A New Adventure...

Our family has recently embarked upon a new and exciting adventure...are you ready...HOMESCHOOLING! We have been at it for 3 weeks now, Monday Wednesday and Friday, and it is so much fun.

Now let me just say, the first two days, not so much fun. I was not nearly as organized as I needed to be but I also really didn't know what to expect. I also was having some authority issues with my Student number 1. They aren't totally resolved, but are much better now. I changed up the schedule a bit to where Randy and I felt Hailey would be able to focus better and things are much better now.

Hailey hiding baby Moses in the river

I am just loving the creativity that has shown up in my brain since we started. All I can say is it must be answered prayer because I am not very creative and with a 3-year-old you gotta be pretty creative. We went on a nature walk one day and then read the story of baby Moses. We put a boat in a little rubbermaid bin with water and then used the items we found on our walk to hide baby Moses in the river.

Making people out of play-doh

 We also read on Friday about how God created Adam and Eve and we made people out of play-doh. That was a lot of fun. We learned about how God made them and how God made us and how He created us to worship and glorify Him.

Friday's Bible verse and craft

Learning how to write the letter A

We officially started 2 weeks ago because I didn't have all of my books in the first week so it was just a trial run. We decided to use the Sonlight curriculum. I pretty much fell in love with it the day the catalogue came in the mail. It's a little on the pricey side so we ordered a little over half of the books and will order the rest after Christmas. It is different than any of the other options that I looked at. It uses excellent literature as opposed to textbooks and workbooks. There are workbooks as you get older but I love the fact that we get to read a ton of really good books. Yeah I'm a nerd. The 3-year-old curriculum doesn't really work on letters and numbers so I supplement my own thing but it gives me a chance to think outside the box and be challenged.

So why did we choose to homeschool? Simple. We feel like this is what God has called us to do. It isn't necessarily an easy task. I wrestle with insecurities about not being "qualified" for the job. "What if I can't get her to learn her ABC's?" or "What if she just can't stand being around me after a morning of school?" but God keeps reminding me that this is what He wants me doing and He will work it out. It's funny, I saw multiple comments and reviews of the Sonlight curriculum where the parents were saying that their kids begged to do school after starting Sonlight. I was like, "Yeah, I can't imagine Hailey begging to do school" but you know what, she has. It's crazy. It makes me smile =)

The perks of homeschooling:
1. I get to spend all day with my kids. Some days this is awesome. Some days this is a challenge. Thank goodness for naptimes, right?
2. We get to do schoolwork outside.
3. I have seen God work in my heart and change me in a lot of areas. It's funny how parenting can really show you what's in your own heart.
4. I am getting to watch Hailey figure things out.
5. We are scheduled but we can be flexible.
I could really think of a numerous more reasons but the main thing for me is that I am able to build relationships with my children.

I don't know what the future will hold. I hold nothing against parents who send their children to school, whether it be public or private. I know they can do a lot of those same things with their children even being in school. I don't know what God has for us in the years to come but right now we are homeschooling and I plan to cherish the time I get to do it.