Last year when we decided to home school our son, we said that we would take it a year at a time, and evaluate our situation each year as we planned for the next. Well, the time has come for us to make plans for next fall and we have decided to continue home schooling using our tutorial for first grade. (or grammar I as the classical folks like to call it)
Since we reached that decision, I thought I’d take this time to reflect on the highs and lows of our home school experience as felt during this third quarter phase. (I recall from my days of teaching school that the third quarter is one of the hardest and boy have I felt that this year as well… end of the year still too far in the distant… the rush of adrenaline from the beginning of the year is past, the thrill of the breaks from the holidays is over, and now it is time to just work, work work…. and motivate, motivate, motivate)
How about a Hi/Lo List on our home school experience?
Highs:
I love being such an integral part of his learning process. I love planning field trips and doing extension activities with the kids at home.
I love being able to witness him learn and watch the wheels in his brain turn as he works out a concept.
I love the flexibility it gives us and the extra bonding/quality time it affords our family
I love how much the girls are learning and growing by being a part of the process with us
I don’t home school b/c I am afraid of the public school system. In fact, Scott and I plan to eventually put our kids into the local public school. I don’t feel qualified to teach my kids advanced math, or physics, or let’s get real… algebra for that matter. But, I do feel qualified to teach them at the elementary level… so in a manner of speaking, I home school now, because I can. I think my biggest motivator is that I want to spend more time with my kids. At 5, I am not ready to send my son off for 7 hrs of his 13 waking hours. I don’t want his teachers and classmates to get my son for the majority of his day and leave me trying to cram in some quality time between after school snack, dinner, and baseball practice in the evening. And I don’t want to give up those afterschool activities either. I love watching the kids play soccer and baseball and gymnastics and swimming. I want them to be able to do those things and I think I’d be much less inclined to have them participate if doing so, meant giving up the bulk of what little time I had with them each day.
Lows:
As much as I LOVE our tutorial (more on that below) I hate the stress of getting the crew fed, dressed and out the door twice a week so we can be there on time. We are always that family that is racing in the front door with either one second to spare before opening starts or sitting in the back of the chapel b/c we were a few minutes too late. I am quite fearful of what an infant will do to that rat race next fall… thinking it most likely won’t help us get there early! (and I am so thankful we only meet twice a week)
I struggle with how to structure our day and how to fit everything in, and meet all of my children’s needs (not just the child we are home schooling)
I struggle with building in opportunities for the kids to play with other kids. How do I make time for play dates and make sure we get our school work done and juggle my responsibilities as home maker as well?
By biggest battle and struggle this year has been with scheduling our non tutorial days. We go to the tutorial on Mon and Wed and we have assignments to be completed on Tues, Thurs, and Fri. Thursdays we signed up to attend Bible Study Fellowship in the morning. This is a program that has a Bible study class for me while at the same time providing age appropriate Bible study/preschool instruction for each of the three kids. The kids LOVE BSF, but it takes a huge chunk of time away from one of our “at home days.” I am currently riding the fence on whether to drop out of BSF or finish the year. Our school time is taking more time now than in the fall and I have found our school days go MUCH more smoother when we start our day with school in the morning than when we try to cram it in the afternoon. To be honest, I tend to cut more corners in the afternoon and my focus is on dinner and house work. Also, the girls are much more needy and my son is more tired in the afternoon. It just doesn’t work as well for us to do it in the afternoon. What I can’t decide if I can just make it work for the next 8 weeks and finish out the year or if I should release myself from the stress and stop now. Next year we won’t be able to attend b/c they don’t offer classes for 1st grade during the daytime.
If we didn’t have our tutorial, I wouldn’t home school. It is just such a good fit for us. I know I give up the freedom of picking my own curriculum and I give up some freedom in my schedule as well, but it is a trade off I feel worth while, as it gives my child experience in a classroom environment, the opportunity to learn from and be evaluated by someone other than myself, and it provides me with accountability and support in the teaching process. It works well for us. It is not a perfect situation, but we feel the pros out weigh the cons for us at this point. I am also really grateful for the community we are becoming a part of there and the friendships we are building. Even the girls have made friends with younger siblings of kids in my son’s class.
