Homeschool: Week One

Week one of homeschool is in the books! What a week!! 

Bright and early on Monday morning we began. I woke Jonah up around 7:45 and he did his morning chores (make the bed, get dressed and brush teeth), then we did our devotion and prayer together to start the day headed in the right direction. 

From 8-9am we worked on Language Arts lessons, then stopped for breakfast. Since it was our first day I decorated and the kids had bacon and cinnamon rolls! 

After breakfast we sat around the table and Jonah completed his handwriting practice sheets and we began listening to The Courage of Sarah Noble (history!). The kids played for a bit, we had lunch together and then once Sutton was down for her nap Jonah and I went on a nature walk and documented our findings in his nature journal (science!). 

As the week progressed I began to get a feel for how long each subject lesson should take- and how long he can sit and pay attention. He seems to love listening to the books while practicing handwriting! Overall our school day is right around 1.5/2hrs long depending on how many lessons we complete. 

We finished up The Courage of Sarah Noble on Wednesday and began Captain John Smith. I was pleased that as we began listening Jonah  put together the timeline of events and noted that Sarah lived after John- which is correct! Also, he has made significant progress in sound words out this first week and I absolutely feel that’s a result of the phonics we’re practicing daily! It was so nice to see small glimpses of learning and his excitement (he cheered for himself- he’s been mixing up “well” and “will” while reading out loud and he totally nailed it on Wednesday!). Also cute- he drew this boat when we began listening to John Smith (he’s paying attention while working on handwriting!). 

I feel great. And proud. I’m aware there will be hard days, and hard weeks but this first one is under our belt and it’s been WONDERFUL! I’m excited and full of hope for our year together.... and surviving on coffee and colored markers! 

We’re currently learning the Christian Pledge- and our first memory work is Deuteronomy 6:5-7: 

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your sold and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall TEACH them diligently to your children, and shall y’all of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you rise.” 

I’m incredibly thankful for the best first week of homeschool!! Every day is a GIFT! 

School Prep

Guys. I’ve been having the best time researching and prepping for Jonah’s school year. His curriculum arrived a couple of week ago and we (verrrry gently) eased into doing a few lessons together each day. Really casually. Nothing structured. First, I wanted to gauge the material and see how I liked it, see how the lessons were laid out and also get a feel for the length of them and really most importantly- how Jonah feels about it. He loves it! I love it.  

For the most part The Good and The Beautiful is open and go. It’s divided into Languages Arts (grammar, phonics, spelling, etc), Math and Handwriting. They have science units I plan to introduce later in our year. For now we will explore science thru life lessons. Jonah’s super into American History right now- so I plan to capitalize on that and have been researching great living books that coordinate with US History. 

On that note- we are beginning with The Courage of Sarah Noble tomorrow and I’ve been having the most fun researching other read aloud books. It really seems to have sparked something within me (I used to be the biggest bookworm before I had Jonah and got away from reading- I miss it!). 

Honestly I’m just so excited. This is my initial plan for what our daily schedule will look like, of course it’s likely to change- but that’s the beauty of homeschool! It’s okay to be flexible. So, I’m planning to begin our homeschool day with morning chores (my friend Sherah sent me the coolest family economy system), sit down for language arts lessons, then break for breakfast/morning time around the table once Sutton wakes up (maybe insert a break to ride bikes or go on a nature walk after breakfast) then math lesson, handwriting and finish up with some memory work. My goal is to be completely finished with schoolwork/lessons by lunch-time each day. I’m eager to see what rhythm we actually fall into- and what ends up working best for us. 

Jonah requested cinnamon rolls and bacon for our annual back to school breakfast tomorrow- we will be celebrating our new adventure!! I’m praying for the Lord to guide us and bless this time we have together on our homeschool journey. I’m certain every day won’t be a piece of cake but my attitude is EVERYTHING. Time is a gift. Time with my children is certainly a gift. I’m going to do my best to roll with it and try to remember why we chose this! 

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I snagged the cutest back to school pjs for the kiddos and they LOVE them. I’m surprising them with the personalized crayons at breakfast tomorrow and can’t hardly wait! 

