1,000 Thanks (part 8)

Almost finished up with my list of 1,000 tiny things that I’m so thankful for.  Summertime is my favorite.  There are so many tiny blessings, starting with sunshine, that fill the days.  I’m thankful for seasons of rest and joy that prepare us for the fall and routines.  Enjoy these last weeks of summer my friends!

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801. Happy awake kids at 3:45 am

802. Road tripping

803. Date night with sister and her hubs

804. Checking out Nashville

805. Culver’s ice cream

806. Puppies & kittens

807. Niece and nephew hugs

808. Walking bridge

809. Water park

810. Full tummies

811. Cello playing hubs

812. Summer runs

813. Cookout on the 4th

814. Freezer meal prep with friends

815. Poppers

816. Evening walks as a family

817. Feeling organized, even just a little bit

818. Pool day 😎

819. Matching tattoos

820. Girls weekend!!!!!!!!!!!

821. CanCan brunch

822. Random 80* summer days

823. Tattoo friends

824. Being spontaneous!

825. Friends who appreciate you

826. New babies!

827. A husband to love with all my ❤️

828. New outdoor swing

829. Environments Team

830. Swim lessons

831. SUPPER CLUB with the BEAUMONT’s

832. Early Bedtime

833. Good conversations

834. Morning Hubby hugs

835. Worship Music

836. Lunch with Mom and Sister-n-law

837. Eva’s sweet chubby smile

838. My girls little run

839. In-laws babysitting

840. Marriage counseling

841. In-laws bringing dinner 😁

842. Swimming boys

843. Extended nursing, when my girl is sick

844. Impromptu date night

845. Community

846. Porch swing

847. Inspired by a book

848. Puddle jumping

849. A chance to run outside

850. Meeting Emmi

851. Clean house

852. God loves me first

853. Time outside together

854. VBS

855. Boys singing and dancing to VBS songs

856. Boys making new friends

857. A church that has an amazing VBS

858. Dinner with Mary, Trinh and Jessica

859. Ruthie and me mornings

860. Pool days

861. Morning gym time

862. Sunshine

863. Craft time!

864. Kicking off a new school year

865. Friends kids making it through scary moments

866. New countertops!!!

867. New cabinets!!!

868. Hubby working hard on our kitchen

869. Parents working hard on our kitchen

870. Friends expecting surprise boy

871. Donuts after church, I love the togetherness

872. His mercies are new every morning

873. Six year old drawings

874. Four year old middle on trying to set up playdates with new friends

875. three littles covered in dirt

876. afternoon neighborhood playtime

877. FROGS, everywhere.

878. Baking after kitchen renovations

879. Lucas and Ruthie snuggling together

880. Wild girl racing around the house with her little friends

881. SMORES & neighbors

882. An undermount sink

883. Matching baby girls at the pool

884. Big boy pictures in his handwriting journal

885. the chance to be with a friend when they walk through hard stuff

886. Maymont with buddies (also watching our kids grow up together, it’s the best)

887. Morning hugs

888. starting first grade with my boy

889. Nature Journal 6 year old drawings, the best!

890. BACKSPLASH… amazing!

891. fresh hair

892. boy in his bed, all night long

893. girl slept all night too!

894. yoga in the AM

895. Wild Kratts

896. kiddos playing in the rain

897. small group leaders training night, Jesus is big

898. good and beautiful curriculum, making our school year a little easier

899. forgiveness from my husband

First Grade Curriculum Picks

Summer.. oh we’ve been loving it. I ended this year feeling plain wore out. Summer has been the most refreshing break amidst the hustle of growing up three great kids. That being said I’ve been slowly easing myself into planning and preparation for first grade and year two of homeschooling.

