{back 2 school}

Where, oh where, has time flown off to?  I haven't posted since before Luke was walking...whoa!  Now he is 18 months old and RUNNING everywhere (and climbing too!).  So much has happened...and so often I have taken pictures and composed mental blogposts...however, sitting down and actually composing said blogpost is easier said than done.  Perhaps I should begin the daunting task of back-tracking...for myself and my own records more than anything...

Okay...enough of that.  Here we are...the start of another school year! Once again, we are homeschooling....for many reasons...and that could be a post in and of itself.  But briefly, we have prayed and talked and considered, and, well...this is where we feel the Lord has our family, at least for now.  Educational theories, precious "little" years, and all kinds of other factors are part of our decision...plus, we apparently just enjoy chaos ;). It helps that we have the support of a fabulous community surrounding us, both informally and formally (via the tutelage program we are involved in on Mondays--the kiddos as students and myself as literature and composition teacher for the middle schoolers).  

That said...yesterday was our first day back in the swing of things...though, I suppose you can say we were doing "Homeschool Lite" all summer long...reviewing, reinforcing, etc.

We started the day with a fun sheet of questions that I plan to ask the kiddos every year...here are their responses. :)

{Jillian--age (almost) 3}

 

What is your favorite memory from this summer?  Playing outside (hilarious since the heat and drought kept us inside far more than usual!

What are you looking forward to this school year? Nothing (lol!)

What do you want to be when you grow up? a fish :)

What are you most proud of? Having fun at a new house

What is your favorite color? red

What is your favorite thing to do? play at the church

What is your favorite book? Bible (she did shout this answer to me)

What is your favorite T.V. show? Wonder Pets

What are you good at? anything

What do you need to work on? nothing

What makes you happy? a little elephant

 

{Kate--age 5}

What is your favorite memory from this summer? My birthday--pinning the pony and eating cake....and wrapping up (meaning unwrapping) presents...that was the best part

What are you looking forward to this school year? Reading books and trying to get my lamp

What do you want to be when you grow up? a kangaroo keeper

What are you most proud of? catching a fish (this is HILARIOUS since she FLIPS out when a fish is actually caught!)

What is your favorite color? purple and pink

What is your favorite thing to do? play games with Luke (yes, she does LOVE Luke soooo much!)

What is your favorite book? Tangled

What is your favorite T.V. show? My Little Pony (she is an encyclopedia of random pony info)

What are you good at? Umm...I am good at catching fish

What do you need to work on? keeping my Pull-up dry at night

What makes you happy? SNOW!!! (shouted while jumping up and down)

{Elizabeth--age (almost) 7}

What is your favorite memory from this summer?  trying to catch butterflies and moths

What are you looking forward to this school year? learning how to knit

What do you want to be when you grow up? a librarian

What are you most proud of? losing three teeth

What is your favorite color? blue (my second favorite is green)

What is your favorite thing to do? talk to Donuts (her stuffed dog)

What is your favorite book? the magical pony books--"Nike's Great Race", but I think "Thunder's Carriage" will be my favorite next when the library gets it in

What is your favorite T.V. show? The Backyardigans

What are you good at? drawing horses

What do you need to work on? drawing big winged horses

What makes you happy? monkeys

{Luke--age 18 months}

 (mama answered for him ;)

What is your favorite memory from this summer? realizing my new bed (he got the real crib when Jilly graduated to a big girl bed) is bouncy...I shout, "1, 2, 3, BOOM!" and throw myself onto my bottom over and over again!

What are you looking forward to this school year? making messes :)

What do you want to be when you grow up? someone who climbs...or maybe a garbage man; I do like throwing things away...you know, things like cups and toys...just not trash!

What are you most proud of? just about everything i do

What is your favorite color? my sisters say it should be blue

What is your favorite thing to do? slide and swing and climb and make messes...and screech...I have screeching down pat :). I like balls and trucks and cars a lot too!

What is your favorite book? Bible...I call EVERY book Bible and love to bring mama the Bible to read to me...mama says it is precious.

What is your favorite T.V. show? I sing the "Wonder Pets" song, so maybe that...

What are you good at? giving mama wet, smushy kisses....and being cute...and I am really good at eating!

What do you need to work on? obeying mama and daddy :)

What makes you happy? just about anything :)

My "class" is quite cute...and lively! We did most "core" schoolwork (calendar and devotions/Bible time, phonics, language, math, etc.) in the morning...all three girls did a great job at the school table, and Luke, well, he roamed for awhile and then spent some time contained in the downstairs pack-n-play. ;)  Then we took a break so I could get a quick workout at the Y..and I packed lunches and let the kiddos play in the indoor playgym there.  Then when we got home, Luke and Jilly went down for their nap, and Elizabeth, Kate, and I did reading and history.  We will likely alternate...history one afternoon, science the other. Yesterday they LOVED history...we are doing Mystery of History (we are studying the ancients this year)...and I suspect it may end up being my favorite part of the day.  The activity yesterday was to create creation booklets with Scripture and pictures of each of the seven days of Creation.  They really got into it (that is what they are working on in the picture below!). Because we are still finishing up with our afternoon swim lessons, we headed straight to lessons once school was finished....providing for a hectic but fabulous day!