Fatigue

Is it over yet? ¡Oy Ve! Now don’t get me wrong, we are still enjoying our homeschool adventure and we have no plans of quiting or returning back to public school. We have just done so much creative learning that we may have reached the we need a break point of things. And you know what? That’s the beauty of homeschooling! We can take a break whenever we need to! Yay!

Here is my dilema on the break… We have taken a lot of them. Be it for horses, holidays or field trips, ‘breaks’ have accounted for a lot of our learning time. The part of me still stuck in the rigidness of the public school structure, looks at where we are in our beloved curriculum and thinks, “oh no! We are so far behind! We haven’t done enough school and I am failing at this home school gig.” However, the part of me that happily shook the scholarly public school robes off and threw them in the landfill knows we have done all types of learning EVERYDAY and that Kaira and Quori have grown immensely this year.

Mostly, I know there is an end of the year project Kaira has the option to do and send in to Easy Peasy, which will be displayed on the website and I really want her to do that. Silly, right? Especially because she has experienced so many things this year that she would have missed out on, had we still been on the public school cog wheel.

Speaking of curriculums, I have added to our pre pre school… Or rather, I made things easier for me. We signed up for ABC mouse and like Kaira’s curriculum, we LOVE it. With a few minor adjustments to fit our needs (we do the same lesson everyday of the week) and then I add different activities to each day to reinforce the ABC mouse lesson. This has been a big help, because I was also feeling like I was slacking on teaching the littles and that they, too, were behind.

Thankfully, I take lots of pictures and I was able to see documentation of just how much learning we have done. Have a look and check out all of our learning over thehe last month.

History isn’t always pretty, but it’s ours and we’re gonna learn all about it.

History in real life. This is our cousin integrating the Stafford County School System

We’ve been working on grammar! This, of course is a favorite of mine.

We took in a play! Godspell, which prompted some great thought provoking questions.

Sometimes, this is how school happens! Love ABC Mouse!

Finally got to see the Terracotta Army- which we learned about in our 4th week of school.

Rr makes the errr sound! Having lots of fun painting Elmo red

Lots of fun learning about the letter Rr- R is for red (play dough)

We are learning how to coupon and save money

Many Benefits in Home Schooling

Is the school year over with yet? Whoo. I am worn out. This homeschooling thing continues to be a lot more than what I thought it would be. Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying every minute of it and wouldn’t change it for the world.

Yep. given the choice, I would keep on dealing with the life and frustrations of a two-year old and two of his friends. I would suffer my daughter’s eye rolls and other teen age angst. I would chase after kids on bicycles and deal with toys always strewn about. I would spend hours combing through countless websites and Facebook groups over ‘new’ things to try and I would keep plugging right along in my quest to make learning exciting, even though I am fairly certain the ‘coolness’ of homeschooling has worn off for Kaira. No matter what alternative is presented, I will choose this life and everything thrown in with it.

The ‘plague’ seemed to hang over my house during the month of February, it was one sickness after another and I’m not sure how much school any of us got through, honestly. At one point, I told Kaira, ” if you’re well enough to be on You tube, then you’re well enough to do school” ( I later regretted that statement, when I succumbed to the germs infecting my home and could not muster the strength to write or read something, but could manage some videos.) Even though I was aiming pretty high on the ‘let’s get school done’ spectrum, I was happy to be able to let my daughter get school work done from the comfiness of her bed.

On Valentine’s Day, she received flowers from her dad and proudly displayed them in her work space for the day. I am glad to be home schooling, especially for moments like those. I know she felt encouraged and loved being able to see and smell those flowers throughout the day.

We have experienced the many benefits home schooling has to offer.

While I was basking in the many ‘little’ benefits of home schooling, however, a massive tragedy was taking over my fellow countrymen in Florida. Yet another school shooting. My heart broke at this news and like many of you as news of the day’s events began to unfold.

It was sickening and I was saddened for our nation.

From this, I began to hear people voice their concern in having their children return to the public school system (a completely NORMAL response). I listened as talks of arming or not arming our public school teachers and I listened as more and more parents (for whatever reason) began to seriously investigate home school as a viable option for them and their children.

Ordinarily, I would jump at the chance to talk to people about home schooling. I want everyone to know how great home schooling can be and that everyone (yes, even you single mom) can do it, no matter what your financial or employment status may be.

