More Changes

So the other big change that I alluded to in a previous post is that we are moving. This is not a somewhere down the road, distantly in the future move either. This is a pack up and go, be in there within a month or two kind of move. It's a long story and I'm too emotional drained at the moment to explain everything, but it feels good to write it down and throw it out into the blogospehere. It makes it feel more real so far.

The move is going to be very positive for our family in general, it's just the fact that it's a change piled on top of a change that's going to be hard. It's life changing enough to leave a job, take your child out of public school, and begin homeschooling them. Then add in a move?? So, I need to focus on packing now, which I can't stand! The one good thing is that it gives me an opportunity to weed things out that we don't need anymore. I plan to do a lot of that within the next few weeks. So here's to moving the important things :)

Finding my Homeschool Style and Curriculum

I think anyone who is or has looked into homeschooling can say that finding out your style is one of the most important first steps i taking the leap. I prayed and looked into a lot of different things with my husband before coming up with what we are going to do, at least for now. I guess if I needed to label my style it would be eclectic, with Charlotte Mason tones. We are teaching a Christian worldview through all subjects and using the Bible as the basis for all that we do. I know that I can not plan the next 10,5, or even first year ahead of us completely. I let go of that notion rather quickly! I do, however feel that I have a sense of what we will be doing through at least the first half of this year, as long as it goes smoothly. Our little one will be coming off of two years in the public school system so there will be some major adjustments there. I know a lot may argue that I should give her the whole summer to decompress, but I feel that I know my daughter and that wouldn't be best for her. So, the plan is to start on July 30th on a year round schedule which gives her a month off before going back into it. I am not using a first grade "out of the box" curriculum, but instead am using a lot of different resources pulled together. It will look a bit like this:

Math: Horizons 1 (I have heard mixed reviews on this product, but feel that the spiral approach will be best for my daughter. We shall see)

Science: On Eagle's Wings: Considering God's Creation (I know that this curriculum is set at a higher grade level, but I think it will work really well for what we want to cover this year) and living books for each subject area.

Social Studies: A few different curriculum items for certain subjects, but mostly living books and hands on activities. I'm going to focus a lot on geography this year and we plan on covering: Mapping, Continents and Oceans, and American history at least through Westward Expansion

Language Arts: I am also using a lot of different resources for this subject. We are going to be working on phonics and undoing a lot of the whole word learning that she has done in public school. She is an emergent reader with a few bad habits. I am also going to be working a lot on handwriting since this was never addressed in public school. I will be using A Reason for Handwriting A for this. We will also be doing Read Alouds and activities to go with them.

Bible: We will be using a lot of different resources and activities to go along with a straight walk through the Bible and family worship times. This subject will also be weaved throughout everything we do.

So on paper it looks like I don't have much of a plan, but I feel confident that it will be a great year! I am planning on using my daughter's strengths and interests to guide out learning. I think lapbooking will be a great outlet for her with a lot of what we do. I also love Pinterest and all the ideas on there :)

I hate spending money, but...

...I got a new laptop! The one I was using was having some major problems and cutting out on me a lot. It happened four times while I was setting up the blog last night. My husband is great and insists that I buy things when I need it even if I fight tooth and nail. He also got us a wireless printer for the house and especially homeschool :) We are going through some other changes right now as well. Sometimes I'm concerned that there are too many, but God knows what we can handle. Also, I will start adding pictures too since I love taking them and I know people love looking at them. I just need to get situated here on the blog and on the new laptop. Thanks for reading :)

Rainy Days and Birthdays

Today's constant drizzle made me think about how much I am looking forward to rainy days when I come home. I have warm and fuzzy images of cuddling up with my little one reading and enjoying each other as she grows and learns. I know that this may not be the most accurate view of what our average homeschool days are going to look like, but it gives me a light to follow through the drudgery that is working in the public school system and putting my last few weeks in.

My little one's 6th birthday is this Sunday. The day she was born was a Saturday and her first whole day was Mother's Day. What an awesome gift! Not only because she was our first and I was finally "really" a mom, but because she was healthy and strong. See, she came 8 weeks early and only measured at 28 weeks gestation. She was our 2 lb. 2 oz. , 13 in. long bundle. Due to health complications that I didn't even know that I had, she had stopped growing in the womb at around 28 weeks and needed to be taken by c-section after I was put on bedrest and went through a battery of tests. She came out breathing on her own and pretty much maintained her own body temperature! These both being quite a feat for most micro-preemies like her. She only stayed in the hospital for 40 days and came home right before my birthday in June at a whopping 3 lb. 10oz. So, for all these reasons, and the fact that we have all but decided that she will be our only one (unless God has other plans) birthdays are a big deal in our house, especially for our little one.

Here I go...

I have been wanting to start a blog for a while now. I love to write and get my ideas out there. I just couldn't quite find the direction I wanted to go in (and I'm not not most computer saavy person). The direction issue is why this has really been so long in making (my amazing sister Jenn from Dainty Revelations has gotten me over the computer issue: she has encouraged me, walked me through the startup process step by step, and made my banner).  When my daughter was a baby, she is 6 now, I thought about doing a mommy blog. She was a preemie and I was nursing and I wanted to chronicle that. Well, that never happened. I went back to work, got busy, and well you get the picture. Then about a year ago I started getting into couponing and thought that was the way to break in. I could submerge myself in that already oversaturated market! That idea fizzled as it wasn't really where my heart was. A few months ago, my husband reintroduced the idea of homeschooling our daughter to me. Basically he came home and said I want you to not go back to work at the high school next fall and homeschool. I don't think I even hesitated! So, the countdown has begun to coming home again, home again jiggity jigg!