1st grade. Where did K go?

So as we near the end of June, we near the end of "kindergarten". We will go register soon for our 2012-2013 school year. Yes. We will keep on keeping on with school. Honestly, if you ask Mae she would tell you "we don't really do school work". I love that our "school time" happens naturally and all the time and she doesn't see it as "work". It is part of our daily life. We are always learning, even as adults.

But this next 12 months, we are going to buckle down a little. We have a list of books started that we want to read aloud together and we bought some curriculum. We are diving into spelling, health, art, math, we bought a unit study book and I am working on an American History timeline. I have laid out a basic week for us and what area we will cover each day......but I left it at that. We are setting goals for the year but going to go at Mae's pace and follow her lead. If she "gets it" quickly we will press forward, if there's something she gets hung up on then we will take our time. No pressure, no rush. I think this scheduled yet flexible approach will fit our family perfectly. We can throw in a field trip whenever we want, vacation on a whim, take a day off.......total freedom.

Once a day. Once a week.

I want to blog. I really do. I have do much to say. Frankly I never am really the one left "speechless". So why not just do it? Well. I forget. I forget to out it on my "list". I just don't think of it. It isn't a deal breaker and I don't lose sleep over it.......just wish I did it more.

So over the last month since I blogged last.......we've had a dance recital, I went to Haiti for a week, and now little Fergie girl is playing tennis this summer. Oh and an impromptu weekend fling to Gatlinburg.

Unschooling myself.

I was really not EVER even contemplating being a homeschooling mom. EVER. It never even crossed my mind. I had not given it a second thought much less a first one. Homeschool my littles? No. Home-schooled children are weird and unsocial and their moms wear long plaid dresses and white Keds.......right??? (no offense meant if that's your choice of style) I am not the "kind" to homeschool. Nope. Not me.
Flash forward to meeting a great new friend and her presenting me with the idea of it. Uh huh. I tuned her out. I wanted no part of this keeping my children at home and "playing school" for real business. Nope. Not happening. I'm not "that" mom. I was looking forward to the days of solitude and grocery shopping in silence. Lunches that I didn't have to share and actually could find time to eat. That was the "plan".........and yes one day I will learn to quit telling God my plans and start just giving into His first. :)

3 days before Mae was to go meet her Kindergarten teacher, I called my dear friend. I said "tell me what you know and what I need to know". Then I called my husband and said "I really believe God is screaming at me to homeschool and I honestly believe I have been ignoring Him on this. He said "you better listen up then but it's up to you". But really I think it was up to God. He put all the right people in my life to direct me to this, laid all the right convictions on my heart at exact moments and in true Pamela fashion........at the FINAL moment I said YES to homeschooling.
But what is homeschooling? My darling daughter and I collide daily, we are too much alike and both strong personalities and how in the world can we sit at a table for hours a day together?? Uh huh. Yeah right. So the beauty of homeschool is that it's NOT school and that's why you do it AT HOME! If homeschool is going to look like public school or private school, then obviously you're missing the point, purpose and fabulousness of it!!!
So I've been UNschooling myself this last 9 months and I realize weekly that I am still not completely UNdone from what I have been taught school to "look like" and what homeschool really can (and should) look like-------and it's a far cry from what children in brick and mortar schools experience. Isn't that why we keep them at home??? To give them a different experience? To teach them in a different way? To expand their horizons and build their character and to let them be little longer????????
After some sweet time today with my sweet friend who sweetly brought me into my homeschooling momma days.........I learned I still have some unschooling left to do. Absolutely. And it's fine because I'm doing what's best for my littles and we are all having a great time while mommy forgets everything she ever knew and is learning a whole new world of what school and learning can be!

Tuesday. The day after Monday.

Yesterday we entered into "place value" in our math lessons. While I was good at math in school, it was not my favorite subject. I must admit that while a bit nervous to teach math to Mae, I figured I would be good at it at least. Uh. Yeah. Not really.
So we have "skipped" math and frankly "avoided" it some days. Yeah. Great approach to homeschool right. Ha!
Luckily for homeschoolers, you're not truly behind and there is always time to catch up or make up the difference..........whew, grace in homeschool. Because there will be concepts she whizzes through and some where we have to camp out for a bit. Flexibility, grace, awesomeness. So yesterday we entered the world of place value. I had no idea how you would "teach" this........but I can tell you I would not do it the way Math U See does it. It is amazing! And so easy for her to grasp and the hands on is way beyond a worksheet with numbers. Their "build it, write it, say it" really reenforces it and helps the student to "get it". I am really enjoying Math U See and so is Mae, which I'm sure is much more important than what I think. :)

I want real "fake" eyelashes!