These, however, were not ordinary times and I did not respond nor did I join the conversation.

     These parents were only interested in home schooling as a way to keep their children safe from the kind of danger seen in Florida. While I did enjoy being able to hug my daughter tight and a little more often throughout the day, I wasn’t sure our decision to home school was any safer than Little Johnny’s parents’ decision to send him to the county school…

There are tons of advantages and benefits of home schooling- I am sure you have heard me spout a few of them and I am sure there are some I will never treasure. Keeping our kids safe from the dangers of this world is not one of those benefits…

Shootings like these are beginning to happen more frequently than I would like to admit, but this is the reality of the world we are living in. As much as we want to keep our children safe from them, home schooling won’t do that. Shootings don’t just happen in schools. They happen in movie theaters, on military bases, in churches and the list goes on.

I want you to home school your children. I enjoy advocating home school as an option. I just don’t want you to go into it with your eyes wide shut.

Home schooling your child or children does not mean they and you will avoid the tragedy of a mass shooting any more than someone sending their child or children to public school will suffer this tribulation.

I hope you will come back and continue on this amazing adventure with us. I hope you will want to follow along on our field trips. If home schooling is something you are really wanting for your family, I hope you will reach out to me and invite me for a coffee or something, so we can talk shop. Most of all, I hope you will hug your kids a little tighter and for a little longer, tell them you love them. Finally, I hope you have heard this mama’s voice and that you will join me in prayer that our nation heals and grows from this place and that this is the final time we experience such a devastating loss anywhere.

The Speaker

   Thanks to a 4 H presentation contest last week, we didn’t do a whole lot of curriculum schooling. Choosing instead to focus on Kaira’s speech.

The presentation contest topic was left up to the participants, the only requirement being it had to be a ‘how-to’ presentation. Kaira’s topic of choice was, ‘how to peacefully defend yourself’.

I let Kaira go on her own for this one. This was a great way for me to gauge where her strengths and weaknesses lay in writing, presenting and research. Some of the thing I observed from not checking in with Kaira more about her speech were that she is able to pinpoint the main idea and stick to it. She can also provide supporting sentences for her main idea. I now know we need to practice more with spelling and grammar.

I think she could have done better- especially in the form of preparation, but what parent doesn’t think this way about their kids? I am proud of her for getting out there and participating. She is learning to take control of her learning and I think that is the most important lesson a girl can learn, don’t you?

Kaira’s take on things….

What  do you learn about writing a ‘how-to’ speech?

K:    It’s hard because you’re writing a speech and you aren’t sure what you’re going to say.

How did you figure out what to say?

K:     I thought of the things I do in Aikido and what I wanted to show the audience.

What did you learn about giving a speech?

K:     To follow what you’re going to say and try to say the closest thing, if you can’t remember what you wrote down. Make sure to look at the audience and if you need to use your cards, don’t hold them up in front of your face. Don’t get distracted by the things around you.

Should you practice your speech?

K:     Yes. Always practice your speech so you don’t forget it.

What are some of the things you have learned in school that helped you with the presentation?

K:     Write a rough draft before you have your finished paper.

What is something you didn’t do this time, but think you should do the next time you need to write a speech?

K:     Actually go along with what is written and don’t procrastinate on writing it.

By the way, she won a blue ribbon and is headed to districts on March 10th.

What are some things you have learned outside of your school setting? We want to hear from you, so leave us a comment and tell us all about it! Don’t forget to be free with the likes and shares!!!

 

It’s Another Snow Day…

Yep, it’s snowing, again! Quori took one look outside and and promptly tried to close the curtains. He only tolerates the snow and just barely at that! We will be schooling today, but just a bit differently than normal…

If you’ll remember, the commercial break  from the last update, I wrote a book, so Kaira has been observing and learning all about the marketing and production of authoring and publishing! One of those aspects is being interviewed to promote your work. I have made this a part of our schooling by talking with Kaira about all the things she thinks I should or should not include in an interview, what would make it successful or not etc. Though she has shown no interest in being a writer, I love the exposure she is getting.

I would love for you to check Rob Burton, an author I am enjoying immensely at present, out!

Whew! As if this wasn’t enough school for a snow day, we woke up to this-

We’ve been nominated for another award!!!

