Last Day of School

Today was our last day at ORLA! woohooo
Let the summer fun begin!

Yesterday, the boys participated in ORLA's spring "arts" show. They got to show off some of their karate skills. They have absolutely loved karate, especially Brendan. I probably need to figure out how he can continue in a more advanced way. It's fun to watch because they are so into it.

Then, today was our last day of classes at ORLA. I am beyond relieved. While it has been a great resource for us as homeschoolers, it has been difficult too. I'm glad to be done with the commitment!

And, wow! Has everybody changed so much this year, or what?!

First Day of School

 

Last Day of School

(you can see Brendan's karate "posture" has significantly improved! This is a weird picture, but it was the best they gave me! It was time to go home!)

 Here are some pictures from their karate "show and tell"

Wyatt's Concert

Speaking of Wyatt...

One of his classes during the fall session at ORLA was a singing class. It's been a bit of a struggle all year after he showed up on the first day and was one of only 2 boys in the class. Normally there are lots of boys in the class but they all signed up for a math class with a favorite teacher at ORLA and that's what happened. A few more boys did join the class, but they didn't seem to help. Well he has stuck it out despite the dreaded end of the session concert. I mean he REALLY didn't want to do it. I was torn in that tricky parental spot of knowing one way or the other this was going to leave a lasting impression and I wanted it to be a positive one. Let him off the hook? Because, really who cares!? It's a silly concert and it is SO optional. Orrrr, make him follow through, fight his fear, do something hard and uncomfortable and come out stronger in the end? I went for the latter in a moment of really wanting to let him out of it when he was reduced to tears before a rehearsal...but I was tough on him (rare for me), in my nurturing way instead, and made him do it. He put on his brave face, did the rehearsal and had a bit of fun. He did his concert, even invited some family members and was sooo proud of himself afterwards. We took him to Lime Berry afterwards to celebrate. Now, he wishes he signed up for it again this session because he really did like it, and besides all his friends are in the class this time! Go figure! :)

First Day of School

We started school today! Late, I know, but that's how we roll these days. The boys are taking classes again this year at ORLA (Olympia Regional Learning Academy) through their program Homeschool Connect. It is an excellent resource for us and SO fun and great for the boys to round out and supplement what we do at home. It adds a bit more of a load for me, but it's worth it. One challenge (some might call it a drawback) is that parents, or a responsible adult, have to be on the campus while their child is there. So that means me with babes in tow, which is hard, but it is awesome to be able to peek in on their classes, be involved, intercept them between classes, eat lunch together, etc.  Also this year I am still using the curriculum I've used all along (Sonlight), but because we are involved at ORLA we get an allocation from the school district to pay for many of our curriculum needs (non-sectarian only). Long story short I have been piecing together my curriculum via my curriculum website, ORLA's resource center, ordering through ORLA and friends who have bits and pieces of the "core" we are working from. So it has taken me longer this year to figure that all out. We are on our way now though!

Without going into our whole boring, busy schedule I will say this. I'm am excited for the structure and all the fun things we will be learning (even me!) but I am scared to death at the same time. I know this is a lot and there are a whole lot of people (including me sometimes) who thinks homeschooling my kids is going to be the death of me and why in the world would I do it. But I feel called and affirmed every time I take the step of faith I'm required to take every. stinkin. day. I value it so much I'm willing to do what it takes.

For my records:

At ORLA, Brendan is taking Real Science 4 Kids-Physics, Making your Art, a required POD class 4/5, Martial Arts, and Investigation Agency (problem solving)

Wyatt is taking Imagination Creation (Art), gymnastics, a required POD class 2/3, Come on and Sing! and Martial Arts.

Good times.
At home we are studying World History Part 2-From the fall of Rome through modern world history. I switched up their math this year. I enjoyed the math we have been using (Horizons). I found it challenging, and fast moving and yet the system moved them along in a way that they could grasp everything new and retain everything they had been taught. Anyway, it is published by Alpha and Omega which is a Christian organization and ORLA can't acknowledge it as something that can count towards the boys' "offsite" hours, plus I wanted ORLA to pay for our math, so we switched to Teaching Textbooks. I'm thinking it was a good move because the boys can be a lot more independent with it, and they get to use the computer, so they love that!

