing of school. We are studying Courage and have covered Old and New Testament "heros" (while reminding them always that Jesus is the true hero), and this week and next we will cover true and fictional heros such as Joan of Arc, Martin Luther, William Tell, and Sarah Noble. Then we will launch into a 5-6 week study of the Revolutionary War! I chose this unit because we spent a little time in the fall talking about our Founding Fathers, I wanted to have more time to study a similar time period.
This season also has seen a shift in our weekly schedule. If you know me well, you know I like routine and have a hard time breaking from it, so this was a challenge for me, but one I know is totally worthwhile. My bible study/women's group grew so large we replicated, which turned into a long and complicated process. My half began meeting on Thursdays instead of our usual Wednesday. It's going well so far. I've also been doing grocery shopping usually on Sunday nights by myself instead of Monday morning with the kids. WHY didn't I start doing this earlier? An evening by myself? It's amazing! Plus I don't have to push school out of a weekday morning when we are shopping. Additionally, after my semi-breakdown of Fall 2012, I started looking for some help. No, not therapy, but a mother's helper to come do some of my chores. We finally found someone who is a great fit for our family. She's 13, homeschooled, and a-ma-zing! She's been helping us about once a week for 2-3 hours and mops, folds laundry, or plays with the kids while I do a task.
So far our new quarter is going well. Pictures to come soon!