 

Yay! Thank you so much to our nominator, Iris Krafer of Do It Yourself Trends for Kids! As part of our nomination, we need to answer some questions. So to continue with the way our schooling is going today, Kaira is going to help me answer the questions. Here we go-

What did you think about when you heard, you are the nominee!

Kaira: Surprised, but not too surprised because I knew it would happen again, one day.

Kim: Surprised and blessed. I am totally amazed where God is taking us through our little homeschool venture.

What do you like about your blog?

Kaira: They are fun and they include me

Kim: I love everything! I love the time I get to spend with Kaira when we work on it together and the help our blog can be to others. I also enjoy providing funny mishaps or what have you when sharing things about our homeschool days!

Why are you a blogger?

Kaira: Turn that ‘b’ into a ‘v’ and that’s me. I’m not a blogger, but I wouldn’t mind being a vlogger.

Kim: (The wheels in my head are already turning about a possible next school project for Kaira) I am a blogger because I love to write, tell stories and help people. I feel I can do all of these things well as a blogger.

Which 3 items would you choose when you would go to the beach?

Kaira: My horse, Buttons; Water gun or squirt toy; boogie board

Kim: My phone (so I could MAYBE sneak some writing in); whatever good book I am reading at the moment; cooler filled with food and drinks

What’s your favorite movie?

Kaira: My favorite movie… of all time is Lion King.

Kim: I don’t have a favorite movie. Every movie I see becomes my favorite until I see the next one, lol! 🙂

On which subject do you like to blog the most?

Kaira: (I changed the question a bit for Kaira) What do you think you will want to vlog about? Usually vlogs are about your life, duh… But mainly, my horse and my other animals, but especially, my horse.

Kim: Homeschooling and Genealogy- the only two things I currently blog about! Though, I am working on building my website and am looking into blogging there about writing, however, that is still up n the air.

Which characteristic do you like on other people?

Kaira: funny, nice, and helpful

Kim: I enjoy people that I can have great conversations with; we don’t have to agree on everything, as long as we can have civil discussions. I also enjoy encouraging characteristics and personalities.

What tip or advice would you give to other bloggers?

Kaira: (what questions would you ask other vloggers?) What is the best camera to get… yes there is a specific camera, mom; What are some tips you could give me in order to become “famous”?; How do you start vlogging?

Kim: My advice to other bloggers would be to find your niche or specific writing style and stay true to that, because if you deviate from those things, your articles will appear to be not genuine and forced.

Name your favorite blogpost?

Kaira: (Name your favorite vlogger) The Ace Family

Kim: (picks jaw up off the floor, because I didn’t know Kaira knew who ANY vloggers were) I don’t have a favorite. i enjoy reading and so I find myself reading a variety of bloggers- all who appeal to me for varying reasons!

On which social media platform are you posting, too?

Kaira: (where will you post you vlog) Youtube and Instagram

Kim: I post on Facebook (my personal page, my author page, and several groups), Instagram, Twitter, WordPress and Tumbler

What’s the next subject you want to blog about?

Kaira: (when will you start working on your vlog) Maybe when I have something exciting going on- not that this isn’t important, but I think it needs to be something exciting going on, I think. *** I followed this up with some more conversation about maybe starting now, using her phone until she gets the other equipment she needs… Stay tuned for more on this.***

Kim: On the genealogy blog I think I am going to talk about my DNA results or maybe talk about the countries I come from… As for this blog, you’ll just have to wait and see!

And NOW FOR OUR NOMINEES!

Erika of Unapologetically Erika

Graciela of La Beautiful Caos

Aaliyah from Diary of The Queen of Procrastination

Emily with Stem is for Girls

Wynne from Caterpillar Buddies

Andrea of Eat Sleep Love Create

Sarah at  Ellah at Home

Vanessa with Traveling Nessy

Laura at Billions of Lives

Paige from The Anxious Photo

Sundus Shahbaz and team from Engineer High

Congratulations to all of you! I hope you will accept the nomination from Kaira and I. To select a Sunshine blogger award image, please click here.

The Sunshine Blogger Award is given by bloggers to bloggers who inspire positivity and creativity in the blogging community and the rules to participate are quite simple-

1. Thank the Blogger who nominated you in a blog post and link back to his/her blog.

2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asks you.

3. Nominate up to 11 new blogs to receive the award and write 11 new questions.

4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and / or on your blog.