I learned some really important lessons as I fumbled through year one. First lesson being, I’ve gotta own this thing! My people pleasing, insecure personality type made “owning” our choice to homeschool this year feel so hard. I mean really if you asked me about school, I felt my blood pressure start rising. I hated that conversation. I want to love it. I want to relish the chance to tell you why and what God has done to bring us here. This is one of my many prayers for year two.. that I would be able to own our choice! (side note: probably not setting a great example for my kids if I come off unsure about my choice to homeschool them, so there’s that too)

Lesson two, has been to MAKE MORE TIME FOR ME! OMGosh if I did not get lost and totally overwhelmed in the job of mothering, working and schooling. I started to hate (and I mean it when I use the strong word of hate) myself, my husband, my kids (sometimes), anyone that added the wrong kind of input to my day. That’s not good for anyone. This year I’m starting school early, so that we can take more breaks, I’m getting a babysitter when I’m worn down, working less, adding a bible study to the calendar and I’m gonna get to the gym (with lovely childcare) more. I’m dedicated to HUSTLING FOR JOY. Burnout, eventually becomes as destructive as it sounds.. it burns up every bit of you that may be left with the added bonus of damaging all the relationships around you. I feel like we are called to homeschool but not at the cost of living a joyful life.

Lesson three has been make this a thing a family thing. I carried way too much of the weight of the decisions of how to teach and care for our kids, along with everything else this year. This has to be a team effort. My husband and I are working hard to be a team. We are talking, going to counseling and spending more time together. We want to be a team but it turns out it takes a lot of work to feel like you are working together. A lot more effort than we were putting in. I also need to invite my kids to help us keep up our home. I don’t need to do it all.. and really I can’t do it even if I wanted to.

Lesson four, it takes time to find a tribe. I’ve got some great people in my life. I’m so thankful! Stepping into homeschool life has been a big change. Some new friends, voices and supports are needed. It takes time to grow these things in your life. I’m excited to see which friendship bloom in even greater ways in year two and I pray God brings the friends that we still may need into our life!

OKAY— I’m done venting now I will share what we’ve settled on curriculum wise for first grade.

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Classical Conversations- This will be our third year involved in a Classical Conversations co-op and we really appreciate it. It really covers all the Science, History and fine arts that we need. This year we hope to spend more time invested in learning the material. My oldest calls this his school, loves his tutors and classmates. It really helps us all feel apart of a greater community.

Language Arts- We landed on the Good and the Beautiful after I saw how much a friend of mine enjoyed it. I’m really excited to use this! It’s simple, I love that it has a checklist of what you gotta do each day. It’s also pretty and inexpensive. It’s very compatible with the Charlotte Mason style too (if your into that).

Math – Saxon math is something that a lot of people seem to enjoy. For us it made sense because it’s simple and not crazy expensive. My oldest really enjoys Math and seems to pick it up fast. I felt like a “no fuss” curriculum would be just fine for him.

Handwriting- This past year we really learned the basics of letter formation, so I just wanted something that would give us some self-directed daily practice with writing. I went with this simple practice book because I thought we’d enjoy adding pictures to our writing (also I had an Amazon gift card). I also ordered this to introduce us to cursive. Last year, we were interested in learning it, so if I figured we’d try it out this year.

I’ve also found some great resources for Science, geography and extra practice from the Dollar Store and the Target dollar section. The great thing about these low cost supplements, is that I don’t feel a lot of pressure to use everything we buy. If we don’t like it/need it I haven’t wasted too much money. Another science resource we love is the Maker Lab books. It’s full of a variety of experiments that range from complex to super easy. We found the first book and this one at our local library, so if you don’t want to buy it, just check it out.

This library has been vital in our homeschool. There are so many great audio books, educational DVD’s and regular books to add depth and variety to our learning.

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One additional Richmond Homeschool thing we’ve loved has been Chesterfield Homeschool Sports. Last year we did soccer and t-ball, this year we will just make it to t-ball. It was a really fun and cheap way to get to play sports with other homeschoolers. It wasn’t super competitive but really fun! Also a great way to introduced your little ones to sports without spending a fortune.

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Hope this gives you some ideas to get started with. Curriculum can feel overwhelming, there are so many great options! Prayers you find what feels like the best fit for your family.

xo,

Amanda

Richmond Summer Free Favorites

The warm weather has arrived and we are thrilled.  It is our mission to spend our days outdoors and playing as much as possible! We are so lucky that Richmond has so many great outdoor parks and splash pads that are free.  I’m thankful to be raising kids in such a family friendly city.  Here are a few of our favorite places to go, when it’s hot, hot, hot!

