School Portraits Homeschooling Style

This week's theme in the Not Back To School Blog Hop for homeschoolers is "School Portraits". For now here are a few of my favorites from this year! I'll do some "official"(still, I'll do them with my camera) homeschooling portraits in September or October of the boys.

Future Brad Pitt Formerly known as Baby Picasso..He's 5 now so we had to get rid of the "baby name"



Artsy, Rambunctious, Outgoing, Clever

Mini Cousteau Formerly known as Future Bam...but his interests have changed


Quiet, Brainy, Silly, Good-Hearted

Today was our first day back so it's going to be hectic around here while we adjust to this new schedule.

I also wanted to let each of you know of a new kids sweepstakes hosted by our main site, Contest for Moms. You could win a really cool SHORTS Kids movie prize pack for your kiddos here.

Our Classroom

This week as part of the Not Back To School Blog Hop for homeschoolers, we are supposed to share our "classroom".

Right now our a little corner of our dining area is home to the books and supplies we use most often. We don't have desks anymore. I threw those out when we moved.

So where do we "do school"? We do our work outside on the deck or in the grass sometimes when the weather is just right, we sit in the floor, on the couch, or at our kitchen table.We even get to do school at the beach for three weeks in October which I must admit is pretty nice and I'd love to be able to school at the ocean year round.

Here's a peek into our little corner...it's not quite ready yet. I like to decorate with a Back To School theme in the small space we have. We also have some storage supplies by my office area and a cork board for hanging artwork on another wall in our living room as well as some supplies in our kitchen. Eventually I'll get some more book shelves, and maybe in a few years we will have our own little library/school but for now this works for us.



Did I mention books are pretty much hanging out everywhere in baskets and on tables?



Don't forget to enter AMR's 2009 Back To School Picks Giveaway to win a month's supply of Organic Clif Kids snacks. Anyone can enter!

Our Homeschooling Curriculum & Schedule For '09-10

In the past I haven't shared much about our homeschooling adventures simply because I haven't had the extra time. However, this year I'd love to give you a glimpse into our daily life of homeschooling especially since so many of you have asked what it's like to both homeschool and work from home. One thing is fore sure - there is never a dull moment once school time arrives! It is anything but ordinary ;)

Deciding on sharing this coincided perfectly with Darcy's Not Back To School Blog Hop. Yes, I'm actually participating in a blog hop. This is a first for me I think!

I will be homeschooling a 2nd grader (Mini Cousteau age 8) and a preschooler (Future Brad Pitt just turned 5) starting hopefully on August 17th. So far, in our 1 1/2 years of homeschooling we've taken an eclectic approach. I've taken pieces of child-directed, Charlotte Mason, Traditional, and Montessori styles of homeschooling and have made something of my own. I really want to create a learning environment that is relaxed, fun, and enriching! Basically we do what works for us and that can change at anytime. We've never bought a curriculum and don't plan on doing that anytime soon. For now, I've bought various workbooks, board games, card games, toys, arts & crafts supplies, tons of books that I know my boys will love to read, and a few used text books to be used for each of our core subjects required by our state (KY). Our total cost of everything has been less than $200 so far. I'm sure as we take field trips, go on our annual nearly month long beach vacation, and try out new crafts + activities this figure will go up but I wanted to include this so you could get an idea of how you can homeschool on a budget.

Mini Cousteau will be doing the following subjects for 2nd grade:

Spectrum Little Critter Language Arts Grade 2

Scott Foresman Spelling Grade 2

Journaling

Lots of relaxed reading and being read to

Social Studies Grade 3 - learning through living/holiday celebrations plus a textbook ( can't give you the name since I haven't purchased one yet)

School Zone Geography workbook Grade 3, puzzles, movies, and games

Spectrum Little Critter Math Grade 2

McGraw Hill Science Grade 3

Physical Education/Health

Computer Skills/Graphic Design/blogging/business

Arts & Crafts

As for Future Brad Pitt, his learning will be largely pretend play, unstructured learning, arts + crafts, lots of reading and some alphabet/phonics activities. My biggest goal with him is to teach him how to read this year.