And now for our questions…

1. Do you vlog as well as blog?
2. Why did you start blogging?
3. Why do you blog about your preferred topic?
4. Where is your favorite place to write?
5. Do you like to blog about anything else?
6. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only have 3 things with you, what would they be?
7. If you could travel to anyplace in the world, where would you go and why>
8. What are your top 5 Bucket List items?
9. Do you prefer the beach, country or city and why?
10. Do you have any pets?
11. If you had to write about three animals, which animals would you write about?

Snow Days

Last week, we experienced record lows, as did pretty much everyone else on the Eastern side of the US… Along with the below freezing temps came snow and ice… Kids everywhere celebrated because they got almost another week out from school, after only just finishing the Christmas or Winter break.

Well maybe not all kids. As we were still trying to ease back into our home school routine after the break, we hadn’t really gotten back into the swing of things when the snow started to fall. I have to admit, I was torn between trudging on the path of learning or joining our neighbors in a day of no school! That first day, the cold won out and as I snuggled deeper into my covers, thankful I didn’t have to go anywhere, I relished in not having to pull out a lesson plan or look at school work for one more day. (I was having just as much of a struggle as Kaira was in the getting back to school department.)

But then, there was no school again and I knew we couldn’t go another day of mind numbing nothingness, plus Kaira was starting to show signs of boredom, in the form of irritability. We had to do something. However, as the kids in the apartment above us seemed content to run up and down the hallway- ALL DAY, it didn’t seem like we would be able to get in a full day. It didn’t seem worth it to pull out the computer and the notebook if we weren’t really going to do anything with them.

I wrote a book! It’s called Journey to Forgiveness .

Now that I am doing all things author (in addition to everything I was doing before), I have been spending a large amount of time in various author groups on Facebook. During a visit into one such group (read procrastinating on starting school), I stumbled upon an awesome gem!

A book for Kaira. I came up with the great idea of having Kaira read this book- her school for the duration of the snow days- and when she finished, she had to write a book review. This was an absolute win/win, because it gave me more time to get other things done and she wasn’t moping because ‘all the other kids didn’t have to go to school’ (even though they went countless times when she didn’t do school).

Without further adieu, here is Kaira’s Book Review

Connect with the author or get purchase info here.

 

Did you like the book? Why or Why not?

Yes, I liked this book because it had adventure and funny moments in it. It also made me feel like I was one of the characters. My favorite character was Runa. She taught the rats how to be rats and she was one of the heroes. If this book is part of a series, I would love to read the other books.

Would you read other books by this author?

I definitely want to read all the books by this author.

Who should read this book?

I think tweens and teens who like adventures and animals should read this book. They will like this book because, [like me] they will feel like they are in the book and they will care for the characters, also.

She loved it so much, she told the Gram about it!

Clearly, she loved this book and thinks you will too! I think the next thing I will have her do is come up with some interview questions and have her contact the author. I love the flexibility homeschooling has given us and the opportunity to experience the many different things she has experienced these last couple of months.

Did you guys have any snow days? Do you take them when it does snow? What do you do on snow days? Leave us a comment down below telling us all about your snow days! And as always, please be generous with those likes and sharing is caring- so share everywhere!

Torn

 Torn… that’s how I’ve been feeling these last couple of days, as a homeschool mom and teacher. Don’t get me wrong; this is not a post about me lamenting about how I am questioning our homeschool adventure decision. We have crossed that bridge and overcome those troubles and we are homeschooling with no regrets.

As many of you know, I love ‘our’ curriculum. I shout its praises fairly often- if you haven’t seen any of this praise shouting, stick around for a few and I am sure you’ll catch it. But, here I am torn between the curriculum we love and what exactly? We are fairly fortunate to live in a state that does not require us to keep track of days or hours homeschooled, but our beloved and CHOSEN curriculum is set up to accommodate the strictest of states. This means that there are 180 days of school provided within this wonderful resource. This is great, except for it isn’t, because those numbers have a tendancy to make me feel like we are behind schedule or that we aren’t doing or haven’t done enough.

For example, according to the school tracker, we are on day 48 of school. Public schools around here were on Day 61, before they broke for Winter Break…

We’ve been schooling since mid-August. In my mind’s eye (which admittedly, sometimes forgets that I am no longer a pre-school teacher in a highly structured facility), we have not been doing enough, we are behind and I am failing my child.  Do I insist my child double down, in order to ‘catch up’? How do I combat the feelings of being insufficient? What do I do? For a moment, I was torn with indecision and didn’t do anything.