1. Twin Hickory Splash Pad– This place is a blast! It’s mostly fenced in.  There is a toddler playground, big kid playground, picnic tables, an amazing splash pad area and thankfully they have added shade in the center where Momma sits and watches it all go down.
2. Short Pump Splash Pad – Another great place to play.  They have a great pavillion and tables so plan to bring your lunch and stay all day.  My one year old loves the splash area here because the water pressure is more her speed.  My older boys are huge fans on the playground area.  They like to get wet and then go as fast as they can down the warm slides!
3. The ARC Park – This park is amazing! So much for the kids to do and accessible to people of all ability levels.  They have water misting and a water play table so everyone can stay cool.  We love it.
4. Stony Point Splash Pad– If you are a southsider this is probably your closest free water play option.  The great thing about there splash pad are the shaded benches for you to watch your kids from.
5. Westover Hills Tot Lot– This is the best park if you have preschool aged kids…especially if you have more than one to look after at a time.  This park is small, full of toys and stays pretty shaded all summer long.  This is my four year olds absolute favorite park.  Extra perk is the same crew tends to frequent it, so it’s an easy place to make friends too.

I hope you soak up the summer!

Originally published on Richmond Macaroni Kid Here

1,000 Thanks (Part 7)

This list, I love it. It’s a discipline that is powerful. It brings perspective. It brings joy.

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701. Three kids making forts

