Catching Up on the Whirlwind that is a New Homeschool Year

 Whew!!

I ususally sit down with my computer to think back on the previous week on Sundays.

But 2 Sundays ago, we had my cutie patootie grandson staying with us while his Mommy and Daddy celebrated their wedding anniversary.

(pics posted with Mommy's permission)

Could I have written a post while he was visiting?

Yes.

Did I want to ignore him long enough to write a post while he was visiting?

Nope!

He's terribly, terribly fun!

And then last Sunday, I fell asleep after church and took a seriously deep nap.

I didn't write, but I don't regret it!

Anyway, we're pretty deep into school.

Just a couple more elements to add.

The youngest 6 kids are all doing all of their independent work:

    Gratitude journal

    Wednesday research

    Language Arts

    Math

    Science

    Elective(s)

Wednesday research is really fun!

We already go the library every Wednesday, but now we're staying longer so that the kids can study and write a mini-essay about a random subject of my choosing (75% of the time) or their own (25% of the time).  So far we've done:

    Anything science-related

    Any animal

I'll choose a subject for today's research, and then next week they'll get to choose for themselves.

The goal is to read and write in an hour or less.

I'm not looking to teach them to write real research papers (those are part of language arts), but just to encourage some non-fiction composition practice and expose the kids to a variety of subjects to see what piques their interest.

That's Mister Man up close and Beowulf in the distance at the table,
working away on writing about weather phenomena.

Mister Man is close again, and that's Ladybug in the background.
She'd finished her essay and was looking for something fun to read this week at home.

Brother isn't much of a fan, but he desires to obey, and he really tries.
He chose such a hard book for his first Wednesday Research!
He did a great job, though, and he accepted my suggestion to stick to simpler texts for such a short timetable

Baymax, looking sad, but doing the work anyway
That's Lola in the background, flat out refusing to do what she was asked.

Lola is NOT a fan.
But I hope she'll find something she likes sometime.

The second week went much more smoothly.

I look forward to Wednesdays so much!

And gratitude journals are simply fun.  

I bought each kid a daily planner.  Every school day they write one thing they're grateful for and why.

Expressing gratitude is always wise.

And writing about it is even more wise.

We're still doing Thankful Thursdays at Morning Meeting.  The kids voted to keep it.  They said they like hearing and sharing their gratitudes.

(My heart smiles at that.)

In the past, we've done science as a group, but it was time to have the kids start exploring on their own.

And they like it!

(Except Lola, but I'm used to it.)

By giving them separate books and assignments, they're running to one another to share what they're learning.  All day I hear, "Did you know . . . ?"  

Will it get old?

Perhaps.

Am I grateful for their delight?

Yes.

The list of electives is really fun:

    Ladybug--First Aid and CPR, Art

    Mister Man--Swahili, Electronics

    Brother--Engineering (but not practical engineering yet--this program focuses on how design is 

        inspired by God)

    Beowulf--Geography

    Lola--Nature Studies, Art

    Baymax--World History (Ancient)

They are delighted by their electives--each one is doing what he/she really loves.

And I am constantly delighted the fact that Baymax is a history buff.

We still need to add Family Studies (history and literature) and Exercise (walking, hiking, skating, family sports, gym time [I'm exploring a membership]).

Our days will be long, but it feels necessary.  

I'm feeling quite called to keep my crew on a structured schedule.  This summer's casual dropping of routines and constant non-family activities was both a blessing and a curse.  I'm super grateful for the camps and the experiences the kids had, but it hurt something in our family.  

I'm good at organizing my family, and I've provided that in good form for my family.  As this group of younger kids has gotten older, I've tried to give them more freedom only to have it be misused.  Despite their chronological ages, they are emotionally young and need the structure of younger children.

As I've prayed and planned, I feel the strong need to organize and require focus and work from all of us.

And my crew love to work . . . for neighbors, friends, church members!

This is them helping move a chicken coop from neighbor's house to another's.  It took hours on a hot, hot Saturday.  

And this was after spending 2 1/2 hours weeding another neighbor's garden beds in the morning!

They're good kids who love to serve.

And look at my cute boys ready for church but needing to keep busy while they wait for the rest of us.

We did finish Smoky the Cowhorse, we read Rickshaw Girl, and we're just about to finish Call it Courage.

In Morning Meeting we finished reading Because He First Loved Us by Henry B. Eyring.  Now we're reading General Conference talks from April 2026 as the October 2026 conference approaches.

Church activities, dance, case managment appointments, babysitting, and CAP continue to keep us hopping happily.

Little Mister is so much fun.  Recently, he got right on my tape markers and asked to dance.

For sure I am missing a lot, but this will do for now.

It's time for Morning Meeting1