 

In the end, I had a come to Jesus talk with myself. Homeschooling is not a numbers game. It isn’t a game at all. I am not competing against anyone- and neither are you, if you’re on your own homeschool jaunt.

It’s true, we’ve been schooling since mid August, but all of those days were not spent dedicated to a planned out curriculum. All of those days, however, contributed to who Kaira is and will be and her overall growth as a human being; and yes, learning was happening.

All learning doesn’t come from books

Anyone can have a conversation with Kaira and know that she is learning. She can tell you what the inside of a horse’s mouth feels like; how the teeth are supposed to feel; how to tell if a horse has an infection or someother foot problem- all of this will help her as she persues a career as a veterinarian. She can tell you all about Penrod and Sam; she can tell you in glorious detail about most of our bodily systems and functions. Want to know about eye surgery on a cow? She can explain it to you. We will soon be taking a trip to see the Terracota Army and you guessed it, she could be the tour guide.

     This doesn’t even begin to uncover everything Kaira has experienced since mid-August, when our official journey began… She has been exposed to public speaking (of sorts) through Home School Open Mic and singing the National Anthem; she is active in her community through 4H and the list goes on and on.

It may not be education like most of us are used to or have experienced with public school, but it is education none-the-less. It was silly of me to have been tempted to relinquish our curriculum, because of a number. It seems rather fooloish to have wasted so much time on being torn between what to do about Kaira being behind, because clearly, she is not.

Here’s my take away and a lesson for you, if you’re new to homeschooloing or whatever. It isn’t a race to the finish. It is a journey and you and your child need to finish it however works for you guys- not how the world thinks or dictates you should. Also, everyone feels insecure at some point about their homeschooling decision and especially in reguards to whether or not they are failig their children. (And unless you have your child(ren) sit in complete silence without any stimulation, no one is failing their children.)

You’ve got this and so do I!     

We would love to hear from you all about a time you felt torn in your homeschooling journey or even about all the things you have learned through a curriculum or not! Hit the like button ( especially if you sympahize with me about being torn…) And we are always appreciative of thsoe shares and follows!+

A Quick Trip to Ancient Egypt

A few weeks into our adventure, Kaira ‘discovered’ Ancient Egypt… Prior to our trip to Ancient Egypt, I had only seen a literal change in Kaira’s learning briefly- when relearning some math skills. This adventure was different, though. It wasn’t just the dawn of understanding finally happening after struggling for so long to grasp a concept… This was actual interest and a desire to learn something she had not previously been exposed to.

I loved every minute of seeing this exploration.

You guys already know, we are following the Easy Peasy curriculum, which I highly recommend and where our journey began. If you have visited the EP site, then you know things like science, history, Bible and Art are divided into Years… Ancient Egypt can be found in Year One. As I have said before, EP does not have to be used as a whole curriculum and can be used as individual courses, so if Ancient Egypt is on your radar, you should definitely check it out.

The only thing I did not like, as we were learning about Ancient Egypt was a video, which if memeory serves me correctly, was TWO HOURS LONG. This video was not a part of the EP curricula, but it was on one of the sites we visited for EP and because Kaira was so into learning about Ancient Egypt, she wanted to watch the video. When I got bored, about halfway through, and suggested we didn’t need to finish watching, she insisted we finish it, because she needed to know what happened.

I struggled through that video and didn’t fall asleep, because when you are the teacher and you arer invested in your child and you want to foster true learning and spend time with your kid- that’s what you do.

Ancient Egyptians are credited for being one of the first civilalizations to use a written language. Kaira had lots of fun learning about hieroglyphics. She especially liked writing ‘secret’ messages to family members via email and seeing if they could decipher them. (I can’t remember if this activity was in the EP lessons or if I added it as something extra, so if I added it as extra, now I’ve shared it with you and if I didn’t, well now you know that this activity was loads of fun!) Family memebers liked being included in Kaira’s learning process and were thrilled to learn along with her- as they had to study the hieroglyphics in order to communicate with her. Added bonus, this activity gave Kaira something to talk to older members of our family about, which fostered some always welcome communication among the generations. Yay.

