I Couldn't Stay Away Forever...

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I decided I wouldn't let my own feelings get in the way of blogging the whole thing... the whole homeschooling experience. Besides, in the time I've taken off, I've been going through, removing some personal details, and I rekindled so much passion for what I'm doing through reading of all our adventures!

...What We've Been Up To...

The Boy is only a few weeks away from completing his first semester in junior college! He loves it, and is planning on another two classes in the spring, exact classes to be determined.

I'm almost done with my class as well, and am in the throes of figuring out my seminar paper.

The Girl is reading and writing of her own accord right now, and is studying amphibians and butterflies/moths. 

I've updated our Afternoon Basket

We've been working around the house. M put in half my new patio yesterday while the kids and I were at the park.

We hiked to the top of a local mountain. From the top, we could just see the ocean, about 24 miles away (it's the tiny bit of silver in the middle of the horizon).

  

We've watched some history documentaries, played some games, and truthfully spent too much time on our respective electronic devices. 

...Realizations...

In reading through so many of my old blog posts, I found that our homeschooling, etc., are lacking in the joy and interest we used to have. I am revamping things a bit, returning to some old ways, finding some new ones, because we all miss the connection we had then, when we weren't always all doing "our own thing".

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We haven't been reading much together, working much together, or getting a lot of our homeschooling done.

Part of it is the second job I took on. While the money is necessary, the time issues are bothering me. I need to make myself take more advantage of the time we do have to actually get us on track, and keep us there.

So I made up a goals sheet for myself for each week, and a log form for keeping track of what we do learn. Once I get homeschooling back in its place, I'll tackle housework again.

Baby steps.

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We may need to homeschool on weekends, or in the evenings. We may need to implement more audio books. I know we need to turn off devices more, earn the time playing computer games, get our hands dirty, gaze at the stars, go places, read books.

...How We're Planning on Homeschooling Now...

Math 4 days a week: Teaching Textbooks for The Boy, Mastering Math Essentials for The Girl

Writing 4 days a week: I am teaching The Boy about essays, and The Girl is working on general writing skills. Brave Writer is out main approach these days.

Read-Alouds 4 days a week: History (they're short chapters) daily; literature daily; Geography once a week; science twice a week; math reading once a week

Hands-on science once a week. This may line up with our reading, and may not, though I'm hoping to keep most experiments in line with our studies.

Art projects at least once a month. The Boy is taking an art class, and The Girl does a lot of art on her own, but I enjoy completing projects together.

...What We're Leaving Behind...

No computer based courses right now.

Fewer documentaries.

Fewer rabbit trails for the moment, although they are certainly free to explore whatever they want during their own time.

...Breathing Deeply...

I feel more focused than I have in a long time. The time away from thinking about homeschooling too much, and the re-reading of how much we used to enjoy learning together, really gave me room to get back to what we enjoy, how we learn best. Simplifying, cutting out the clutter, the noise.

I feel good!