It's getting to be that time again!
My majorly nerdy self gets to have all kinds of fun planning, printing, laminating, and organizing! :D 

I know not all of your are interested in our homeschool journey, but because I love to share, and some of you like to read about it, I figured I'd do a quick (or not so quick) update on what we're planning for the '17-'18 school year.

Actually, we really don't follow the traditional school calendar, so might not be scheduled quite like that.  We've been pretty relaxed so far... well we sure should be!  Rystin is really just going into 1st grade and Vayah into Kindergarten!  But at these younger ages, I'm not worried about getting school in every day, as long as they are doing well, enjoying it, and progressing.  We take breaks here and there for things like vacations, holidays, or special events, but overall, we just keep doing school at least a little bit throughout the entire year.  So far, we don't worry about trying to complete a book by a certain date, or start a new grade during a certain season.  When we finish something, we move onto the next thing and keep going.

This will be our third year of homeschooling, just because Rystin loved to learn so we started early.  Vayah has been doing 'school' for awhile now too, and Janae jumps in wherever and whenever she can!  But technically we'll be doing 1st grade and kindergarten this year with them.  I'll share with you what we're using for learning this year and I'll add links where I can so you can check it out if you're interested. 

 Rystin - Age 6.5

We are moving ahead with My Father's World (MFW) again this year.  We have loved the 'God's Creation from A-Z' kindergarten program, as well as the 'Learning God's Story' 1st grade program. That is what we mainly used the past two years, adding our own things in, and leaving things out here and there.  It's a teacher friendly program that is very well laid out and does an excellent job laying a foundation for those little years.  I also highly recommend a program like that if you're just starting out, as it's much less overwhelming than trying to piece each subject together separately.  That being said, I have learned more about our homeschool style and how things work for our family.  I tend to add some extra things in or replace things with my own twist, so I'm not sure if using a box curriculum really is worth it in the long run.  I'm slowly moving towards a more eclectic approach and discovering some other things I like outside of MFW. 

Back to the the topic at hand... we plan to slowly work through MFW Adventures in U.S. History throughout the next year or two.  I'd like to take it slowly since it's generally done with kids a little older, and I'd like Vayah to join in when she can as well.  We'll mostly do the history, geography, Bible, and possibly some of the art and music. They'll be studying the 50 states, and Rystin is really excited about it! 
​
I haven't been as impressed with the science portion of MFW.  So far, they mostly just read 1-2 pages each week from an Usborne book and then can do an experiment listed.  It just wasn't very engaging, and Rystin loves to dig in to that kind of thing.  I realize science isn't anything necessary for these little ages, and I don't want to push concepts on them that are over their heads either.  Rystin has been saying he really wants to learn about animals this year.  I purchased a unit study on bugs from The Good & The Beautiful, but I think we will be putting that on hold for now and starting with something else.  We all love to listen to the audio books by Thornton W. Burgess, and they are rich, living books about animals.  They are fictional, but you learn a ton about each animal as you listen, plus they're entertaining.  I decided to put together my own 'curriculum' using The Animal Book for Children.  We'll be studying about each animal, and I'll be assigning a character quality to study along with each one (since the stories bring that into play as well).  So for example, when we study about foxes, we'll also learn about honesty.  I have several books and webites we'll be using to tie everything together, so let me know if you want more details on that. We'll be doing some outside nature studies and journaling as well, so that will cover science. 

My Father's World doesn't cover Language Arts or Math after 1st grade (though we've used our own math from the beginning).
For Language Arts, we're starting a new path this year, and I'm really excited about it (as I've shared with many of you!).  I ran across a curriculum called The Good & The Beautiful. They are a new company developing programs for language arts, history, science, handwriting, and more.  They are very inexpensive and I love the way things are laid out.  I got LA Level 1 for Rystin to start.  It covers grammar, spelling, phonics, literature, art, punctuation, vocab, and writing.  I'm looking forward to seeing how we like it! 

For math, Rystin will continue through Singapore and work on finishing workbook 1B.  After that we will either move into level two, or possibly look into starting Teaching Textbooks. 

We also do a lot of different things for Bible. There are a few books we read out of, scripture memory, and a lot that ties in with both MFW and our science.

Those are the main things for Rystin.  I have other fun things I'd like to add in here and there such as cooking, castles/chivalry, health, and so on.

