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Showing posts with label homeschool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeschool. Show all posts
Yesterday was our first day using Ambleside Online this year. I realized when talking about how we were starting something "new" with friends that it isn't exactly new. We did use the AO book list for Year 1 back in Nebraska... right before life get crazy. In many ways I loved it. I remember those days fondly. We had our dedicated homeschool room and life felt like it made sense. (Or, more likely, it was crazy but hindsight tends to soften the edges of memories.) It was during this time that I fell in love with the teachings of Charlotte Mason. The Mason Jar podcast was also my first introduction to the Circe Institute, but I will write more about them another day.

So, anyway, I am not entirely new to Ambleside. However, I had decided several times since moving that I was not going to use their curriculum again. The website is clunky and I am a very visual person when it comes to planning. So, every time I would go consider using it I would decide it wasn't going to work for me.

Then, last week, we hit a wall in our homeschool. I had been trying to get through the remainder of 2019 using the online curriculum that has served us well through the messy transitions of the past year. I knew it wasn't what I wanted, but I couldn't afford the curriculum I had decided that I desperately wanted to use. There have been plenty of struggles with having Aiden use a screen for school since we have been more settled, but I thought we could make it. It turns out I was wrong.

I am not entirely anti-screens. I recognize the value of some managed use of technology for education. However, I homeschool my child because I want to teach him myself. So, for our family, continuing to use this online program was causing strain. I notice a big difference in behavior when there is a lot of screen use, even if it is for school.

I loved how much Aiden was learning, and how he could share really cool things with me each day. I think there are circumstances that make this kind of learning a good thing. I am certainly thankful for how it has served us in the times when we were without a home of our own, and while I was dealing with some pretty intense depression as I adjusted to life here in Missouri. It is just time for us to find our new "normal" now that we are (hopefully) more settled here.

I am pretty sure I had planned to talk more about our first day than go on and on about what led up to it, but apparently that is not going to happen today! Ha! So, I am going to wrap this up and say "to be continued" for now. I do really want to start blogging here again more consistently, but I have to make sure it all works into the life we are building here so it will be more free writing like this for a while probably. It does definitely feel good to be writing again... I have missed the sound of keys tapping as I process. It is good to be back.


Beginning Our Ambleside Online Journey (again...)

Tuesday, October 29


Anyone who follows me on instagram ( or anywhere else) is probably used to seeing photos of Aiden reading. This isn't just because that is when he is always sitting still enough giving me a moment to breathe and snap a pic. It is because he really reads THAT much. This kid loves his books, and I love that he loves them. I have been asked several times how we approached teaching him to read, and my answer is always the same: we didn't. Reading was just something that came naturally to our child. He is truly self-taught. 

Bookworm Tendencies - Reflections on Raising an Avid Reader

Wednesday, February 1



I have shared before how choosing to homeschool came as a bit of a surprise to us. However, choosing to homeschool is just the first of many choices to be made when it comes to home education. I think it has to be near impossible for a parent to go into something like this with complete confidence. After all, our society places a huge emphasis on education. It is easy to feel like you are holding a child's entire future in your hands when you consider how to approach their education.

One of the greatest pressures I felt early on in our homeschool journey was that we should join a homeschool community of some sort. Of course the question of "socialization" is one that inevitably comes up over and over. For our family, having an only child only makes this something we probably think about even more. At first, this led to falling into the trap of comparison and over-analyzing.

Like with any decision I have had to make as a parent, it has taken time and experience to really help me grow in my confidence with my choices. There is always that initial period of doubt and questioning after any big decision. I often have to try every other option out first before I finally go with my gut. I am definitely someone who often learns through mistakes... lots and lots of mistakes.

For our family, choosing not to join a homeschool group has proven to be the best choice, at least during this season. This was not a decision we made lightly, and it has taken me a good year or so to stop questioning it. I find that many of the lessons I learn come in clusters. I have shared to some extent over on Instagram that this has been a time to really pulling back and kind of sinking into a place where I am kind of isolated. I feel like I am being challenged to peel back a lot of layers to expose some stuff that I need to work on, and I definitely worried at first that taking this time would have a negative impact on Aiden's social development. I struggled with obedience as I kept trying to find ways to still find a community of some sort that fit within our current situation. Over and over I found the same answer seeming clear though... God created families for a reason.

That "only child" thing was still the greatest obstacle for me. Families who homeschool only children are rare, and so often when I look for ideas and inspiration I see tables full of siblings and friends and that doubt starts creeping in. I see post after post online about great homeschool cooperatives and communities, and I start letting that familiar feeling creep in that maybe I am not trying hard enough. It is so easy to jump straight to the negatives of our situation instead of seeing the awesome benefits... like only having to keep up with one student! That is another topic entirely, though. The question at hand is that if I believe God created families and parents to be the safe place for children to grow and learn in their early years, don't I also need to believe that He has a plan for families who are blessed with only one child? My answer? I really do.