So, that is where we are this year. There have been difficult days and I struggle with how to juggle the hats of mom, teacher, wife, home maker, and friend (I have pretty much dropped off the planet to my friends this year making very little time for them and becoming quite antisocial—an easy thing for an introvert such as myself to do). But, I am truly enjoying this stage of our family life. I am cherishing the extra time we have together and am thankful for the opportunity to serve as both teacher and mother to my children. I look forward to continuing this journey next year.
I typically schedule my OB appointments for first thing in the morning so that the kids can stay home with Scott. This time however, his work schedule didn’t cooperate, so I brought the circus crew with me for my check up. I knew at 28 weeks they wouldn’t be doing an exam, so I felt comfortable having them tag along. I did come prepared with coloring books, crayons, snacks, and even lollipops which I saved for the very end if they were “super stars.”
First stop was of course the bathroom so I could “leave a sample.” So, in the 4 of us went. I thought peeing in a public bathroom with my crew was an invasion of privacy, but that holds nothing to peeing in a cup with 6 eyes staring at you. Thankfully the older two obeyed and faced the wall and just my youngest stared questioningly at me.
Of course I was bombarded with questions as I did my business.
“What are they going to do with your pee?” “How do they test it Mom?” “Why did you only pee a little?” and my favorite, “Hey, can I see the stick you peed on to find out you were having a baby?” (that would be my oldest, of course)
We filed out of the bathroom and then went to the nurses station where they checked my blood pressure and then I got to step on the scale. As I stepped up my son said, “I bet it’s going to say a lot, because your heavy!” (I knew there was a reason why I typically leave them home for these visits). All I could do was chuckle as the nurse told them you, “never, ever tell your Mommy she’s big!” They couldn’t figure out why in the world not.
Having been the source of numerous smirks at this point, we headed back to the room to wait for the Dr. I knew I’d be having my glucose test done as well, so I also prepped them for the fact that they’d be taking some of Mommy’s blood to check and make sure Mommy and the baby were healthy. When the woman came in to take my blood, she had a captive audience. Crayons instantly fell to the floor as they gathered around with wide eyes and watched. I assured them that “it doesn’t hurt, and she won’t take much, but Mommy typically doesn’t like to watch while they do it, so I usually look away.” They of course didn’t want to miss a thing. And thus I got to receive the play by play of the blood draw process. “Why do they tie that thing on your arm?” “Will she give you a band aid?” “Will she put the blood back in when she’s done?” and “Look, Mom it’s coming out, she’s getting lots.” I reminded them of when Daddy gave blood at church, how he gave lots more and this was just a tiny bit and my body would make more, just like Daddy’s did. They then told the lady how Daddy gave a whole bag of blood when he gave blood. Suddenly my two little vials seemed unimpressive.
Finally, we saw the doctor. The kids could now eat their beloved snacks (Trader Joes letter cookies) and we got to listen to the heart beat (my absolute favorite part). When I lifted my shirt there was a line on my skin from my pants. Of course, my son pointed this out and asked the Dr what it was. She told him my pants were probably a little tight and left a mark. Thanks son for drawing attention, yet again to my size.
Thankfully, everything looked good and we were on our way. As we checked out (“Like at a store?”, “What are you buying mom?”) I was able to make my appointments for just about the remainder of my pregnancy. I scheduled all of them up until the week before my due date (they weren’t scheduling into that final week yet). I couldn’t believe it! We’re really rounding the mark and coming in for the final stretch! In fact, tomorrow is the first day of my third trimester!
There is an envelope sitting unopened on our kitchen counter. It’s been sitting there sealed tight since January 6th. The contents of this envelope bear great repercussions for our entire family.
Many people question why we even have the envelope. We could have known what was inside of it 8 weeks ago.
But we like to be surprised. (of find some strange joy in self-torture)
So, we turned our heads.
But, then, just for fun, we decided to ask them to put a picture of something (or nothing) in our envelope. That’s right… we could know anytime whether we have 2 boys and 2 girls in our family or 1 boy and 3 girls.