Vayah - Age 5

We have been doing some PreK/K type of learning with Vayah for awhile now.  She is in the last half of the MFW God's Creation A-Z program.  I don't think she'll be ready to jump into Learning God's Story yet when she's done with that, so I plan to work with her more using The Good & The Beautiful PreK and K programs.  That will cover mostly phonics, as well as beginning the other language arts topics.  

For math, she recently started Math Lessons for a Living Education, and has really enjoyed it so far!  I did this for Rystin too, but it wasn't his style.  I pulled it back out for Vayah and she loves the story-type learning. She is much more into history and story type of learning, instead of the science type topics that Rystin loves.  It's amazing the random things they've each learned on their own, and how different they are in that!
For science, she will join us in the animal and nature studies.

I like to cover most of our topics as a group so we can all learn together.  Janae (3) will join in with us as well when we wants to, and I may do a little bit of PreK with her from TGTB, since she usually insists that she has to do school too!  She's my artsy one, so anything with coloring, stickers, and painting gets her attention quickly.

So far, I've never regretted our decision to keep our kids at home to learn.  I have thoroughly enjoyed it, and am excited to start another year.  Occasionally Rystin comments that he'd like to go to school, but only because he wants to go play on the playground at recess.  Once I explain that he'd only get to do that for a VERY short time every day and that they 'do school' all day instead of just for an hour or two, he figures it wouldn't be so great after all ;)  I have loved having our family together, learning and growing, teaching each other.  I'm sure I've learned more than my kids have!

This year will be an interesting one since we are moving to a new state (YES!! Just a short time after this post, our lives took a sudden turn and we are now preparing for a move! I'll share more in another post soon.) Rystin finished up a lot of what he was working on during this past month, so we'll be taking a break while we pack, move, and settle in to our new home.  I'm learning about the new state guidelines, since each state has different rules as far as homeschooling.  There is a large homeschool group in the area, so I've been enjoying connecting with them a bit already!  We may get involved in some outside classes through that group. 

We just returned home from a vacation west to visit friends and family.  We had an amazing trip, but it's always so good to be home.  I'm wrapping up some of the loose ends of planning before I jump into packing, and thought I'd share some of our plans with those of you who are interested.  If you homeschool, I'd love to hear what you use - I'm nerdy like that! If you're interested in more posts about our learning journey, let me know and I'd be glad to share (or more likely, overshare!). 

Thanks for taking the time to peek into our day to day!  
Enjoy the rest of your summer, and I'll be back soon to share about how God has called us on a new path.

Homeschool.
A lifestyle, an experience, a process.
As we tip-toe into the environment of education and school age kids,
I am learning a lot about myself and my family in the process.
I know I told you that I would share more details about our homeschool journey with you, but I haven't been very good at that.
I decided to finally write a post and let you know where we're at,
what we've been using, and how we've been liking it.
This will likely get long, and only a handful of people will find it interesting, so feel free to click away if this isn't your thing. :)
I tend to get a little nerdy when it comes to details and researching and learning about new things.

I feel like education starts from the time kids are babies,
so in a way, we've been loosely 'homeschooling' for a long time already.
I started doing some workbooks and printables, along with more directed learning activities with my three oldest kids around age 3-4. 
Nothing formal at all, but things they would ask to do, and that they loved.
Rystin was about 4 when we made the decision that, for now,
learning at home was the path we would start out on.
And, as I do, I began to research, review products, ask questions, listen to podcasts and videos, read books, and on it goes.
There are many different homeschooling styles, from taking the typical public school routine and doing it at home, all the way to unschooling, where there is no formal schedule or planned learning involved.
We fall somewhere in the middle,
but I don't think we fit exactly into any one style. 
(Charlotte Mason, Classical, Montessori, Waldorf, Child-led, and so on).
I looked into a lot of different things that are out there, but honestly,
it's never ending, so that can be overwhelming. 
I sometimes wonder if I research TOO much, and if I'm better off just letting things flow as they happen naturally. 
But that's not who I am.
And I feel like right now, when we are just starting and learning,
and I have time to dig in a little deeper,I would like to see our options
and have a clear path of the direction we want to go. 
For our family, our Christian faith is the most important aspect of education.
I don't think that every single subject has to be taught in a religious centered perspective, but to have a Biblical base is the core of our home.

Rystin would beg me to 'do school' with him, so I felt like I should work with him, at his pace, and let him learn in a way that fit him.
I didn't really want to start an official 'Kindergarten' curriculum with him at 4, so we continued to use various workbooks that were at his level. 
I began to realize that most of those actually were K level, and he was hungry to learn more, as well as quickly growing tired of workbooks.