I still love the idea of joining a co-op and finding a community of families to take this journey with. I do hope that someday we will be in the place to do that. I do not, however, think that it is absolutely necessary to have a successful homeschool experience. Even with an only child. We definitely don't keep our child in a bubble. He has taekwondo 3 days a week, and during the fall and spring he has library programs twice a week. He has opportunities to interact with people of all ages, and learn to get along with and care for younger children through our home day care experiences. He plays often with the neighbor kids, and every trip to the park is an opportunity to make a new friend in his eyes. However, his deepest connections and most significant relationships are still with his parents and his Grandma. As a six-year-old, I think this is both healthy and normal.

It is hard enough to keep a 6-year-old boy focused on learning without adding in extra kids. I know he would adapt, and I know that having those opportunities to learn in a group setting are valuable. As he gets older, we will continue to consider what is best for our family. I am just happy to finally be in a place now where I can confidently say that I don't panic and question myself every time I read about a friend's awesome homeschool "tribe" or "co-op" or "community" or whatever you want to call it. I don't see a lot of homeschool parents talking about being confident just homeschooling at home, and so if I can provide even a little reassurance to another mama making a similar choice, I want to do that.

There is no one right way to raise a child. There is no one right way to educate a child.

Every child and every family is unique, and each of those families and children will go through different seasons over the course of 18 years!

All we can really do is support each other along the way, recognizing that if we love our kids and do our best it doesn't have to look the same in each home.

Homeschooling... at home

Saturday, November 5


The past two weeks of homeschooling have definitely had their ups and downs, but I feel like more and more we are finding our rhythm. We continue to add things slowly to our Morning Time, and it continues to be one of my favorite parts of each day. Right now, our morning routine looks like this:


  • Morning Prayer
  • Catechism (we are currently working on the Apostles Creed and its meaning)
  • Biography (we continue to work through the biography of John James Audubon at the moment)
  • Poetry (we are working on adding in some memorization here in addition to reading it aloud)
  • Plutarch (I did go ahead and order The Children's Plutarch after considering my options. At this age I think it is just right for us!)

We often also discuss the previous day's Bible reading, or we read a Psalm together. However, I love having that dedicated Bible study time at tea time in the afternoon and then our Psalm at bedtime, so I am not stressing about Bible time in the morning. We definitely make God's Word a part of many discussions, no matter the topic, but it is pretty organic. I still hope to add a few more things into the Morning Time routine. I would like to add in Shakespeare. I plan to start hymn studies this week. Then I also hope to add in picture studies and perhaps composers. There is so much to explore, and I am pretty proud of myself for not cramming it all in at once. Adding things gradually is working well.

One other thing I hope to change a bit this week is that I would like to go straight from Morning Time to piano lessons. Right now we go straight to math, and while I like how that flows I feel like we need more consistency in piano right now. So, we will see how that works this week!

Other highlights from the past couple weeks:


  • Chess club!! Aiden continues to LOVE chess, and excitedly asked us to join the chess club at the library. Now this is huge considering the fact that he has been hesitant to attend anything since we moved. I admit I had decided not to sign him up this year because I was worried about his ability to handle not always winning. I wasn't sure he was ready. However, after Matt visited with the librarian who runs the club we decided to let him try it out. Matt went with him (it is not normally attended by parents, but she understood our situation) and he had a BLAST! He can't wait to go back this week, and has transferred that excitement a bit to story time as well, so he will start that tomorrow now too! We adore our library, and it had been really hard on me to have him suddenly unwilling to participate in their programs. So this is a huge answered prayer!
  • We are getting more accustomed to our new kitchen, and Aiden has started cooking again lately. I enjoy having his help, and it doesn't hurt that he eats better when he helps prepare the meals! 
  • We "played hooky" one day last week, and I loved how much "school" there still ended up being throughout the day! He chose to make videos where he reviewed some science and history lessons from the year so far. That was his idea of not doing school, ha! Then of course there were chess lessons and nature study that ended up happening. And there is always reading. Lots of reading. But just saying we were not doing school was a huge break for both of us that was great.
Our weeks are not perfect. In fact we rarely have a day that I look back on as "ideal." However, what I do have is a continued confidence that this is absolutely right for our family and Aiden is absolutely learning and growing in pretty awesome ways. What an amazing blessing!

Cornerstone Lutheran Academy - Weeks 4 & 5

Monday, September 5



I have to confess... my contact lenses are bugging me and I have a headache and the last thing I want to do right now is blog. BUT... I am going to do it because if I miss a week of recapping our homeschool it is a slippery slope towards abandoning my efforts to keep this record. I don't want to do that. So, here goes.

This past week I took a bit of a leap of faith from just reading educational philosophy to actually applying some of it. Specifically, I chose to start a biography with Aiden as part of our morning routine. This may not sound like a big deal, but I admit that up until we started reading I had my doubts. I chose a biography of John James Audubon, because nature study is something that Aiden has always loved. I did not look for a "children's" book, but instead just checked out a normal biography. The language is lovely, and I am enjoying it quite a bit. However, I wondered if Aiden would really get anything out of it.

