I love homeschooling my girls. It is one of the most difficult things I do some days, but it is by far the most rewarding. We have finally settled into our routine and the girls are learning and growing in so many ways. Brooke joins us every morning. She has learned her letters A-E as well as other fun things. She loves the activities we do and being able to do schoolwork like her sisters. Some of the activities are repetitive each week just with a different letter. She is to the point now where I can hand her an activity and she can just do it. I love that. After about 45 minutes she is done and heads off to play on her own. That has been such a huge blessing. I often have to check on her to make sure she is okay. More later on what her latest creative play has been.
We usually start our day with math. Math isn't Kayla's favorite subject. She is good at it and picks up things quickly, but since it requires more thinking than the other subjects she is more likely to get frustrated. It's been a learning experience for her since school work has always come very easy for her. Macy is doing great with math so I can hand her work to her while I help Kayla out when she starts to question herself.
After math we move on to language arts (reading, writing, grammar, spelling, handwriting). This tends to be our longest chunk of time, but it is a very independent time for Kayla. This lets me stay with Macy and help her with her reading. Macy has made such amazing improvement in her reading over the last 6 months. I could not be more proud of her. She seems to love math, science, and writing the most.
And having her picture taken the least. :)
Kayla is starting to learn the advantages of finding a quiet place to work. Sometimes she doesn't want to be separated from everyone else. She loves being with her family, but taking a test requires extra concentration.
Back to Brooke. When I go to check on her she has been playing has been Cubbies and Choir. She pretends to be "Beau's mom" or "Mrs. Megan." She sets up her chairs, puts her students in the chairs, and starts her music. She didn't used to like to have her CD player on, but now that she knows how to operate it and she is learning songs in choir she loves to have music playing. There is CD that always gets hung up on number 9. I taught her how to skip ahead and so she likes to let me know when she fixes the music - especially if it happens at night. She thinks it's funny to get up before she falls asleep to fix her music.
She looks so old to me in this picture! What has happened to my baby?!?!
After checking on Brooke we wrap up language arts and move on to science. This requires a little bouncing back and forth because it is usually new information for both girls. Right now we are studying plants with Macy and the human body with Kayla. By this time it is usually lunch time and Macy is finishing up. I let the girls take a break until Brooke's nap at 1:30 and then we finish up. Usually all that is left is history for Kayla. We save this for last. It is her favorite subject and since she is studying ancient Greece and Rome this year it requires some learning on my part to. It's nice to have a quiet house while we focus on this.
After school work is done Kayla and Macy head to their rooms for an hour of quiet time. They read for 20-30 minutes and then play quietly. I love this time of day. It allows me to get some things done on my to do list, plan for the next homeschool day, take it easy for a little while, or a combination of all three.
My days are full and the house is often in need of some straightening and cleaning, but that's okay. I am pouring into my children. I am educating them. I am teaching them God's Word. I am training three little girls that will one day grow up and leave my home. I will do everything I can to cherish these days for I know these days are fleeting. We are on fall break today and I spent some time cuddling with Macy on the couch. She loves to snuggle, and so I laid there. I accomplished nothing around the house other than loving on my daughter the way she wanted me to. It was exactly what I needed to be doing. Pretty soon she won't want to cuddle and these days will only be a memory. That's why I blog. Many posts are full of random pictures and stories, but they are not random memories to me. They are special times that I will never get back. Sure, we'll always be making new memories, but I want to live in the moment and cherish each day with my children. That is why I stay at home. That is part of why we chose to homeschool. It's not easy, but it is so completely worth it. My days are full of teaching, helping a child frustrated with school work, helping the girls work through their disagreements (and there are plenty of those), cooking, doing laundry, training children, taking them to activities, cleaning, organizing, and loving these kids and their daddy with everything I have. I wouldn't change my life for anything.
