Halloween Fun Schooling

Since our schedule was so crazy for the month of October, and I am very pregnant we divided our Halloween fun schooling activities into two weeks. This post includes more of what I did with the littles, but there are still a few things for the big kids too. This post shares more of what I did with the big kiddos for our Halloween Funschooling.

No Holiday is complete without an appropriate sensory box. For this year's Halloween sensory box we had dyed purple white beans, plastic bugs, a pail, and pinchers.

It took me many years to figure out how to best incorporate art into our homeschool schedule. A few years ago I found something called directed drawing. With directed drawings I draw with the children guiding them through each step of whatever we are drawing. 

It's so fun to see how everyone interprets the drawing assignment and creates their own personalized picture. Since we've been doing the directed drawings for several years now, it's really awesome to watch the children's drawing abilities improve.

We did a few specific tot school halloween activities. This project was to paint paper plate pumpkins with homemade puffy paint made with shaving cream. 

This particular project made a giant mess and the pumpkin paintings never dried (which meant they went in the trash ~ sigh. I prefer to keep the children's projects at least for the school year.) Despite the mess, the children really enjoyed the activity and were even disappointed when I took the paint away. 

 Next the younger crew made torn paper pumpkin collages. I free-handed a pumpkin on card stock and cut it out for the children to glue torn construction paper on them.

For some reason all of my children really seem to enjoy glueing, lol.

Yes, we love all the holidays around here and I try to collect movies and books that help us celebrate them accordingly. We have this cute collection of Peanuts Holiday movies. We watched the Halloween one as part of our Halloween festivities. 

Last we made Halloween Muddy Buddies. I shared this recipe here for those who are interested, and as an added bonus, it can easily be adapted for any holiday ~ yeah!

I won't lie, homeschooling is tough. Doing extra-curricular projects seldom plays out like I have it in my mind. There's ALWAYS fussing and complaining and usually some cross words. But, Lord willing my children will remember the 'highlight reel'. Nothing worth doing is typically easy to do and I have to remind myself of that fact quite often ~ especially when most of my days are spent in the trenches of child training. 

Our fun schooling weeks are my personal attempt to break up the homeschool monotony, lighten our academic load, and create treasured memories as a family. Even when the 'fun' weeks usually present their own difficulties and aren't as fun as I had hoped ~ I still keep trying. Because maybe just one day, our crazy, wild crew will get it together and it really will be the fun I had envisioned, lol.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Homeschool Fun at Steele Apple Orchard

This past Friday was brimming over with family fun! So not to make my posts lengthy and drawn out; I've decided to break the day up into three separate posts. Our Friday adventures began with a trip to the Steel Apple Orchard in Cullman, Alabama. 

It took us a solid two hours to get there, and folks let me just tell ya, it was a l-o-n-g two hours!! All you mama's out there know those 'fun' road trips that just don't go as planned ~ well this adventure certainly started out a little rocky to say the least! We had two pit-stops (because hello, 27 weeks pregnant and I have the bladder the size of mustard seed - insert eye roll), a detour in downtown Birmingham through the projects, a puking (carsick) child, and crying babies ~ yeah it was a blast!!

Once we finally arrived at the orchard the day started to get a little better, but it certainly wasn't without it's struggles. I still had sour attitudes and cranky babies. Lord willing my kiddos will remember the highlight real and not all the drama, because the Good Lord knows the drama meter over runeth on our trip to the apple orchard that's for sure!

The real culprit to all our road trip troubles was a nasty head cold we all seemed to be nursing. Unfortunately, I couldn't cancel our apple orchard tour, or we wouldn't have been able to attend this year. Since we missed last year, I really didn't want to forgo the experience, especially for the little kids. 

We were supposed to 'piggy-back' on with another group for the apple orchard tour since our group did not total 15 people, but the other group never showed up. I was a tad bit anxious we were NOT going to get to do the tour, but the folks were super kind and basically gave us a private tour despite us not being a 'full group'. 