We will most likely start at 9 am and finish up by 1 pm. As far as our schedule goes, I haven't decided on that 100% yet. Here is a tentative look at our schedule. Note: This all gets thrown out the window if something comes up or we are having a bad day.

6:30-9:00 wake up, have coffee, check email, work for a few hours, prepare for the day.
9:00-9:20 Breakfast
9:20-9:40 Calendar, Journaling
9:40-10:00 Social Studies
10:00-10:20 Math
10:20- 10:40 Spelling
10:40-11:00 Arts/Crafts/Games
11:00-11:20 lunch
11:20-12:10 Reading (Being read to while eating outside or on our couch plus reading quietly to oneself)
12:10- 12:35 Language Arts
12:35-1:00 Science
1:00-3:00pm is for make-up work, chores, physical education, play time, computer class, outside activities, etc. while I finish up my work for the day.

Rinse. Lather. Repeat. Join me next week in week #2 of the Blog Hop and you'll get to see our "school room".

Morning Conversations With My 5 Yr Old Son

Mommy, does my brain have its own toys?

Mommy, does a brain have a toy box?

Mommy, is my brain picking out toys out of its toy box when I play with my toys?

What if my brain is dumping its whole toy box out?

When I'm eating does my brain get its own snacks?

Stop talking to my lungs, brain.

You need a sandwich not dessert, brain.

He blurted out this list of questions in less than 5 minutes. And, I'm still sitting here wondering how to answer him, and consequently questioning my ability to home school.

Maybe I Should Call This A Photoblog And Be Done With It

With work, laundry, homeschool projects, and dirty dishes piling up I have no time for writing at the moment. Hopefully these will suffice.

You can see more on my flickr page here. And, if you really want to keep up with me 24/7 I'm microblogging on Twitter ;) where I chat in 140 characters or less about homeschooling, being a mom, my favorite links, working from home, what I'm doing, what I'm eating, and other nonsense all day long.

Is Anyone Still Here?

Sporadic blogging = ME + very busy building an online empire. Ha!

Ok, moving along... ;)

After my last post, finding balance, I really started thinking about how I wanted my son to experience schooling and ultimately it all went back to why we were homeschooling in the first place. Basically, I want my son to have fun learning. I want him to look forward to schooling so I let go of my expectations and thoughts on what school should be like (I'm still unschooling myself), and the stress has "magically" dissipated. I'm happy to report that things are going much more smoothly as we head into our 4th week of the homeschooling year.

FYI: I'm almost always micro-blogging here

P.S. If this site looks like crap in your browser, stop using Internet Explorer. Get Mozilla Firefox please! While you are here please take a look at our newly redesigned site, Contest For Moms (excluding this blog for now).

Finding Balance

I could come here and talk about how perfect my life is today but the truth is - this week my kids are driving me crazy*. Imagine that. I feel so much better and yet so much worse at the same time for writing that out. It's that whole mommy guilt thing.

I think the rain coupled with the changes in routine since we are back to homeschooling our 7 year old son has taken it's toll on our attention-commanding 4 year old son. Which basically translates to pure chaos & madness!

I feel really stressed ( extra special thanks to Hot Daddy for noticing as if I needed help recognizing it) and we are only 1 1/2 weeks into homeschooling this year. I really feel like I'm just going non stop with no end in sight and we've only just begun. OMFG!

I guess boundaries and finding balance is in order. Good advice is welcome.

* An extra special note to my kids should they come across this as adults

"Boys, I still really love you even though I say you drive me crazy. You drive me crazy in so many ways most of which are painfully sweet and fill me with awe but today the both of you are just driving me crazy in a rotten way."
Love, Mommy.