So my darling daughter is gearing up for her first dance recital. She is going to be rocking out solos in tap and ballet and this momma couldn't be prouder!!! In preparing, there are a few costume checks and "face rehearsals". My sweet baby has worn makeup for Halloween but never to "enhance" her face.......she doesn't need an ounce of help there. However in putting on the mascara, can I just say that she has THE most fabulous lashes EVER!!!! And we are still "in the works" with her costumes.......blessed that I am able to see these for her. Recital is less than 3 weeks.......I'm still waiting on the "time management" portion of my personality to kick in........see previous post regarding my lack of organizational skills and my professional level of procrastination.

What in the world???!!!!!!

Well. You know the "stuff" that makes it life????? Yup. A whole big pile of it slapped us in the face last fall.......and well I didn't blog one single time from September to May??!! Isn't that pretty much the ENTIRE school year? Was I not going to blog about our incredibly amazing homeschool learning experience? Wasn't I going to keep something of a "blog diary" to remember these fleeting moments?? Apparently they all fleeted right away along with all my glorious plans and intentions and here I sit........in MAY with not a single solitary blog entry for 8 months. That's almost a full term pregnancy, I could've grown a baby in the time I ignored blogging. And it's not that I don't have anything to say! Oh my, oh my. I always have something to say, maybe shouldn't always say it but definitely never run out of things to talk about. So why no blogging??? Why no sharing of our fun exciting times?????? Here's my "thought out excuses".......ready??

*****I was busy moving to a 2br apartment and trying to learn the definition of organization.......and compromised closet space.
*****We were trying desperately to figure out what homeschool "looks like" for us........and changing up our curriculum plans and being overwhelmed with the vast array of choices!
*****I was in prayer OFTEN that I don't screw my little diva up by choosing to keep her at home instead of sending her out to the world. I'm going to teach her?? Umm. With no qualifications required? Yup. Scary.
*****Holiday season, need I say more??
*****Then waiting and anticipating the arrival of my sweet niece. Then playing "top mommy advisor" to my baby sister.
*****Now caring for sweet niece 3 days a week........while still trying to figure out this homeschool business AND can I take a class on organization and time management PLEASE??!!!
*****Spent much time with amazing families taking their photos and raising money for my 3rd trip back to Haiti. Leaving in 25 days! Eeeek! That time management is critical to making sure I'm packed BEFORE the plane actually takes off.
*****LIFE! It happens. It's been happening, I just haven't had time to share.........ahhhh correction, I just haven't managed my time to allot for time to share! (accountability, I'm trying)

SO what have we done the last few months..........here is a super quick photo recap, sort of. :) They are completely out of order and all jumbled up pretty much........kinda fitting for a post such as this I think. Ha!

Week 2, Ss Sun.

With our curriculum, we will cover all 26 letters of the alphabet over 26 weeks. Each week has its own letter and theme......and to kick us off was "Sun". I am enjoying watching her light up with excitement and having those "ah ha" moments. And I am enjoying learning stuff myself!! One thing I learned this week is that Pluto is no longer considered a planet??!!! What??!!! I had to double check the publish date of the book we were reading to be sure that this was correct. Yup, apparently there are only 8 planets now instead of 9! Who knew!!

Our biblical view tie in with "Sun" is "Jesus is the light of the world." The curriculum layout does an amazing job of tying it all together and doing it at her level. And the exercises and activities are very helpful at reinforcing it! One exercise we did was that I blindfolded her.......before I could even explain what she needed to do, she took off and ran straight into the fridge! After convincing her it would in fact be fun IF she had instructions first, we started over. She ended up loving it!!!

She enjoyed feeling around with her hands and feet to guess where she was and to "see" where she was headed. It was very enlightening too when I explained how some people are blind.....to which she quickly responded "momma! We gotta go help some blind peoples!". Ah, my big hearted girl.

I was very happy to watch little man sit at the table with us while we "did school". One day he actually sat with us for 2 hours! This is so not his normal manner.......he can barely sit still long enough to eat a meal. So to see him sit and actually be focused on some activities and tasks was quite inspiring. He loves his new pegs we purchased and loves flipping through flashcards.

He even got in on the action when we made binoculars so we can use them this year to see all that is in our Father's world.

While we have so much fun with reading and art projects and hands on fun stuff........we definitely have our rocky spots. We are so much alike and sometimes that makes for some tough moments. But we are working through them and finding our groove. She is enjoying being at home and I love that I am blessed to continue to spend the days with her. This is my first year to home-school.......something I never imagined I would do. This is her first year of some kind of organized, planned learning........something that is new to her. Between the two of us, we are entering new territory that needs to be mapped and charted. But we are exploring it together and learning and growing and I hold fast to what I heard someone say about homeschooling......"it's not a sprint, it's a marathon".