End of July Already?!?!

Well, 'Summer' is flying by. I seem to remember that May took what seemed like forever for us. The month just kept going and going. June went by in a snap and now we are at the end of July. We do not take summer vacation per se. We did go to Colorado for 8 days the beginning of July and that was our vacation. Not really a vacation but that is another story for another time. Now we are getting ready to get fall into full swing!!

I am changing up our curricula this year. When I started this homeschool journey two years ago, I was looking for a great curricula, that I would love, that would come wrapped up in a pretty box that would be delivered to my door. For me, nothing like that exists. So, this year I'm eclectic and I have never been more excited about what I'm going to teach. I will admit, I'm a little overwhelmed with all the teaching manuals and I can't seem to create a spreadsheet that I love, but I still have a couple of weeks to get everything ironed out.

Miss E is starting 2nd grade and Little Man is kindergarten. We've been working a little bit since our trip and things are going to be interesting this year. Miss E yells at Little Man to be quiet while she works on her work. She is easily distracted. We are going to have to overcome that and quick. Little Man usually goes with the flow, but he is starting to become a distraction when his work is done. There is a huge gap in the amount of work they will both be doing, juggling time will be my little dance until everything evens out.

Our Curricula Choices

History (Both Kids): Beautiful Feet Books, Early American History

Science (Both Kids): Sassafras Science, Zoology

Math (Both Kids): Singapore Math, Earlybird and 2

Language Arts (Both Kids): LIFEPAC, K and 2

Supplemental Vocabulary (Both Kids): Wordly Wise 3000, K and 2

Supplemental Phonics (Both Kids): Explode the Code, A B C and 3 4

Supplemental Penmanship (Both Kids): Zaner-Bloser K and 2 

I also have a few online programs to sprinkle in technology

This promises to be a full year. I think it will be fun, too; and very busy!! I hope to update again before we start 1st and 3rd grade but I will not hold my breath.

Blessings,
Elizabeth

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What We Have Been Up To

Okay, I admit I'm not a good blogger... oh well!!

This 'school year' has been a busy one. 1st grade has literally kicked my butt. It has been hard, I won't sugar coat it. Miss E and I have had some epic battles when it comes to our school day. Part of it is probably because we are both strong willed and another part is probably due to the fact that we don't have a set daily routine. Everyday for us is different and that makes things hard. One thing I'm going to work on for next year. If everyday is different then we will make a routine set for each individual day. Who needs to do science and history everyday?? How about just three days a week??

We have, however, had some really fun times though. We've pushed through subtraction and even though it is not her favorite thing, she is starting to 'picture' the problems in her head. We've had fun with science and history. She LOVES to read and be read to. We've had some days where things just 'click' and we've finished everything we set to accomplish.

As any homeschool family will tell you, school is not the only thing you have to manage. We are also managing life. Back in December we had a diagnosis of celiac disease in our family. Fortunately celiac is only affecting one of the four of us but as the head cook, the whole family is now gluten free. Let me just say that GF is hard work!! Not only are we cleaning out our pantry and replacing what we can with GF stuff, we are also replacing recipes and our 'go to' food. Yes, there is a ton of processed foods in the grocery store that are labeling GF but I can only take so much of the boxed stuff.

As of right now, I have a plan to change the focus of my blog a little bit. We are still a homeschool family and as I find things to post I will. (Don't hold your breath waiting for an update.) I also want to post about our adventure into the GF world. I want to share the recipes we've tried and liked. I also want to share how we are managing as a family as we make these changes. In all fairness, our kitchen is now 99% GF, I've had a few months to work at getting there.

So, let the adventures begin!!

In the mean time here are a few pictures of our winter/spring adventures!

 Hatching Dinosaur Eggs

Reading Hop on Pop

 Family fun at Disneyland!

Making our own solar system.