702. Walking with neighbors

703. Three kids riding the slide together

704. Hubby excited for Monday!

705. My sister ❤️

706. Warm weather

707. Front yard baby pool play with the neighbors

708. Working A/C

709. A handy hubby

710. Cozy in-laws house to crash at

711. Middle one asking will you snuggle with me

712. S’mores with neighbors

713. Boy tag

714. Lunch with Momma

715. A trampoline full of kids

716. Small group cookouts

717. New TV

718. Sunday catch up day

719. Clean house

720. Naps for all

721. Mellow Mushroom

722. Bev’s Ice Cream

723. Good laughs at making your name with your butt 😀😀😀

724. Long park afternoons, with so many friends

725. Little boys 💙

726. Baby girl sliding

727. Kids running wild in a random sprinkler on a walk

728. Smores with my parents

729. My parents house

730. The 2 smallest getting soaked in the hose

731. Sweet sleeping 4 year old, in my bed

732. Libbie Mill library

733. Craft time at Cartwheels and Coffee

734. New friends in hubby’s TRIO

735. Mini birthday parties for friends littles

736. Yoga at the VMFA with one of my very favorites in life

737. Less money stress 😀

738. Elwood Thompson’s breakfast and coffee

739. Surprising Mom at work 😍

740. Celebrating 8 year old twins

741. Laughing at improv

742. Date

743. Morning walk as a family

744. Saturday yoga

745. Paint colors

746. Sister in town 😀😀😀

747. Ladies night with sister, mom and sister in law

748. Baby Eva snuggles

749. Boy cousin sleepovers

750. Our girl sleeping *mostly* thru the night

751. New relationships

752. Worship at the Chapel

753. Vanilla Chai Latte

754. CAVA

755. Splash pads

756. Summer Break

757. PBS Kids

758. Daily Devotions

759. FRIDAY Splash Pad with friends

760. NATIONAL DONUT DAY

761. Impromptu neighbors water afternoon hangs

762. New Episodes on Netflix

763. Boys giggling in bed together

764. Girl hugging her babies

765. Birthday lunch for Daddy!

766. Friends hosting birthday dinner for Daddy

767. Park day

768. Clean floors, for a minute

769. Sweet friend back in town

770. Cul-de-sac crashing

771. Book club ladies and laughter

772. Playdate with besties

773. Growing boys

773. Pool with friends

774. Breakout Room

775. Toast!

776. Cabinet Paint Color

777. Neighbors + Fire + Treats

778. Early Morning Wake Up

779. Church

780. Morning Hubby Hugs

781. Boys showing my their hugging game

782. Small group dinner

783. In-laws that bring mowers

784. And then mow your lawn 🙌

785. Magic treehouse audio books 📚

786. Animal loving boys

787. Pinata on sale 👍

788. Kale Salad, all the time

789. New jobs for friends

790. Slow summer days 😎

791. Porch Swing

792. Exercise to break the tension of the day

793. Hope that we will get better at being married

794. Running into best buds at the library

795. Afternoon reading in for ME

796. Morning sister chats

797. Love that lasts a lifetime

798. Fireflies

799. Cooler summer day

800. Family HUGS ❤️

5 Family Friendly Audio Books for the Summer

We have three kids and have officially hit the stage in which there is competition over who gets to talk first when in the car! This conflict can be maddening for me as a parent.  One great solution I’ve found to this new problem is to always have a audio book on loan from the library to listen to in the car. This has been great for us all. My kids aren’t yet into listening to me read chapter books at home so this is a great way I can expose them to longer books and keep our car rides calm. Here are some our favorites that we have come across thus far.

1. The BFG by Roald Dahl – The narrator  that read this book did a great job making the characters come to life! My kids loved the silly language the BFG uses.  The story was fun and kept them engaged the whole way through. I enjoyed it too, which is a huge factor on if a book makes it onto our list.  
2. Stuart Little by E.B White – The whole book takes less than 2 hours to listen to, so the kids were able to easily follow the storyline.  Who wouldn’t love a tiny mouse facing the world of humans? Stuart’s world is a great mix between something that feels real but is also totally magical.  We loved it.
3. Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder – Oh my, I just love all of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books. I would keep listening to this one even when the kids were not in the car.  We all learned so much about how farmers lived during this time period. My boys asked so many questions about the animals and lifestyle she describes in the book.  It’s wholesome and engaging. You should definitely take a listen!
4. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder – We loved this too! We learned a lot about Native Americans and how western expansion worked in this time period.  It’s a great way to teach your kids about past vs. present. The whole series of books are so good.
5. The Eloise Audio Collection: Four Complete Eloise Tales: Eloise, Eloise in Paris, Eloise at Christmas Time and Eloise in Moscow by Kay Thompson –My kids think Eloise is hilarious.  She is full of silly antics. The narrator does a great job bringing her character to life.  The great thing about this set is the stories change so it’s easy for younger kids to stay tuned to what’s going one.  

Originally published here.

Homeschool Year One in Review

We are coming the end of year one of homeschooling. It’s been an adventure! I started this year with so much fear and trepidation. So concerned if I was making the “right”choice. It turns out my fear was somewhat warranted, this year felt like a huge leap into a new land for our family, yet on the other hand it’s been way better than I imagined.

Better in ways I didn’t expect. Better in that we had more time together. This matters. I got to soak and savor five with my boy in a way that other school options would have not allowed. He talks non-stop, which has drawbacks lol but I’ve been there to talk through his so many interesting questions. Just the past two days he asked if the future was real and we did an impromptu lesson on world religions! Who knew five year old’s could come up with such tough questions?

This year has been better in that formal learning time has taken less time than I anticipated. One to two hours MAX is all we have needed to finish our curriculum…Also it’s all we can collectively stand to do in a day.

I totally underestimated the power of unstructured learning time. I’ve seen my boy learn so much through having a home that creates learning opportunities. We listen to books, memory work or language learning DVD’s in the car. We have building toys galore. We explore nature centers, zoo, parks and the backyard on a regular basis. We try to throw in some educational shows. We read so many books. We do science experiments just for fun. These simple things have created the breading ground for learning beyond math facts and phonics. We talk about, look up and read about animals, plants, history, science, etc. because it comes up! It’s cool and I’ve actually learned a lot too.