I suppressed my urge to stop every few words to define things and "teach" concepts, and instead just let the book flow as the author intended. In keeping with the ideas of Charlotte Mason, I kept our reading to a chapter at a time and followed the chapter with Aiden giving a brief narration of what we read. According to her educational philosophy, if you provide a child with quality material to think about, their brain will continue to be fed long after a chapter is read. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to see that very thing happening. For days, Aiden has been randomly asking questions about different things from previous readings. One thing in particular that has captured his imagination and kept him thinking is being introduced to the idea of quicksand. There were questions for days, with a final resolution of sorts for him that when exploring you should always travel with a buddy and carry a long rope, ha! He has moved on now to other ideas, but that quicksand thing will forever be an important moment for me because it was such a minor part of what we read but his brain took it and ran with it.

While the fact that he grabbed onto an idea like that from the biography we are reading is interesting, I am also increasingly excited by the retention of ideas I am seeing by using this approach to history with Story of the World. I love how much he continues to recall about the nomads we have studied, and I love even more when I see it cross over the boundary from "school" to play when he is digging canals to irrigate like the first farmers did. I love that I don't have to teach as much as simply learn with him. I love seeing him draw connections between things we are learning that might not otherwise come together. Like how the Israelites were also nomads, for example. I know that helping him learn to investigate and really think about things is so valuable, especially in our age of endless information. Google can answer questions of fact in no time, but developing a love of learning and the ability to reason that is grounded in a desire to know the One who created all things is invaluable. What a blessing I have been given to be able to facilitate this journey. And what a huge responsibility.

Another concept I have been sorting out, through the books I am reading and the podcast I have been listening to, is the idea that each child is born a person with a purpose and unique perspective. This does not mean that we bow to the whims of the child, or allow them to overindulge in the mind's equivalent of "junk food". It is my job to provide quality literature, music, art, etc. that allow Aiden to grow in his own way and at his own pace, but there also still needs to be structure and routine in our day. There are skills to be mastered and habits to be developed. Recognizing a child's complete personhood (as opposed to the idea that they are merely vessels to fill or clay to mold) does not mean making them the center of the universe. We do not cater to the every desire of the adults in our life, and so treating a child in that way would be a disservice.

So anyhow, lots of growth for me as a home educator this week for sure. As far as other highlights from the week:


  • Aiden particularly loved a math lesson this week that had him creating a triangle from different combinations of shapes. I know a lesson is good when he wants to do it again later just for fun!
  • I am kind of blown away by how quickly he is picking up chess. Granted, I am way out of practice and to be completely honest I didn't think I needed to try too hard while playing... but he almost beat me in our first game! Ha!
  • I am excited to see him doing well with his piano lessons again. I still need to really focus on being consistent in reminding him to practice... when his success depends partly on my discipline in making something happen it is not always easy for me. 
  • Matt was excited to start reading Ralph S. Mouse with bubs this week. It is fun to share things we loved as kids ourselves with our child!
  • It continues to be a huge blessing to have Grandma around as another adult interested in his education. I love hearing them chat about things, and he is always learning from her!
  • School is going way better this year in general. I really can't quite get over how much so. I keep thinking I must be missing something! No day is perfect, but I am seeing so much more enthusiasm for things overall (instead of just excitement for the parts that are his favorite) and it is a huge encouragement to me.
Considering I didn't really want to blog tonight, that sure is a lot of words! Ha! I am definitely glad I sat down to record some things. Week 3 was a great one! I look forward to seeing what Week 4 brings!

Cornerstone Lutheran Academy - Week 3

Monday, August 22


This week was our first full week of combining homeschool with providing child care for our little buddy. Overall, it went really well! We are finding a good routine that works well with her nap schedule, and both kiddos are enjoying our "recess" adventures. Monday - Wednesday were definitely solid school days. Thursday is our day to help my mom, so we aren't as scheduled then. Now Friday... Friday was a different story entirely. Friday we were exhausted and school just wasn't going to happen. Which is fine... that is why we school year round!

Highlights from this week:


  • We love, love, love Story of the World! Those lessons were highlights for me, and Aiden retained a lot from them.
  • Aiden continues to do awesome at math. I appreciate the fact that we can stop as we need to when something doesn't click. This week we needed a review of even/odd numbers, and now he is a rockstar at them!
  • Aiden's vocabulary cracks me up. He came in the other day to tell me "Daddy declares he cannot find the sprinkler." Just little word choice things like that amuse me. 
  • Aiden got his medal for finishing the summer reading challenge this week, and we are now officially done! We are excited for the fall programs to start at the library now!
  • I found some of his old stories this week, and it was encouraging to see that his handwriting really has improved greatly! 
Outside of homeschool, we also had a productive week! We are now finally totally moved out of the apartment. We made huge progress on mom's garage this week... although we put the last of our junk from the apartment in there after that so we will have to fix that before we continue work, ha! I cut off 16+ inches of hair this week! I donated 16 inches, but there was still a LOT of hair on the floor after that as well! I got some freezer meals made this weekend, so we can simplify that part of this coming week and maybe not be so exhausted on Friday. Oh, and we had dinner with friends on Friday night and that was delightful. Things have been so hectic that we have had very limited social engagements lately! It was great to catch up. 

