Third day of school

It's the third day of school, and I'm tired. Late nights, restless legs - as some in my father's family can well relate to, and a different type of 'brain' work may be some of the reasons. The most frustrating thing for the day was when the computer was sooooo slow. The only thing I needed to do was print something. That tries my patience more than anything. I was finally able to c.r.e.e.p. out of all open programs, reboot, optimize, and clean it. It now runs lots faster, but I think our 2002 model is getting tired, too. I may have too many photos on. But I want to upload them to a photo site as a second source of backup. All that takes time - more than I can afford to give right now.

This is our third year of homeschooling. I never wished to teach, NEVER WANTED TO, that was the last thing on my list of dreams. Yet God has so worked in my life that I WISH we had started when our oldest went to first grade. Isn't it amazing how my ideas have changed? That's nothing but the grace and work of God in my life.

I have always loved to witness the closeness of most homeschooled families, but had not been willing to make the sacrifice. We are very far from perfect, yet I love that we are closer as a family than we once were. Homeschooling forced us to work together as we now have ALL DAY with each other.

We used Bob Jones (BJU) dvd's the first year. It was great to start with. The girls learned alot. Amber loved her science teacher, Allison learned to like reading, and Zach enjoyed all the different dramas and additives to the program. But the last reason is why we switced. Even though the plays and things fit right in with the subjects, he was more entertained than he was learning.

So we switched to Sonlight. It was a big change for me as it required more of my time to be with the children. I'd rather read articles/blogs online than spend time with them. Well, this year/summer has changed that! I guess I had more computer addiction than I wanted to admit. I quit spending so much time reading blogs and chatting on Facebook this summer which has led to loving the time with the children. That is one reason for my lack of posts. I still love reading your blogs, but right now I need that time with my family.   

Sonlight is a literature based curriculum and a natural way of learning. We read many books!!! We do some read-alouds and the children read a lot on their own. We have high goals of doing better than last year, checking off more boxes, and finishing all the read-aloud books. All of us love the program!

Zach says, "I hate school," but that's a common phrase for those who'd rather work and play than use their brains. ☺smile

This year we're all studying the same thing. We are doing three cores, which is a lot of work.

Amber is basically doing hers on her own with little involvement from me. She daily keeps me filled in with the stories she reads and the things she learns. She is in Core 200 - Church History and already LOVES the Bible course from day one. She was kinda burned out from American History and this is a nice change! She wished she would have been homeschooled with Sonlight her whole life, yet she cherishes her memories of private schools.

Allison and Zach are in Core 5 studying the Eastern Hemisphere. They are together in these subjects: language arts, reading, history and science. They do their own grade in math and Wordly Wise. This year is already going better than last as they've decided to work together in their subjects.

Braden and Landon are in Core K studying World Cultures. They are in First Grade and Kindergarten respectively. They will be together in school their entire lives except for Math. At least, that's the plan. Sonlight enables us to do that.

We use a number of Usborne books which are great for school. My sister sells them, so you may want to visit her website.

It's amazing what they are learning! Core Pre-K had some meaty stuff. We loved the Berentein Bears Science Book. I tried to drill the numbers, days of the week, and months of the year in them. That surely helps for this year. They already learned about what makes a total eclipse and about cave drawings and paintings. Today we did some paper weaving, which was extra from the program. I wanted to explain more about the weaver's loom and thought of that. They LOVED it!

We are encouraged to write EVERY DAY - all of the scholars. I guess this blog helps me with that. I am definately a simple writer. Maybe if we keep reading more of these GREAT books, I'll get better at writing, too. Just like I want that for the children. I do know that we are exposed to a lot of great literature, more than we have ever been.