I'm A Homeschooler

It's official, though not necessarily permanent. I am homeschooling my children! My dear husband even told a friend of his that I was homeschooling, "for now," he qualified it. Still, it's a big step for him and a big step for me, too!

We're using a version of workboxes that takes up far less space that the original design. I have a crate with large envelopes into which I put our activities for the following day. We've been through just one week of 'school' but I can see how well this idea will carry us through the year. And, because all the materials are laid out and ready for us in the morning, we get far more done in a morning than we ever did during my experiments early in the summer.

One day, last week, we had done 10 of our 12 envelopes before lunch. We enjoyed our meal together and then went outside to play in the sunshine. About a half an hour later, Katie came to me and said "Can we go inside now to finish our envelopes? Please?" As soon as they heard her request, her sisters quickly came over to add their voices to the cause!

They love the routine of it all and they were sad when Saturday came and I said "No school today." I might go ahead and put together a couple of envelopes for weekends, just to keep them happy. Nothing required, of course, but they certainly do love to 'do school'. They even told a friend that they get to go to school "right in our own house!"

I'm sure I'll have more to write about this in a week or two. I'll be sure to keep you updated on our successes and failures. And thank you in advance for forgiving the rambling nature of this post. My excitement doesn't seem to allow me to be terribly coherent!

Back to Basics

It always takes me so long to figure this out. It's a lesson I've learned over and over again since my first babies were born. I always tell myself that I won't forget it, but I invariably do.

We have gotten dreadfully off routine. In fact, I don't think I can even find a vague hint of what our daily routine is half-heartedly pretending to be! The effects of this have been absolutely devastating. No one is getting along very well and it is entirely my fault.

So, today I change myself. Already, with just a few changes this morning, I have seen a drastic change in the twins (Sarah is still sleeping). They have been very kind to each other and more helpful and courteous.

I'm looking forward to a great day!

For Love Of Books

The moment she's dressed and sees I have socks in my hand, Sarah's face lights up and she says "We goin' to lie-berry?" Admittedly, we are there at least once a week, sometimes more often if books I've ordered have come in early, but we certainly don't go every time I put socks and shoes on her little pudgy feet. She is just ever hopeful that the van will ignore that Mommy thinks we are traveling to the grocery store and, instead, stop right at the end of our street so she can touch the books and help the ladies behind the counter and ask every last library patron she can reach "Whatcha doin'?"

She truly loves that place. And she loves the things we bring home from it. I can put some music on (which I have lately also been getting from the library) and all three of my babies will go choose a book from our 'library shelf' where we almost always have a dozen or more books, and they will find a cozy spot to love their book for a while before trading it for a different one. Sometimes they read to each other, making up simple stories from the pictures in the book. Other times they work very hard to remember the written story, even going so far as to use the first letter on the page to remind themselves how it starts.

I didn't like our library at first, because it is so very tiny and difficult to visit. The use of their online catalog, however, and the ability to summon volumes from libraries all over the county and even the state, if need be, has opened up our little world in ways I had never imagined. We would be lost without our library and I'm so grateful that my children have so easily attached themselves to the wonders that even our tiny library can hold.