How Do You Choose??

Since posting on my FB about our homeschooling adventures being in the 14th year for our family I got a couple messages asking what our days look like. Honestly, 14 years doing this and each year still looks different. I have years where we set up at our desks or table and have the strict schedule and strict curriculum and years that we are much more laid back and have more of a laid back, hands on curriculum. I have used full curricula where everything comes from one publisher, all subjects, though if there is something missing like math or any other subject they will suggest what to use and I use that and only that. I have had years I have used very mixed curriculum, different publishers for different subjects. Mixed curriculum takes much more work and research on my part but we actually love it so much more. I do love the full curriculum because I have to do zero to very little prep work as everything is usually laid out for us including the plan book on what to do each day. That is so easy for me as a mom/teacher. I'm going to talk about curriculum right now and do a day in the life of post in the near future because truly the curriculum used can be a guide for each day. How long you spend, how much extra required for each lesson, ect. Pros of full curriculum: Everything is laid out for me and very little prep work needed after I look through what we will be doing throughout the year. Lesson plans for each day so starting the day is easy. The whole year is planned for us and all I need to do is figure out where we will take breaks. I know in a full curriculum they are getting a full year of learning in with ease and I don't have to fill in gaps as much where something might be missed. Cons of full curriculum: The feeling we have to do everything that is listed to do even if it takes all day. The plans are done by week so I feel it's difficult to take a day off or a field trip day in the middle of the week if needed and feel we HAVE to make the day up over the weekend to keep up and transition to the next weeks work easily. It's hard to double up a day because typically with full curriculum the days are full of activity and work. Most days it seems like a lot of work and we are working on school way longer than I feel is necessary. Breaks can be tough. If we are in the middle of a unit I struggle to stop for Holiday breaks. I want the kids to complete what we are working on before we stop so coming back from a week or so off we can transition easily into our next units. Like most people there are certain strengths and weaknesses. Curriculum is the same, you might have a full curriculum strong in history or science but weak in literature and grammar or math. I prefer strength in all subjects so my children get everything they need for the school year. Some full curricula are great getting kids hands on in learning, some too great and I struggle with the messes made, some are pretty expensive to get all the extras for the projects, some focus on hands on with some subjects and not others, and some have hardly any hands on opportunities. I feel when they do have projects we have to do them all (though I know we can pick and choose what our family needs or likes to do). I just feel like something is left out if we don't do it all. Pros of mixed curriculum: I can pick and choose what my kids need and what will cater to each child and their learning styles. I can pick and choose for strength in each subject. I love that homeschoolers can pick for the level they are at instead of a one size. Many kids are strong in some subjects and weaker in others. I can pick different grade levels for each subject to work with the strengths and weaknesses of each child. I love that if we have to take a day off due to appointments we can easily slide back into our routine the next day where with full cirriculum we are trying to rush the school day in a short time around our appointment or just feel out of it all week trying to catch up or working the weekend. Also I feel it's easier to just work on a couple subjects with mixed curriculum if we have appts on a certain day. So much easier to plan field trips, days off, holidays, and vacations around. If you end up with something that's not working you can easily transition to another publisher in just the subject that's not working instead of changing the whole curriculum out. Cons of mixed curriculum: I have to plan for each day and nothing is done for me. Typically I feel there are less instructions so Im researching more. Some publishers give alot of work while others don't give much so you have to really look for a nice happy balance. There is no similarities in the subjects we are working on so we might be doing one thing in one subject and the opposite in all other subjects. You can do deep planning and skipping units to work each subject together but the child might miss something important from an earlier unit that will help with what you are working on in the moment and truly it is just so much work and I am taking off when my kids are taking off so I definitely don't want all my time on our days off working on this. We have done both and loved both. It really depends on where we are in life at the moment. We got a full curriculum a few years ago and loved it and expected to use that through the kids going to high school and possibly even through high school. Then life changed, the kids changed, I changed and we came to the conclusion that it was time to move on. At that point we used mostly workbooks and we did classes online while I really dug deep to find what our family needs. Was it going back to our full curriculum or something different. This year we landed on The Good and the Beautiful and are mixing in other sources of learning. So far this has been perfect for our family. For high schoolers we have always done a mix with the big kids really putting their 2 cents in on what will work for them. Last spring I knew it was time to find something different but had no clue what we wanted to do and what would work best for our little school. We turned to workbooks and online classes after hearing a friend who has used the workbooks with success. Then I spoke to a former teacher who looked into the same books and said it is about as full of a curriculum you can find. Awesome. I thought because it was going so well we would use them this year but I still felt a pull to use a mix covering my kids strengths and weaknesses. So then I found The Good and the Beautiful and guess what? Their math and literature is free online and I only have to fill in with a few manipulitives!! And my boys seem to love the set! For science and history we might even use them for some units but I can easily use some of the sets that my big kids used and also if I find something while out and about or online I can grab it up! Another thing that took me forever to realize, you can repeat units if needed! Ok, yes, if a kid doesn't get something fully you can go back over it but that is not what I am talking about! I am saying history, science, you can repeat. In fact, it is repeated throughout their whole schooling if they are in mainstream schooling and it is expected to be repeated. The main thing when repeating is to age it up. So they might learn 3 facts in 1st grade but in higher grade levels they will learn much more and at a much more mature level. I love homeschooling my kids and learning along side them. I also love that we include God in our lessons. I love the freedom to choose our field trips, when they happen, what projects we will tackle, taking breaks when we all need one, being able to eat breakfast while we work, waking leisurly and having our afternoons free, taking a full day off just for decorating for Christmas, praying together, learning about God together, growing our relationship with God and each other, and I really love having my babies here and being able to teach them. We have had years we have taken on too much life and curriculum but I am learning to say no, we are full. We prefer mixed curriculum most years but our years with full curriculum have been amazing as well! Really you have to look at your little learners and sometimes experiment to find what's best and be flexible to change if needed. If it's not working then don't just home it does eventually, school years are too short for that! So this is what our journey with curriculum looks like. I hope it continues to be easy to know what we need each year. For now though I will relax and enjoy what we are doing.