Anytime we wanted we could go to the stack of important papers on our counter (you know those “to be filed” papers hidden behind the computer) and slit it open and know if it is a little boy or little girl that’s been kicking my ribs for the past few weeks.
We have never known before the birth of our first three children and I’ve truly loved being surprised at delivery. I look back at each memory of Scott calling out the baby’s gender fondly. The look in his eyes as he saw our child for the first time and then as I hear him tell me, “It’s a …” was truly priceless and made all the waiting worthwhile to me.
But at the same time, everyone’s surprised, right? It’s just a mater of when you are surprised that’s at issue. It sure would be nice to stock the nursery up with the appropriate gender baby clothes and do a clean sweep of un needed clothes stored in our attic.
But, no, that ship has sailed and we turned our heads, so now, there’s no looking back. (or peeking in the envelope) And thus, the envelope sits rather unceremoniously in our pile of clutter. Sitting as a family around the sonogram screen is one thing, but to just walk over to the counter and open an envelope, seems way too anti-climatic in my opinion.
So, did you choose to be surprised at 20 or 40 weeks? Ever have any regrets?
The other day my son told me he wanted to make all of us breakfast the next morning.
The only problem with this very sweet gesture was that it was the end of the month and we were at the “creative” stage of the month/meal plan.
Bread? No
Milk? No
Cereal? No
Not much available for a 5 yr old to fix, so I convinced him to wait till after I went grocery shopping on Monday.
Tuesday morning we woke, and stayed in bed per his request (didn’t really take much convincing since we aren’t exactly early risers).
A little after 7 we saw him race down the hallway (like a child on Christmas morning).
I had poured milk and orange juice into glasses the night before (per his request) so that he could do it himself. He ran to the bedroom once to have me open the jelly (without looking). And then when he was almost ready, we peeked around the corner and saw this.
“toast for Daddy”
don’t forget the cereal Dad. (brimming with milk)
He made Mommy chocolate Ovaltine
He even made both girls their breakfast as well.
When I asked him what prompted this gesture of love, he told me that they talked the other day at his tutorial about how if your mom was sick, you could help her out by making breakfast for her. He said, “I thought, why wait till your sick to do it!”
Scott had a meeting he had to rush to get to at work, and we had schoolwork to get done before a well check up at the pediatrician’s office and our field trip that afternoon.
But we sat and waited while he jellied our toast, poured our cereal, and stirred our milk.
And as I watched him serve with joy and excitement, I was reminded of the privilege it is to serve one’s family.
“You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have The Facts of Life, the Facts of Life.”
Blogging is funny, as many of you bloggers know, because when you write a post, you’re really writing a snapshot of a moment in time. And as as the author (or photographer, if you will) you get to choose which moment in time you post and thus you can largely shape the perception of your self and your family life that you present to the world.
And I struggle with this.
Because, I love my life. I really do. I love being married to Scott. I love being Mom to my 4 kids, and I love being able to stay home with them full time. And so at the end of the day, I often choose to reflect on those good moments throughout the day. Because every day has them. And I don’t want to be one of those negative people who complains and rants and dwells on the bad. (because oh, by the way, each day has plenty of those moments too).
And here lies the struggle for me, because I long to keep it real, to not put on a facade of having it more together than I do. I honestly do not enjoy being around “perfect people” or those that appear to be juggling their many roles without every dropping a ball or getting hit on the head. I get hit on the head quite often and I want to show my real self, but I want to do it without whining.
As I sat down to write a post for today, I thought about reflecting on our week of homeschooling. Here lies a perfect example of the inner struggle.
We’ve had some great moments this week. I could tell you more about our field trip to the butterfly tunnel on Tuesday and how the kids had a blast riding the Metro into DC and how the day ended so well with dinner at Chick-Fil-A on a family fun night (wahoo— kids eat free with adult combo meal and awesome face paint lady was there too). It was a great day! And not only did we have fun, but I really think the kids learned about the stages of butterfly development and had a good time seeing the butterflies fly up close and personal, instead of just reading about it in a book.
