School {at home}

“Mommy, it’s going to rain soon,” stated my almost-four year old.

“Really, Lovie? How do you know?” I asked, while folding and  putting away more laundry from yet another day.

My sun-kissed little daughter held her little arms up and said, “Because, the ants have biggggg walls!”

I  stopped folding laundry and quickly squeezed her in a big hug – I was proud of her! Why? Because we had read that fact earlier this summer while studying the weather and the sky … ants do indeed build higher ant hill walls when rain is predicted … but I couldn’t believe it. Well, yes, I could. Here was my three year old remembering this fact from a few months ago when I didn’t even know if she was truly listening while we read information regarding the weather.  In fact, the study we were doing was aimed at the older girls with facts beyond a three year old’s grasp …

 

But she picked it up. And she remembered it.

 

And as we officially began our fifth year of homeschooling this month,  that brought a lot of joy to my heart! Because sometimes, I wonder, am I doing this right? Are we getting anywhere?

 

{Lacey, nature journalling}

But we are – and I *love* that God has allowed our family to school at home.

This year, our one room ‘schoolhouse’ consists of a Grade 5, Grade 3, Grade 1, Jr. Kindergarten, preschool and five month old baby!

It it busy,  yes!! It’s takes up a lot of time in life – but my husband and I have both prayed about this and feel that this is where God is calling our family. It is not for the faint at heart! Homeschooling is not for wimps  – honestly! It takes a lot of personal sacrifice and heavenly perspective. Every day, you being with a big cup of coffee and the grace of God  — and prayers!   God is strong when we are weak!

It’s hard to explain homeschooling to those who have never experienced it or thought about it – your lifestyle naturally revolves around learning and veers away from a traditional school setting in many aspects. We are often finished  the formal school work by lunch time, however learning happens all throughout the day. Together, we read a lot – I read aloud to them, they read to me. We have our traditional phonics/language arts, math, handwriting [something they no longer teach in government schools] and spelling. The girls also have nature journals.  Together, we work on science and history as a family. [I will post about the unit study I put together for science later – I’m excited about it and love to teach all the girls at the same time – and yes, that is possible!] We are reading through the Bible together and have already begun the book of Leviticus.  There’s also poetry in the mix and formal music lessons.

 

 

The older girls also run their egg business, which is going great so far (not without glitches, but we are working through everything).     {Need eggs? Send them an email! We deliver to Orangeville, as well! }

Life is very busy but it is eternal work. Every day of homeschooling is an investment.

Just for fun, here’s our little homeschool corner, however, school happens *everywhere*. Sometimes we go upstairs in their bedroom so the little girls can play  at the same time. Or we might be outsde at the creek. Or learning history in the car with audio tales. Life *is* school here and school is life!

 

 

{the desk set up Abby created for us}

 

I have an old hutch that I painted – in this hutch, I store everyone’s books that are to be read, along with their curriculum.

Each girl has their own section, divided into grades.

{In the bottom half of the hutch, you will find ‘busy boxes’ for the 2 and 3 year old.
Items such as playdough, a mini sand box, puzzle, magnet crafts, counting games, paint with water … all those cute fun preschool type things!}

{busy boxes}

{my reading/holding baby chair}

 

Sometimes nature studies walk right through the door!

{the view of the whole room – it is quite small, but the best part is the cozy, warm woodstove in the winter!}

 

{desks for working and more books – we LOVE books!}

{I found this bookshelf in the old barn, dragged it in, cleaned it up and painted it. One of these desks were free on the side of the road!}

 

 

 

Do you have questions regarding homeschool? Have you thought about it in the past but doubted if you could do it? Did you know you can homeschool on a budget (and with some work, for free)?  I’d love to hear from you  – perhaps your family also homeschools or would like to start? I’d love to post more about it as it is a beautiful, busy, wonderful way to raise your children. 🙂