Our School room

Its been forever since I have posted anything! Our summer has been so busy and full of fun! Now that our summer time is coming to an end, very soon, I plan to use these last few weeks to enjoy every last bit of it!

I have kept myself busy with planning and prepping for the up coming school year, and I am excited to get started! I did not want to take away from the boys the fun of "school shopping." So, I let them get some new art supplies, and be there with me as a part of getting the last min stuff we would need for the year. I even let them both pick out a special lunch box that they can take on our, hopefully many, trips to the park, zoo, museums, etc. Of course they are superhero ones and the boys are VERY excited to use them :-)

This weekend I finished getting everything in place and putting the final touches on our school room. I am happy with how it turned out and excited to start using it. I changed quite a few things around from last year to better suite our needs this year. Here is a little sneak peek into our new space!

Morning board area.

Our Art Wall (I plan to fill the frames with our projects)

The Reading Corner. We plan to use the orange bag as our "book basket" this makes it easy to tote to and from the library and keeps our themed books for the week all together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Boys Desk area and Caleb's work boxes. I plan to use the red desk if I need to separate the boys for any reason. If Gabriel is doing and activity that would distract Caleb from his work I can move him over there. We also have a magnetic board (oil drip pan) with different things the boys can play with on there.

Above the boys desk area. I keep some games hung on the peg board to pull down easily for Gabriel to occupy him while I work with Caleb. There are also some more puzzles, games, play dough, etc that I keep up out of reach to pull down for "special times". Trying to keep it so that I have new things to offer and mix things up along the way. I also use the shelves for all our craft supplies, sensory bin fillers, and some books that go along with our curriculum.

This area has puzzles, games, building sets, etc down and easily accessible for them both.

This is my shelf area where I keep all the activities, work books, student sheets etc that we use with our curriculum. I also have some games pulled to the side that are to be used with the curriculum and other teachers aide items. In the white magazine holders I have some of their magazines and work books stored here.

The green bin is where I keep everything organized by units for My Fathers World. I also have a small file box on the side with print outs for Gabriel to go along with the letter we are learning that week. This way he has activities to work on during the week like his brother. Gabriel is very excited to "do" school with us this year! :-)

And lastly my desk area. Nothing fancy but serves its purpose well! :-) 

  
And that completes our little school room tour :-) If you can not tell I LOVE to organize and prep areas. But now I am excited to start using the area soon!  

Today is a rainy yucky day outside so I decided to be brave and let the boys have a fun messy time!:) It's so funny to see the differences in their personalities, Gabriel dives right in making a huge mess and enjoying every min of it! Caleb on the other hand is not enjoying the experience as much and does not like that his hands are dirty one bit!! He was ready to be done within two mins and asked for a bath!  ;-)

Easter Eggs Games

Some fun learning games I made this weekend only cost $2 at the dollar store! :-) They have packs of 24 mini eggs which I prefer so they do not take up so much room ;-)

Today Caleb worked on matching his lower and upper case letters. For later this week I made 1-10 matching dots with the number (this game is more for Gabriel since Caleb already has 1-10 down pat.) The third game in the egg cartoon is numbers 11-22 which Caleb can use more practice on. These I will hide around the house or outside if it warms up and Caleb can place them in the right order in the carton.

Our 2014-2015 Year at a glance

I have had several friends ask what curriculum we are going to use and what our plans are for next year. I decided to build a bit more on my last post and our choice to home school. Here is a peak into what our upcoming year will look like. It was easier to explain via a video than write it all out.:-) The video is quite long! sorry about that,  I wanted to go into detail so I can show some friends that are interested in homeschooling how we are breaking things down. :-) The camera cut out towards the end and it repeats a bit sorry about that. Researching and finding a curriculum for Caleb has been a lot of fun for me! I am excited to share with you what our plans are and what we have chosen! I can't wait to dive into it with him! If you have any questions about the books or curriculum please feel free ask. As we go along next year I will post more about our days so you can see everything in action!

Our Decision

I am sure this upcoming year you will see quite a few post about our days and how homeschooling is a part of it. So I thought I would write and explain a little bit about our decision. 