In the coming week I look forward to continuing to work out our new schedule. I am also excited to add in more hands-on activities. I get frustrated sometimes because there is so much I want to do, but I have been reminding myself that we will get to that place. I just have to focus on building the foundation right now! We are really just getting started here!! So, bring on the new week and the new chances to learn and have fun! We are ready!

Cornerstone Lutheran Academy - Week 2

Monday, August 15



I guess technically we started homeschool on July 18th, but with the move things got insane so I am going to say this was week one. Our first (almost) full week is in the books for the 2016-17 school year. And... it was awesome!

Things have been really, really hard since deciding to move. Aiden has struggled a lot over the past few weeks, and I finally really understood what I have heard about so many times before when parents talk about their child regressing during big life changes. He got to the point where he couldn't be away from us at all... not even to spend time with Grandma. So, I was definitely relieved when we started settling into more of a routine this week and he started seeming more like his normal self. Not only that, but I was blown away at how well he jumped into school this week! Clearly he has been craving some sense of structure during this chaos.

In this house, we have a school room as opposed to a school area in the kitchen like we did in the apartment. I think there are definitely both pros and cons to this fact. I miss how easy it was to include cooking in our day for one thing. This kitchen is not nearly as kid-friendly. However, I know we will figure that out as we go. We also have yet to get all of our stuff up on the walls. I have really been missing our magnet board in particular. So there are little things that will continue to help us settle in. I know that really, though, the last thing a good homeschool needs is a classroom. It just helps my particular personality feel more stable in what we are doing.

When I think about how I want to keep a good record of our homeschool here, I always have these visions of polished and uniform weekly wrap-ups... clearly the reality is much more "me" in the rambling nature of this post. I am most definitely out of practice when it comes to blogging, and my brain is still cluttered with remnants of the move. I didn't want to put off posting something about our first week, though.

We have pretty much unpacked and organized everything here at the new house. Now it is just a matter of cleaning at the old place, and continuing to settle into a routine here. It is strange how much different things feel, but I also feel overwhelmingly secure in the fact that this is exactly where we are supposed to be. I know once I have time to just live here I will be able to process more. Today was that final push to really finish setting things up before our little day care honey starts coming again tomorrow. So, tomorrow will start the process of figuring out what the combination of day care and home school look like for the year. I will just be excited to not be sorting through boxes for yet another day, ha!

So I guess I should actually post something about the week of school before I close this post! How about some of my beloved bullet points?


  • I love Saxon math. Aiden does too, thankfully. I am once again glad we chose this curriculum. We are working through chapter 5 of the 1st grade book. We both love the manipulatives, I love the linear and "old math" structure of the lessons, and overall it just all makes sense to both of us. 
  • We started back in on Apologia Astronomy. (I guess I should back up a bit and mention that pretty much all of the curriculum we bought last year is actually being used for this year. Last year I spent a lot of time thinking about the fact that he was only 5 and chose to forego more formal studies. This year, we are both ready for more structure so here we go!) I love the focus on narration, and he is excited about the content. He enjoyed sharing his vocabulary words with Grandma, and by far that is going to be the coolest part of schooling here... having Grandma to share in it with us!
  • We spent a lot of time outside! Recess is good, and so is outdoor learning! My favorite of the outdoor classroom times was tea time, which we plan to do daily. I also loved when my nephew did some watercolor painting out at the picnic table with Aiden. We are just 2 blocks from a park, and having a sidewalk out front for scooting and biking during "play breaks" is the best! 
  • We are finishing up the library summer reading program. I will miss it in some ways... those goals and check-ins are good motivation! However, I am also anxious to return to a more leisurely reading environment. I have been thinking about how I will log his reading... I do still want to keep a log, but I don't want to focus too much on it. I want him to be free to re-read books and also read his magazines and stuff. I know one thing... this little bookworm won't be reading any less, he will just read differently perhaps. 
  • I am super excited to start Story of the World tomorrow. While history was never my thing in school, this curriculum makes me excited to dig in. I am hoping we both love it!
There is a lot more I could write (there is always more for me to ramble on about!!) but for now I need to get to bed and make sure I am up and ready for new adventures tomorrow! I look forward to catching up with some of my fav homeschool mamas on insta and blogs over the coming weeks! I am so thankful for online community when the school year gets going! 

Cornerstone Lutheran Academy - Week 1

Sunday, August 7


This week for us was another week of just trying to adjust to our new schedule. Aiden has done a fantastic job helping watch baby girl, and has fed her bottles and read her stories. It is darling watching him grow as a little caregiver... he is very sweet!