After looking at lots of different paths, as well as looking at the things
that I had collected through the years,
I came up with a rough plan for how to begin 'official' homeschool.
The above photos are some of the curriculum choices that we've used so far.
The 'My Father's World' style really appealed to me, so I eventually chose that to be our core, or the spine, of our studies.
Now, I use the word 'studies' loosely because at this point, Rystin was still only 4, and I wasn't sure about jumping into a full Kindergarten curriculum. 
I ordered the full K set (God's Creation from A-Z)
used from a Facebook page, and when I got it in the mail, we were so excited!
I could tell that, academically, Rystin would have no problem jumping into it.
I still hesitated knowing he was young to be starting K.
We finished up the workbooks he was doing, and at the end of August (4 months from turning 5) we started in.

Now you'll have to understand, that everything I share is not in a structured schedule.  I'm sharing with you the things we use, and how we do them, but it is not (by any means!) on a consistent routine.
Some things we're lucky to hit once a week, some things we do most days.
Don't look at this as the standard, just as some ideas or reviews of things that work (or don't work) for us when we do them.
We are approaching Kindergarten in a very relaxed way.
We do school most days if we're just hanging out at home, but if we have other plans during the day, it's no big deal to skip it.
We often skip!
If Rystin doesn't feel like doing it, we quit early.
If we're having fun, we add more in.
There are things we try to get to every time,
and there are things we only do occasionally.
If it takes us 2 years to get through K, I'm fine with that.
If we finish and we want to slowly start 1st grade, I'm fine with that.
We're pretty laid back around here,
even though it may appear very organized and planned. 
I'm not sure how else to share, other than to show you WHAT we use,
and HOW we use it. 
The WHEN we do it is pretty flexible. 

My Father's World (MFW) is considered a boxed, all-in-one curriculum that covers most essential topics needed (especially for lower grades).
Kindergarten is laid out in units, each unit teaching a letter, a topic, and a Biblical concept (as well as additional things added in here and there). 

For example:  Week 1: 'S' :: Sun :: Jesus is the Light of the World
Week 2:  'M' :: Moon  :: I am the Light of the World (reflecting Christ)
Week 3: 'L' :: Leaf ::  I will Live and Grow in Jesus

Each week includes a lesson plan that breaks everything up by topic,
into quick, easy days. I love the gentle approach!
The following pages include notes detailing how to do things,
or ideas for activities.
  It can be very structured, if you follow the lesson plans exactly. 
Or, if you're like us, you do what works for you, add other things,
and leave some things out.  It is a great starting point,
and I hope to use MFW in future grades as well. 
I love their scope and sequence and the priorities and
Biblical views that they hold.  So far, we have been loving it! 
Below are some pictures of the lesson plan and notes pages. 
The far right picture is just my own lesson plan book that I designed
to keep track of what we've done and what we've added, for future reference. 

One thing that I didn't expect, was that Vayah (3) would be sitting with us, learning almost everything right along with Rystin. 
It has made it fun, but also challenging in some ways, as she wants to also do all the pages and things that Rystin does that she isn't able to. 
Usually dollar store workbooks and things keep her happy during that time.
  It is neat that this curriculum is fun for many ages though!
Janae (1) also likes to be involved.
This is NOT easy.
School usually happens during her naptime!
I'm also learning that Rystin does better as far as learning new concepts, or tackling the more advanced things, when he's one on one with me. 
When needed, I have been trying to take turns give both him and Vayah a little time for 'just them' to work on things for their specific levels.

Not a lot of math is included in MFW-K.
Rystin has proven to enjoy numbers, so I'm in the process
of pulling some more math into our days.
I used the above printable workbook
(Math Lessons for a Living Education Book 1) to supplement at first. 
It is really neat, bring math to life through stories. 
Unfortunately, it's very slow moving, and he is past that. 
The books are no longer free, so I can't print the next one without buying it,
and I feel like he doesn't love working from it anyways.
For now, I'm going to work a little from the Easy Peasy website.
This is a free, online curriculum for k-12 that uses lots of
games and activities to teach concepts.
I also may buy a Life of Fred book to read with him.
We also sometimes use the Rod and Staff 'F' book for logic and hands on stuff.
MFW seems to have a decent phonics system, but occasionally we will read things from the Hooked on Phonics or A beka books that we have on hand.
Keep in mind that almost all of my supplies I've bought used (even found at second hand stores or garage sales) or had given to me by others.
Unfortunately, curriculum can be very expensive,
depending on which route you decide to take!

