Zoe has this little stuffed elephant that she loves.

I don't think we are talking long term love. Mostly she loves it just to try and eat his nose.

Regardless, I find it rather cute.

A video for the grandma's in her life.
And proof as to why I call her my little pterodactyl.

I might have been motivated to take this video as I was looking through all our video files and realized this week that I only had two of Zoe. We are almost at 6 months and I had two videos of her.

Two, people.

Poor, poor fourth child.

And so I'm determined to remedy that number for these next 6 months.

I have been asked by several people lately about how I homeschool, what curriculum, etc. and so I thought I'd do a post about the details of our homeschool schedule.

If this ain't your thang...pass on by. No feelings hurt.

We "do school" formally four days a week, Tuesdays thru Friday. Mondays are Jeremiahs day off and we try to protect those days as much as possible. However, we typically will do any museum visits and field trips on Mondays.

On school days we start school usually around 9:30 am (or whenever Zoe goes down for her morning nap). I start off working one on one with Ella while the boys either spend 30 minutes on starfall or watch superwhy. Once Ella is going and set up with some of the work she can do independently, I switch gears to working with the boys. Because they are on different levels, I work one on one with each of them, then try to do an activity where I can include both of them. While I am working with one of them, the other will be sitting at the table with a puzzle, maze, or some kind of manipulative (I love these and these.)

Once the boys are "done" I move back to Ella.
I usually end up the day with either an art or science project...and include all 3 for this.

It is kind of like a dance where I am constantly switching partners, ha!

My goal everyday is to be done with school by lunchtime. Then in the afternoons we try to get some energy out! Most days we do this...with the exception of Thursday when I take Ella with me to Eli's therapy appointments and we do school in the afternoon.

As far as curriculum goes I am only using one formal curriculum, and that is Horizons for math. For everything else I use a combination of internet curriculum, printouts, and library resources.

I am a firm believer that all you need to homeschool is some motivation, a good planner, creativity and a library card. 



I am also a firm believer that learning should be as organic as possible and stem from everyday life experiences. A trip to the grocery store, a walk to the park, making dinner, or an afternoon of free play are wrought with lessons as long as I am intentional in bringing them up.

Ella's everyday subjects include math, reading, spelling, and writing. Weekly we cover science and art. I pick a science subject to cover each month and approach it as a unit, trying to incorporate it into the other subjects when possible. For example we studied the solar system for January and all our art projects were based on that, we used planets as math manipulatives, etc.



We also have an author, composer, and artist of the month that we study...by listening/looking/reading their work throughout that month. In addition we have a word of the week that introduces a new vocabulary word that relates to the science unit we are studying.





The boys are going through ABC school and studying a letter a week, as well as doing all our science and art lessons together. I am constantly amazed at how much they absorb just by being in the room with Ella as we cover other subjects.

Not every day goes as planned and January was filled with sick days. And having Zoe means that are days are never really predictable. However, that is the beauty of homeschooling...being able to adapt as needed.

I also have finally figured out a realistic but very necessary time to plan for all of this and I block off Sunday afternoons to do any planning/printing for the week. In addition I take 1/2 a day once a month to plan all the next months science lessons, order books, peruse pinterest for ideas, etc. I have learned that without proper preparation chaos reigns!

More to come later on our month studying the solar system...

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with his love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

Warm spring days.

Watching my baby discover the grass for the first time.

A husband who thinks I'm actually beautiful in the morning.

My house starting to really feel like home.

Eli's random declaration of "God's not dead!" from the backseat of the van.

A date (tonight!) with my favorite guy thanks to the generosity of a new friend.

Ezra's "letter" to me...random letters that spell out what he wants them to.

Finding a Kroger right by me. (Sorry Harris Teeter...I just don't like you as much.)

Ella walking around the house with a book in her face because she can't stop reading these days.

Waking up with this song in my head.

___________________________________________________________________________

What have you been enjoying this week?

We've had several spring-like days in a row here and have been totally taking advantage of some area parks. Even Zoe got in on the action one day...

She loves the swing. Or at least the upright vantage point it allows her to keep an eye on the crazy happenings of her brothers and sister.

D is for donut.
It's "D" week for the boys ABC school and of course they picked out the white powdered sugar kind...

Oh. I despise white powdered sugar donuts.
But they loved them.

Speaking of school, we are almost finished with our unit for the month of January and it has gone great. I've got a post planned for next week with more details.

Jeremiah and I have been on a catch-up-on-all-the-movies-we-missed-kick (during the period when I couldn't seem to stay awake past 9pm to save my life). We have watched Warrior, Courageous, Mr Popper's Penquins (ok, that one was for the kids...), and Moneyball. I've enjoyed them all, with Warrior being my surprise favorite. Any good ones that I'm missing?

Happy Thursday!

A year and a half.

That sounds so...established.

And that's how it feels.
Eli has established a place within our family and within our hearts.
And we have established a place within his.

Little things I take for granted now...the way he easily scales a ladder or instigates a wrestling match with Ezra...speak volumes of the mountains he has climbed these last 18 months.

Physically he gets stronger and more confident in his abilities every week. Just this week he actually attempted to go across the monkey bars. That is huge, people. Huge. We go this week for his 6 month follow-up from his surgery. I can't believe it has been 6 months...but, I am oh so glad to be on this side of it.

We still go to speech and occupational therapy weekly and I am encouraged to see small but steady progress. We had to change therapists with the move and I'll admit I was nervous because we had built up a good relationship with the others...but, I shouldn't be (once again) surprised by God's provision. Our new therapists are awesome with Eli!

Starting more formal "school" with him has had its challenges...but I am learning how he learns, how to teach him, what his strengths are, what he needs extra work on...and have considerably reevaluated my goals for him in order for them to be challenging yet attainable. I kinda like preserving the last 10% of sanity that remains in me.

As more and more time has gone it has been fun to see the "real" Eli emerge...he is a quietly spunky kid with the gentlest spirit you will ever find.  If you ask him he says he wants to be a policeman when he grows up so that he can "take the bad guys to jail."

I can totally see that.
Sort of.

He loves his siblings and is my best entertainer for Zoe. He will do anything Ella asks of him (which she likes to abuse on a constant basis...) and consistently beats Ezra in their wrestling matches now. He loves riding his bike and playing in the sandbox. He loves movies. He still eats pretty much anything and everything...although he has the biggest sweet tooth and still loves spicy foods the best.

When I think back on all he has overcome in his short life I am overwhelmed by his bravery.
He is my hero.
And I'm so glad I get to be his mom.

Love you Eli Cade!