Homeschooling. Something I always dreamed of doing but wasn't sure if I would end up doing it. If you would have asked me last year, I would have said HECK NO, but something changed over the last year. Really, just at the end of 2018, the Lord was really pushing my heart to do it. Or just try it! Solomon's birthday is September 14th, which is a late birthday for school, so that means he would be the oldest in his class. I think that is a good thing and I started to search for some preschool programs for him, just 2-3 days a week, possibly starting in January. I even went and toured one place but I left with such a heaviness with the idea of sending him somewhere. I wasn't ready, and I really didn't think he was either. He has plenty of time to socialize and be away from my at church and at my bible study once a week, so I wasn't worried about that. I just felt like we were in a really good place to try homeschooling and see if it would be a good fit for us, since he wouldn't technically start 4K until 2020, because of his birthday. So, we started it in January and I was honestly shocked at how much we both loved it. Now, here we are, almost in June and I am getting so pumped about buying a curriculum for next school year. I've tried to implement "summer" but he won't have it. He still asks for "schoolwork" everyday. The biggest gift with the last several months is realizing how his brain works. It is so rewarding to work on a common goal together and see him thrive. I'm so thankful for the opportunity that we have to give this homeschooling adventure a try! 

Now that my rambling is over.... ha, there have been several people ask what we are doing and what we are using. We are working on a morning basket now that seems to be going very well, and then we have his "school work" during Asher's naptime. This schedule seems to work best for us right now and I love the one on one time that it gives me with Solomon. 

my Erin Condren Teacher Planner that I'm loving so far.....

It helps me stay organized with all the different tasks that I have to complete throughout a normal day. I split it up into Morning Basket, School Work, my Color Street work, daily to do, and then meals. Its the best place for my brain dump every evening before bed and helps me plan ahead with school work also. 

Our morning basket is something we do almost everyday, even on weekends sometimes. This little basket sits beside the couch most of the time, but I love that we can carry it around the house with us, as we use it. Comfy on the couch, at the kitchen table while we eat breakfast, the school table, or even upstairs in Solomon's room. The following are all the things that we keep in the basket on a daily basis... 

We normally start with our daily devotion book. This Book is so simple and sweet, and it's the perfect way to start our day and I love how the prayer at the end is a little rhyme each day. Asher usually likes to listen to this part also and look at the pictures. 

Solomon also works on writing his name each morning. He's now doing Solomon and Eliya without any tracing, but I'm still writing Peter for him since we just added that to his practice this month. After the devotion, and the name practice, then we do his morning journal. Sometimes I tell him what to draw, but there are times when he asks to draw a specific thing. Like this morning, he wanted to draw a picture of God and Adam together. 

We have several bible verses that we have learned together also, which I love!! Whenever we add a new one, I write it out on cardstock and Solomon paints it. I'm going to laminate these also and make a little book for him to keep. We go over all the bible verses in the morning and throughout the day.

We are working through these two books right now with our morning basket, normally alternating the two and going in order from beginning to end. I've been trying to stay on the same stories also, since the Usborne Illustrated Children's Bible Stories is more in depth and the Jesus Calling Storybook is a faster read. They are both so sweetly written and I love the questions that I get to answer after we finish a story. 

The afternoon work is in these two books right now. I bought this Get Ready for School with this summer in mind before we start our new fall curriculum in September and we are LOVING it right now. All the sections in the notebook are fun and it makes it easy to jump around in different subjects each day. Starting this week, I'm going to a Tuesday-Thursday schedule (since I totally forgot Monday was Memorial Day in my planner above!) so we are going to focus on specific things each day. Tuesday will be alphabet, Wednesday will be math, and then Thursday will be shapes. I'll add in random things from tracing, manners, and basic knowledge from the other sections each day also.

This other book is something I found from the dollar store and I love how this is set up with one page a day. I pull this out on days when we need something a little extra and he still wants to do some school work. 

Lastly, I wanted to try a chapter read aloud for the first time with Solomon and I was shocked at how well it went. The chapters are short and there are a couple of photos to show and talk about as well. We are doing one chapter every other day right now, usually after we are finished with his school work in the afternoon before Asher wakes up. I'm so excited about all the possibilities of chapter books in the months ahead!! 

So for now, that is what we do. I love that there is complete flexibility with homeschooling and we can let Solomon lead the way during the summer days leading up to his 4K year. I'm also thankful that he won't technically be in a true 4K year until 2020, so we can take it slow and steady! Let me know if you have any questions or any recommendations!! We are definitely learning together as we go, but we love it! 

holding tight.

I think this time of year is always so exciting. The summer is coming to a close, which means the leaves will be changing soon and soup will be poured into dinner bowls and apples will be picked off the trees while the pumpkins are sitting on the porch. All very, very good things in my book! Another big change for many of us are the new schools, and teachers and classrooms, but I decided to sneak in one more year with both my boys at home together, while I could. Don’t get me wrong, I thought about it, and even toured a church preschool for a pre-K class, but I changed my mind for several reasons. One of them being the ache in my heart to keep Solomon close to me just a little bit longer. I’m thankful to have many friends with toddlers, so he’s never far from time with other children, but I know that isn’t the same thing. I know be would love it and thrive and grow so much at the chance to be away for a few hours a week, but it just didn’t feel right. Partly selfishly and then partly realistically. Either way, I’m holding tight just a little bit longer.

All this preparation in my heart for the possibility of letting go a little bit made my mind race. I see All the posts from friends as they send their kids to school. I hear the nervousness in my sister-in-laws voice as she talked about her son going to public school for the first time. There are a lot of firsts for us all, but I kept hearing the Lord reminding me that nothing is a first for Him. He knows the plans of our future and he holds us all in his hands. One of the many posts that I saw this week reminded all the parents out there of a very important truth simply stating “God loves them more.” And that is true. He loves us, and he gave us these little lives to love, teach, and then release out into the world, but then we have to remember that he loves those lives more than we could ever imagine. More than we  ever could possibly love them. They are his. 

So, as I soak in one more year with my little guys, playing and learning together, I will work my hardest to show them Christ in our home. Hopefully that will prepare Solomon even more for his first day of school. More than practicing numbers, letters and writing his name, but teaching him about the one who created the stars in the sky, and made him the strong and smart boy that he has become. Working on his heart more than his mind, so that when he is away from me, he will know he is loved by a real God & also treat others with kindness and love. 

I'm praying for all you parents who drove away from your babies this week. Those who dropped them off for a couple of hours & those who won't see them till their next holiday break. I can only imagine how your hearts must have felt and how tightly you wanted to hold on, but just remember, God loves them more. And he loves you, too!

& I can only imagine how many more hours I will spend laying on the floor coloring with my big boy. He's obsessed, and I absolutely love it!!!