We also:
  • Mixed colored water (he prefers this over actually painting)
  • Worked on snap circuits
  • Read lots of books
  • Did some catechism copywork
  • Played prodigy, reading eggs and math seeds
  • Wrote a card to a friend in the hospital
  • Practiced kitchen skills
  • Played games together
  • Listened to good music and played the organ (although we haven't resumed actual lessons yet)
I know this post is a quick one... I will work on answering the questions again last week. Right now things just still feel pretty disorganized, and so do my thoughts. I am going to really try to start establishing some kind of morning routine this week. That is my number one goal! Hopefully I will have good things to report next week!

Oh, and bear with me as I work on my blog redesign... my header was done by my incredible friend Stephanie! Love it!



Okay... are you ready to link up with us?

Help us spread the word about this linkup by clicking here to tweet about it! The more people who know about it, the more traffic we can send your way!


Join us for this homeschool blogger linkup each Saturday to share what has been happening in your homeschool and connect with others who know what it is like to be both parent and teacher.

Before linking up, it would be lovely if you would follow all 3 of us in whatever social media avenues you frequent:

    Branson 
    Nicolette
    Maggie

    Still Trying to Find a Routine... #ParentTeacherMeetUp

    Saturday, January 16



    I have been sitting here struggling to come up with a post again this week. I have to admit that both my brain and my heart are in holiday mode already. So... how about a quick list of randoms instead of answering questions. You don't mind, right?

    • Aiden is in love with a new-to-us math game that Erin mentioned in one of her posts! It is called prodigy game. It is definitely challenging him in some areas, and that is giving us a chance to work on dealing with his perfectionist tendencies. Really I could write a whole post about just this topic. I am seeing his emotional intensity differently the more I take time to really learn about it and that is good, but I also feel overwhelmed as a parent sometimes. 
    • Waffles are delicious, and we were happy I remembered I had a waffle maker this week.
    • The weather has been MUCH colder... much more typical Nebraska winter. This is forcing me to rethink some things because I can't just chase Aiden outside as easily. 
    • I finally remembered to work with A on scissor skills a bit. We need more work.
    • Google is awesome. This week's topic was negative infinity. Aiden continues to be fixated on all things infinity related. 
    • We read some great books this week. I love that Aiden can read his Arch books to me now. They are definitely not easy readers, and I help him with some of the big words, but he told me the other day "I can read all the books in the world now!" Ha! 
    • Being indoors more has led to him using a greater variety of his toys... often ones I have forgotten he owns. The other day he pulled out lincoln logs and I hadn't seen those in ages. He is still all about creating things. 
    • Mannheim Steamroller is Aiden's new music of choice. It is not my favorite (Matt has always loved it and laughs that now I have to listen to it again) but I do enjoy watching Aiden create crazy dances to the songs he loves. He has great rhythm. I need to get a video. 
    • Charlie Brown continues to be a new favorite. Aiden has been working on learning to draw snoopy, and again I love google because printing coloring pages is helpful sometimes. Aiden rarely likes to color like just in coloring books, but if he has a certain character he is interested in he will sometimes color those pages. He still mostly prefers to create his own pictures. 
    • Probably the coolest thing in the world right now is listening to Aiden pray. He has a really precious faith vocabulary (I can't think of any other way to explain it) and for a five-year-old to pray that God would help us feel His presence and things like that is just beautiful. I just can't even put into words how much this little boy's faith touches my heart and sustains me. God is at work through him already for sure! 

    Before I get to the linkup part, a quick note for our fabulous linkers! During the month of December there will be no Parent Teacher Meet-Up. We will be taking the month off to focus on Christmas, and we will regroup and resume the first week of January!! Our plan is to share two special posts for those first two weeks: 

    January 2nd - Home Educator Lessons Learned in 2015
    January 9th - Home Educator Goals for 2016

    We hope you will join us!! I still would love to read and share your home education posts during December, and you can always tweet them to me or share them with me on facebook or google+! Have a wonderful Christmas season, and we will see you back here next year! :) 

    If you would like an email reminder when we start up again, leave me a comment with your email address! :) 


    Okay... are you ready to link up with us?

    Help us spread the word about this linkup by clicking here to tweet about it! The more people who know about it, the more traffic we can send your way!


    Join us for this homeschool blogger linkup each Saturday to share what has been happening in your homeschool and connect with others who know what it is like to be both parent and teacher.

    Before linking up, it would be lovely if you would follow all 3 of us in whatever social media avenues you frequent:

    Branson 
    Nicolette
    Maggie



    #ParentTeacherMeetUp - Week 12

    Saturday, November 28


     Y'all... I went a little blogging crazy this week, ha! So I kind of don't have it in me to come up with a proper post today. However, I did blog earlier in the week some more thoughts about where we are at as a family who is identifying the best way to handle both educational and emotional needs. You can read that here:

    Can we call that good for this week? I will focus on reading YOUR fabulous posts instead! 

     Okay... are you ready to link up with us?

    Help us spread the word about this linkup by clicking here to tweet about it! The more people who know about it, the more traffic we can send your way!