I love field trips! (hence the good)
But, life is not all field trips. And I could also look back on this week and tell you about the day my son spent 45 minutes, yes 45 minutes doing his handwriting… not b/c he was working so painstakingly slow to get it right and do a good job, but b/c he didn’t feel like working and so he piddled around and whined and complained… and I prompted…. and got frustrated…. and pleaded…. and raised my voice…. as we were trying to get our work done so that we could go on this really awesome field trip! (the bad)
Or I could write about today…. we spent a good deal of time at the dry erase board reviewing blends and special sounds and reading words that “break the rules” and he was doing it. He was reading! (sometime I often lose sight of the magnificence of in my shortsighted focus of today’s task). And he wasn’t giving up. And the girls were playing nicely in the other room so we could focus. (the good)
Of course fast forward a few hours and we have multiple children in time out for disobedience, tantrums from everyone and a hastily colored page in his book. (the bad)
The facts of life are, much like the jingle from the 80s show theme song state, you gotta take the good with the bad. We’ve got both. And I long to present the full picture without negativity. (not exactly sure how to do that, but it is my goal)
This afternoon we’re going to bake scones and have high tea as an extension of our study of England in Social Studies earlier this week. If I post pictures tomorrow of the kids all dressed up, eating their tiny sandwiches and smiling at the camera, don’t assume this is how we looked all day. It’s a moment, an activity, I’ve been looking forward to all week and will want to cherish and remember it, and yet I also know that between now and high tea, we have to go to the grocery store for those special ingredients, and swing by the post office to mail a package and buy stamps… and since I’ve been a mom for almost 6 yrs now, I know we’ll have many of those moments before (or IF) we get to our Kodak moment.
I’m just banking on the fact that 20 years from now, when the kids are grown and gone, and I look back on today’s snap shot…I’ll probably only remember the good. It’s just the facts of life.
Today was a day when we took advantage of our proximity to DC and the wonderful museums it has and visited the museum of Natural History specifically to spend time in the butterfly tunnel. I love that we could leave the house at 3, ride the Metro in, and go in just to see that one exhibit, and then leave. We’re studying butterflies in Science this week and I was so excited about the opportunity for the kids to see them up close and personal.
There were over 200 butterflies in the tunnel. They were beautiful!
This one was amazing. When its wings were closed it was a dull, greyish brown color. Then it took flight and we could see its beautiful blue color. It was hard to capture opened, but Scott got a shot of it when it briefly landed on the floor…not the best backdrop, but still it was an amazing sight!
I was surprised by how much fun the kids had looking at the pictures on the charts and trying to identify the butterflies they found.
We were able to see chrysalis, and even saw a butterfly shortly after emerging from one and another that was almost ready to come out. You could see the wings through the outside. We also were able to learn the differences between moths and butterflies. In my book, it was a total success of a field trip!
Guess what the kids and I spotted outside this afternoon? Crocuses!!! Oh, how I love those little purple blooms… they are the signal to me that spring is around the corner! And as much as I have loved, (and truly, I know I whined that one day, but really, I have loved this record breaking snowy winter), but I am excited for spring.
And I am really excited… I am looking forward to taking walks with the kids in the evenings. And I can’t wait to go to the playground and have picnics at the park. My son is hoping to catch a “keeper” this year and just can’t wait for the first day of fishing season. My 4 yr is playing soccer for the first time and practice starts next week. My son’s baseball practice’s start at the end of the month. I know I’ll be racing around like a crazy mom with shin guards, mitts, water bottles, and snacks, but I love being a little league mom. I do… I love watching them run around on the field and screaming for them during games! I love peeking through the window at my daughter in gymnastics and watching the kids swim around in the pool for swim lessons. I don’t mind being a Taxi driver, it’s totally worth it when I get there and watch them practice and improve and succeed. I thoroughly enjoy it! Did you see that Olympic commercial by PG for moms? Oh, it gave me goose bumps and a lump in my throat.
I told Scott… I think they are right… as awesome as it was for the Olympians, I bet it was 10x better for their moms!!
