A Typical Day

Just a typical homeschool day in the Robbins' household. These are from last month, but it shows how different my boys are. Elijah wakes up and immediately begins to draw and work on school. He's obsessed with reading now, too.

Lazarus wakes up and immediately begins performing, but he doesn't care if there is an audience. Every joke, dance move and silly sound is for his own enjoyment.

So far, I'm feeling like our family is pretty balanced. I can't wait to see what this girl will bring to the family!!

Sex Ed for Youngsters

So far, I have been thrilled with our choice to homeschool Elijah this year. The other day, I had food poisoning and could not even fathom getting out of bed for any other reason but to hug that porcelain bowl. I needed two full days in bed to recoup! Getting my wild boys dressed and off to school would NOT have been an option!

We are almost done with our first 12 weeks of school (taking a break near the end of October) and things are going well. Every two weeks, we've been doing unit studies, mostly on a subject Elijah is interested in. The next two weeks, we will focus on childbirth and I'm so excited!!

To set the scene (and answer some pretty big questions about reproduction!), we bought these two books:

Amazing you!

This book is a great way to broach the topic of privacy, while also giving your curious kids and opportunity to learn about the other gender in a safe way. There is one page I do not like and I actually changed the words, ha! Otherwise, it's great and I highly recommend it for ages 4-6 yrs.

It's Not the Stork!  is another great book about anatomy, conception, growing babies and childbirth. This one is detailed and reads more like a text book. It's also silly at times and definitely engages children where they are at. I love how scientific it is! We aren't reading straight through it, but will go through pages 30-44 over the next two weeks which strictly cover conception and childbirth.

We also picked up a few easy picture books about babies in the womb (I think one of them was called "Ma, There's Nothing to do in Here!", ha!!), new siblings in your family and my favorite children's book on homebirth "Welcome with Love".

Dan and I often make last minute decisions about things like school, sex education, and other topics and rules. I'm not sure why we are like this, especially since I am naturally a planner. We do however, strongly believe in telling our children the truth and giving solid answers to their questions. Responding with "you're too young, we'll talk about it when you get older" is not really an option for us. Elijah wants answers NOW and honestly, I think if his mind is mature enough to think about such subjects, then he's mature enough to learn about them. Sex education is something that has started pretty early in our house, but I know it will be an ongoing conversation; one that continues to grow in depth and understanding as our boys grow.

Over time, Dan will take over such conversations as things become more complicated. For now, it's been fun walking the boys through this pregnancy and teaching them about the miracle of love and childbirth and God's plan in creation!! 

The New "Us"

We moved to a new city. We have a new house, a new neighborhood, daddy's got a new job and we all have a completely new routine. Life feels so different!!

Homeschooling has been super fun. We did have a bunk day last week where the boys were just plain rowdy, but other than that, our routine has been great for everyone and we're enjoying each other so much. One huge benefit  that's come out of homeschooling is the relationship between Eli and Laz. They are encouraging one another, working together and generally play well together. Elijah sees Lazzy as a playmate rather than a baby who isn't as old, smart or fast as him. Elijah's attitude toward his brother has softened and it's a sweet thing to witness as a mama.

Elijah begins almost everyday at his drawing table. He spends about an hou

r during quiet creating books and movie scenes and we often draw in the evenings, too. Can we say OBSESSED?? I mean, this boy can focus!

Elijah is on lesson 9 of 100 lessons toward reading. This is the only true lesson I give every day and it's pretty fun. I have to resist moving forward too quickly because he's doing so well. Being his teacher is such a privilege! I literally get to watch his brain grow. How amazing!

Elijah has been riding a two wheeler for almost 2 years now but his bike was getting a bit too small. Thankfully, we have new friends here with slightly older boys and passed this gem along to us. So, we continue to spend almost every afternoon riding bikes in the church parking lot behind our house, but now, we're going "500 miles on the hour!!".

We are intentionally keeping Lazzy on the balance bike until next spring, simply because I literally cannot run after him. The absence of pedals is what makes him a slow poke and I'm selfish. It works.