Steel Apple Orchard is a family owned, small farm that began in 1985. They have 15 acres and over 200 apple trees including 20 different varieties of apples. The wife actually does part of the tour with another farm worker. The tour began in their processing room where they share about how they pick, sort, and store the apples as well as what they do with all their apples. 

This particular apple orchard sells all their apples to patrons visiting the farm. They also make a variety of apple products including apple cider, apple butter, and fried apple pies which they sell in their country store.

Once the children get a lesson on the farm operations, everyone is taken outside the 'shop' to learn some more fun facts about the health benefits of apples, how the honeybee is beneficial to the apple, and of course no apple orchard tour is complete without a thorough education on Johnny Appleseed. 

To conclude the tour the children have a blind apple tasting of different apples and the kiddos try to guess what kind of apple they were eating.

The folks at Steele Apple Orchard are just as sweet and down-to-earth as they come. While it was a long and difficult drive, it was absolutely worth it, and I'm glad I was able to take the children on this little adventure. (Even if half of them didn't really want to go.) I'm quite used to my people giving me grief over road trips ~ most of them are homebodies, but they usually have a great time and admit it once we've get home from the crazy escapades I drag them on, lol. So, I reckon I'll just continue planning these 'fun' trips and giving my children a taste of adventure; after all getting out of our comfort zones is good for all of us!

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

Surviving the First Week of Homeschool

We have officially kicked off our 2019-2020 homeschool year! Despite my lack of enthusiasm for my 15th year of homeschooling, I am thrilled with all the hope and promise of what a new school year brings. While we do consider ourselves year-round homeschoolers; we make a point to follow along with the rest of the populous when it comes to our official beginning and ending homeschool dates. 

This year we are starting a little earlier than normal because we have plans to have an extended Christmas holiday, and I prefer making up that time now verses at the end of the year. It's been super hard to begin school so early for a myriad of reasons, but I know in the end I will be thanking myself, lol. 

Yes, we still have gardening stuff going on, but we made a command decision to fit those needs in around our homeschooling. No, it isn't ideal but we're making it work. As of right now I still have pumpkins and tomatoes to can, but every day it's looking like the pumpkins are not going to get processed. Admitting you can't do it all stinks, but once you recognize it at least you can move on. 

Our homeschooling dynamics are kind of crazy this year and overwhelming to say the least. I have six children in official grades and two in preschool. I know many are not in favor of traditional preschool programs, but I like to do it, and more importantly I find that my children enjoy doing their own 'school work' at very young ages. Not to mention it gives a solid foot in the door for academics and knowledge that they're going to need eventually. 

Even though I've got a lot on my plate with teaching so many ages, I'm confident this it is going to be a great school year. I'm writing this post two days into our first week of school and it's been a rocky adjustment. Not so much in the realm of homeschooling, but in all the other issues of life that have vied for my attention during our school time. 

We only took a month off from our traditional homeschool program to focus on the garden, but apparently it was enough to cause upheaval in our normal homeschool flow. Which is why I am beyond thankful I implemented a few key elements to help ease us into the new homeschool year. I'm all about doing whatever it takes to create the best opportunity for us to have an mazing first week of school (even when I knew we'd have some hiccups along the way!). Here's a list of what I did to help our family survive the first week of school.