As far as HOW we homeschool...
well an ideal day (which rarely happens) would look something like this:
-Breakfast, dishes, getting dressed and ready for the day
-Memory Work (using the rotating notecard box pictured above... this is a blog post in and of itself.  I got the idea online and it has been amazing for us!)
Once Janae is napping...
(sometimes that's morning, sometimes it's closer to after lunch)
-Prayer and devotion
-Board work including calendar, number chart, etc (the upright board above)
-We'll then do the main things in the MFW lesson plan, sometimes more than one day worth, because they are very light.
-This typically includes a worksheet, some writing and/or phonics, an activity, and a Bible lesson.
-At this point I may find something else for Vayah to do and work on phonics or math with Rystin, switching them later to work on letters with Vayah.

That's about it!
We do art and science projects all together when that happens.
We often use youtube or other things online to learn more about the topics
we are studying, as well as library books.
We love to play educational games,
and our favorite lately has been Crazy A's.

I'm not a 'saver', so I often take photos of their projects and papers instead of keeping them all, as well as activities they do. 
I'll included them in a family album eventually (major to-do lists there!).
I shared a few of their pictures above. 
(hopefully it's not cutting them off funny like it's showing as I edit this!)

All in all, we are really enjoying this process.
So far, we are moving right along
and we may just finish the K program this year after all.
I realize we're still in the 'honeymoon' phase, and it WILL get much harder as things need to get more scheduled and consistent.
The love of learning will probably wear off a little.
(Some days we already see some poor attitudes about less desirable work).
I will probably get tired and more lazy.
But for now, we are having fun with where we are at,
and I'm learning right along with them!
I'm sure we will change and adjust a ton as the kids grow and our family dynamics change, but this is where we are for now.


You can teach them but you can't make them learn

And if you made it to the end, and you're still in the mood to read, I want to share this great article that a friend shared on FB today.
I'd recommend it for moms of any age!
What I'm Never Going to Tell You

A few days or so before Skyler died, he told me he loved me.
It was one of those random things...
I was making supper and he came in the kitchen and gave me a big hug
and said "I love you, Mommy!"
He told me he loved me once in awhile,
and we always said it to each other every night before bed,
but he wasn't the type of kid who told me real often on his own.
I'll always treasure that last time.


One of the things that Skyler and I used to do was play the 'I love you game'.
We would go back and forth and try to
'out-do' each other in how big our love was.
For example:
"I love you as high as the ceiling!"
"I love you as big as the house!"
"I love you as tall as the trees!"
And so on.
I don't recall who said it first,
(I want to say Skyler, but I can't remember for sure)
but eventually, the ultimate was always:

"I love you as high as Heaven!"

I still love you, Skyler.
As high as Heaven.
I always will.
Even through missing you,
I still will love you.
I'm so thankful you knew that.
And I'm thankful to know that you love me...
even "as high as Heaven, Mommy!"

I'm so blessed by all these little things, that have become big things in the end!

I started to realize that the tone of this blog was feeling a bit discouraging.
Ok, maybe not totally, because I realize it has been a place for me
(and maybe others) to be ENcouraged.
But I want you guys to understand that my life isn’t
completely consumed with loss.
Yes, it’s been a tough summer.
But I have been so blessed in ways that others have not, so I am thankful.
I have appreciated using this blog to share my feelings, and the journey through grief (and still will). But there's more to my life to share.

The little people in my life couldn’t get much sweeter!
They’ve had some challenges adjusting, especially Rystin.
I could share some heartbreaking stories of some
of the things he has gone through.
Maybe someday I will. But not now.

Right now, let’s focus on the smiles and laughter, the happiness and joy.

Kids are amazing when it comes to change and acceptance.
They are told something, they take it as truth, and keep on living.
If only we could truly have the ‘faith of a child’ in all circumstances of life!

It has been so neat watching the way
Rystin and Vayah have bonded this summer.
Rystin has been forced to find a new best friend,
and Vayah is just getting old enough to fit the bill.
They know how to fight like cats and dogs,
but then there are the times that they just connect.
Skyler and Rystin fought some, but overall, there wasn’t a lot of drama.

2 year old girls? Yup.  There’s drama!

It hurts me deep to know that my little boy doesn’t have a big brother to wrestle with, to do boy stuff with, and to look after him anymore. 
They had such different personalities, but were together all the time. 
It has been interesting to see Rystin stepping into the ‘biggest brother shoes’. 
Literally.