I Must Be Doing Something Right

Yesterday was our 7 year old's first day of back to school at home. He's now in 1st grade. I have to admit that I think I'm enjoying homeschooling more than he is right now. He's certainly enjoying it too but I'm having just as much fun painting alongside him, doing crafts with him (glue messes and all), and teaching him everything he needs and wants to know.

For his first day we took pictures, worked on spelling & math, studied plants, did some crafts, and read a plethora of back to school themed books. Later I let him leave with his Mamaw to go shopping for some new clothes and shoes even though he didn't really need anything new except flip-flops.

Before he went out the door, he turned to me and said something I'll keep close to me forever. He looked at me with such sweetness and said, "Your the best Mommy a fella could ever hope to have". Then he gave me a big hug and off he went.

I couldn't have asked for a better first day.

*I also wanted to do some shameless promoting over here and tell all of you about a cool contest going on over at A Mom's Review. We are giving away 10 complete cake kits from Cakes By Me. Go HERE to read our review and enter the contest.

Because He's Soo Cute

I can't resist sharing the new photos I took of him...

*I know this is a lame attempt at a post but homeschooling has returned. Homeschooling coupled with working at home = SUPER CRAZY BUSY.





*Tornado Tee courtesy of Happy Panda.

Planning Our Grade 1 Curriculum

Since grade 1 will be our first full year of homeschooling, we are going to stick to the public school calendar. This means that the school year will be arriving in less than 6 weeks. So, I'm frantically searching for the perfect grade 1 curriculum right this minute. However, I am not looking for a pre-packaged curriculum. For one, those are too expensive and two, I don't think it would work well for Future Bam's learning style.

For the second half of kindergarten this past year (we pulled our son out of public school after Xmas break) we used a mix of workbooks, online resources, games, and daily life experiences to complete the school year. Basically, we used the eclectic approach and I want to continue doing that for most subjects. However, for 1st grade I also want to be somewhat more structured so we are purchasing a textbook/workbook for each required subject just to have some guidelines to go by.

My dilemma now is that I need recommendations on good affordable textbooks, workbooks, games, & manipulatives. What should I buy? Do you recommend buying a textbook that is outdated by 5 years? What is the best textbook for our learning style?

I'd also like to hear your recommendations on the best homeschooling blogs out there that also provide great learning resources. I've yet to find a homeschooling blog that really suits us but I'm convinced one is out there so feel free to share with me your favorites. I will check each and every one of them out personally.

Graduating Kindergarten At Home

From the moment I laid eyes on Future Bam I knew I wanted to stay at home with him and I did just that. When it came time to think about schooling, I had my heart set on homeschooling. It was just something I wanted to do and I knew Future Bam was the type of child who would flourish in a home school environment.

When it came time for Future Bam to start school we, surprising, enrolled him in public school. I know what your thinking. What did we do that for? Well, that's a long story that I have sort of discussed here and here. Anyway, soon after the holiday break this year we took FB out of public school and began homeschooling officially. We have now been homeschooling for a little over 4 months and every day is an adventure. I can't say it's been entirely easy because it hasn't. With homeschooling, taking care of another younger child at home, and working full time from home nothing is easy but it is do-able. I wish I was better equipped with words so that I could accurately describe this learning experience. I guess I'll just say it has been incredible.

In a few hours, Future Bam will graduate from Kindergarten. He has grown so much this year both physically and mentally. Here is a photo of Future Bam from yesterday.



Wow. He's grown so much since his first day pictured here.

We planned a picnic outside for today as our celebration but I don't think the weather is going to cooperate. We'll probably have to try again tomorrow.

In 3 months Future Bam will start 1st grade at home. I'm looking forward to another amazing year and I know he is as well...

This Is What's Up

So I know I've been a little weird (maybe that isn't the right word) here lately and wrote that I was going to use another format, spend less time here, be less personal, yada, yada, etcetera, etc...

The thing is I can't commit to anything right now. Initially I thought I could but it's just not going to happen since we are in the midst of some big changes.