1. Plan, Organize, & Delegate: This first step may seem like a no-brainer, but really it's not. The more prepared you are the more likely your first week (and the rest of your homeschool year) will be a success. For folks who buy a 'box kit curriculum' this can be super easy as most of them come with lesson plans. But, for those of us who combine curriculum and add our own variations this can be an arduous task. Trust me you will THANK yourself in the long run if you don't neglect this step. Of course organizing your books, resources and supplies is essential too. Make sure if you can't purchase everything up front, that you at least make a list of the items you will need as the year progresses so that you can purchase them accordingly. And finally plan to delegate. This would include making sure all family members are involved with the cleaning, cooking, and any other family needs you may have. For me this meant refining our chore charts, meal helper schedule, laundry assistant schedule, and our 'sibling buddy' system. Let's face it you can't do it all, but you can enlist the help of others (even your children) to better enable you to accomplish your homeschool goals.
2. Keep Your Expectations in Check: I'm not here to burst anyone's bubble, but it's highly unlikely your first week of school is going to be perfect. After all there are so many new and unfamiliar facets to a new school year, that expecting them to go off without a hitch is setting yourself up for disappointment. I'm not saying have a bad attitude or even expect the worse, what I am saying is expect there to be learning curves and meltdowns from everyone and everything including your brand new curriculum. If all does goes well and there are no problems than celebrate friend, because that is an awesome victory!! But, on the flip side, when those likely set backs come ~ don't consider yourself a failure or doubt your decision to homeschool, simply work through the issues and remember it will get better and easier with each day.
3. Create a Simple, Low Key Lesson Plan For The First Week: There is absolutely, positively, no reason to overload yourself or your children the first week of school. Ease back into the homeschool life. Enjoy the process. Plan for some fun-schooling and plenty of opportunities for creative learning. Maybe don't do all the subjects every day or only do half a lesson each day of each subject. Cut yourself some slack, you've got a whole year to get all your academic requirements in, and taking a week to take things slow isn't going to effect the end results.
4. Don't Compare Yourself or Your Children to Others: This is a toughie for me. I mean it's so hard not to compare myself to all those awesome homeschooling mamas out there who have it going on ~ Lord only knows I'm the epitome of a hot mess in every area of my life, especially homeschooling. I have to continuously remind myself not to compare myself and my children to others throughout the entire year. One of the main reasons we homeschool is to allow our children to go at their own pace and for us not to be in bondage to any one academic program. The first of the year can be super hard for children, especially if they've had any amount of summer break. Children have a tendency to forget quite a bit over breaks from academics. But, don't worry, within a couple of weeks they usually bounce back to pretty close where you left them at the end of the previous school year. 
5. Schedule a Celebration Event Concluding the First Week: Completing the first week of school is huge and should be celebrated.You and your children have accomplished something amazing! Your family celebration can be as simple as a family movie night, a special dinner with dessert, or it can be as extravagant as you want it to be. How you talk-up your first week of school celebration will make all the difference. Your children will appreciate the little token of love and appreciation. For our family it varies every year but we ALWAYS take a back to school hike and have a special dinner and dessert to celebrate our first week of school. Even though our family knows our first week of school is going to be a challenge; we all look froward to our mini celebration of all our hard work in getting back into the swing of homeschooling.

**BONUS TIP** Meal Prep for the week: It is no secret that I am a huge plan of meal prepping. When I have the freezer space I am all about once-a-month cooking. Planning to meal prep so that you do not have to worry about cooking the first week of school is like giving yourself an extra special gift each day of the week. It may take a little upfront investment of your time, but ultimately it will lighten your load on a very stressful week. If it isn't plausible for you to meal prep in advance of the week, make a point to plan super easy meals, including quick breakfasts and simple lunches. No need to stress about food and the first week of homeschool. 

I wish I could make everyone's first week of homeschool perfect and without any struggles, but I can't. I can assure you each day does get easier and before you know it you will be half way through another school year. Remember to breathe and take each day as it comes. Don't worry about tomorrow or stress over yesterday. Each and every one of you homeschooling mamas is AWESOME. You are doing a great job even when you don't think you are. God is creating a beautiful tapestry through your homeschooling efforts and you are only privy to the tangled mess of strands on the back side; but I assure you, He can see the front side and you will not be disappointed when you reach the end of your homeschool journey. You've got this friends!

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer 

Raw Confessions of A Homeschool Mom

We are kicking off our 15th year of homeschooling.  I can't believe we've been doing this for that long. In some ways it seems like we just started and in other ways it seems like it's been an eternity.

