Me, Homeschool?!

Homeschool is something I never thought I would even consider.  It wasn’t until hearing about it through church that it even became appealing.  And even then, I didn’t know if it was something I would ever even want to do for my kids.  Then, God started leading me to it.  I saw how smart some of the kids at church were.  And how kind they were.  And how they weren’t weird OR socially awkward.  In fact, they were some of my favorite kids, because they were so smart and nice and the kind of people I found myself saying, “I want my kids to be like these kids!”  Over the past couple of years I feel like God has gently shown me reasons to homeschool.  So, here we are.  Starting preschool at home! 

I’m so thankful for the homeschool mama’s that have encouraged me to do this when I felt totally overwhelmed and incapable.  I’m extremely thankful for my friend and former 1st-2nd grade teacher who offered to do all the planning and I could just tag along!  I was especially overwhelmed by deciding what curriculum/plan to follow as there is SO much out there.  We decided to go with free and simple!  She basically has done most of the planning and organizing and we meet every couple of weeks to go over the details for the weeks ahead.  Such a blessing!  She has great ideas for teaching that are so simple and fun that I wouldn’t have thought of on my own.  Plus, she has given me so many fun supplies to use indefinitely (as long as I homeschool or until I move away she says)! 

With Zac just turning 3 and Lucy just turning 2 we are starting our first year of preschool.  My focus is on Zac this year, but Lucy is right there with us following along.  She colors letter pages while he works on handwriting.  We do school Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour or two.  And Zac will go to a Homeschool Co-op at a church with other families on Fridays.  There are 7 kids in the class and the moms take turns teaching.  We will go on group field trips throughout the year with our homeschool friends.  And they both go to the toddler class at church on Sundays.  Plenty of time to socialize! 

It feels so good to have some sort of routine and schedule!  I think we all need it!  Most of it is just play.  Being intentional and making learning fun.  They learn so much right now and it is so important to be involved in what they are learning.  Most importantly we want them to have a relationship with Jesus!  Our day starts with reading our Bible and praying for God to lead our day.  And we incorporate our lesson with our Bible.

For now, I’ll post our first day of school pictures.  I have a few favorites and the rest are just silly and fun.  I couldn’t not post them.  I want to be able to have them all in one place when I look back over time.

 

Our Class Photo – Teacher and Students

Here come the extras…  The craziness in me wants to edit each and every photo, but I am so behind on my photos as it is that I will just post them as they are to get this done!

Sassy Sissy.  She is a ham!

First curls!

Trying to get a picture of them both looking and smiling is near impossible.  The one at the top was the last picture taken and I just happened to snap it at just the right second that he leaned in to her while laughing!  Praise God!  It’s my favorite!

“Zac put your arm around Lucy.” Instead, she puts her arms around herself…

He really does love her.  Look at his love face!  Ha!