Homeschool: The Adventure Begins

Jonah's withdrawal from public school is complete and we are officially a 

HOMESCHOOL FAMILY

If you would have suggested this is where we would be one year ago I'd have laughed!! FOR REAL. Never in my wildest imagination did I think I would be a homeschool Mom. It really wasn't on my radar at all (despite having made friends with numerous homeschool Mommas the last few years!). So much weirdness has happened in 2020. It's absolutely mind-blowing to think about life as we know it these days. So here we are. A homeschool family.  I really want to document our journey to reflect back on in the future so I decided to dust off the old blog and share bits and pieces here and there... when I actually remember to. I've received quite a few questions about our decision and things like the curriculum I chose so I felt like this was a great place to keep everything in one place and refer back to along the way. 

Here we go. Our homeschool journey. 

What I'm jokingly calling Strickland Academy. 

Established 2020-20201 school year. 

Jonah is eight years old and just completed first grade in public school.

Sutton is three years old.

THE DECISION

Why?

I want Christ to be at the center of our lessons and the heart of Jonah's education.  I want to control WHAT Jonah learns, HOW he learns it and WHO he learns it from. I want flexibility to travel and adventure as a family.  I want Jonah to learn as HE learns best- whatever that may look like and have the ability to play and be a curious child while he's a child.  I want stability, consistency and safety for Jonah. I want fun, freedom and exploration.

To begin- I feel the need to be 100% transparent. It took MANY months of discussion with Jeremy,  specific prayer (this was a big, difficult decision) and a lot of research for me to arrive at this place of peace with transitioning Jonah from public school to homeschool. I really felt like this was what I was being called to do- to homeschool Jonah. And I'm not gonig to lie...in the beginning I felt like it was a firm no. Me being stubborn, as usual....

Honestly I was NOT concerned with academics or the social aspect of being a home-schooled student. Fun fact? I was actually home-schooled! I am fully aware of the benefits of homeschool in terms of academics and I have zero concerns with the "social" aspect of school (that seems to be what naysayers immediately pull from their hat of opinions). So what was it? 

Welllllll. It was me being selfish. I'm ashamed to admit it but I knew homeschooling would be a selfless move. Mentally taxing. A giving up of myself somewhat. And giving up any and basically all of the little "me" time that I had while Jonah was at school. In my gut I knew this was 100% the right move for our family and for Jonah but I really struggled with what it looked like for ME. Submitting my will has always been an issue for me. The Lord has gently worked on and in my heart over the last few months and I've arrived at a place of complete peace. And sidenote-in an effort to take care of myself I plan to set aside time each week to continue to be a mentally and physically healthy Momma (because that is ALWAYS what's best for both Mom and kiddos, right?!).

In terms of success- I believe Jonah will thrive with the one on one attention I'll be able to provide for him. He just completed first grade in public school and truly enjoys learning. He's super curious and is just a little sponge at this age (he just turned 8). Honestly switching to virtual learning thru his elementary school as a result of COVID was eye-opening for me! The amount of hours he was actually "learning" at school vs just "being" at school was honestly something I'd never taken a moment to really think about. Over the last size months there have been so many little things and stories Jonah talked about while we were doing the virtual assignments that confirmed homeschool was the best path for not only him but also our family as a whole. So despite the craziness of COVID I'm actually quite thankful for it. It caused me to pause and really investigate how and what I want Jonah (and Sutton!) to learn. That is a huge blessing!

I'm committing to take this one year at a time. Year by year and see how it works for our family. 

CURRICULUM

The first question everyone has had is- What curriculum did you decide on?

And this was what I began researching immediately. I immediately took to the internet to find new programs (the ones I used as a student- like Abeka- are still around and I looked into them as well), and chatted with veteran homeschool Mom friends to see what they are currently using and what has and hasn't worked for their kiddos. I am SO THANKFUL for this group of friends that I have. They've been a tremendous blessing to me as I've researched what's best for Jonah. 

After several months of research I decided to move forward with The Good and The Beautiful for our inaugural homeschool year. There are TONS of options and SO many great ones to boot. Ultimately I narrowed it down to either Classical Conversations or TGTB. CC isn't off the table completely- I still plan to look into it more and maybe even try portions of it but I decided TGTB worked for my personality and Jonah- for now. The beauty of learning at home is just that. You can revise as you go. If something isn't working you can revise, edit, switch it up. I love that! I'll keep you guys posted once we actually start doing the lessons! Every child and parent is different so I'm keeping an open mind. 

I'm still working to decide when we will begin. Our curriculum has just arrived and I'm familiarizing myself with it. I love the freedom this new adventure provides our family with!! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. I am a complete novice and have so much to learn. I'm incredibly thrilled to be on this new adventure and will share everything I can that's working (or not working!) for us!

xoxo

Magical 3rd Birthday

Happy 3rd Birthday, sweet Sutton Claire! 

