Gift from a former teacher! (and stuff)

It is so nice to have people in our lives who are supportive of our decision to homeschool.....especially those who are educators in the public school system. Wyatt had a great 1st grade teacher last year so a few days ago Wyatt and I went up to the school to visit her. It was a sweet surprise that she had a GIFT waiting for Wyatt! A volcano kit. How neat! (it was great timing because we were just talking about volcanos during a geography lesson last week --- Map of Washington, Mt Saint Helens)

Thank you Ms Jones!

Here are a few pictures of the volcano-making process and the eruption! :)

Jonah enjoyed it too

There it goes!


On another related note, its really neat to hear different people mention how much they think we made the right decision to homeschool. I've heard from more than one person how much happier Wyatt seems now as opposed to when he was going to 'regular school' or how great it is that we can speed up or slow down based on Wyatt's learning rather than having to conform to what the state says he has to do. There are a few rough days here and there. But this is working for us. I have asked Wyatt more than once if he misses school. His answer every single time has been "No". When I asked him if he misses his friends (who he still gets to see) his response was "No mom. But when I went to school, I missed you." This is where my heart melted and I knew we were doing the right thing. :)
Blessings.....

Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492......

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the most 'crafty' person. I just don't have the knack for coming up wtih some of these crafty ideas. But, I also know that some of the lessons I remember best during my school career involved hands-on projects to help drive them home.

 (like the huge teepee we made out of paper sacks in 3rd grade to learn about native american symbols and drawings

 - see my brain isn't completely gone) :)

So, today was a great opportunity for a project and I'm so thankful for the internet. What a great source for these kinds of things!

 

I read a short story to Wyatt (and Jonah as he played with cars in the floor) about Christopher Columbus. Then I had a timeline of the ships voyages so we plotted the route(s) on the globe.

After that we began making our boats: Nina, Pinta & Santa Maria

Painting is always a hit. I'm pretty sure we could include paint in anything and it would be fun instantly. Jonah helped too. :)

Here's a couple of pictures of the masterpiece:

This was really a very easy project. (my favorite kind)

Items Needed:

Egg Crate

Paint (acrylic) & Brushes

Toothpicks

Paper for the sails

Clay or Playdough

Cut apart the egg crate into 3 'shells'. Paint them with any color paint you choose and

set them aside to dry.

Take 6 toothpicks and break 3 of them in 1/2 so you then have 3 full toothpicks for the large sails and 6 halves for the smaller sails.

Cut peices of paper into squares. (6 peices will need to be a little larger for the big sails)

Cut 18 smaller peices for the smaller sails.

Lay out the peices of paper and put a small line of glue on the paper/sail then lay a toothpick on it and sandwich it with another peice of paper for the other side of the sail.

Repeat this with all of the paper/toothpicks until you have 6 small sails and 3 larger sails.

Once the glue dries and the paint dries, put a small glob of clay or playdough in the bottom of each boat. Insert the toothpick into the clay for the sails to stand upright.

Ta-Da! You have a Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria!

Why do we homeschool?

I think every homeschooling family has to ask themselves this question at some point.

And, the answer may change from year to year. And that's ok.

I bet every homeschooling family gets asked this question....and sometimes maybe even in a rude, condesending tone.

For the last year or so we have seriously considered this as an educational option for our boys and began asking ourselves why we would want to do this. Of course it's easier to send them off to school for 7 hours a day....or is it?

We homeschool for a variety of reasons and are there days that I shake my head and think to myself  "I give up --- why am I am doing this?" or ask God why He led us to this journey- YES! Then I remember our journey in public school and I remember the prayers I said and the feeling of peace I had when we finally decided this was the right path for us.

We homeschool because, first and foremost, this is what we feel God has led us to do. The idea of homeschooling was brought to our attention before we ever had kids and the concept was interesting. Then, as the years went by and our oldest began kindergarten the concept became more interesting and began to appear on our radar more and more. By the middle of his 1st grade year, we made our decision and felt good about it.

We homeschool because I don't want someone else being with my kids for 7 hours a day. That turns into tens of thousands of hours over the course of their school career. I have been with my boys since day 1. I taught them how to eat with utensils, how to brush their teeth, how to say their ABCs, and taught Wyatt how to ride a bike, tie his shoes and write his name. I could go on and on. Homeschooling is nothing more than an extension of parenting.

We homeschool because I like to know what they are and are NOT learning. Nothing made me more angry when our oldest was in school than for him to come home and not understand how to do something and me have NO idea how to help him because I didn't know how it was being taught in the first place................OR for things to seem to be fine until report cards came home and then I find out that he's been having trouble with XYZ.
By my teaching him, I see what he's learning. I know immediately if he understands and if he doesn't, we spend more time on it because I don't have 20+ more kids that I have to deal with.


We homeschool because while some people are certain that public school is the only and best way for kids to be 'socialized', we don't agree. I'm not sure how putting 20+ same age kids in a classroom, clammering for 1 teachers attention is really socializing. We are raising our kids to be adults. With homeschool they get to socialize with all sorts of people or all ages. Do we sit inside our house every single day all day long? No way! We go to meetings and get togethers with our homeschool group, we go to the park and on nature walks, we go to museums and to various stores etc.
 These are all places to learn.


We homeschool because we were given these 2 boys to raise, nurture and teach.
I find its hard to do those things when we are not together.


Now, all of this being said, do I know that we'll homeschool in 8 years or even in 2 years? No.
We will take it 1 year at a time and pray about it along the way.
There may come a time that we don't feel this is right for our family and then
we'll research other options. Does this mean that everyday I have it all together and feel 100% great about it? No. Somedays I wonder if I'm doing a good enough job. Afterall, I'm pretty sure that I'm more strict on my kids than a teacher would be. ;0)


So.....one day at a time the adventure continues. :)


Blessings,
Shannon

Getting behind....

I just don't have enough hours in the day it seems.
Last week we went to the Bob Bullock State History Museum for homeschool day. There were lots of kiddos there and we had fun! Jonah even enjoyed it. Of course of everything Wyatts favorite parts were an airplane and replica train station from Abilene. ;0) I took pictures on my phone and I don't have them on here of course. Use your imagination. ;0)
Yesterday was a rough day.We have days like that when everything seems 'off'........then I remember that we had those days with public school too. Those are the days that I have to remind myself that we aren't a traditional school and I have the freedom to make changes and we end up changing gears. Sigh.....


Today Steve taught and I escaped to Starbucks with my computer to edit the over 900 pictures I shot in Lubbock 2 weeks ago. I spent 2 hours there and might have made a dent. I came home to Wyatt and Steve doing Yoga on the Wii. That counts as a class I guess. ;0)


Ok.....more to do. I'll try to keep this up better.
Blessings.....

Getting behind....

I just don't have enough hours in the day it seems.
Last week we went to the Bob Bullock State History Museum for homeschool day. There were lots of kiddos there and we had fun! Jonah even enjoyed it. Of course of everything Wyatts favorite parts were an airplane and replica train station from Abilene. ;0) I took pictures on my phone and I don't have them on here of course. Use your imagination. ;0)
Yesterday was a rough day.We have days like that when everything seems 'off'........then I remember that we had those days with public school too. Those are the days that I have to remind myself that we aren't a traditional school and I have the freedom to make changes and we end up changing gears. Sigh.....

Today Steve taught and I escaped to Starbucks with my computer to edit the over 900 pictures I shot in Lubbock 2 weeks ago. I spent 2 hours there and might have made a dent. I came home to Wyatt and Steve doing Yoga on the Wii. That counts as a class I guess. ;0)

Ok.....more to do. I'll try to keep this up better.
Blessings.....