I’ve also loved the homeschooling community around us. I feel like we’ve just begun to form relationships that hopefully will carry us through our homeschooling time. Homeschooling takes a lot of effort. The families that dive into this world tend to be super cool people. Not saying homeschoolers are all amazing or that there aren’t amazing non-homeschoolers but the people we’ve rubbed shoulders with have been truly great. We are thankful!

The harder parts about this year for me have been owning our choice. I’m a people pleaser and over thinker. Taking this step off the mainstream has been something I’ve had trouble owning. I overthink how my choices my make others feel. I had to grieve moving forward into this new world of schooling while many of my friends are on different paths. You’d think by 31 I’d have a bit more confidence in my pocket. I’m working on it.

Finding down time has been another struggle. I have three kids. One in Kindergarten, one fun 4 year old and a one year old (she is wild). Their differing needs plus normal momlife/houselife upkeep and working part time have filled my days to the brim. I’m thankful that new jobs will mean next year will allow for more free time in the years to come. I think this is gonna make a world of difference for me!

In summary, we are thankful we took the plunge this year! My take away has been homeschooling taken more of me than I anticipated. Success in this world is hard to quantify. Something about this lifestyle has felt right for us. It’s not for everyone. It may not work for us forever.

If your praying about what you should do my advice is give it a try. If you do one year and you say it’s not for you, little is lost! Much may be gained, like a year full of togetherness and many unconventional learning opportunities. Also if you try it…try it with people. Homeschooling is isolating. You gotta find some folks.

Xo,

Amanda

1,000 thanks (part 6)

I’ve been slow to complete this 100…. The past two months have felt tough for me.  I’ve dipped into some pretty dark places and probably working on my list would have helped!  With spring in the air I feel a new wave of grace for myself and our family.  It seems in life more stressful cycles are followed by more gracious ones.  I’m thankful to step into the grace and let the heaviness of winter behind.  Thank you Lord for spring!

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601. New opportunities that come at the perfect time in the perfect way