Never, ever had I planned on homeschooling my children. In fact I ran the exact opposite way, and made many statements like, “oh I will never home school my kids!” I did not want to be known as one of those “homeschooling” moms, nor have my children labeled “homeschoolers.”  A main reason for this is because I had always been labeled as a “home schooled kid”. People always assumed I lacked in the social department, or would have a hard time relating to friends that “were in the world.” Far from the truth; I do not feel I ever lacked at the ability to socialize. I do not get uncomfortable in a room full of people I do not know, and I never felt sheltered in any way. No more than any other person I know, homeschooled or not. I do tend to be more of an introvert but I don’t feel I am that way due to the lack of social skills or feeling uncomfortable around my peers. In fact….it is sometimes the “homeschoolers” and “homeschool moms” that actually make me feel the most uncomfortable. Being a homeschooler sometimes others assume that I agree and understand that many believers choose homeschooling as a way to protect their children from things of the world. When in fact I am a strong believer in letting my children be a light in darkness and in the world and learning how to follow Christ even when it is hard. This being said I have no problem with children attending the public school system. My home is also far from the perfect Godly place. We too struggle and have to be on our knees daily. Every day is a day to try harder and become more Christ like in our home but we fail, and we fall, but by God’s grace we get up and try again! I have come to find many families in my generation choose homeschooling not because of their desire to keep their kids away from the world but because they are unsatisfied with the current public school system (especially in our area), and are unable to afford a private education. 

After much prayer and thought Jacob and I have decided to home school Caleb again this year for Kindergarten. We are not sure what God’s plans are for Caleb’s education long term or where He will take us. But, as of now we both are uncomfortable sending him to the school we are currently zoned for, many reasons of which I will not go in detail about right now. We have considered and thought through moving our family to a better school zone, even looked into purchasing a house that would be zoned for a better school. Sadly in the Hampton Roads area there are very few good public schools to choose from. We both are not convinced at this time that the Lord wants us to put down our roots here in the area. Which means purchasing a house would not be the best decision at this time. Jacob and I have decided to take things one day at a time and see where the Lord leads us, and what doors He opens up for us as far as our long term plans. 

I have come to the understanding and realization that choosing to home school Caleb now or for next year does not necessarily mean that it is what God’s long term plan is but for now that is the direction He has led us; despite my original fears of messing my child up or being labeled a “homeschooler”.  I feel 100% at peace about the choice and am even excited about the upcoming school year and what God is going to do in Caleb and I, and how He will use it for His glory! My eyes are being opened up to the idea that where ever God takes or leads our family, even if it’s to another country, we will be ready and able to make that move if the doors are open! The sky is the limit! I have found so much joy and excitement in researching curriculums and things for next year. How awesome, and what a privilege, it is to be able to tailor exactly what Caleb will learn, how he will learn, and have the flexibility to tailor it exactly to his needs. I know we are going to have a lot of fun in the upcoming year and I am truly looking forward to it! It is a blessing that I have the ability to stay home and do this with Caleb and I will embrace it with a good attitude and not one of worry. I am trusting God that He is the one in control and will help me to make it a successful year and not to have fear of the unknown.

The start

I bit the bullet and decided to go for it! So many people have encouraged me to start a blog and I mostly laughed at their suggestions. I love to read blogs but I myself do not think I have anything interesting enough to write a blog about! 

After thinking about it some more and trying to figure out what a blog would even look like for me, if I wrote one, I realized it could be an awesome way for me to keep track of our family’s memories along the way! I am horrible at keeping baby books and tracking the milestones in our boy’s lives, and I regret not having tracked more from the baby stages. But, it’s better late than never! With pictures being digital, and I spending more time behind a computer screen than at a craft table, I am hoping I will remember more often to record the memories. Another benefit of the blog will be that family and friends from all over will be able to keep up with us a little easier and see what is going on in our lives. For others it may not be interesting at all! I am in no way an author as you will see with the many grammatical errors, those who do read please forgive me! I hope this will one day be a great thing to look back on remember and share in our joyful chaotic journey along the way.

Caleb is 4 and half years old. He loves to talk and ask many questions! He always has me on my toes to what he will say or ask next! He is extremely passionate ;-) He is very very loyal with a strong desire to learn and know more about everything around him. His desire to learn more about the Lord and remind everyone about His word encourages my heart that the Lord will use him as a great leader!

Gabriel is 2 years and 8months old. He is my sweet and very loving boy! Never turns down a snuggle…at least not yet! He is very compassionate, and LOVES to make every one laugh! He is mischievous and can be sneaky at times ;-) He loves to keep up with his big brother but lets his opinions be known. I know God is going to use his loving compassionate heart to reach out to many!