I must admit that my original reasons for homeschooling were not for religious convictions ~ as they are now (Lord knows if it weren't, I'd have thrown in the towel a long time ago!). The reason I began homeschooling was for two main concerns #1 I really didn't think five years old or six years old for that matter were old enough to be away from the nurturing love and 'safety net' of a mother AND #2 the negative influences from the non-parented students to the anti-christian environment that makes up our current public school systems. Those reasons alone are enough to make my stomach church and spur me to do whatever it takes to keep my children away from such entities.

Despite my current laundry list of reasons as to why I homeschool now, there are days (okay if I was being truthful ~ weeks, maybe even months) where I do not want to homeschool anymore. I have zero desire to do it. My heart simply isn't into it, and I would do anything to put my kids in any school system so long as their education wasn't solely resting on my shoulders. Sometimes the truth can be harsh and not-so-pretty, but that's just where I'm at these days.

When folks are touting all the awesomeness of homeschooling they have a tendency to leave out the nitty gritty details that homeschooling isn't always so glamorous. Sometimes, it downright stinks. There are some days when the non-stop character training (i.e. disciplining), refereeing, and pleading with children to just sit still and finish the one assignment put in front of them (that should have only taken 10 minutes to complete ~ but has droned on into hours) is enough to drive Mother Teresa to have a nervous breakdown. And when those awful no-good days become the norm ~ homeschooling just doesn't seem so appealing anymore.

If you have been homeschooling for any length of time and haven't had a rut of bad homeschool days ~ congratulations (I rejoice with you!!), but I have a feeling most of you have been there and many of you may find yourselves dreading the up and coming homeschool year. Trust me friend you are NOT alone! I have been there and this year has been one of those years. Even though I went through the motions of planning and prepping for our 2019-2020 homeschool year; I also spent and exorbitant amount of time researching a local private christian school. {{sigh}}

YEP, I am that mom. I won't lie or sugar coat it. I'm feeling the homeschool burn-out, and my desire to homeschool just isn't where it needs to be. But, I know there's really no other option for us and in my heart of hearts I do want my children to be at home and I really do love homeschooling. What really has me teetering on the edge of insanity is all the other stress that distracts from our homeschooling. Like the non-stop disciplining, appointments, external family drama, cooking, cleaning, you know.....life. And to add to my homeschool struggles; this year I'm officially teaching SIX grades plus two in preschool. To say I'm stretched thin, is putting it mildly!

I'm really not complaining. I know I have a great life. I know without a shadow of a doubt I am 100% called to this perfectly imperfect messy homeschool life. But, I want to be real. I want to share my trials as well as my triumphs. I want all you struggling homeschool mamas to know YOU are validated and it's okay to not have it all together, to not really be sold out to homeschooling (all the time), and that the only reason you keep on keeping on boils down to the simple fact that you KNOW you're called by God to homeschool.

I'm here to let you know YOU ARE NOT ALONE. We are in this together and we can do this. Even if the journey isn't as pretty as we thought it was going to be WE can finish the race God has set before us.

The never-ending, ever-draining, unappreciated task of educating children from home is certainly not for the faint of heart. The huge task cannot be undertaken without the strength and wisdom of the Lord. There's nothing like an emotionally draining day of child training coupled with trying to impart some sort of knowledge onto ungrateful children to bring you to your knees, broken before the Lord. When we feel like we cannot go another inch, correct another child, clean another mess, or teach another lesson; He can. 

I'm not telling you that if you follow a serries of suggestions it's going to magically fix your homeschooling woes and restore your love affair with wth the art of homeschooling. Sheesh, sometimes wading through the muck and mire of the homeschool trenches can drag on and on with no easy fix, and that's okay. Don't think you're failing because homeschooling isn't easy. There will be times (even extended seasons) where it's really hard; but I know for a fact that if you're truly called to homeschool, God will sort the details out and carry you through.