602. Free tickets to see Cinderella

603. Brave middle boy learning to swim

604. Ressurrection eggs

605. Afternoon outside time

606. God protects me like a shield

607. Girl woke up only once last night

608. Clear ears

609. We made it out of the grocery store

610. Dunkin Coffee ☕

611. New part time work!

612. Clean fridge

613. Helpful boys

614. Girl grabs her seahorse to snuggle after first wake up

615. Girl in oversized sweatshirt

616. Girl trying to “meow”

617. MY DAD

618. Dinner at my parents

619. Squeezing in a quick run and stretch

620. Surviving 3 nights solo with the kids

621. Big boy learning his CC songs and singings random pieces of them throughout the day

621. Little House on the Praire on Audiobook

622. Safe girl after falling out the power wheels

623. Lunch with Mom

624. Popcorn + Rescue Bots in bed with boys

625. Sunshine long enough for afternoon play and neighbors to play with!

626. Conversations about God with my boys

627. Extra 💸

628. Sparkling Water

629. Tears, to lighten the load

630. Helpful Doctors!

631. Butterflies

632. Popcorn + Planet Earth with the big one

633. Night out with a friend

634. Indian food, yum!

635. New part time job, with a great pace

636. Sunday church + friends + donuts

637. Sunday afternoon projects

638. New lattice

639. Neighbors for dinner

640. Parents dropping in

641. Easter Sunday

642. Beach vacation 🌊🏖️n

643. Miraculous new job for Brent

644. More money

645. Encouraging verses

646. Hot tub and pool

647. Aquarium 🐚🐢

648. The sunrise

649. Beauty hidden in all the details

650. Morning cartoons with the middle boy in Mickey PJ’s

651. Warm slippers

652. Ocean sounds

653. Naps

654. End of year CC celebration

655. Mrs. Heather

656. Oldest saying he loves his teacher

657. Panda 🐼 pictures with hearts and my name

658. T-BALL

659. Chick-fil-A milkshakes

660. Neighbors to play with

661. Perfect Spring Breeze

662. Baby girl covered in dirt at T-ball

663. Playdates

664. Park Mornings

665. CXWORKS

666. Clean Eating

667. Psalm 128

670. Parents Babysitting

671. Hanging with Parents for Dinner

672. New Baby Niece on her way into the world

673. Warm Cookies

674. Sunday Stoll

675. Baby Girl Squeezes

676. K-NEX Spiders

677. Sand to play in

678. Gardens to plant

679. Sleeping Littles

680. Sample Oils

681. Blackseed Oil

682. Laura Ingels Wilder

683. Free Mornings

684. Pink flowers on our “Isaac tree”

685. Green leaves on our backyard trees

686. Girls Night

687. Bringing big boy to the Food my Starving Children event

688.  Holding my new niece

689. Sweet cards from Brent’s former students

690. Brent’s first day at VCU!!!

691. Hubby forgiving me, when I be crazzzzyyy

692. Afternoon Nap

693. A good cry

694. New used toys

695. Learning how to cook new things!

696. Big boy making friends in Kids Church

697. Baby girl coloring butterflies at Cartwheels

698.  Baby girl not waking up coughing for three nights in a row

699. Netflix in bed

700. Spring has Sprung!

Five Free Richmond Indoor Outings for Kids

If your at home during the week with your kids then I probably don’t have to tell you the winter months are the hardest. After a week or two with everyone stuck indoors, getting out of the house is an absolute must for the sanity of all! Here are our top five free Richmond preschooler friendly indoor activity suggestions.

 

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1. The VMFA- This may be a strange pick of a place to take little ones but hear me out. The VMFA is full of wonder! It’s a great place to kickstart learning and add context for so many topics for your kids. We’ve practiced abstract art at our home and then taken a trip to browse the modern and abstract art exhibits. Great news, all three year olds can get abstract art; even if making or understanding it is over the head of some of us adults. They also have added a special hands on kids exhibit called Dig It. Truly, my kids had a blast checking it out and learned a few things about China too! Bonus is that it’s on a secluded hallway and pretty enclosed with no breakables nearby. You can let your littles explore with their loud voices and fast hands, worry free!

 

 

 

2. Library- We are obsessed with the library. There are free story times all around the area geared for all different ages. Check your local libraries website for the story time schedule. Our love for the library is not limited just to story time, we often load up and explore our neighborhood library during those dreaded post nap afternoon hours. Especially, when it’s too yucky to be outside. For some reason my kids love library Legos despite getting bored with the set we have at home. We gather a bag full of books and movies.  The kids make a mess with all the libraries toys and furniture. Best of all we get out of the house! Win!

 

 

3. Bowling 🎳- Bowl America offers this amazing kids pass that allows year round free bowling! It’s totally free- shoes, balls and all! Most times we’ve been my kids don’t have the attention span for a whole game so we don’t keep score by person. We do one person and they take turns rolling the ball down the lane. Once they tire of that we check out all the arcade games. Which means I let them press all the buttons on the games and offer them no money to actually play. Once we’ve done all that we are all ready for lunch!

 

 

4. Barnes and Noble-  This activity is only free if you refrain from buying a coffee at the attached Starbucks. Best of luck to you in that. Many Barnes and Nobles offer story times, check their website for the schedule. Aside from that they all have train tables as well as gobs of cute kids books to read aloud to your little while in the store. They also have a toy section to entertain your small one with.

 

5. Chesterfield Towne Center- Once again only free if you buy nothing. This is one of the few remaining indoor malls in the area. The advantage of it all being inside is lots of middle space for your kids to run off a bit of that energy. They also have a couple of small play areas that are entirely enclosed for your kids to go wild in. These spaces include a handful of plastic animals, etc. for the kids to climb on and through. In the mall there is an attached Barnes and Noble so you could always combine this with suggestion number four. 👍

Fingers crossed warm, park filled days will be here soon! We are so over winter at our home.  Hopefully these suggestions will give a little variety to the few winter weeks left.

xo,

Amanda

Five Ways to Include Dad in Homeschooling

The heart of homeschooling is family.  The choice to homeschool affects the whole home! It may interrupt naps for little ones, it may change Mom’s availability for toddlers.  It means research, planing and teaching for Mom.  But what about Dad you may ask?