But, umm, back to spring…
Last night as my son and I were driving to evening church, I noticed it was 5:45 and the sun had not set. And in less than 2 weeks we get to spring ahead an hour! Yippee for longer days!
Spring really is coming folks!!! 2o more days!! (mark your calendars now… Free Rita’s Italian ice on the first day of spring… a circus fam tradition)!
What are you most looking forward to about this spring?
My girls, especially my youngest, love to change clothes. And often. It borders on ridiculous. I knew if I didn’t document it, no one would believe me.
So, take a look at Thursdays attire here at the circus. (I will mention that we never left the house today).
The day started at 7:00am, didn’t have the camera ready then, but here she is at 8:30am. (wearing the clothes she wore last night plus a coat)
11 minutes later at 8:41am she is sporting her “bubble bathing suit” (so named b/c of the polka dots on the ruffles)
This lasted all of 18 minutes because by 8:59am she traded swim suits with her big sister
By 10:57 am, she added her winter boots, hat, and mittens. She was determined to go outside, but didn’t make it past the door. (hmmm… wonder why)
At 11:17am (20 minutes later) she discovered the too short Winnie the Pooh sailor dress from last summer that I keep trying to hide and she keeps discovering.
Thankfully the scandalous dress didn’t last long as she changed into her lady bug pajamas at 11:42am.
15 minutes later at 11:57am she again had donned the hat and boots and was ready yielding a rather dangerous looking light saber.
She then changed into her leotard and accessorized with my high heel shoes at 12:33pm.
She napped in her leotard (hence the 3 hour reprieve on outfit changes). Upon waking up at 3:33 she decided to change back into her lady bug pajammies.
By 5:20pm however she was back into her sisters bathing suit and they were having swim class on the living room floor (note her sister is wearing her brothers bathing suit…apparently all bathing suits are up for grabs here).
At 5:40pm, I discovered her sporting her Dora and Boots undies, but decided it best not to post such a picture on the internet.
Since Daddy was coming home soon, I prompted her to put on some clothes. Here she is helping with dinner at 6:10pm in an actual shirt and pants!!
But, Daddy didn’t get home in time to see his daughter in real clothes because by 6:38pm she was back in the “bubble bathing suit”
She ate in the bubble suit and kept it on until bedtime when she changed into her “footie pajamas” at 8:04pm
13 hours and 13 outfits changes…seriously, this kiddo has more costume changes than a Broadway star. And I promise, this is a normal day…including the multiple changes and the preference for swim suits and pajamas…
I love Christmas. One of the things I love most is that it is celebrated for an entire month. I love the time of preparation and the focus on Christ’s birth.
But without Easter, Christmas truly is meaningless. As awesome as it is that God sent his only Son to earth, it is only the first part of the story. His death on the cross for our sins and the fact that he rose from the dead 3 days later is what gives not just this story, but every life story purpose and meaning.
And yet it seems Easter gets so little of our focus. Sure there are Easter baskets and egg hunts, and egg dying and beautiful spring dresses (none of which have anything to do with the true meaning of Easter) but all of that takes place pretty much on Easter.
I don’t see much preparation and focus for Easter like I do for Christmas.
This year I am going to try to be intentional and spend focused time as a family preparing our hearts for Easter. I want to carve out some time each week to bring out focus on the cross and on His resurrection.
So, I’ve done some planning. I’ve pulled out the Easter board books from the overstuffed bookshelf in the kids room, and plan to set them out in the living room in a basket for the kids to look at and for us to read to them over the next month.
I am planning one craft a week for the entire month of March that focuses on Easter. My hope is to make things we can then use as decorations around the house. I’m going to do a paper mosaic of the cross with the kids to hang on our wall the first week, “some stained glass” (tissue paper) window hangings for week two, and I am still hunting down an idea for week 3 (any suggestions?) For week 4, I bought these coloring books from CBD.com (at $1.49 each, I got one for each kid) and we are going to work that week on coloring in the pictures and retelling the story. And on the week of Easter we are going to make resurrection cookies. I also bought this book which has some mazes, connect the dots, and other paper projects we can work on throughout the month.
