Awww look at that brood o' kids! I am so lucky to have four healthy, beautiful children and a pretty hot husband to boot. This picture makes me so happy :) I took this back in March right before we headed off to the zoo. I cant believe another school year has ended. It's the long lazy days of summer full of kiddie pools, otter pops, fireworks and trips up the mountain.
Summer is great. I love having free schedules, seeing my kids skin change from the pale white of winter to a nice toasty bronze. I love having the littles show me their colorful, otter pop stained tongues and getting sticky kisses from them. On a hot day, driving up the mountain and rolling down the windows to let the cool air blow in. Summer in Utah is a beautiful thing. So why am I so excited for school to start again?
This year will bring another big change to the McClary Academy. My daughter H will be joining her two older brothers and I. I will have a 6th and 2nd grader and then H in pre-school. I wanted to involve her more last year but she was very uncooperative and just wanted to doodle on her work book pages instead of following directions. Im so excited about it a could just squeal! Im already planning how to involve her in our routine by having Z my second grader read out loud to her for story time,offering him oral reading practice and her a fun story and bonding with her brother. J my 6th grader can spend time with her helping with math or hand writing!
I'm really looking forward to making school more of a group effort. Instead of just separating the kids by grade level and having them work independently I hope to create an environment where they work together and learn from each other. As much as I love summer I cant wait for it to end so we can start on another adventure in homeschooling. Maybe a new pack of number two pencils will do for now...oooh or notebooks. :)
Thanks for the comment about using mechanical pencils. I am going to try some mechanical ones as well as ticonderoga. Those were the two suggestions I got.
ReplyDeleteHow is your school year going with three students? I have 5 for the first time this year, and it is going as well as to be expected. The main thing about adding more students is that it takes more time to complete the school day....more time for the Mama, that is!
Have a super day!
Thanks for dropping by - and am so excited to discover someone with a common interest in home-schooling!
ReplyDeleteWhen living in Canada between 1975 to 1987, we discovered the Alberta Govt. version, and only wished we'd followed them before we joined them in 1986! Our girls flourished, one - the younger one - completed one whole year's curriculum in 6 months - which did create a bit of a problem - but we all, as a family, benefitted.
We made sure that their extra-curricular activities included their acceptable buddies (some were the causes of our taking them out of the "normal" school programmes) and when we returned to the UK, both were ahead of their year compatriots in most subjects!
Good luck, and please, keep in touch: my husband and I, if we were to be blessed with grandchildren, would unhestitatingly encourage our offspring to go the home-schooling route - and it's an option that is increasingly being
being adopted in the UK
Oh - finally - if we can assist - in providing an overseas perspective and or a handicraft perspective (one daughter is a crafty maniac: the other, though capable, has yet to catch the bug!) please, don't hesitate to keep in touch.
All the best to you all for 2012. Isobel