2021-2022 Homeschool Goals

 I have 3 main homeschool goals for this year.

1. Incorporate Read-a-loud books.

2. Plan arts/crafts weekly.

3. Play on the floor with all 3 kids.

At first glance these do not seem like"school"goals and for a typical school they are not. However for a homeschool mom who tends to get caught up in the academics and loses sight of the time spent with my kids these are the goals I need.

This will be my first year of not working full time while homeschooling and I want to be a good steward of the time and children God has blessed me with. 

When I was on maternity leave earlier this year I started reading a few chapter books to the kids and I was surprised with how well they listened. I've always stuck with picture books that I thought was the only way to keep their attention. I have somewhat of a plan of how I'm going to do this but its a work in progress. If you have any practical suggestions of fitting this in daily I would love to hear.

Sam has always loved doing creative things and I have not. This year I splurged and bought a book with creative arts and crafts projects then I went to Walmart and bought every supply that would be needed. My plan is on Sunday's when I plan out our week to have Sam look through the book and pick a project that we will do on Friday's. 

I recently listened to another homeschool mom talk about the joy she has found in getting on the floor and playing with her kids. It hit me hard! I don't naturally like playing on the floor with the kids. I tested it out this week with Westley and the pure joy on his face when I sat down and started playing with him was all I needed.

I have a tendency to set too high of expectations then crash and burn but these goals feel attainable. I'm so excited for this year and to be doing it without worrying about work is truly a dream come true!

Owen's Birth Story

 Owen is almost 6 months old and I realized I haven't written out his birth story. Hopefully I still remember most of the details.

I was at my 38 week check up and I mentioned to the dr how done I was feeling with this pregnancy. She offered to do a membrane sweep and I immediately said yes. She ended up breaking my water during the sweep although not the gush that happened with Westley. I knew there was no rush to get to the hospital as  I've had longish labors each time. I called Howie at work to let him know and figured out what to do with the other 2 kids. Howie rushed home even though I told him to take his time, I was straightening my hair when he got home, pretty relaxed for the situation. Contractions hadn't really started yet. About 1 pm I was all hooked up/checked in and since the dr didn't want this labor to last as long as the others they went ahead and started pitocin after I was hydrated. I was 3-4 inches dilated at this point. Around 3 pm I went ahead and got the epidural even though contractions weren't bad yet. 

If I remember correctly this is when I napped for awhile until the nurse came to check me around 7pm. I was still dilated the same 3-4 but she noticed that the dr hadn't completely broke my water so she took care of that part. They also started being more aggressive with the pitocin, my doctor wanted him born before midnight. Around 10:45 or 11 I started feeling a lot of pressure and I was 10 cm. I mentioned that it didn't take me long to push my other 2 out so they got the dr and as soon as she was there I started pushing. One of the nurses noticed my birthday 1-01 and it was 1-11 and 11 pm so they all thought it would be cool if he was born at 11:11 to continue to 1 theme. At this point I was feeling a lot more than I ever had with the other 2 so I was not waiting to push. So at 11:09 he was born. He came out pretty fast which caused some bruising on his forehead probably contributing to the jaundice that he developed. He weighed 8 lbs 12 oz (38 weeks and 3 days) I can't imagine how big he would have been had I made it another week or 2. After they weighed him, my doctor said "now aren't you glad I broke your water?!" 

He started nursing pretty quickly and they got us into the post-partum room not long after. He had a decent night and ate pretty well. But the next day he really struggled with eating. He kept spitting up a lot of mucus that they think he swallowed when he came out so his stomach was not happy. At one point they took him to the nursery to observe him for a couple of hours. They checked his jaundice levels the next day and weren't concerned plus he had gotten better at nursing. 

At his appointment on January 21st the dr noticed he was looking a lot more jaundiced and sent us over to the hospital to get his levels checked. His levels came back at 21 and the doctor had him admitted for light therapy. He did surprisingly well with the lights, he was under them for 2 hours at a time and I had 30 minutes in between to feed and change him. The next afternoon his numbers finally came back low enough to be discharged.

Owen has been the perfect little addition to our family, he's very similar to how Westley was as a baby. Thankfully we were able to buy a house when he was 3 months old which has allowed him to have his own room (in our closet lol). He sleeps in his crib pretty well, after Westley co-sleeping for 3 years I definitely wanted Owen to not be dependent on sleeping with us! 

Sam's Kindergarten Curriculum Review

We started Sam's Kindergarten year last July and are winding down to the end.  Her last day is tomorrow!  We are through all of the books now and can give a decent review. For context, Sam is a very hands on learner and good with memorization.  She doesn't really like sitting and doing worksheets, probably the case with most 5 year olds:)

Math

This was Sam and I's favorite subject!  We used The Good and the Beautiful Level K math curriculum.  It has 117 lessons with 3 assessments throughout and one Final assessment.  It also came with an activity box that came with a ton of manipulative that we used throughout the course.  Some of my favorite things were the use of manipulative's, the multiple ways that it presented different "skills",  and the daily dose portion of each lesson.  We finished this subject first and Sam has mastered what is needed to move on to the next level.  