I have a set of resurrection eggs, which I have used in the past, but not really. I haven’t gone through them day by day with the kids like they are intended. This year, I have it on the calendar. We will start on March 24th and do one egg each day, thus retelling the Easter story for 12 days leading up to Easter.
By Good Friday, I hope that our family will be prepared to truly worship and grieve our sins at the Good Friday service at our church that evening. It is my favorite worship service of the year, as it is such a precious time of meditation and reflection of Christ’s death on the cross, but in such an intimate and personal way. Saturday we will most likely have an Easter egg hunt with both sets of grandparents and dye eggs with them as well. (It’s become a sort of tradition here to do that on Sat with the grands and it always a ton of fun). In my opinion there is nothing wrong with Easter eggs, it’s just not what it is all about. And Sunday, we will worship our Lord together as a family at our church as we celebrate His resurrection.
It is my prayer that by making Easter a month long celebration, we can all more fully internalize the true meaning of not only Easter, but of our life. We were created to bring glory to God and without comprehending the depth of our sin, the sacrifice of the cross, and Christ’s conquer of death as he rose from the dead, we can’t truly bring Him glory.
My prayer for my family this Easter is taken from Ephesians 3:16-18.
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Do you have any Easter traditions, crafts, ideas, you’d like to share? Please share in the comments below. I am always looking for new ideas to incorporate here at the circus and would LOVE to hear from you!
I know that many think Valentine’s day is just a day created by Hallmark. Others think it’s a cheesy holiday for saps. Say what you will, I’ll jump at a chance for a date night with my hubby. And I don’t mind a sweet card and some cinnamon heart candy either.
But, after having kids, Scott and I found it rather difficult to go out for Valentine’s day. Since we don’t hire babysitters, we typically rely on friends or grandparents for babysitting and you can’t ask another couple to babysit for you on Valentine’s Day. So, for a few years we just did an in home date night after putting the little one (and then ones) to bed.
But, then one year we got an idea that we both LOVED and a tradition was born.
We decided to celebrate Valentine’s day on the 7th instead of the 14th. This way, we weren’t asking anyone to skip out on their own Valentine’s plans. And the best part is, it also frees us up to babysit for a friend so that they can go out on Valentine’s day. We love it!
This year we babysat for our very dear friends. Since we had 5 young ones at our house on Valentine’s night, we decided to throw them their own party. We had heart shaped meatballs and spaghetti for dinner.
Then we did a fun painting craft after dinner. I asked the kids their favorite craft and they told me painting. So, I found these wooden hearts at Michael’s for $1 each. Throw in some acrylic paint and some old tee shirts and we were set for fun!
We topped the evening off with a heart shaped cake. (check out the recipe here…it was so fun to make). Mental note: need 2 tubs of icing next time!
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go out on the 7th due to one of our many snowstorms this month. But, we do have plans to go out tonight and I am greatly looking forward to a nice evening out with my man!
Celebrating Valentine’s day, not on Valentine’s day so that we can babysit for our friends is a tradition that totally works for us. Visit here or here for more fun picture posts!
When I came out to the kitchen to make breakfast this morning, I felt a cold draft. I then noticed my son sitting in the sliding glass door.
He told me he was listening to the birds in the backyard. They were offering up a beautiful melody. One thing I love about life with small children is that they help you to stop and take notice of the everyday miracles in the world around you. How often do we just sit and listen to the birds?
After awhile though, I was cold so I told him to put a coat on and sit outside to listen. He made some toast and took his breakfast outside on this cold February morning to spend some more time with his beloved birds.
As is often the case, it didn’t take long for his younger sisters to follow his lead.
Check out their bird watching attire.
On mornings like this, I love the flexibility of home schooling. I love that we can just start our day a little later and let them follow their whims a bit. We can’t let their whims direct our entire day, but it was a sweet start to our morning.
My roles as wife, homemaker and mother of 3 feel much like a circus with 3 rings constantly vying for my attention. Life is often chaotic but I'm loving every minute and wouldn't want it any other way. Sit back, relax and enjoy the show. I won't let you miss a thing.