In addition to working full time from home, we are now officially homeschoolers!!

We withdrew our our son from public school this week after much consideration & discussion. Homeschooling is something we should have done since the beginning but I wanted to give our son the chance to try out public school. We did it. It wasn't for him. End of story.

We started "classes" today and I'm excited to report that it's going great so far amongst the chaos. Want a peek into our chaos? For starters, the 3 yr. old decided he'd get into his brother's supplies and pour an entire bottle of glue on to the carpet and draw all over his face with the "good" markers among other things. Let's just say he was quite interested in all of his brother's new things lying around.

The wonderful thing in all of this chaos was that our 3 yr old drew all 8 planets (What? You didn't know Pluto wasn't a planet anymore?) right along with his 6 1/2 year old brother. And, Future Bam's zest for learning is back. He is overjoyed to say the least.

Anyway, seriously, we completed more than a full day's worth of work in less than half the time it takes in regular school. How is that you ask? Homeschool and you will find out.

We are going to be doing a mix of worksheets and child led learning for now. I'm not sure I could classify our style at this point but we're leaning towards a mix of these 3: child-led, parts of the Moore Formula ( thanks to Quiet Mom & Fussy via Twitter. See Twitter can be good), and text book methods. I'm sure we will change as we go along to see what works best for everyone.

So now that this big change is taking place I want to be able to have the chance to talk about it here (or another new blog) as we go along on this homeschooling journey.

Finally, I want to say that I will still be blogging here but not on a schedule and it will be when I really have something to say or share. It won't be just to blog and get something up. I also want to try and do the Friday Linky Love post I talked about earlier but I may not always get to it on time so don't hold me to any standards. If you've learned anything on this blog it's that I change my mind a lot.

Soooo... bring on the organization/scheduling/recordkeeping tips homeschooling mommies & daddys!!!!

Where I'm Going In 2008

It's a new year and with each new year, for me, comes resolutions or at least some sort of plan to do things better than the previous year. So let's get straight to it, shall we?

In 2008, I want to be more focused and committed in my online business. I've been doing this for over 4 years and I'm convinced that this is my year. Hey, it's good to be optimistic right? My goal is to grow my businesses enough to where I can hire someone part time to help me. I can only do so much as one person. In fact, I really need a team in place if I plan to get anywhere. Keeping up with around 10 sites (give or take a few) is just not realistic for one person. We shall see how that goes. Baby steps...baby steps... that's how I have to think. Selling some of my business in 2008 is not out of the question either. It is an idea that I have been throwing around but nothing is official. Not even close.

Now on to the personal/family goals...

I've often wrote on this blog how much I want to homeschool but that didn't work out as planned in 2007. Instead I sent my 6 yr. old on to public school in August against my own wishes (due to family pressure- basically I let them talk me out of it) which has been a source of stress and general uneasiness for me since that time. I just feel like something is not "right" when I send FB off to public school. We are sending him to a place that totally does not go with our lifestyle and beliefs. The truth is homeschooling fits us and I feel like a hypocrite every morning for sending him off to some place I myself do not like for the sake of satisfying the need of pleasing our extended family. If you think about it, it's completely ridiculous! The reason our son is not being homeschooled is because I am letting my family and my husband's family influence our decisions.

But all of that ends starting now...

I am currently revisiting our choice to homeschool. Right now I am working on going through the proper channels to see what I need to do if I decide to withdraw our son from school and start homeschooling in the next month. It is not a decision I have committed 100% to just yet because I have other things on my mind. But I will be making a life changing decision very soon. And this is where you my dear homeschooling ( or not ) readers come in. I understand that homeschooling is a very personal decision and we all do it for varying reasons. But I'd love to hear why you ultimately chose to homeschool. What made you take that final step? That is something I need to hear today.

I have other personal goals but since I spent so much time on this post talking about homeschooling (wow, maybe a bit much) I'll revisit this subject later.