One day all our hard work will be rewarded, even if it isn't on this side of heaven. I've learned over the years that answering the call and being obedient to The Lords commands doesn't always reap instant rewards. When it comes to homeschooling, I'm afraid for the most part, us mama's are storing up treasures in heaven. It will only be when we meet the Heavenly Father and hear those beautiful words: "Well done my good and faithful servant," that we will truly grasp the extent of what we did through the strength, love, grace, and mercy of The Lord. It will be in that moment where we will finally understand why we were one of the few called by God to educate our children at home.

Here's to putting one foot in front of the other and doing the best we can to make this an awesome homeschool year ~ we got this my dear sweet friends. 💗

With Love & Hope,
Jennifer

Summer Homeschool Schedule

Summer is finally here! And the chaos begins or rather intensifies; its always pure chaos at my house these days regardless of the season, lol. To help keep the crazy to a minimum I like to implement a summer homeschool schedule.

We still homeschool year round but summer is much more relaxed and I like to allow for each of the children to have a little more free time in the summer. Plus, any schedule I implement must be majorly flexible to accommodate the summer garden. Even though I call this our summer "schedule" it's more like a routine, an order of events to give some form of structure, accountability, and stability to our summer days; especially for my sensory processing disorder kiddos.

During the fall, winter, and spring I break up our days into 30 minute slots; in the summer I'm using mostly 1 hour slots. This broader time range gives the bigger kids time to really get involved in projects they may want to accomplish each day.

I always buddy my children up with siblings. This gives them an opportunity to become close friends without snubbing other siblings. One of our goals in raising our children is to instill in them healthy lifelong relationships with their siblings. Plus learning to interact with different people and their unique personalities is a key lifeskill important for adulthood. And lets face it, all of our children have their very own individual personalities, and some children just natural gravitate towards certain people. We want to make sure all the children are equally invested in each other's lives.

Our Summer Homeschool Schedule

6:30 Everyone at the kitchen table. 

Big kids are doing reading and journaling while the little ones are coloring.

7:00 Little ones switch from coloring to listening to bible songs and reading books from a book basket that I change out weekly. Big kids are cleaning their rooms and getting ready for the day.

7:30 We eat breakfast as a family. 

8:00 Little kids play blocks with sibling. 

Big kids free time if all 'house assignments' (our family word for chores) are completed.

9:00 Little kids play outside with sibling.

Big kids continued free time.

10:00 Little kids educational movie supervised by sibling. 

Big kids free time.

11:00 Little kids play games and/or puzzles with sibling.

Big kids free time.

12:00 Lunch together as a family.

12:30 Little kids story time/song time with mom.

Big kids free time.

1:00 Little kids nap time or quite time on blankets in the living room.

Big kids free time.

2:30 Snack time 

(Daddy home)

Once my husband gets home the children typically go off to work the homestead with him.

As you can see this summer schedule is mostly reflective of managing the little people in our family. In our house if the littles (currently anyone 7 and under) are not under 100% constant supervision they are getting into trouble. (sigh) Keeping them occupied allows me to be devoted to my day-to-day tasks which in the summer is mostly spent preserving the garden harvest. I also do one-on-one school lessons with some of the children, as well as a focused efforts on tackling neglected projects.

My older children spend their days: helping around the homestead, reading, playing outside (mostly!!!), creating lego cities, as well as a plethora of other constructive activities. My second and third oldest children manage a property maintenance and lawn care business during the summer which keeps them fairly busy. Our children do not have any tech gear, so their days are not spent on any device. We do allow for some minor T.V. gaming on the weekend evenings and for family T.V. watching (but that's a topic for another day).

Summer is my favorite season. I'm extremely cold natured and having the summer warmth surround me is like an extra-special hug from the good Lord. It is my intentions to enjoy the summer and keeping a scheduled routine helps make our days more enjoyable. When everyone, especially my little people, know what and where they're supposed to be, life runs so much better.

So, do y'all create summer routines and schedules? What are your best mama tips and tricks to make summer low stress and fun for everyone?

With Love & Hope,
Jennifer