Throw back? Nostalgia?

I am obsessed with TV. There, I said it. I love TV! Especially older shows, shows that are a blast from the past, shows that bring back memories of the past. When I watch shows from the 80's and early 90's I remember curling up in my parents bed and eating a tv dinner or a totinos pizza (when they were still round) and just being a kid. I remember rushing in from outside playing, rushing through my shower, and rushing through chores just to turn on the tv in time for my shows to come on. I remember Friday night sleepovers with my Gram (before she went into the nursing home) and waiting through The Peoples Court, the news, Entertainment Tonight, Wheel of Fortune, Jepordy (seriously, couldn't she have let me watch Win, Lose or Draw and Family Fued), I waited just to catch TGIF. So the nostalgia goes past sitcoms and to game shows, talk shows, news shows. I love the old shows, all of them!! But sitcoms hold a special place in my heart. Rushing home to curl up, rushing home to shower, begging to stay up for just 30 more minutes for just one more show. Watching the only sitcoms my mother tolerated on Saturday nights (227, Amen, Golden Girls, Empty Nest). The excitement waiting for the theme song to finish to see what the week holds for my favorite characters and singing that theme song, knowing every word. Gosh I loved those days! Kids today don't have that. Some shows skip the theme song all together!! What? We can stream our favorite shows and depending on your plan skip commercials. My boys got a big kick out of watching old Christmas commercials on my phone in November and December. I mean is was a great feeling seeing those again. When reruns were on in the summer or nights my shows weren't on I got to rent a movie and usually would rent the same ones over and over but those shows are really what I loved. Even at my age now I love sitcoms over other shows usually but sadly it feels like there are not really any shows I can watch with my little ones anymore. This makes me so sad for my kids. Today kids would rather watch a youtube video or play video games than watch a program with their family. My youngest doesn't even like most movies and loses interest very quickly in movies but can watch youtube videos of people playing video games for hours. I truly don't get it but I'm sure when they are my age they will wonder why their kids don't watch youtube videos and do what kids do in 30 some years from now. Oh well. Now lets talk reunion shows and reboots! Some just aren't the same but some I actually love! Did you know Mad About You did a reboot a few years ago? I loved catching up with Paul and Jamie and the gang!! I loved it! I can't wait to share my favorites and maybe not so favorites and give my opinion. So fun! Some really bring on the memories and feels and some I just think what was that. So, here's to sitcoms, television, family time, and just catching up with our favorite characters!!