His first choice for footwear has been Skyler’s shoes. 
He goes for Skyer’s basket before his own a lot of the time.
They’re floppy and clumsy, but he knows what he wants.
He’s thrilled to be able to use his big brothers stuff,
and has commented about how he can have them now. 
Not in a way that he got a cool present,
but in the ‘I want to be like him’ kind of way.

Anyways… we weren’t going there.  ;)
Smiles…joy…happiness.

Yup.  This little girl has brought us a lot of that!
She’s been a bit more of a needy baby at times,
but is getting better as she grows.
She sleeps amazingly (typically 9-10 hours straight!!),
so that has been such a blessing!
We have realized how important sleep is in all of our lives right now.
The struggles are so much harder when we’ve been lacking in that essential.

It has been so hard to understand how life can just keep going.
We lost our firstborn son, one of the brightest rays of sunshine I know.
And yet, our day to day lives don’t look that different.
We get up and greet the day, doing all of the same things we did before.
The empty spot at the table is becoming ‘normal’.  The days filled with sorrow are fewer.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a hole, we still hurt, we still cry.
But when I look at our life overall, we’re happy!
We are able to keep living, keep doing the things we need to do.
Things we enjoy still bring us good feelings.
We can still run and play, laugh and tease, rest and relax,
pray and praise, work and live.
I never thought I’d be able to do those things the same way again.
It’s different.
But we’re still living.
Living in a more normal way than I thought possible.

So for those of you who don’t know my family well, let me introduce us.
These are the rays of sunshine that have kept us going.
These little people are the light in our dark days.

Rystin:
My sweet little boy. 
The boy who is stepping up to take on the ‘oldest child’ role.
The boy who loves to laugh and tease.
The one who has quiet moments and tears,
and feels things most people ten times his age have never felt.
His white, curly blond hair and sparkling blue eyes makes everyone smile.
He is energetic and loves to be on the go.
He's patient and detailed, he'll work on things until he can figure them out.
I’m secretly excited about his little freckles that are starting to show up.
I love this boy like crazy!

Vayah:
My fiery little girl.
The girl I never realized how much I wanted until
she was in my arms for the first time.
The girl who turned our world around and keeps us on our toes.
The one who can brighten a room with her smile,
and make everyone laugh at her crazy antics.
Her dramatic two year old ways are all over the place!
She is independent, but loves to snuggle.
She’s determined, but oh so sweet.
She remembers her biggest brother,
but is young enough not to show a lot of response.
It’s been so fun to watch her grow and learn, and I love to imagine all the things we’ll do together.
I love this girl like crazy!

My baby girl.
The girl who brought us hope in the midst of heartache.
The girl who has kept me going,
needing a mommy who needs her to hold and snuggle.
The one who can melt your heart with one little coo.
Her jabbering and smiles make the dark days brighter.
She loves to tuck her face in my neck and sleep,
breathing warm little sighs in to my ear.
She’s active and alert, always checking out the world
like she’s ready to jump right in.
We have needed this girl so much, and have been so blessed by her joining our family during our deepest hurt. 
It is so neat to think of my girls being sisters and friends.
I love this girl like crazy!

Seeing these rays of sunshine, it’s not so hard to see why we can keep going.
God has taken one of them home, and the world got a little dimmer.
But He has blessed us with three other little joys,
who need our love and attention.
This earth may never be as bright as it was, but Heaven got that much brighter!
Our mission here is that much clearer.
Our desire for our final Home that much stronger.
One day, our sunshine will be full again, under the light of the true Son!
We can keep going, because He has blessed us.
We’ll carry on as He carries us.

I have so many more thoughts to share about our story,
but I wanted to show you what brightened our summer.

The bus drove past our house today,
it didn't even slow down.
Cuz the little boy that should be here,
is now wearing his crown.

He had been so excited,
looked forward to that day.
Little did we know,
he wasn't here to stay.

The place he went is better
than anything he'd thought.
And he's learning so much more
than any teacher could have taught.

I see so many photos
of other kids' first day.
My heart breaks as I think
how my sweet boy went away.

I miss him in a way so deep,
and many days I'm sad.
But it makes my heart rejoice
to know his heart is glad.

I'm thankful for the years we had,
though they seemed too short.
I wait for the glorious day
when we'll meet again in Heaven's Court!

I'll love you forever little man!