Ok, so maybe this is something only an obsessively organized person would notice, but I feel a lot better about the state of our homeschool bookshelf!

On the left is the before. I was able to go through and take out the materials we ended up not using for K this year. Some things I'll keep for next year, but most of it is going to Goodwill. On the right, We have everything we need to succeed and also incorporated the printer and cd player - two very important parts of our schooling :)

And that's us lately. Play dates, BBQ's, homeschooling and gearing up for fall. With a new baby coming and a dear friend flying in from Malawi next month, I've got some serious bedroom re-organizing to do upstairs but that's for another post.

Day in the Life

 We're a homeschooling family which means juggling education with daily needs. We're only two weeks in and still getting the hang of things, but so far, it's been working well. No transporting kids to and from school, no evening meetings and no homework means more time for housework, social engagements and PLAY!

This is where all the magic happens :)

I like how our busy homeschool book shelf is hidden behind the door to the kitchen. I do not like that I'm still using my sewing machine as a door stop. Gotta get on that!

 The bookshelf was $10 and it houses all of our Sonlight books, workbooks, art caddies, games, readers, manipulatives, puzzles and even our household files. The cabinet holds lots of other fun art supplies - ribbons, buttons, glue, stickers, yarn, chalkboards, paints, etc. Sometimes the dining room feels a little heavy to me, but it's a well used and beloved room in our house. As long as I keep surfaces clean, I don't get too anxious about it :)

So, what does our day look like? It starts the same way every day. East breakfast, get dressed and meet mama on the couch by 8:30am. This is my favorite part of the day when I get to just read to the boys. It's part of our Sonlight curriculum (generously lended to us by a friend!!). We start with Bible and prayer, then read through our materials. We cover history, literature and geography during this time, too.

(here, we're doing our reading at night because we decided to "skip" school that morning!)

Then, we move on to written work with phonics which takes about 20 minutes. This is the only true "teaching time" I have to give and we do this part 5 days a week. To keep Lazarus busy, he gets 30 minutes of blanket time. Each day, he is given a few different activities to do while on the blanket. Lacing cards, magnet shapes and a cookie tray, beads and pipe cleaners, pom poms and kitchen tongs, etc. He's done well keeping himself busy and I think it's good for him to learn how to focus on just a few objects at a time.

Elijah also LOVES math (no surprise here!) so we've been working through a $1 workbook. I have so many of these I've collected from the dollar store and Target. He loves writing his name at the top, completing his work and getting a sticker. It's so cute!! We also have great math games we love to play with dice, counting bears, blocks and other things I've picked up.  Lazarus sits at the table with us and does his own little coloring and cutting activities. He, too loves getting the "completion" sticker :)

One morning, Elijah slept in until 9am, so we took our time. We eventually did school, then baked and played games. I love the flexibility that homeschool gives us. Of course, I imagined myself to be more like my friend : super organized, very scheduled, beautiful spaces to work in, etc, but it turns out, I'm more of an unorganized flexible homeschool mom. Again, if we continue to homeschool, things will need to be more organized with 2 kids learning, but for now, I'm loving the extra time and space to just BE.

We're done by 10am and the rest of the day is open to do things like this:

 And this:

Oh, and this:

And the best part is, Lazarus has his best friend to play with every day instead of getting into trouble like this:

Oh who am I kidding...stuff like this happens all the time!

Fall and winter are right around the corner here in Bellingham and y'all, it ain't pretty. Lots and lots of dark rainy days are in our future and I'm feeling anxious. We do plan to attend the library story time every week and become members at this cute museum with an amazing kids section. There is also a free kids gym time at a community center nearby. I'm sure we'll be there once or twice a week!!

And Then We Changed Our Minds.....Again

Originally, the plan was to homeschool Elijah this year for Kindergarten. Then, we heard about an amazing part time classical school through our church here in Bellingham and we were sold. But then, we realized we'd be missing quite a bit of school and meetings this fall with a new baby coming and family visiting. SO...it's back to homeschooling for us!

