After some encouragement from a friend and fellow homeschool mommy to overcome some defeat I was feeling, we switched in January to The Good and The Beautiful curriculum. It’s open and go (which is HUGE lifesaver for me). It has simplified my homeschooling efforts SO SO much. We are all just delighted with the changes! The growth and improvement in the weaker areas for both children has been phenomenal for such a short amount of time! The gaps are filling in and it’s just a joy! It’s completely removed the stress of prepping and feeling behind (I had reached a perpetual feeling of being behind). It’s enjoyable again and this was such a huge answer to prayer! So! This is definitely our fit and we will continue right on with it when we start back in July.
We still love a sabbath schedule. The kids have become accustomed to it and I have as well. We work hard for 6 weeks knowing we will earn us a week off. It’s good for all of us to chill, relax and prepare for the next 6 weeks. Grady is thrilled to finally be school age and will join us in July full time, starting Kindergarten! He now gets to attend the zoo classes and the science center class and this is so exciting for him.
This year was an adjustment, but it was a good one, nonetheless. We have learned in our years of homeschooling, that you just have to ride out the obstacles and keep swimming, because the valleys really pale in comparison to the high times! I truly can't imagine spending my days doing anything else, and thankfully the kids are still happy with it, so we are really just enjoying each and every year of learning and growing together! The photographs are few and far between of specific activities and daily grind...because, well...4 kids! Ha. It's flying by, and these little people just aren't so little anymore. I'm so blessed to learn alongside them and be their teacher and mother. They have filled my life with such wonderful things!
The curriculum we used from July-December and really loved it!
Drawing a globe on an orange and then peeling it to lay flat...comparing maps and globes and understanding they are the same, just laid out different :)
Piano recital 2017
Camp Invention 2017
Camp Grady 2017! ;)
Earth Cakes :)
Just some random activity pictures...sewing, light brite, shooting, and puppet shows!
The Total Eclipse, August 2017...such a cool thing to witness with them!
Passports and visits to several countries...we went through the USA, Canada, Mexico, France, and several more!
Apple Picking, September 2017
Playing in the rain and cooking! Both big kids have been working on cooking more...following recipes and making menus for meals.
All 3 of the big kids signed up for the kids marathon. They logged and ran 25 miles and then on race day ran the last 1.2 to make a total of 26.2. It was fun to watch them accomplish this!
Steed's Dairy Field Trip November 2017
They put so much practice time and effort into learning songs and lines for the church Christmas play, Felix Finds Christmas. It was a proud mommy moment watching them do their thing!
Tee pee building and art!
Christmas piano recital 2017
Christmas break fun :) Grady LOVES puzzles and Ada has so enjoyed sewing doll clothes and a few items for herself!
The Good and The Beautiful curriculum is done mainly from our couch and we love it! A lot of poetry and white board work. It has TOTALLY changed school time for us. It's simplified and infused joy and excitement right back in. The previous curriculum was definitely enjoyable, it just was quite overwhelming for the teacher to cover everything and keep up with multiple grades, and this switch has changed things in such a marvelous way!
We LOVE a good craft or art project...this was string art for kids and pastel drawings.
Tuesdays have become our Tea Time and poetry days. They rotate planning tea time snacks and we all read poems discuss and then do a creative writing activity...what a joy! We love it!
Learning continent, country, state and city with Tupperware ;)
When Grady is home on Fridays, we do joint activities...this was a fun one! Learning primary colors and how they mix...these kids love a good science project involving mixing and all that. ;)
Riverbanks Zoo is a fun part of our school year. They host a homeschool Monday once a month and these are classes they really have enjoyed over the years!
Grayson's improvement/willingness to complete subjects like writing, spelling and language have just sky rocketed since January. The change has been amazing and just so so welcomed!
School couch has by far quickly become a very treasured part of our day! Nothing better than sitting close, relaxing, and learning together.
Both Grayson and Ada auditioned and were invited to play in an honors recital for the Aiken Festival of Music. This was Grayson's third year and he was thrilled to accomplish that goal. It was a joy to watch them excel in this area.
Field trips, hiking trails and ordinary days have made up a wonderful wonderful year and I'm so pleased with their growth and learning and look very much forward to tackling another year soon enough! But first...SUMMER! Sun screen, chlorine, beach and bug spray...SUMMER! <3
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