    Join us for this homeschool blogger linkup each Saturday to share what has been happening in your homeschool and connect with others who know what it is like to be both parent and teacher.

    Before linking up, it would be lovely if you would follow all 3 of us in whatever social media avenues you frequent:

    Branson 
    Nicolette
    Maggie



    #ParentTeacherMeetUp - Week 11

    Saturday, November 21

    Today was a great day for me and Aiden. We spent some time listening to music together, baked banana muffins, and played Candy Land (followed by the imaginary adventures of the gingerbread man that stretched my skills at pretend play). Aiden practiced his piano lessons, played outside, created silly games about battling the mist coming from the humidifier, and had about 45 minutes of screen time. There was also some weird experiment he worked on in the bathroom that involved cardboard and water and a big mess that he then got to clean up. Then he attended taekwondo class and we sat down for dinner as a family. All in all, it was a typical Monday. In a bit when we get ready for bed Matt will read to him for about 30 minutes and then he will tag out and Aiden will read me a couple of books and we will chat about whatever is on his mind (usually something about space, architecture or deep theological questions) while we snuggle. 



    When we began this year, the year when his best friend and cousins of the same age started kindergarten, I would have looked at today and thought I had failed. There was no formal instruction. Well, unless you count the piano lesson, but even that was review. We didn't leave the house. Aiden didn't even change out of his (nice, warm) pajamas before going outside to play. It is clear by the markers and hole punch and various drawings that there was some form of writing and drawing that took place, but it wasn't guided by me. I was able to get a fair amount of my own work done, and Aiden was able to keep himself entertained while I did that. But... it wasn't "school."

    I have been feeling more and more convicted lately to let go of the pressure to "do kindergarten" this year. I often think about the fact that if we were going to send Aiden to school, one of the brick and mortar variety, we would have delayed his start anyhow. Not to mention the fact that in our state homeschool students aren't even recognized until age 6 (which he will not be until after the school year ends). Yet I spent several months trying to force us into some sort of school day routine. I fought against the frustration of not having enough time to do it all (marriage, parenting, school, ministry, work, friend, etc), without ever considering the idea that perhaps my approach to homeschool is what I needed to change.



    A big part of my struggle is that Aiden has been learning at lightening speed without me pushing it at all. Those books he will read me tonight? I would guess they will probably be at least 1st or 2nd grade level. And that is without me formally teaching him to read. He started working on fractions on his own the other day. He has always been able to learn songs and short stories after hearing them only a couple times. His Bible knowledge is growing all the time. He knows facts about the planets that I have to look up to keep up with him. He is just a little sponge. So I worry... if I don't keep pouring into his education now will he suffer? But then I remember that I didn't really teach him most of that stuff to start with. I have always provided materials and encouragement more than lessons. I have made myself available to research whatever topic he gets hooked on for the day or week. We read like there is no tomorrow. This is how he has learned probably 75% of what he knows.

    And yet...

    I worry about what people will think if I can't show them completed workbooks or my detailed lesson plans. I let myself get wrapped up in the idea of this being a personal failure to be organized and focused enough. I pick out the worst of days to use as a yardstick for how we are doing... instead of looking at days like today. Nice, normal days when learning surely happened even if I can't point to specifics. I need to let myself look at this little boy that I spend my days with and see him as a 5-year-old who is still just a little kid. He seems so much older sometimes because he is smart and funny.



    I am learning to trust myself. It is a slow process, but I see evidence of it here and there. There is no need for me to rush this process of parenting. There is no need to rush Aiden through his childhood. We are both learning, and we both need time to go at our own pace. So, if tomorrow is like today was, I will be happy. If tomorrow Aiden wakes up and wants to do Math worksheets and handwriting pages (it happens!) I will be equally happy. And if tomorrow goes absolutely bonkers and I end up turning on pbs kids just so I can get through the day... well, I will know that it is only one day in what I hope will be a very full childhood of learning and life experiences.

    Do I still think of myself as a home educator? Absolutely! Will Aiden continue to proudly tell people he does homeschool kindergarten? Yep! Am I going to get hung up on what exactly that should look like? I want to say no, but a more accurate answer would be that I will try not to. Instead I try to focus on the picture of family that comes from God's Word, and how I can prepare my child (and myself) to live and serve as a member of the body of Christ. The rest will come together if I start my focus there. Of this I am confident.

    He's Only Five...

    Tuesday, November 17

    I mentioned in last week's post that we would be making some changes to the Parent Teacher Meet-Up. Thank you to all of you who have faithfully shared with us over the past 9 weeks, and I know me, Maggie & Nicolette are all anxious to pour some renewed energy into the link up! We hope the new focus will help us to foster deeper relationships and really encourage one another! So, if you are a returning friend - we are glad you are here! If you are new this week - welcome!! Let's get on with the meet-up!

    Can I tell you a little secret? I have no idea where the middle of this week went! Ha! I guess we had our "adopted" college girls over for lunch on Tuesday and our teens came Wednesday night... so I know we did stuff. It just seems to have gone by in a blur! Well, and I guess since we are doing the #ParentTeacherMeetUp on Saturday now it hasn't actually been a full week between posts. That could be part of it. Anyhow... I am rambling. Here is what I can remember about the week...