Let me make this very clear - There are two things I was NEVER going to do in my life:

1. Become a pastor's wife.

2. Homeschool my kids.

The two things stated above are not bad things. I have so many friends who do both and are amazing women. I just never thought I had it in me! Well, when it comes down to it, I don't think I had much of a choice with either of them, and now, I am so so thankful both things are such a huge part of my life!

It's funny how the one effects the other. For us, Dan is very busy on weekends, so if Elijah was in school 5 hours a day throughout the week, we'd have no family time. As well, realizing that Kindergarten really should only be 1-2 hours of concentrated work made me want him home for those other 5 hours of the day. And what in the heck would I do with crazy Lazarus and a new baby all day??? Honestly, I need Elijah's help around here!!

There are more serious reasons why we've decided to homeschool, but many of them are just practical reasons. Who knows what we'll do next year! For now, I'm loving this extra time with my kids and the routine it's given us. Not to mention we're already planning to take 6 weeks off when the baby comes. How fun!!

I do LOVE what my friend has to say about why they chose to homeschool. Many of our reasons are the same but she does a great job explaining them all. I'm really thankful for the other teacher mamas who helped us figure out what to do this year. Even more thankful for the free curriculum and supplies we've been given. So far, we've spent $35 for school this year and best part - no tuition or uniform costs!!

We've been doing school at home for 6 days now. I'm NO expert and am definitely open for suggestions or tips or advice. It's a learning year for all of us, ha!

Friday Favorites - Homeschooling

Let me begin (yes, this is my disclaimer) by saying, I do not currently homeschool. I'm not sure it will be what we do forever, but it's how we will educate Elijah at least for the next 3-4 years. I think.

We reluctantly decided to go the pre-school route (3 mornings a week). Elijah has done well and we've LOVED the Montessori method. I feel like Elijah has learned how to learn, if that makes sense. BUT, the benefits are no longer outweighing the negative effects that school is having on our family. Elijah has 6 more days of pre-school and then we are done. There are some big things coming our way. Life changes, schedule changes and weather changes (the sun is coming out y'all!) and we want Elijah to not be tied down to a schedule. We need everyone in our family to be flexible and I'm looking forward to having my boy back!!

THAT said, I am reluctantly looking forward to homeschooling next year. I've been pinning and reading and researching and so far, these are some fun things I've found. Even if you do not homeschool your children, some of these links are activities you can do anytime.

- If you're considering homeschooling or want to understand why the heck anyone would hole up in their house with their crazy kids instead of enjoy the time off, READ THIS ARTICLE.

- One thing I've learned from the Montessori method is to stand back and allow your child to learn through exploration. Even when teaching a new lesson, Elijah's teacher does not verbally explain every detail. She just does the activity slowly and then asks questions at the end to see what the child picked up. This short article supports that method and I'm definitely going to practice it!



- Watch some Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. This show is so sweet and imaginative. I actually remember watching an episode a week when I was in 2nd grade. Instead of spelling out the lesson (be nice, share, etc.), Mr. Roger simply lives out kindness. Good wholesome fun! Say what you want about kids watching tv, but this slow moving thoughtful show will NOT rot your kids brain people. Plus, it's nice to have a little down time in the middle of the day.

- Math Games! I printed out a few of these and keep them in the kitchen. When Elijah is waiting for his meal, he'll roll the dice a few times and suddenly, we're doing school!

- Visit The World of Brian P. Cleary. He's the author of reading books and they are great! We first checked some out from the library, but I think I might buy the set. His website is so fun and I've literally watched as Elijah puts two and two together, reading new words he's never seen.

If you're like me and you're anxious about homeschooling with teeny little ones around, check out some of these activities!

-An entire list of activities for 1-2 yr olds.

-Create some busy bags for different ages. Have them ready and available for the moments when you just need 10 minutes to teach a lesson.

Any homeschooling mamas, feel free to weigh in!! I've got so much to learn!!!