Other than that it is the same ol', same ol'. It's freakin' me out a bit that this begins our 6th year of homeschool...or school in general. How are my kids growing up so fast??!

Our first day couldn't have gone better. (A lot of first days are a bit bumpy with the adjustment) We operated pretty smoothly and we picked back up as if we'd never stopped. I feel so lucky to get to be with them.....to watch them learn, to help them along. It's a sweet life. I will miss it when it is over.

 

Lunch for everyone

 

UGH! He's in 4th grade!!!!

 

 

 

2nd Grade

 

 

 

 

 

 

had to get up kinda early this morning!

 

 

Can you see the little bit of nerves they had?? So cute. Even at ORLA you get nervous for the first day of school.

 

recess in one of the toddler play rooms

 

nothin' better than blue lollipop lips, slides and electricity

 

Art Lesson 1::Composition

This year in school we are using an organized art curriculum. This is our first time incorporating actual art into our schooling. I'm so excited about it I want to do the projects myself. :)
My boys spend hours at their table doing "art". Mostly they are drawing pictures. I love it. LOVE it. They draw all kinds of things. Scenes from movies, their favorite action heroes, their favorite things to do, things straight from their imaginations, etc. I love how they think, and then they draw it. They don't need to copy a picture and even when they are asking me for ideas of what to draw, they usually don't like my suggestions and come up with something themselves. They use pencils, colored pencils, crayons and markers mostly. Every once in a while we paint, but not often with Easton around and sometimes they pull out the watercolors.

I'm excited about art this year because it will introduce new mediums for them and give them a little broader knowledge to draw from (get it? draw? haha) when they sit down at the table.

The art curriculum isn't just art projects, but includes lessons and also art history. It's called ARTistic Pursuits in case anyone is interested.

Their first lesson was about composition. They used sketch paper and an ebony pencil. Brendan took a little artistic liberty and added some color to his. :)

"Hanging out with Dad" by Wyatt

"Dad, Me and a Movie" by Brendan

(don't you just love the back of Rand's speckled head in this?) :)

A New Year

I know my friend, Kelly, would concur...the beginning of the school year feels more like the start of a new year than January 1 does. This year, that has been especially true for me. (It could very well be because I have felt sooo lousy for so long and now I am feeling so much better and ready to get to work. Blame it on pregnancy.) I have taken on new personal challenges to change bad habits and start new good ones. I'm feeling motivated to clean up and re-organize. We have new systems in place to keep up on things better and a lot more structure around here. School has started well, but it is just the beginning. The more motivation at the beginning...the further it is going to get us!

One new system in place that has made such a HUGE difference is our daily schedule and chore charts. The boys have always been great helpers and picker uppers, but we don't usually have a "system" in place. So things just get pretty out of control (fast too!) and then I say, "Okay. Time to clean up," and we do, but then it's bad again quickly and it seems like we always wake up in the morning 3 steps behind. So in trying to be more intentional, we seriously took on regular chores for the boys and made charts and the whole works. Rand started the process (he's the list-maker-checker-offer and work-buster-outer) and then I tweaked it to make it work for me (since I'm the here-all-day person). So we have morning chores to do before breakfast and school (get dressed, brush teeth, make beds and then Wyatt does the dog and Brendan does the chickens). Then school, then lunch. After lunch we have afternoon chores. The boys take care of things like taking out the recycling, taking care of some things with the pool, tidying different rooms of the house and then we have a once a week chore that is bigger like helping with laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, washing mirrors, vacuuming and mopping and such....
Then at the end of the day we have a quick "Clean Sweep" of the house before bed. The before bed chores have been the key for this whole thing working. Doesn't it feel like you are always behind if ANYTHING is a mess when you wake up in the morning??? It is nice starting the day with a cleaned off school table! It makes all the difference.