Kids hear and a touch of feelings

So, interesting thing happened yesterday. I really needed time with God so I told Alexia to play Hillsong worship music and was praying and getting dinner in the crockpot while kids were working. Well, Joel decided it was time to change pants for the third time of the morning. If you have kids you have probably been right where I was standing in my kitchen with a screaming kid surrounded by pants and chicken juice on your hands. Especially if you have a strong willed child (God seems to bless me with those)! 😂. That child was melting down fast because his demands were not being met instantly. Well, Skillet had come on my station for some reason with their song Monster just a couple minutes before. I washed my hands and tried to calm Joel down. He wasn’t having it at first like usual if he’s not getting his own way. Well, I wasn’t going to change his jeans again. Like I said it would have been the third pair in just two hours. Not necessary. When he’s not getting his own way he will stop his meltdown sometimes and try to distract us. He said, “I feel the monster, it’s in me.” I didn’t even know he was listening to the song since he was in the next room, but he heard. He used even a Christian song and repeated the lyrics to distract me and try to get me to laugh so I’d forget I was saying no and he’d get his way. It has worked in the past for him so he keeps doing it. We are onto him though. Lol. What really stuck with me though is how much God is convicting me of the things we are watching and listening to on the tv and radio all the time. Our kids hear all! They may not be in the same room but they hear. Even as they sleep they are absorbing it. This has been a conviction for several months in my heart and yesterday truly confirmed it all. Even a Christian song and he took the words and used them as a tool to distract me because he absorbed what he heard. If we hear a song on the radio a couple of times then it gets stuck in our heads. Well, if we (our children too) hear a message on tv or language or anything even once it is in their heads, more than that it’s gonna stick! So, does that mean I’m gong to only watch the 700 club or televised preachers? Or go without tv? 😱. No! Wow! Our TVs are on all the time. We love tv, but we love God more so we will choose more wisely what we watch. At first I was really about to jump on with him telling me a feeling. We are definitely working on feelings with Joel so I was kind of happy he was using a feeling but sad he felt that way. Then I realized what he was doing. It actually did make me a little happy he didn’t use something silly from Minecraft to distract but still. So, is Skillet off the table? At first I said no more. Then I thought about it, if he heard that he’s hearing more. So no. I will pray over it and pray he gets the proper message! I think God was using this moment to confirm my convictions on child’s ears in a positive way instead of him walking around saying quotes from some secular tv show or movie. Praise Him for his conviction and confirmation!

Birthday weekend

What a fun but busy weekend!!! On Friday Hanni and I ventured out to do some birthday shopping for her party on Saturday. It was kind of spur of the moment, invite some friends over type thing because we didn’t know how Eli would be doing. Well, after we told her he started having a rough time but fortunately the few days before her party had done well and felt good. On Friday night I went to book club which was so very refreshing and wonderful!! I love my book club and the ladies in it. I have not gone in several months and was thrilled to be back. I did slip out a little early to get back home to help Randy if he needed it with Eli. On Saturday we had a slow morning but then Hanni and I headed out to pick up her cake and came home to clean the guinea pig cage. We adore our sweet Nutmeg and Noel! Then friends started showing up. Randy set up the bonfire in the yard and while Hanni and her friends walked down I drove Eli. It was so great seeing him out and about!! We roasted hotdogs and s’mores. It was funny because the boys didn’t have a clue about cooking marshmallows on the bonfire. That’s ok, the girls taught them! We made it an early party due to Randy having to work Sunday morning. I am so thankful for all of her friends and love each of them! We had a ball! Sunday was a slow day. We started our Christmas crafting and watched movies and tv. We kicked off our fall break this past weekend and Sunday was the perfect day for how it needs to be. We’ve been so busy and stressed with Eli’s surgery and just life that we just need quiet and relaxed. My fall and winter goal this year is calm. This fall break is embracing that! Family time, time for self, time for just stillness but still fun.

The morning after the big day

So yesterday was Eli’s big day. We had to be at the hospital at 6 am! We went back and forth about a hundred times over what to do with the little boys. In the end, they wanted to be there to support their brother even if it was just from the waiting room. I packed up a school bag, a toy bag, blankets, and other essentials we might need. Hanni was amazing! When we had to be back with Eli she kept the kids in the waiting room without complaint and they were so great for her! Eli was just ready to get it all over with. I was surprised they got him back so fast! I remember with Gracie we waited a few hours after her scheduled time for her to get back. This is Eli before surgery! While he was in surgery we went down to the cafe to get breakfast to bring up to the waiting room. After eating Carp did schoolwork, Hanni divided to watch The Office, and I read to Joel and he played with Legos. He was in surgery about 3 hours and everything went well! The Dr did say his knee was a mess but it’s now all fixed up and we are just praying the recovery is easy! Waiting room pics! Eli was in recovery for about an hour where Randy and Hanni took turns. I stayed with him to hear all the post op instructions. Last night was not quite as easy as the hospital. Carp was wired with energy. Joel was in full meltdown tired mode by 4:30 and asleep by 5:30. At least he slept through the night! Eli didn’t make it to his bed coming in the house but literally passed out on Randy right by our bed so we got him to our bed where he stayed several hours watching tv. He finally decided to go to his bed and had enough energy to make it! Yay! Hanni immediately came home and crashed! We were exhausted! Randy went out for Eli’s prescriptions and food which we were all so grateful for! Eli leaving the hospital and the two of us waiting for food exhausted! After a good night sleep we are up and still tired! Lol. It was a long day yesterday. Today Eli starts therapy at 3 in Spartanburg. I’m looking forward to that being done and we can relax this weekend! So, how’s Eli doing? Great! He does have a nerve block and pain ball attached to his leg right now so I’m sure that’s helping! He’s in typical Eli’s happy spirits. He gets cold easily but a lot of that is the ice machine they have hooked up to him. He was very complimentary to the nurses yesterday when coming off anesthesia which is so him! He told me to tell Hannah she sucks when they were wheeling him back to surgery which she loved hearing! 🤷‍♀️🙄. I’m guessing that’s a compliment to them? He says he’s not really in any pain just itchy. He’s not a fan of the nerve block because it’s a purse with a big ball that he has to maneuver around and it’s hard to get comfortable with it constantly under his arm but I told him that’s why he has no pain so he’s dealing with it. Other than that, he’s doing great! We are thankful Randy is home until the weekend to help out as well!!