Each section would start with a story that continued throughout the section.

The activity box.

 Language Arts

We used The Good and the Beautiful Level K for her language arts curriculum.  This definitely wasn't Sam's favorite subject and to be honest it wasn't mine either.  I probably rushed her into it and that didn't help.  The course itself was good, I was being cheap when I ordered and didn't buy the book box sets they recommend to go with it. They really helped give her some confidence in reading once she started them.  Some of the lesson's felt too long and some seemed really short which could occasionally be a challenge.  She's just now finishing up this book (120 Lessons) since we took a break until she was more ready.  She did Reading Eggs for about a month in place of the language arts and that helped a lot.  

Handwriting

We used The Good and The Beautiful Level K handwriting and moved onto Level 1 when she finished Level K.  It's a very basic book, I thought she would like it more because there's a little picture you can color when you finish the page.  She does not like practicing her handwriting because it is a worksheet and that's not her learning style. 

Bible

We used a Bible activity book for Bible time.  It was a bible story and then 2 pages of different activities which she loved.  She finished that book and we  moved onto something new, not sure if she's a little too young for it.

I got this at Ollie's for $4.

This is the new one we just started.

Science

For Science we've been using a very basic 180 days of Science book.  It usually takes 2 minutes to complete.  I like it because a lot of it is me reading to her and her answering questions, helps her work on listening comprehension.

Classical Conversation Co-op

We just finished our last week for our Co-op and have done better this year of working on what we learned at home. I even bought a white board to write all the info each week onto like they do in class.  Next year I plan to buy the book and the geography map so we can do more at home as she gets older.

Overall I'm really happy with her Kindergarten year. I already have her 1st grade curriculum but won't be starting until July.  She's really excited for a nice long break.  We didn't really take any long breaks, we took a week off at Christmas then a few days here and there.  When I originally planned out the year I had a lot more breaks scheduled and was going to go year round.  However, she had a better attitude when we didn't take breaks and I liked the groove we got into so not taking breaks worked well this year.

Another interesting part of this year was that Howie took over for about the last month since his clinicals were cancelled and all his classes moved online.  I started working more and he's been home with the kids, he has done a really good job teaching her.

Pre-K Recap and Kindergarten Plan

It's been a minute since I've posted anything but life has been crazy busy.  Since Howie started the radiology program last August I've been back to work full-time.  While it has been a definite blessing it has also been an adjustment. I've been able to work a schedule mostly opposite of Howie's so we haven't needed as much childcare and thankfully have family nearby who help us out when needed. 

Here's an update of how Pre-K went and our plans for Kindergarten!

I started Pre-K with Sam in August and while we definitely met some of the goals I had set, I also saw where I needed more discipline especially as she gets older.  We did Classical Conversations (co-op) the whole year and really enjoyed it.  Sam really does well with memorization which is what the early years of CC is, so it was a good fit.  Toward the end of the school year I ordered a language arts Level K Primer book for her from The Good and The Beautiful and really liked it!  We only got about 20 lessons in before breaking for summer so we will continue with that when we start back next month.  

My plan for her kindergarten year is to start in July and take breaks throughout the year until ending sometime in May.  She just turned 5 and in Florida I have until she's 6 to officially do anything with the school district (portfolio/intent to homeschool, etc) so I'm considering this year our test run😉.

I found this blank calendar online and used it to help figure out how many days of school we would do and when to take breaks.  All subject to change but I felt better having a plan.

I've already got all of the curriculum ordered and I've decided to stick with all The Good and the Beautiful.  Since its just kindergarten we'll be focusing on the basics of reading, writing, and math.  And then with Classical Conversations she'll get to do science experiments, fine arts, and history memorization on co-op days.  We'll also continue doing devotions and memorizing scripture.

We will finish out her Level K primer book that has about 14 lessons left before moving on to the Level K language arts.  It's a mix of phonics and sight words and includes spelling.

We're doing the Level K math, which I'm most excited about!  It's very hands-on learning and I think Sam is going to enjoy it.

And then for writing I just ordered their Handwriting Level K, it was just released in book form this week.  It was only available in PDF form previously. 

While shopping around for a curriculum, I wanted something that was open and go, affordable (spent less than $200 on everything), and hands on.  The Good and the Beautiful is all of those things and I'm really excited to see how the year goes using it.

Westley’s one year update!

I did good for a few months with the updates but life has gotten crazy and time has gotten away from me!  Westley is already almost 13 months old!

Sleeping patterns:  Wakes up around 7 or so most mornings, goes to bed around 7.  Doesn’t sleep through the night, still co-sleeping.  He usually takes a solid 2 hour nap in the morning around 9:30-10 o’clock and a shorter nap in the afternoon.  If we’re out doing something he can usually stay awake until the afternoon and take one long nap but when we’re home he definitely lets me know when he’s tired.