The other thing we are doing is allowances. Okay, seriously, how much do you pay your kids for allowance? This can get a little pricey when you start thinking about it! Well, part of the deal is that the boys complete their chores with a "happy heart" all week and we pay them every 2 weeks $10 each. This was a little lower than we originally had talked about paying them, but we are teaching the 80-10-10 principle (save 10%, share 10%, the rest...do what you like) and so 10 is an easy number to make that happen. Plus we are paying 2 kids....eventually 4... and we have to make sure we can afford that considering raises and what not! :)

I love watching how kids thrive off of this stuff. Brendan especially (little Rand) just thinks it is the best thing in the world. Even Wyatt enjoys checking off his chores and getting things cleaned up. He says things like, "I'm doing this chore first so that I will feel so good when I'm done." They like taking responsibility for it themselves and not being told at random that it is time to work. It is making my life a lot easier! They are great helpers. Now if only I could get them to make a delicious dinner!

This is what is working for us right now. It feels good after a very relaxed, not feeling very good summer to be back into something more structured. Feels like a new start...a new year and I like it.

First Day of School::2011-2012

I was really dragging my feet this year about starting. I don't feel organized enough. I can't keep the house clean enough. Easton is a lot of work, how can I do school and him at the same time? I had lots of excuses. I was talking to Rand about it last week and he said, "Why wouldn't you start next week?" Hmmm, good question. I answered, "Well, I guess the only real reason I wouldn't start is because I am scared."
Last year I struggled with motivation and desire. Last year we added Easton to the mix and we moved (don't we always?). It just seemed so hard! So I thought that being scared wasn't a very good reason not to start so I made a plan to get everything we needed and get on it! I started with Ann Voskamp. :) My daily dose of perspective. What did she write?? Organizing Head and Heart to Homeschool. Perfect. Her fifth sentence: "I am scared to homeschool this year." Oh thank you! I'm not the only one!

I think I can do it.

We started today. Yes, schooling on a Sunday is unconventional, but we go to church on Saturday nights, and Rand heads to work on Sunday morning, and well....what else are we going to do? It was a perfect first day. Easton was pleasant until his morning nap. We had pancakes for breakfast. The boys were thrilled to start again after only a few moans about it in the weeks prior. We breezed through reading and writing and math. We ended with Science and were amazed at how fast we went!

"I love school. It is so fun." That was how we ended our morning.

Sometimes I think about what I loved about the first day of school. Fog, cold weather, a new backpack, pictures by the front door, new outfits and new shoes...a new year. I wonder what excites my kids? I know they love their new workbooks and reading books. They get excited about their new pencil boxes and fresh crayons.
But they don't wear cute outfits (half the time we don't get out of pj's, although today they both chose their "my mom rocks" t-shirts), their hair isn't done up. They don't walk out the door with a packed lunch and they don't have a new teacher or a classroom full of new kids. There is something I really like about that.

Is it possible this is our fifth year??? They are growing, and we are learning, and I get to see it all. I don't regret the work and the fear and the sacrifice.

This is 3rd and 1st grade....at home.

Box Day::2011

School is here. Well, we haven't officially started, but we have the equipment for another full year.

This year Brendan and Wyatt are starting Intro. to World History (year one of two). We have some great books to get through this year.

I love getting all our new books. It's so fun. And then I start putting all my Instructors Guides and schedules into my giant binder and I start thinking, 'Oh my gosh. How am I going to do this?' Both the boys have quite a bit of work to do each day.

Here is a little sneak peek at school arriving.

these are Brendan's grade 3 readers

Here is history, geography, and read-alouds

and here is my huge schedule

In that big ol' binder is our schedule for our Core (history, geography, read alouds) and then Brendan's language arts (spelling/phonics, readers, handwriting, vocabulary and creative expression), Wyatt's language arts (same) and our study guides for all that. Crazy. I have another binder for Science which we all do together and the boys each have their own maths. We got an art elective this year, too, which we are all really excited about.

I just need some school supplies and a little more organization and perhaps another school room re-vamp and then we are off. Grades 1 and 3...here we come!