    What was your best teaching moment this week? I feel like Mondays tend to be our best days. We are fresh off of a weekend and ready to go! I spent a lot of time this week focusing on being present, and I feel like there was a lot more playing and really enjoying each other's company. That was my main goal from last week. 

    What was your biggest struggle? It is still time management. And I feel like it will be forever, lol. 

    Share any tips and tricks you have learned as a home educator! This week I relearned what I already knew to be true. We need to take breaks from our kids occasionally. Things around here have been rough not just in our home but for extended family as well, and so no one has been able to watch Aiden for me to get a break for at least a month. Today my mom took Aiden, and even though I worked and Matt cleaned while he was gone, it was the biggest dose of much-needed quiet. I adore my child, but the constant chatter and demands and messes and everything else are just too much without a little break now and then. I still feel like I could use a full weekend (a girl can dream, right?) but today really helped. 

    Best kid quote of the week: Because you know they say some funny stuff! I don't have a quote necessarily, but overall just listening to him tell the stories of his very involved drawing lately always cracks me up. He has such a huge imagination! Oh, and he asked me the other day completely out of the blue where he could get a potion to make a baby mouse stay little and cute forever. I have no idea where that came from and it caught me so off-guard I had to laugh! We clearly do not use potions (unless you count essential oils, ha!) and I promise our home has no mice. So yeah that was pretty funny. 

    Kid's choice: Share their favorite parts of the week from their perspective. Aiden was so excited to master a song on the piano on Wednesday. He had started it on Monday and was struggling with it, so when he repeated the lesson and rocked it on Wednesday he was super excited. He says "Frog in the Middle" was his favorite part of the week. 

    What are your hopes for the week ahead? This week I hope to focus more on some holiday fun. We haven't been very crafty lately. I miss it! And I really love Thanksgiving (and the whole month of November!), but I feel like the first half of November totally disappeared. I have never been a "bucket list" person, but I might have to write one before the next couple months disappear!
    Also linking up with: The Weekly Wrap-Up

    Okay... are you ready to link up with us?

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    Join us for this homeschool blogger linkup each Saturday to share what has been happening in your homeschool and connect with others who know what it is like to be both parent and teacher.

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    Branson 
    Nicolette
    Maggie



    Our Homeschool Week-in-Review {#ParentTeacherMeetUp - Week 10}

    Saturday, November 14

    **We are making some changes to the #ParentTeacherMeetUp linkup, so I am posting my week-in-review separate this week. Join the linkup HERE!**

    What was your best teaching moment this week? Monday was awesome. We headed out to the wooded part of the local frisbee golf course to do some nature study. Fresh air, exercise, interesting observations and imaginative dialogue (Aiden protected me from enemies with his imaginary bow and arrows) as we went along made this an excellent day!

    What was your biggest struggle? Oh man, it was a rough week emotionally. Really rough. One of those where hitting rock bottom is actually good because you can finally push off and start traveling back up. It is never pleasant in that moment, though.

    Were there any milestones met or special accomplishments this week? Aiden did really well with his online piano lessons this week. I don't know that there was anything particularly outstanding about what was accomplished this week, but I enjoy seeing his progress in his music.



    What resources did you use this week that were awesome? For me, a big part of this week was learning more about my unique child and considering some things I hadn't considered before about his development. I learned a lot about "asynchronous development" and giftedness (I admit I am a wimp about using the G-word...) and I am still seeking out more and more information, including stalking the blog My Little Poppies. I also find myself thinking more and more about handling education with more of an unschooling approach, especially in light of what I am learning, and Erin at Nourishing My Scholar is a huge inspiration in that area.

    Best kid quote of the week: I know there were a couple zingers this week, but I am tired and cannot for the life of me remember them. He still often cracks me up with his descriptive phrases though. He told me today something was "positively dreadful" and it cracked me up. I know that phrase isn't that hilarious on its own, but he is just so Aiden... his sense of humor is awesome.



    Kid's choice (share their favorite parts of the week from their perspective): Playing the Arthur library game and going to homeschool gym class.

    Hopes for the week ahead. Honestly, this week I just hope to enjoy time with my boy more, and worry and stress less. We both need some time to just relax and enjoy each other's company. So much of this homeschool journey has been good, but it has also been really rough in so many ways. Trial and error make work okay for an adult, but it is hard on a 5-year-old I think.



    Merrill Homeschool - #ParentTeacherMeetUp

    Sunday, November 8



    Today I found myself thinking of a section in my favorite parenting book where it talks about how boys often experience behavioral problems right before they make a developmental leap of some sort. I feel like last night I had a bit of a breakthrough, and it seemed as if things felt much lighter after that... even though nothing had really changed. Like perhaps my latest battle with depression had been my behavioral problem that came before making a leap - not developmentally, but a leap in my parenting. I believe I am getting ahead of myself, though. Let me start over.

