School has begun!

Had our first day of our fifth year of homeschooling yesterday. Aaah...it went so well. I am loving our version the workbox system and will be sure to blog about it soon. Being organized just does it for me. And my kids are certainly taking to our new system very well.

I feel better about homeschooling each year, and I am absolutely convinced that this is what God wants for our family at this point in our lives. I'm often asked if I will homeschool through high school, and I repeatedly answer that that is my plan, but I'm not sure what God's plan is. Who knows?

Oh, yeah. God does.

I love that our first subject every day is Bible. What a way to start the day! My kids are well aware that the first drawer they open will be Bible. My hope & prayer is that they continue to seek God first every day when they are adults and making decisions on their own.

I hope everyone's school year is going well!

{Not} Back-to-School Blog Hop: Schoolroom!

While browsing other people's blogs this morning, I was reminded that it's Schoolroom week at Heart of the Matter! Click below to get more details.



I must admit that I have a tad bit of schoolroom envy this morning. ;) Such wonderful spaces I've seen! Colorful, creative, fun! As you can see from my pictures, we haven't started school yet. Supplies remain in bins, and I've got a couple boxes of curricula waiting for me at the post office.

So we obviously do school at our kitchen table. We no longer have an extra dining area to corral the school goodies, so it's just out there. That would have bothered me back when I started homeschooling. I had desks for the kids, a bulletin board, a cabinet dedicated to "hide school" in our dedicated schoolroom. Well, we live in a smaller house now, so our options are fewer. But I love it! I'll love it even more once I get all of our curricula and organize.

This first picture is it! Like I said, everything is still in bins, but you get an idea.
















We are implementing the workbox system this year. I will blog more about that later, but these are the organizers I found last week.




















And finally, my favorite part of our schoolroom. . .the view. A lush Iowa bean field (and next year it will be a corn field, of course!). :) I love the feeling of openness it brings to our room, even on this humid, rainy day.















I'm really enjoying looking at everyone's setups.

Happy Monday!!!

Wordless Wednesday

 

{Not} Back-to-School Blog Hop

I'm joining in on the fun over at Heart of the Matter!

Brandon (9) - Fourth Grade
Naomi (6) - First Grade

Bible
This will be our first subject each day that I'll be leading. We'll be using the "Choosing..." series by Kaye Freeman, starting with "Choosing Obedience." They are each 16 lessons, and I haven't decided if I'll do one lesson a week and focus on that each day or one lesson a day. Need to spend a little more time looking at the book that we just received.

Math
Brandon: Saxon 5/4
Naomi: Saxon 1

Grammar
Brandon: Easy Grammar
Naomi: Various resources

Handwriting
Brandon: We will continue with New American Cursive, along with copy work
Naomi: Copy work

Reading
Brandon: Daily selected readings
Naomi: We will continue with Hooked on Phonics

Spelling
Brandon: Daily Spelling Practice
Naomi: Superteacherworksheets.com lessons

Art
For both, we'll have art at least twice a week, no particular curriculum.

Science
Brandon: Aplogia "Exploring Creation with Astronomy"
Naomi: I will modify Brandon's lessons to Naomi's level

History/Geography
For both, we'll be using Homeschool in the Woods, beginning with "New World Explorers." We'll also use supplemental resources.

Here is the weekly schedule for {Not} Back-to-School Blog Hop: