Homeschooling (and Venting)

It is time for our monthly homeschooling update!  It has really been an interesting month.  We have been SO busy with extracurricular activities, but definitely busy in a good way.  We have a few more soccer games and we are participating in field trips on Fridays with the smaller co-op in our town.  Children's Choir started a few weeks ago at First Baptist Church in Jackson and we are LOVING it.  We have dinner there early Wednesday evening and then take the babies to the nursery while Olivia and I go upstairs for Children's Choir.  Olivia's teacher, Ms. Ashley needed a helper so I volunteered to take over the crafts in our group.  We have pre-k and kindergarten aged kiddos, and somehow we ended up with all girls!  There are about 8-10 little girls in our class and it is hilarious.  They are all so fun!  The first week we just played games and got to know the kids.  Week Two we read the story of Creation so I made some homemade play-doh and dyed half of it green (land) and half of it blue (water).  Of course, I added a ton of glitter since we have a room full of girls!  We gave each kid a chunk of blue and a chunk of green and let them roll it up and make their own little "world".  It was also fitting since they learned the hand motions for "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" that night!  Thankfully, it isn't hard to please their age group.  Week Three we read about Adam and Eve, so I decided to bring fruit for the girls to make their own kabobs.  I also blended up a large pitcher of fruit smoothies and brought along for the girls.  It was messy but fun!  This week was little bit more messy...  Our bible story was about Noah so I brought finger paint for the kids to make rainbows and we used cotton balls for the clouds.  No one went home paint-covered so I'd say it was a success!

While most of that may not seem relative to homeschooling, for us it really is.  Some people still feel that they need to mention that the only complaint they have with us homeschooling Olivia is that she won't be getting that "socialization" that other kids get.  I am really trying to contain myself while writing this but it isn't easy.  First of all, Olivia is only 4 years old.  We chose to start her in a kindergarten curriculum because she was eager to read.  (I might also add that she IS IN FACT, reading several words now.)  Olivia has always loved books and has a love for children's literature so we decided that it would be worthwhile to start her in "kindergarten" a year early.  So if she were attending a traditional public school, she wouldn't even be allowed to start school yet!  I would also like to add that at this point, we are home on Mondays and Thursdays and that is it.  Every other day of the week, we have standing playdates, field trips, soccer, Children's Choir, Sunday School, etc.  The only reason we have time for all of this is because we DO homeschool.  If we were sending our kids to an 8-5 all day program, we would have to sacrifice our family time to attend all of these extra-curricular activities.  Since I am home with the girls, we get in school, activities, errands, and still have time for undivided family time.  All in all, our kids are well-adjusted and socialized.  They have LOTS of little friends and we have a large group of homeschooling families in our area for support.  I know it is easy to buy into that myth that homeschoolers are weird and stay at home 24/7 hoarding their children like a cult.  We aren't!  We are normal people with normal kids.  Well, normal-ish kids, haha!  Now that I got that off my chest, I want to share some pictures of what we've been up to for the last month.

 Our lefty working on some Handwriting Without Tears

 Growing some veggies!

Olivia helping Caroline sort items

 Caroline LOVED sorting things!

We are studying Medieval Times and Olivia had to make her own menu, selecting one item in each course

 Holding up her homemade Medieval Menu-- She was so proud (and a little grossed out)

 Working on vowels and beginning to read

 Our selections from this week's library trip!

These last few pictures are amazing.  This is what homeschooling means to our family.  We want to be able to serve our community and take the time to socialize our kids with varying age groups, not just a group of their peers.  Our co-op took a trip to a local nursing home to visit with the elderly.  Our girls worked all week coloring pictures and making crafts for these residents.  When we got there, they were feeling a little shy but it didn't take long for them to warm up.  This day warmed my heart and I really felt that this moment was confirmation from the Lord that we are following his will for our family.  We were one of the last to leave the nursing home that day and my girls have been working on more crafts to take back again soon.  THIS is why we are homeschooling. 

 And this, too.  What better place could you choose socialize your children?  

I am sorry if the beginning of this post seemed like a rant.  It really isn't.  I have so much joy in watching my children learn things academically.  But more than that, I have the joy of Christ in my heart when I see them experiencing moments like this that will shape them into the women that they will become.  We aren't homeschooling so that we can hoard our children and shelter them from the outside world.  We are homeschooling so that we CAN share them with the outside world, just as in moments like these.

"Train up a child in the way he should go;  And when he is old he will not depart from it."

                  - Proverbs 22:6

Love, Maegan