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!

Presidents!

 We have been learning about presidents and voting this week and last. It's been fun! At playgroup last week we had an election on an issue: what to eat for lunch! First the kids registered to vote, "campaigned" for their viewpoint, and then got to vote in the booth! The options were mac 'n' cheese or grilled cheese. Mac 'n' cheese won!

 We also learned about the branches of government, and later added a card that says "president" under the Executive card. Obviously much of this is over their heads, but it's on display in the school room so hopefully over time it'll set in.

We have been learning about individual presidents and Caley has been working on a book about Abraham Lincoln. We've also learned how certain presidents are on our money. This week she really surprised me by doing most of her work independently on Wednesday while I was doing women's group. She did her math, some crossword pages, her editing page, independent reading, and her spelling work.

They're all doing great!

(Check out the posts below for more pictures I just uploaded.)