2018 school year

It's hard to believe another school year is approaching fast! Asher will be in 7th grade (or M2 in Bermuda) and Asa will be in 1st grade (P2 in Bermuda). Here's what we'll be studying this year:


Asher:

In addition, Asher will be taking his writing class online and Spanish 1 online, both through The Potter's School. For Bible, he will continue going to his weekly Bible Study Fellowship class and participate in our church's youth group. For music, he'll continue in piano lessons and begin steel pan drum lessons this year. For P.E. he will continue swim club. Also, Matt will be teaching him Economics on Thursdays.


Asa:

For music, Asa will complete his final year of Kindermusik. For P.E. he will continue with his year-round swim lessons and Running Club. Asa will also continue to attend our church's Olympians program.

Because of the large age gap between the boys, it's tricky combining many subjects. However, this year the boys will both enjoy studying art and Bermuda history together:

Also not pictured are the countless books that will be read independently or read aloud throughout the year.

Why we homeschool

During my last seven years of homeschooling I have been fortunate enough not to encounter any major discouragement from non-homeschoolers. Most people are interested when they find out, and many ask questions out of genuine curiosity. I always enjoy talking about homeschooling, and it doesn't at all offend me when people want to know why or how we do it.

Ninjaschool homeschool

Our first week of school in photographs

We had an amazing first week of 4th grade and preschool. Here's a little bit of what we did!

Preparing for another school year

We're all geared up to begin our 7th year of homeschool next week! I know it's early by most public school standards, but we like to start early in order to have more flexibility to take time off throughout the school year without falling behind in our schedule. It's important to me that we completely finish our grade level by the time we take a summer break.

So I've finished my planning and organizing in preparation for school on Monday. We will again employ a 6 week on/ 1 week off schedule this year after having great success with it last year. So, the first thing I did before I even started my subject planning was print out a 2015-2016 school calendar and figure out, roughly, when we would take our breaks over the course of the next 10 months.

Savoring the season

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

-Ecclesiastes 3:1

Lately I've realized that I'm in a pretty great season. 

There are many seasons in a person's life, and I'm currently in a season of motherhood that's really, well, nice. I'm a homeschooling, stay-at-home mom, which is not easy but is also completely wonderful. I have my boys with me all day, every day. And at this point in their lives, they still really, really like me.

The good, the bad, and the blessings that follow

We're in our seventh week of school. We've already taken a two-week break for our Disney trip, and we'll be taking another week-long break when friends from Bermuda come to visit us in November, and then another holiday week over Thanksgiving. Yet we're still plugging along and exactly where I had wanted us to be by this time.

But it wasn't without a few difficult days.

Disney World 2014

We're off to Disney World once again! It's been a very long year and 8 months since our last trip, and we've been counting down since we booked this vacation in early spring! Asa had only just turned a year old the last time we were here, so now that he's 2-and-three-quarters, he has a much greater appreciation of everything.

This week in toddler art...

Asa and I enjoyed our art projects this week. In fact, they were so fun that the big 3rd-grader wanted to take part as well :)

First, Asa colored on sand paper. He enjoyed the rough texture and the way coloring on it wore down the crayons (I bought a pack of Target-brand crayons for 39 cents specifically for this activity.)

Asher's "Legend of Zelda" birthday party!

I'll admit I was pretty excited when Asher asked for a Legend of Zelda themed birthday this year.

First week in review

Our first week of school is over!

All in all, things went really well. There were no tears (mine or Asher's), and I enjoyed each day. Let's hope this feeling stays with us through spring. :)

First day of school in photos

His favorite food is "all types of meat"?? Was sure he'd say it was pizza.

It's almost time!

We're starting school on Monday. After a long trip to Bermuda, several visits to Busch Gardens, many playdates, and a week of sports camp, it's time to get started on 3rd grade.

I can't wait.

Catching up

This time of year is always the busiest, despite the fact that things are winding down. Here's a quick, brief synopsis of what's been happening over the last month or so!

1. My sisters, niece, and I walked in the Richmond March for Babies again this year. It's a fun spring tradition for a great cause!

We had an absolutely gorgeous day!

Time flies when you're having fun

I feel like the days and weeks and months are flying by. Is it because I'm older now? Time was slower when I was a kid, with endless hours of school work, due dates for papers and exams in college, and long work days that never seemed to move toward the weekend.

