This week we began our new school year which marks our third year of homeschooling. After having done this for the past two years we were all excited to get started again. I have found that as much as I appreciate and LOVE the long, lazy days of summer, I do enjoy the routine of school as well. And, as I told our children, since we live in Florida and we home school, summer is really not over. We have many more days ahead of playing outdoors and we keep our school schedule very relaxed. I am by no means a homeschooling pro but I will say that I am so much more confident and relaxed in my choices as we start this new year. I have been able to see all the benefits and lovely way of life this choice for schooling offers us. That is not to say there are not hard or frustrating days, but I am much more at ease in handling them.
This year our children will be in 4th grade, 1st grade, and pre-school. It will be our third year using Sonlight Curriculum. This curriculum works well for me and our children. I love that the lesson plans are made for you and I can then make changes if I chose. This will be our second year using Singapore math for our older children. We are starting a new Science Curriculum which I am loving so far called Nancy Larson Science. I am using one unit and making it work so that all of our children can learn and grow with it. We are also trying something new this year with our schedule. This year we will do our Math and Science combined on one day and History and Language arts on another day. We will repeat this through the week. Then we will do handwriting, Bible study and reading all five days. For my preschool aged daughter I am working on introducing letters and doing a lot of hands on learning with her. She loves to create things so I am trying to incorporate this into her learning. I will use a very relaxed style of learning with her as I want her to love to learn. I plan to include her in reading time and other areas as well to expose her to what her brother and sister are learning. I have been reading a book called The Three R's, which I have enjoyed getting ideas from as well.
I really love that through homeschooling parents can pick curriculum and learning tools based on their children's interests and learning styles. I talk to so many other mothers that do things completely different and it works awesome for their family. I love that!
Our first day of school began with homemade waffles and the start of our new Bible Study called...Who is God? (And Can I really know Him?) After breakfast we worked in the school room for a couple of hours on our daily lessons. We took a break for lunch and our afternoon reading and quiet time. Finally, we tie dyed. This has become an annual first day of school tradition which the kids LOVE. The day ended with porch play in our pajamas and popsicles. I'd say it was a wonderful first day. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to spend this time with my children daily. Its such a blessing to see them growing together in the Lord daily.
Please be sure to stop by the Cherish this Day Blog and see all of the amazing images from our group.