    I am not entirely sure how I found my way to the blog My Little Poppies recently, but I don't think it was purely coincidence. Especially since I then found myself reading a post on Geek Mom the next day and realizing it was the same author. Today when I tried to figure out where that first post I read was I found this one instead, and it made me cry. That tends to happen when someone tells me they understand the turmoil going on inside of me... even if we have never met. Sometimes I just need to hear that someone gets it. And Cait gets it... even if I am just now realizing we might even share something in common. 

    I started reading about her son, who is gifted. I learned the term "asynchronous development" and spent a good hour (or two? I don't really want to admit how long I probably spent at the computer...) googling. I read lists of characteristics and traits. I read articles and visited websites. The whole time I found myself nodding along with so much of what I read. I have been so afraid of being "too proud" of Aiden that I have been brushing off the idea of him being anything more than a smart little boy. I honestly never considered the idea of him being gifted, and regularly found myself assuring Matt that he was just a normal kid and we shouldn't think too much of his intellect. When in reality, it has been an almost-daily occurrence for the past year or so for us to share at the end of the night things our son had said or done that make us laugh because they seem too advanced for his age. 

    Even now, after reading so much that seems to click with what I see in Aiden, I am afraid to say he is gifted. As if someone might think I am bragging. When in reality, it is a challenge more than anything. I am not sure I really would have expected that to be the case. In fact, I am now wondering how much trouble I gave my own mom, having been labeled as gifted myself as a child. And speaking of my mom, I texted her last night to let her know what I was thinking and here answer was basically "Duh!" Haha, I love my mom. I guess she has been able to see for a long time what I am just now allowing myself to consider. 

    I feel like I have written a lot of blog posts lately that don't have "endings" and this is another one. I have no idea really what all this means exactly. I have some comfort in feeling like I have some sense of direction, and I also am seeing some things that I have been doing all wrong that I can immediately work on. I talked with my best friend about my feelings about all of this as well, and as usual she made perfect sense of a lot of it for me. I hand her my inner turmoil in messy little text message packages (because I can't talk to her on the phone or Aiden will steal her away) and she sends back things put (mostly) in order. 

    I am doing a lot of processing, but one thing that is beautifully apparent is the fact that our decision to homeschool is more important than ever. I have the opportunity to provide Aiden with the individualized attention he needs, and I can teach to his level by subject instead of being confined to grade-level assumptions. Parenthood continues to surprise me, and take me in directions I never planned on going... but God also continues to reveal how He has guided us along the way so far. I know He will continue to do so. It is sure to be an interesting journey as we continue to learn more about how to parent and educate our little boy. So, this post is more of a "beginning" than anything... my way to mark our starting point. There sure have been a lot of starting points lately. I guess that is what makes life exciting... or at very least continues to be the refining fire that is (very, very slowly) melting away my perfectionism and need for control. 

    Unexpected Answers {or at least some new questions...}

    Thursday, November 5
    What was your best teaching moment this week? Okay so I struggled with if sharing this would sound braggy, but I decided that it is something I want to remember so I should just go ahead and record it. Aiden attended Saturday Art School at the local university this week. Once each semester they do a 2-hour class for the kids. No matter how much I believe in the choices we have made for Aiden's education, I still struggle with insecurity every once in a while. So, when I picked Aiden up and the Professor supervising the program told me I had a bright boy it pretty much made my week. 

    What was your biggest struggle? This week was a little nutty because my niece ended up in the hospital and had her appendix removed. We spent one day with her in the hospital, and clearly we didn't get much "school" done. But, we did do crafts and talk a lot about medical stuff and Aiden got to put into action the lessons we have been trying to teach him about caring for others. 



    Were there any milestones met or special accomplishments this week? Aiden completed his first month of Book It. He filled another 30 book reading log, and I am pretty sure there were several read that never got written down. He also has been teaching Matt things about minecraft that he read in his library book. Those books are super wordy, and not at all on his level, so we just thought he was only looking at the pictures. He is so full of surprises. I am so proud of him. 

     What resources did you use this week that were awesome? The Hoffman Academy piano lessons continue to be awesome! I wrote more about them in this post, and have a coupon code to share there as well as a free printable lesson tracker! Go check it out! 


    Best kid quote of the week: Aiden was upset with me and came to the doorway and said, "Mama, I told my phone to unfriend you." It was one of those instances where I couldn't help but laugh. Of course we talked about not being a stinker afterwards. 

    Kid's choice (Share their favorite parts of the week from their perspective): Aiden says art class was his favorite. He liked that he got to paint a volcano with kool aid. (If you want to read why I now dislike kool aid paint check out this instagram post, hahah!)

    Hopes for the week ahead: I hope to do a little more structured learning this week in subjects other than math and reading. 

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    Before linking up, it would be lovely if you would follow all 3 of us in whatever social media avenues you frequent:

    Branson 
    Nicolette
    Maggie


    #ParentTeacherMeetUp - Week 8

    Monday, November 2

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