But now I feel like I'm at church on Sunday and then I blink and it's Sunday again, another week gone. I see the time passing in the seasons, I see it passing in our school progress, and most of all I see it in my children.

Happy birthday, sweet Asher.

Today, you are seven years old.

When I was admitted to the hospital 12 weeks before you were supposed to be born, I couldn't imagine having a 7-year old. At that point, my blood pressure skyrocketing and doctors telling me I'd need to deliver my baby within a few days, I couldn't even imagine having a healthy baby. Would you be able to survive being born so early?

And then after you were born, I could hardly imagine you without all the tubes and wires and monitors. I couldn't imagine you being outside of your incubator for longer than a few minutes without an alarm beeping to tell the nurses your body temperature had dropped because you didn't have enough fat on your body to keep yourself warm. After seven weeks in the hospital, I couldn't even imagine being able to have you at home with me.

1 day old

And then a year passed, and you were 1! On your first birthday, you still weren't walking, but you were full of life. What you were lacking in physical skills and size you made up for verbally. I couldn't imagine you walking and talking.

1 year old

And then another year passed, and you were two! You were walking - no, you were running - and talking and laughing. Those bright blue eyes and white-blonde hair lit up the room where ever you went. I couldn't imagine you changing from a baby into a "big boy".

2 years old

And then another year passed, and you were three! So smart, so handsome, and so funny! You knew all your letters and numbers, and soon you would start reading. I couldn't imagine having a little boy any more grown-up than you already were.

3 years old

And then another year passed, and you were four! You made us laugh all the time with your thoughtful questions and funny sense of logic in every day life. I couldn't imagine you old enough to start kindergarten.

4 years old

And then another year passed, and you were five! I couldn't imagine you outgrowing the preschool toys and TV shows you used to love, or preferring playing with your friends more than being at home with me. And I couldn't imagine you as the big brother now that your little brother Asa was on the way.

5 years old

And then another year passed, and you were six! I couldn't imagine you in "big kid" sized clothes and shoes. I couldn't imagine you any sweeter, kinder, or more thoughtful than you already were.

6 years old

And then another year passed.

You are seven years old.

7 years old

I couldn't have imagined how wonderful a big brother you would be. You are incredibly kind, sweet, and patient. You are so thoughtful and smart, so caring and loving. You are already showing a real talent for playing the piano, and you do so well in school. It's hard to imagine you getting any bigger than you already are! And when I think back to those first weeks of your life when you were so weak and tiny, I can't believe you are here today, 7 years old. I can't wait to see what this year brings! I love you so much! And even though you don't understand it when I say it, you will always be my baby boy.

First week of 2nd grade is in the books

We started school a little bit early this year. Last year we made an international move in early September, so we didn't begin 1st grade until well after Labor Day. Throughout the year we squeezed in a couple trips to Bermuda and Disney World, so by the end I was a little stressed about finishing on time.

Not this year. This year we started an entire month early to enable us to take more holidays throughout the school year for vacations, sick days, and those days we just need a break. Basically, I wanted enough cushion for flexibility.

We were both ready to get back into the swing of things the first week of August. I missed the routine of the school day, and even though he would probably say otherwise, I think Asher did, too.

So on Monday, August 5, we started 2nd grade.

Summer school challenge

First grade is over!

But we're still going to do some school work over the summer.

Walking (for real this time), lamps and superhero stories

I've spent most of the weekend in our school room. We're on track to finishing up Asher's 1st grade year this week, which means it's time to get serious about organizing things for 2nd grade. I've already ordered most of the text books we'll be using, with only a couple things that haven't arrived yet.

It's amazing to me that I am already excited for 2nd grade when, let's be honest, I can't wait to finish 1st grade. We've been at it since September, including an international move, and I'm done.

Mother's Day #6

Sunday marked the 6th Mother's Day I've celebrated as a mother myself.

In a way, it seems hard to believe it's only my sixth Mother's Day. Six years doesn't sound like a very long time, and still I feel like I've been a mother forever. I can hardly remember myself before mommyhood. And I don't mean that as a bad thing - I just mean once you reach parenthood, you never go back to your pre-parenthood frame of mind again.

And I wouldn't want to anyway.

Remembering the little things

On Sunday my family and I will embark on a journey. It's only a 5k journey, and it'll be walked. It's not a race. It won't be done anywhere special. It's the March of Dimes March for Babies, and I'll be participating along with my sister and two nieces.