1st day of School

We started school on August 17th. Our annual pictures in front of the door in our living room is another one of my favorite traditions. It would be fun to go back and put all of the years side-by-side. My boys are growing up so fast now and I resent it. Doing homeschool helps to slow everything down, so I try not to be too upset.

This year Peter's schedule looks like:

Math - Online Beast Academy

English - Online IEW

Science - Coop with Thomas family

History - Coop (Story of the World) with Thomas Family

Tech Class - Online Animation (with Wacom Animation tablet)

Elective - Tinker Kiwi Crate

*Minecraft club, All About Spelling, Piano 

This year Luke's schedule looks like:

Math - Online Beast Academy

English - Brave Writer

Science - Mom most weeks and will join coop when he wants to

History - Co-op (Story of the World) with Thomas family

Tech Class - Online Animation (with Wacom Animation tablet)

Elective - PE Boxing class at home 

*Outschool music classes, All About Spelling, Piano

I have also ordered a monthly geography kit that we will be doing as a family. I am hoping to highlight the country and also highlight the church in that country. We should be getting that crate starting in September. We also do family movie days and I am reading more to the boys too. I am loving this year already!

Berry Picking

 It was time for our annual berry picking morning in Mapleton. Sadly, the weather has not cooled off at all out here this year. We are experiencing record heat which makes us not want to go outside at all.

But, we were determined. This year we took my neighbor Lisa and had a wonderful time. We were only picking for about 45 minutes. This year Luke wanted to pick strawberries and he did a marvelous job. I am trying harder not to push him into doing things he doesn't want to do. It made me happy to see him having a great time here this year. 

This year was a little different with Covid. He didn't have ropes to tie the buckets around your waist like he usually does. The farmer also added plastic liner bags to all the buckets. This is one of my absolute favorite traditions and I feel so blessed that this farmer keeps opening up his home and bushes to people like us. 

Luke was so brave to get in the raspberry bushes and pick a little. There were so bees which he was very scared of. So, he didn't pick for very long. 

This is Peter and Lisa. I loved seeing them out in the field happily picking. 

Another milestone

It's been fascinating to keep track of these statistics. I also hit my 5,000 classes taught milestone this month. It's so nice to be able to look at a class and immediatly know the words I'll be teaching. It makes it easier to add humor and silly songs now. 

One little boy, this morning (Boots) told me I was a bad teacher. I was a bit taken aback. He changed his mind though, when I pulled out a package of hotdogs I had grabbed from my freezer just moments earlier. He REALLY loves hot dogs. Hehehe. Tender mercy, yep!

Ponderings

It's the beginning of a new school year - almost. The thoughts of what to teach the kids are swirling in my brain. I purchased most of our curriculum this morning. I've been carefully looking and researching it all for months.

These thoughts came to my mind this afternoon:

-What do I want my boys to accomplish this year vs. what they want to accomplish this year.

-What is Luke really interested in that will be mentally healthy for him.

I have the whole list of the subjects we will cover, but is there something I'm missing? This year, I know I want to teach them more responsibility around the house. We will be striving to be better at brushing teeth, mowing the lawn, and emptying the dishwasher. I also am planning on their help for meal planning and meal preparation. Is that too much? Not enough? I don't really know. I guess I'll keep pondering and researching.

This is the reason I love home-school so much. There is always time to change and make adjustments. Nothing is every set in stone.