Easter Bunny Brunch

 

Yesterday we hosted an Easter Bunny Brunch- turned "Breakfast for Dinner" (due to rainy weather on Saturday morning) for our sweet friends. I've wanted to host an Easter gathering at our home the last two years and decided to make it happen. I love planning events that we would love to attend....festive celebrations!! Fun was had by the kiddos and the adults alike! Here are a few details of our afternoon.

Where to begin? Let's be honest. It ALL starts with the food...

Brunch Menu

• Glazed Ham Biscuits
• with Homemade Honey Butter, or
• Garlic Chive Butter
• Hash-brown Casserole
• Scrambled Eggs
• Cinnamon Rolls
• Fresh Fruit
• Juices & Sweet Tea

Not too long ago I saw a biscuit bar recipe for Ham Biscuits with Garlic Chive Butter that looked absolutely AMAZING. So amazing that I screenshot it and saved it to my phone. I love trying new recipes so I tried my hand at making two whipped butters for the biscuits.

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.

WHY HAVEN'T I TRIED WHIPPED BUTTERS BEFORE?!?!

Seriously, homemade honey butter or garlic chive butter on HOT biscuits fresh from the oven. STOP. This was hands down my favorite item I've ever served guests in the history of.... EVER! Everyone raved about them and went back for (dare I say) three biscuits?! Shhhh. Don't tell the trainers.

For the kids table I found the cutest bunny plates and napkins at TJ MAXX (my favorite spot for inexpensive paper goods) and built a festive table around them. I wanted it to be colorful to coordinate with the happy Easter eggs- so I pulled out a Spring scrapbook book I scored at Michael's after Christmas for $3 (for the entire book of 100 sheets) and used the pages as place-mats. After setting the table I decided to cut simple bunny ears from the same paper for cute little bunny headbands!! Totally on the cheap- and LOOK how cute!!!

We had an Easter Egg hunt and then the kids played baseball in the street and in the backyard. It was such a laid-back, fun gathering. Exactly what I'd hoped it would be!!

And my own two two chicks!? IN HEAVEN. 

Jonah asked me about 25 times throughout the day "when does my Easter party start?! and Sutton Claire kept sneaking over to the table to grab the chocolate. She's no dummy!!

It is my greatest JOY to create and host celebrations like this. They make the the happiest memories and are worth any time and effort I put into them.

I can't wait to celebrate Easter and our RISEN Savior this week with my little family.
Happy Easter!!

WICTW: Episode 2

I tried four fantastic recipes from Creme de la Crumb before Spring Break.
Here's the lineup:

1. Spicy Korean Beef Noodles: This was SO good. So, so good. I made the noodle part again (minus the beef) for lunch another day when a friend came over to chat. It's a hit. Keeper recipe for our family. They're hot. Warning! But that didn't stop Jonah from eating them. The flavor is SO good!

I purchased a "value pack" size steak package (I'm not super picky about steak types...I'm kind of a wing-it girl) and refrigerated half of the pack for the next evening's dinner.

2. Garlic Steak and Potato Foil Packs: Great flavor and really easy to prep ahead of time! We love any kind of foil pack. I served with Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

3. Grilled Chicken Margherita: SO GOOD! Jeremy took the leftovers for lunch and raved about it the next day as well. He is NOT a leftovers kind of guy. At all. I served this with basic spaghetti noodles tossed with a couple TBSP of basil pesto (the kind in the jar). Was a huge hit! Definite do-over!

And, this week I found my way BACK to the same website and made this recipe in the crock-pot:
4. Cream Cheese Chicken Chili: I've had this a couple days for lunch leftover and it's delicious. I'll make this one again also!
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Thus far I've been super impressed with the Creme de la Crumb recipes I've tried. I found her randomly awhile back and wanted to mix up my weeknight SkinnyTaste rotation. Her recipes aren't as "light" as ST, but it's been great to try a few new things. My gang has all approved!

Now that I'm thinking about those Korean Noodles I'm going to add the ingredients to my grocery order for next week. SCORE.

California Disneyland Adventure

We completely surprised Jonah with a trip to DISNEYLAND in California for his very first “big school” Spring Break. It was an epic surprise- and an amazing trip!! We had the most fun together!! 

We explored LA, ate delicious food, put our feet into the Pacific and spent a day at Disneyland in Anaheim.