Dad’s are essential to the homeschool life.  Deciding the teach your kids at home is a great honor but a huge undertaking!  Not only does it require you invest extra time and money into educating your child, it’s also a huge responsibility.

If you are a two parent house choosing to homeschool, then schooling in your home should be a two parent effort.

Here are a few simple ways Dad can help shoulder the responsibility of homeschool.

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1. Pick a Subject for Dad to Teach-  This may look like Dad coming home from work and actually teaching the dreaded math lesson but it could be much more casual than that.   What are some of Dad’s interests, skills or passions?  How can he be intentional about sharing those with the kids in a way that will enhance their education?  Does he love golfing?  Schedule a once a month Dad and kid trip to the golf course for him to share his knowledge.  Is he a musician?  Maybe he can teach the kids weekly lessons or take them to lessons.  Is he into all things tech?  Find a game or app that is educational that Dad can use to introduce the kids to the world of technology.  When making your schedule, don’t forget to add Dad lessons in.

2. Research and Planning- The market is full of curriculum options! It’s totally overwhelming.  I’m not naturally a researcher but my husband is. When we started this past year I didn’t feel confident enough to sift through our options on my own, so I enlisted the help of my husband.  He started reading reviews, blogs and articles on curriculum options! Quickly we selected Abeka’s K5 teacher/student kits, which turned out to be perfect for us.  We are already starting this process again for next year.  I’m so thankful I don’t have to do it alone.

3. Teaching on “off days” –  We are in Virginia so if it snows, the world stops.  This winter we had a lot of snow days.  One perk of homeschool (kinda) is snow doesn’t slow down our learning plan.  We kept up with our lessons with one modification, Dad taught them and Momma took a break.  My son loved having Daddy teach him.  I loved watching him teach, he brings a whole new level of fun and enthusiasm to the scene that I lack.

4. Homeschool Homework – One thing I’ve found hard to want to do as we’ve embraced the homeschooling life is, extra practice.  Our curriculum advises that our boy practice reading aloud the readers he’s going through a few “extra” times a week.  This I’ve decided is a great Daddy task! At bedtime Dad gets to hear our kid re-read his book and it’s actually exciting because Dad hasn’t been there for all the in-between lessons so he’s actually amazed at our progress.  This makes everyone feel great! So, it’s win, win, win!

5. Field Trips-  The great thing about homeschool is school can be anytime! Field trips can be taken on a work Holiday, Saturday or vacation! Once you decide to become a homeschooling family, life becomes about learning together.  On Dad’s random day off use it as a chance to explore something new together.  Let Dad take the lead on planning an educational outing everyone can enjoy.  Take a family hike, visit the zoo, check out a local museum.  Get out together and encourage Dad to share what he thinks everyone can learn from this new experience.

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We are still in the baby stages of our homeschooling journey, so these are the tiny things that have helped us to share the load but I’m sure we have much more to learn! What are your favorite ways to work as a team or include Dad in school at your home?  I’d love to hear them.

Love,

Amanda

Sparkle Snowflakes

Fingers crossed we won’t actually get anymore snow here in central Virginia but since this winter has been especially snow filled,  we made sparkly snowflakes for this week’s craft time.

First I cut out long strips of paper.  I used light purple because it seemed more fun than plain white.  I also grabbed a stack of blue construction paper, glue, sparkle paint and Q-tips.

I had the kids glue the purple strips onto the blue paper in a pattern that overlapped to make a snowflake.  If they wanted there was room for two snowflakes for one page.  Then they squeezed on bunches of sparkle paint and used the Q-tips to spread it around to cover their snowflakes and the rest of their pages.  Seems the bigger the kid the more sparkle necessary. 🙂

Easy toddler craft – sparkle snowflakes

Seriously, with the flu everywhere plus it seems like it’s been raining always… we have been doing so many crafts.  How else to fill long days stuck inside? I’m beginning to suffer from some serious spring fever.  Fingers crossed for sunshine and 60*’s sooner than later.

Happy crafting!

Amanda