Joyfully Overloaded

You might want to pop popcorn and grab a fun drink. It's going to be a long read. I decided to break this post into two parts. I’m going to start with the personal stories because I believe it is important to know that the best part of homeschooling is catering your children’s education to the needs and lifestyle of the family. Therefore there is no black and white, right or wrong way to homeschool. That’s the beauty of it. Find freedom in allowing your family to learn in your own way. After you see that we will move into the different curriculums and I’ll leave you with a million links to their websites. Here are some things you should know before we dig in: 1-Just because you bought it doesn’t mean you are married to it. I have twice now gotten halfway through the school year and chucked a program because it was making everybody miserable. It’s okay, it’s part why we homeschool, we get to choose what our children study and how they learn. 2-Don’t let the price scare you. I unde...

I almost skipped over this completely to go straight to curriculums but how we teach is personal to each family, child, parent, and even what life brings that year. For example this past year I was the most hands off I have ever been.  I personally hated it, my biggest was not in favor, and I think my middle boy was neutral about it. I was struggling with Lyme, and had a developmentally delayed toddler on top of teaching the two biggest.  I was exhausted, and they are at an age where they can learn on their own.  The test scores are in for the school year; they scored (at or above grade level ) at least grade level in everything or higher. That shows that even though the method wasn’t what I wanted the boys grasped the knowledge put before them.  There is no secret formula to homeschooling because every family is different.  One year we turned our dining room into the water system. You can see the water evaporating from the pond here. Below I’ve brie...

Between the two of us we experienced a little of everything for our k-12 education.  I started in the public school system and then as I entered my middle school years I was given the option of being homeschooled or attending the local private school.  I choose the private school.  In high school I went between the two private and public schools but officially graduated from the private academy. My Strong Man started at a private academy but ended his highschool career as a homeschooler.  Honestly we see the positives and negatives of all three systems. When it came time for our kids to go to school we felt the public schools were understaffed with the student to teacher ratio not being optimal. I liked the idea of homeschooling some day, but not in the early years. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to teach my kids to read and that I would ruin their education for life. We decided on a 10 student to 1 teacher private school a few miles from our house. It turns out th...

Covi-19 has turned the world upside down. As a homeschooling family we felt the changes, not  quite as drastically as other families, but it’s still been a big change for us... -We missed a three day field trip to the Grand Canyon. -We had to postpone a belt test to an unknown date. -We had to postpone our entire Maine study as 90% of it involved field trips and hands on activities. - We missed a Court of Honor to celebrate our Scout’s hard earned rank achievement. - Gym class was canceled. -Piano lessons canceled. - We grieved just like everybody else. It seemed to really sink in for the boy’s about three weeks in. BUT… -We also quickly changed our schedules and focus because we realized we were living out history, someday they will all be telling their kids about the Pandemic of 2020. - We took our standardized tests early. - We started our summer break early. (Actually they are still learning, but they don’t realize it.) - We have watched the life of a...

My Dearest First Born, This year, you turn twelve, your last year of childhood. I'm kind of excited to share Mother's Day with you on this monumental birthday year. This year I am going to soak in the last bits of your childhood. I'm actually looking forward to a summer without any plans just so I can slow and see you. I know how you hate silly photos of yourself, but I might push for a few extra this year.  I'm going to laugh as our laundry continues to get mixed into each other's bins, and I'm going to savor all the times I get to do stuff with you, because I know a time is coming when you'll go off on your own.  I'm thankful the teenage years get to help prepare me for that time.  Your very first trip being only two months after your 13th birthday, and will last for 14 days... Okay, I have a year to figure out a way to keep you home with me, er I mean get used to the idea of you adventuring without us. You are cherished. Every single day you find some...

When we were first married we vowed to continue dating at least weekly, no matter what. We were in love, and it was easy... until we became parents! If it seemed difficult when our boys were young, we found the real challenge came when our oldest started school. Trying to get a date in after work and school, while also making sure our boys got supper and enough sleep, to say nothing of trying not to break the bank on a sitter and a date proved almost impossible. However, going without a date eventually led to us bickering with each other until someone would finally ask, “When was our last date?” Once, after a frustrating evening, we tried to remember what we enjoyed doing together before we became parents... and could we still do it now? Immediately we had our answer: board games. It’s how we passed time during our engagement, honeymoon, vacations, and pregnancies. At one point we even kept a game in the car for unexpected waiting. We agreed that if we couldn’t go out we could at least...

Another super fun experiment of how density works in the water cycle.  This one is so easy the boys have done it many, many times. Fill a cup a little more then half way through with water.  Add oil until you have about a 1/3 of an inch sitting on top of the oil.  Add one drop of food coloring.  It will fall through the oil sitting between the oil and water. Add a pinch of salt and watch the food coloring fall to the bottom of the cup.  the very first time through it fell in a straight line exploding on the bottom...The salt making the food coloring the heaviest causing it to fall through the water instead of simply mixing into the water.  But when you dump a spoonful of salt onto that drop of food coloring i t takes not only the food coloring, but forces the oil down as well.  And then we get to watch the oil float back to the top, kind of like evaporation.  The boys loved it.