Along with learning the written language, Kaira learned the process the Ancient Egyptians went through to make paper. Because obviously, you can’t have a written language with nothing to write it on, right? The paper making activity took a few days to fully make, but it was definitely worth it. I suggest you break out the newspaper and old clothes for this one. (This was when I realized that even in homeschool or maybe moreso in homeschool, an art shirt is necesasry, lol.)

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Be forewarned though- this stuff STINKS when it is drying! Also, I had to keep going back and peeling the paper off of the newspaper and paper towel so it wouldn’t stick to those things… This was a tedius process because you had to be extremely careful, otherwise you would rip the paper… I can’t even fathom the patience Ancient Egyptians had, having to do this over and over again.

After Kaira had completed EP’s unit on Ancient Egypt, I had a special project awaiting her. She mummified Barbie. I was able to expand the mummification of Barbie even further by having Kaira create Barbie’s tomb room (the inside of a pyramid), based on what she had learned and by having her come up with a story about the person in the sarcophagus. Kaira really showed how much she had learned- as opposed to the standard regirgitation of facts she had demonstrated for testing purposes during her pre home school years-  during the process of these activities. Weeks after beginning the Ancient Egypt unit and she was able to tell you ALL about Ancient Egypt and the Egyptians- without testing. In fact, for this project, the only time Kaira utilized Google or other research methods was to recall very specific details about how something looked or the specific details of a fact, but not the fact itself.

Unfortunately, our mummified Barbie began to mold after about a week of laying in her final resting place, so we had to throw her and the pyramid out. I am not sure if this is because we layed her on the sarcophagus before she was completely dry or if this is what happens in general, so take lots of pictures for memory’s sake. Also, everything purchased to use in these projects was purchased at the Dollar Tree (except for the shoebox, which we already had), so kudos to Dollar Tree, who  have quickly become my go to store when it comes to our homeschool adventure and the various projects we have completed thus far. I think I spent a total of $10, and I over bought items, due to being unsure of what exactly we would need, so this is really an affordable learning experience, as well as, a fun one!

THE STORY OF QUEEN EMERALD

                                        by Kaira

Queen Emerald worked on the mummies with her parents, but she they weren’t slaves, they were just really good at doing mummy things. When Emerald was a young girl, she fell in love with the Pharoah’s son. He noticed her and decided to marry her. A littel while after that, his parents died and he became Pharoah and she was Queen. Other countries wanted to control their land, so Pharoah had to go to war with them and he died in battle. Queen Emerald was still alive, so she took over ruling the land. She lived from 533 BC until her death in 300 BC.

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We had another activity to go along with this one, but we failed miserably at it. We believe learning happens all around us- in our successes and our failures, so we will include it here and encourage you to give it a try! We would also love to see pictures of your attempts on this or any of the projects we share with you!

We attempted to make a pyramid out of rice krispy treats… This did not work for us for two reasons: Kaira was gung ho and I was not in the moment. ( I think the babies needed my attention or maybe I was over mess making for the day…) Anyway, I wasn’t supervising the making of said treats and therefore directions weren’t followed as well as they should have been and we ended up with a giant mess- dry cereal all over the counters, stove and floor and a goopy, unedible something in the bowl…

Kaira had fun creating the mess, so I guess that counts for something, right?

Any way, after the treats are made, the idea is to form them into bricks- remember they don’t have to be perfect- and then begin to stack or construct them into a pyramid- much like the slaves would have done in ancient Egyptian times.

Here’s a picture of the beginning of the attempt (before it became disasterous).

We hope you have enjoyed hearing about our adventure in Ancient Egypt! What has been your favorite thing to learn so far in your school? We would love to hear all about it, so leave us a comment, so we can chat! Also, we would be so appreciative if you helped us get the homeschooling adventure word out! Hit the like button AND share, share, share! See you next time!

The Percussive Effect

That’s what I’ve decided to call what the boys have been up to, also known as learning… But, I will get to that in just a second. 

I’ve been really trying to encourage Kaira to jump in and try new things, but when she asked me what new things I had tried, I had no answer to give… Now, I do. I’m trying my hand at a writing prompt. Today’s prompt is just one word. You guessed it, percussive.

According to Merrium-Webster, it is of or relating to percussion, especially; operative or operated by striking; having powerful impact. 

And that, my friends, is where the boys come in. I truly hope I am having a powerful impact on their little minds.