Life update, Eli, and Misfits

Ok, so I’m going to try again at this blogging thing! The truth is I really love my blog. I do! Now that we are getting back into the swing of our “new normal” I just feel it’s the right time to get back to it. I updated my about me section and boy do times change! Wow! People change! It’s amazing how life truly changes people, interests, and just life in general! My main interests are still the same though. The roots that make me who I am and who we are as a family are still strong. God, family, friends, and Christmas! Lol. The way our family looks is definitely different, kids have grown, some have moved out, others have started school, two are on there final few years before graduation. Friends have changed. God has stayed the same! He is so good!! So, what is happening recently? We are homeschooling our whole crew this year!!! Eli’s in 10th grade, Hanni’s in 9th, Carpender’s in 2nd, and Joel is in 5k! It is a big span! We are loving it! I love the family time it’s created and watching the kids learn and grow! Eli dislocated his kneecap in January at Big Air, a trampoline park, and it’s been loose ever since. On Labor Dau he dislocated it again so they will be doing surgery on Wednesday to repair his knee. It is a pretty tough surgery with a very long recovery so we are gearing up for that this weekend. He loves tea so we got him a big selection of coffees and teas and put the keurig in his room by his bed so he can make teas and coffee as he would like. He also has his little fridge and freezer in there for drinks and to keep his water bottles frozen for his ice machine. They send home an ice machine for his knee that he will need those for. Perfect set up for him!!! I’m starting to go into mom worry mode! I was at peace until a few days ago but now I’m starting to worry and panic more. I’m trying to remember to trust in God!! Have you heard of the Misfits vegetable box? Oh my! I signed up last week and we got our box on Friday! What amazing surprises! I asked about it and was encouraged by what others had to say so we tried it out. We got the large box every other week. It is basically all fruits and veggies they can’t sell in stores for various reasons. Too many, not enough, too big, too small, funny shaped. My main reason for trying this out was price. $35 for a large box. Second, I want my family to eat more vegetables and I want us to try things we wouldn’t normally try. We got fennel, radishes, and spaghetti squash. Now, Randy wants to do keto and if I am doing whole 30 I will get spaghetti squash. I have bought fennel before but nobody liked it so I probably would not buy it again for the family. We actually grow fennel but I never dig it up because my family just does not like it. So now I am researching ways to prepare it that my family will like it. I can’t stand radishes but again, I am researching ways to prepare them that we will like them. Evidently you can roast them and it takes the spiciness out. I’m excited to try that. I hated brussels sprouts for a long time until I learned how to prepare them properly. I am so excited about this box because it is not only going to help our family to try new things but help me to be able to prepare these things so maybe my family will learn to like new vegetables!! They are all organic too!! This is a pic of our table covered in goodness! Joel, who loves vegetables and fruit, was thinking it was his birthday! We got spaghetti squash, green peppers, radishes, cucumbers, Brussel sprouts, pears, apples, lemons, yellow squash, grape tomatoes, onions, lettuce, oranges, fennel, yup, we are going to be eating good! http://misfitsmarket.refr.cc/katehorton Here’s a link if you want to try your own box!!

Never late but never on time

I will never be the mom who has her cute little monogrammed picnic folding chair out at the front of the car line eating her lunch reading a book or chatting with the other early birds moms and grandmoms. I truly love the early bird club they have going on there even if it is nuts and they seem to have no life what so ever. It is their life. It is what these ladies do. They are the first in line. They visit, they chat, they catch up on reading, they eat, and they just enjoy the quiet moments while a younger sibling may be sleeping or quietly entertaining themselves in the backseat. As moms we all try to read, chat with friends, visit with other adults, enjoy quiet moments. We just don't all do it in the front of a car line. I certainly will never be organized enough to get to the front of the car line to have "me" time since Hanni has been in public school for only a week in a half now and I think I have been almost the last parent picking up twice now!! Fortunately, she gets me. Kudos to those front liners though and enjoy your "me" time! I'll just squeeze it in during my escape to the grocery store or visiting my neighbor a couple evenings a week. Whatever you do moms, get some "me" time for you and your kids!!