Eating Habits:  We’re still breastfeeding and I’m still pumping at work although I’m only getting 4-6 oz now while he generally drinks 8 oz (He gets the difference from my frozen stash) when I’m gone.  We’re working on getting him on a 3 meal 2 snack schedule so that he can transition more to that and less milk.  He will try just about anything we offer.  His favorites are tomatoes, zucchini, string cheese, blueberries, strawberries, avocado, Mac n cheese.  Trying to get him to drink more water out of the sippy cup.

Accomplishments/likes/dislikes:  He learned a ton of stuff in just the last month.  He’ll stand for about 10-15 seconds by himself, claps, waves, points, plays peek a boo, shakes his head no, and finally said mama!

Westley weighs around 24 lbs still and is 27 inches long.  He hasn’t really gained weight the last few months but he did grow length wise.  He’s mainly in 12-18 month clothing and size 5 diapers.  He has 3 teeth now with a 4th one that looks like it’s breaking through.  He had his 5th ear infection so we finally got a referral to an ENT, his appointment is this week.  He’s definitely not as quiet as he used to be, he found his voice and knows what he wants.  He isn’t afraid to fight sister for toys either.  He’s very much a mama’s boy especially at night!  I was in the hospital overnight a couple of weeks ago, it was our first night apart and Howie said he just screamed and cried for 2 hours until he finally went to sleep:(

Here's some of my favorite pictures from the last month.

Sam's Pre-K School Plan/Mini Life Update

I wanted to write a little post sharing what our plan is for this fall!  Most of you probably know Howie got into the Radiology Tech program that starts in August.  We were so excited to find out he was 1 of 17 to be accepted.  He started his prerequisites 2 years ago with hopes of getting into this limited access program.  The Lord has opened doors from the very beginning and we're looking forward to what He'll do in our lives over the next couple of years especially.  

Howie will be driving to St. Augustine (45 minutes-1 hour away depending on traffic) 5 days a week for the first half of the fall semester.  The 2nd half he will be doing clinicals 2 days a week and classes 3 days a week. I will start working more, ideally 4 days a week since he won't be able to work.  This will require more juggling with our schedules so we won't need childcare hopefully.  

I am also starting Pre-K with Sam.  We've signed up for Classical Conversations which meets once a week for about 3 hours.  Sam has been really excited about "going" to school.  We'll also be doing some school at home, although I'm probably going to have to lower my expectations a bit with all the adjusting that will need to happen.  A few of my goals for her Pre-K year are to read at least 20 minutes per day, make it to the library once a week, letter recognition/sounds, number recognition, and lots of playing.  I had originally wanted to go ahead and teach her to read this year but I don't really want that pressure on either of us right now.  I'm ok with waiting until she's in Kindergarten for that. 

Westley is such an easy going little guy that I'm hoping he's able to just roll with punches and will adjust well to me working more.  I'm incredibly thankful that I've been able to be home with him as much as I have.  

They are our world.  

Contemplating a post on books/materials/supplies I've chosen for Sam's Pre-K, let me know what you think!

Westley's 8 month update

Sleeping Patterns:  He's sleeping quite a bit better at night, maybe waking up twice, sometimes I feed him in my sleep lol.  Wakes up super early some mornings and won't go back to sleep.  Just transitioned to a 2 nap schedule, a 1-2 hour nap in the  morning and 1-2 hours in the afternoon.  Bedtime is usually around 7.  We've put him in the crib a couple of times but really we sleep better with him in our room right now.  

Eating Habits:  Nursing 5-6 times a day, when he's tired he wants to nurse as well, sometimes he just has a little snack before going to sleep.  He doesn't really nurse to sleep anymore, only if he's super tired.  We've had a little more success with solids.  It seems he likes actual solids not the purees.  A lot of times he will just play with whatever food we give him but occasionally he will go to town on it.  He seemed to really like zucchini, broccoli,  and strawberries.  We've also tried eggs, banana/egg pancakes, shredded cheese, banana, green beans, and cauliflower.

Accomplishments/likes/dislikes:  He's trying so hard to crawl, my guess is within the next 2 weeks he will be on the move.  He pushes up on his knees, rocks, and can move one knee forward before he gives up or falls down.  He will cry if you take away a toy he wants.  He plays independently really well.  Loves to watch Sam.  He really enjoys music, if the tv is on and a song randomly comes on he immediately looks and starts smiling.  He doesn't like getting dressed.  Enjoys chilling in the pool once he gets used to the water temp.  A couple of weeks ago he started saying "dada".  

Places we went:  All the usuals again this month, the zoo, lots of early morning trips to the park, swimming at nana and papa's, chick-fil-a (at least once a week), and the library.

Westley now weighs around 23 pounds.  At his WIC appointment they said he's in the 97th percentile in weight and 35th percentile in height  He's in size 5 diapers and 9-12 month clothes.  He had another ear infection, so hard to get medicine into that kid!  He got a lot of one on one time with us while Sam was in Missouri for 12 days.  He now has 2 teeth!  

Some favorite pics from his 8th month!

Sleeping through IKEA 

Wrestling with his cousin.

Trying out the crib.

He likes his new walker.

Finally eating some food, zucchini.

He likes playing at the park.

Two teeth!

He loves playing daddy's guitar.