We have been up to a lot of fun things, like learning our ABC’s and counting- Quori refused to say any number other than 2, so the jury is still out on the success of that lesson, though, but both boys sing a song that has the tune of the ABC song, but without any recognizable letter sounds, it’s hard to tell.

I’m not worried and you shouldn’t be either, because this is what learning looks like in little two year old minds and it’s awesome!

We’ve also been working on saying our grace at meal Time. It is so neat to see them fold their tiny hands and thank God for their food, even though all they say right now is “Amen”.

Our gross motor skills are getting a workout, as well. We try to play out side EVERYDAY. Yes, even in the drizzle, I let them run around for a minute or two. If I didn’t do that, they would turn my furniture into their own personal gymnasium.

 

I try to do ‘school’ work with them once or twice a week with the boys and they seem to be really enjoying it. I’m convinced Quori will be an artist, as he loves to color and draw… 

That first picture is MY wall, courtesy of Quori, followed by other examples for his affinity for the arts…

While, I think Blue may be destined to be an architect, because he always wants to stack and build, knock down and repeat.  But, it’s early days yet, so who knows?

I have not forgotten my promise to get those lesson plans up and I hope to get them up soon… like before next year. I hope you’ve enjoyed the update on the boys and everything they have been, eagerly, I hope learning.

 Do you have any ideas to throw my way about teaching the boys? What about something we all can do and learn from (a 19 year old, 12 year old,  two 2 year olds and of course, me!) Leave a comment andet us know what you think we should study,earn or work on next. We hope that you will spread the love and share this article with your friends and on your social media pages and we’d love it if you could hit the like button for us, as well. We especially hope we are having the percussive affect on you and inspiring you to do something different in life or education!

We’re still Home Schooling!

THE LIEBSTER AWARD

A week ago, Kaira and I received the honor of being nominated for the Leibster Award by Morgan Isabella Shaw of Brains and Bodies blog. Of course, we graciously accept the nomination and want to thank Morgan, profusely. Please help us thank her by checking her out at Brains and Bodies, where you will get all kinds of insights on what it is like to live and function (especially as a college student) with a disability.

Don’t worry. We didn’t know what the Leibster Award was either. So, allow us to explain… The Leibster Award is a recognition to new bloggers, who have a following of less than 200. This provides a great opportunity for new bloggers, like us, to get some awesome exposure- with an outcome (hopefully) of building your numbers. Once a blogger received a nomination, the idea is that that person will then pick 5 to 11 new bloggers to receive the Leibster- and of course everyone nominated should be following the rules, lol. 

Thanks again, Morgan!

And now ensuring we follow the rules…

      OUR FAVORITE BLOG

Without a doubt, our favorite blogger is Shelly Sangrey, author of There’s No Place Like Home. Shelly is a momma of a bunch of kids and she is definitely who or what I would consider an expert in the field of homeschooling. Also, she is a follower and believer of Christ. When it comes to homeschooling, I trust her completely. Not to mention the awesome ideas she has. If you can’t tell, I kind of admire her- and I might secretly want to be just like her whenever I grow up. I could go on and on about the fabulous that is writer and homeschooler Shelly Sangrey, but in fear of being weird, I shall move on.

      ***TEN RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME***

* I talk to dead people. (Not the crystal ball type of talking. More like the where do you come from, type of talking… In other words, I am a family historian/ amateur genealogist.

* I seem to collect kids- so, I don’t actually know how many I have. I have birthed 3, though.

* I am the oldest of three children.

* Even though I, myself, am an adult, I don’t think of my mom as ever getting older. So I am always amazed when I realize how old she actually is.

* I have a brain injury. I don’t remember anything, so if you tell me something and I don’t write it down, it is as good as you never told me. You’ve been warned.

* I always wanted to be a dancer in Broadway or a Rockette. (Sadly, though, I am 2.5 inches to short to even be considered for the Rockettes.)

* I know every word of Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and the Little Mermaid. Are you shocked and amazed, yet?

* I know every single dance routine to the Newsies. (The original, not the Broadway come back.)

* I have only bought one Lotto ticket in my life and someone had to show me how to play.

* All of my natural born children have names that begin with the letter K.

      11 Questions Morgan Asked Me

1.What hobby/skill do you want to learn?

I have always wanted to learn how to crochet. (But, I have so much going on in life right now that I would be crazy to take on another ANYTHING right now)

2. What is your biggest fear?

I try not to live my life with any type of fear, but if I had to name something that I am fearful of, it would be raising my boys in the environment that is the USofA right now and the possible negative outcomes that could be associated with those social engagements. (I hope I put that nice enough to not offend anyone and direct enough that I have conveyed my meaning clearly.)

3. What made you begin blogging?

 I started blogging (about homeschooling) because I am so in love with this journey that I wanted to share it with the world. I also try to find and use free or nearly free resources, especially due to my current life situation and I wanted an outlet to share with others how homeschooling is possible without spending tons and tons of money. What pushed me over to the blogging side of homeschool, ultimately, was the amount of inquiries I was getting in my Facebook inbox regarding how to get started or how to do it.

4. Who is your biggest inspiration and why?

My mom is my biggest inspiration. She has been through so much over the last 20+ years and she has soldiered onward. She has taught me how to keep going at life, even when life throws curve balls and you don’t have any bats in hand.

5. What are your three favourite films and why?

I don’t actually have favorite films… I don’t watch a whole lot of TV, including movies. I enjoy a good movie, but I’m not sure any of them rate as a favorite. Newsies, of course is up there with movies that I would watch over and over. Come to think of it, so is The Princess Bride. I don’t know that there are any others…

6. What is your biggest achievement? 

My biggest achievement, would be the right I took on a few years ago, for the children (students) of Richmond, Virginia and their well-being within that school system. During this process, I was able to meet some great people in the advocacy field and I learned how to be a true advocate for myself and others. It was on this journey that I discovered who I am on the world of advocacy. So that’s my greatest achievement, because I feel like that experience enabled me to be in the place I am in currently in this thing called life.

7. Where is on your travel list for 2018 and why?

The beach. I don’t care if I don’t get to go to any other place, as long as I can get to the beach. It is the happiest place on Earth, in my opinion.

8. Are you more of a peoples or animals person?

It depends on what day you ask me. Most of the time, I am hands down a people person. I love talking to people and finding out what makes them tick. I also love pushing and motivating people to their next level in life. Generally speaking, I LOVE PEOPLE. Except when I don’t. (Don’t act like you have never been completely peopled out.) When I have had enough of the people for a bit, I seek out my cat, TigerLilly or our horse, Buttons. They both just intuitively know how to soothe and calm my soul.

9. What do you hope to achieve from your blog? 

World Domination. 

Seriously, I wrote for the joy of writing and hopefully to encourage Kaira to write with a better grasp of the English language and how to utilize it with all of its neat little grammar rules and regulations. I would also love to have a solid group of people who read my blog and are able to take something away from our homeschool journey or add to it in some form or fashion. That would be awesome. In some recessed portion of my brain, I also think it would be spectacular if I gained this awesome following and was able to turn my blog into my income. 

10. What is your hidden talent?

I’m a mom, isn’t that talent enough? Seriously, though, I love to sing and at times am able to carry a melodic tune. *Insert sarcastic curtsy here*

11. What advice would you give to someone considering starting a blog?

DO IT. Don’t stop to overthink it or worry about the gazillion what ifs that could happen. Just jump in and START.

And now, 11 Questions for my nominees… 

1. If you could introduce your child or children to any ONE person (past or present) to learn ONE lesson, who would that person be and what would the lesson be?

2. What does your dream home look like and where is it?

3. Outside of family and your job or extra curricular activities, how do you define yourself?

4. If people only read one of your posts, what post should they read and why?

5. What is the greatest lesson you have ever learned?

6. Who is your super hero and why?

7.  Burgers or Salads?

8. Around the world in 80 days, where are your must stop destinations?

9. Why do you blog?

10. What is your passion?

11. What’s the best book you ever read and why?

NOW, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER, HERE ARE THE NOMINEES! (drum roll, please 🥁)

Gemma Hartnick Tilley of Chief Squirrel 

Sarah of  Holistic Homeschooler

(Kaira’s Nomination) My Mom! Divine Ms Kim’s Time Travel

Nadine Best at Making Her Mama

Jenny, creator of Faith and Good Works

Joanna Myers and  Just the Mini Mom

KP Hari with Keralot Inspiresd

Carley, A.K.A Mrs. Pigeon’s Coop

Samantha Hughes of The Mouse Ear Life

Chelle Ramsey of Chelle Ramsey

Jennifer from Adventures in Mommy Life