Family Egg Drop Challenge

I think that I may just be a closet Full House fanatic. Well, not the current me, but the teenage me for sure. It's true, I watched re-runs all the way through high school and even remember getting quite disappointed in the Spring, when Major League Baseball games on TV would mess up my afternoon ritual! Also, I'm pretty sure I thought Candace Cameron would be my best friend, if ever we were to meet. My boys are now fans too. I guess good taste runs in the family (wink wink). In fact, our DVR has reached over 30 episodes a few times. My husband on the other hand, feels like his skin is going to crawl right off of his body, every time he sees my TGIF show coming on. All of this to say, Full House had this episode where they made an egg-drop contraption and dropped it off the balcony into the living room. I loved that episode! I thought it would be so much fun to make an egg-drop project....and have a balcony!

Nutrition Week Wrap-Up

We wrapped up a week-long study on the Digestive System and Nutrition, with a trip to Nana's house. My mom, being the Nana that she is, has a well stocked kitchen. It is filled with cookies, candy, sugary drinks, ice cream sandwiches, spray cheese, buttery crackers, and whatever else a grandchild's tummy may desire. Not exactly a glowing example of health and nutrition. Now, right about here she is going to insist on me clarifying that she doesn't JUST feed them sugary and salty snacks! But come on, we all know that's what the grand kids are anticipating on the car ride to Grandpa and Nana's house.

Sarah Hale is America's Thanksgiving Miracle

Have you ever heard of Sarah Hale? No? Well, until last year when I stumbled upon this wonderful book, I had never heard of her or her courageous life story! I have not done extensive research on her, but after reading this book to my kids and reading up on her life, I have concluded, that Sarah Hale was outstanding! 

MORE Organized, LESS Messy.....STILL Imperfect

Week 1...... down! 

And along with it, the summer wiggles and acrobatic tricks out of their chairs when they were suppose to be studying. Okay...who am I kidding, that will never stop, but maybe we reined it in a little.

A little update:I actually whipped that room into shape. And best of all, I only had one burst of tears around 10 o'clock the night before school started. I was trying to get the walls decorated and the calendar up, when the thoughts racing in my head got the best of me. When in a foggy, sleep deprived state, I decided I couldn't do it and that they were probably better off in public school anyway! But, at last I made it through and this is how it looks.

A far cry from my previous post don't you think?

AFTER



BEFORE



So, my version of Christmas arrived just days before school started. The boxes were a welcomed sight. Full of exciting new books, DVDs, a new planner and endless learning!  

The Unorganized, Imperfect, Messy Homeschool Mom

When our school year came to a close on June 13th, to say I was exhausted is an enormous understatement. One of my sons asked me that week if I had "put my make-up on that way?" "What way?" "It looks like you painted dark make-up on around your eyes." And that's when I knew, I NEEDED A BREAK!!

And that is exactly what I did. Starting on June14th, I put all that was homeschool away. I vowed to my kids and husband, that I would not look at any school websites, log off my blog and set aside all projects for the next school year. It actually wasn't easy. Breaking my daily routine, and just focusing on muaw? It had been months since I did that. (I will write later about how I renewed myself this summer and show you my crafty projects!)

So here I am, 20 days until we go back to school.

I had great visions of how my second year would look and how I would be so impressively prepared, organized, and buckled up for success! Ehhhh, nope!

Getting Daddy Involved

Earlier this school year, after realizing my 3rd grader wasn't catching onto reading inches, centimeters & millimeters, I asked my husband for advice. Well.......... turns out I was teaching him the wrong way to read a ruler!!!!! How embarrassing! Luckily, my husband uses a measuring tape everyday, all day at work. So after he undid the damage I had done to our son, we decided that he would be in charge of those lessons from there on out!

When we decided to start homeschooling, my husband wanted to be known as the school Principal. The kids loved the idea and we ran with it. I even made my 3rd grader a bookmark to keep track of his minutes, which read, "45 minutes a day keeps the Principal away!" Except for a few necessary enforcements, Principal Daddy doesn't get to have a very active role in our day-to-day school time.



J-man, texting his Daddy his spelling words.

Shoop Troop Elementary

In the summer of 2012, we finally decided to take the plunge and start homeschooling. I asked my husband to just give me the chance to see if we could do it. He had lots of concerns, and so did I, but in the end we knew we would never know unless we tried. We decided to tell the boys that it would be a one year trial and at the end of the year we would all sit-down, evaluate how it went and decide if it was worth doing again. Well, it didn't take close to a year to realize it was what was best for our family. That's not to say it has been easy.....heavens no! But, it has been a blessing and a chance to grow so much closer to our boys.

We have 4 children. Our oldest, my stepson, is 14 and is finishing his 8th grade year. Although, he has asked to be homeschooled, and we would love it if he was, he has two families and it just isn't a possibility.

Our 2nd oldest son is 9 and in the 3rd grade. He was the hardest to convince about leaving public school, but now he is my biggest fan!

Our 3rd son is 6, almost 7, and in 1st grade. Nothing bothers this kid! He just goes with the flow and homeschool was fine by him.

And our 4th son is now 2 years old, and currently a tot-on-a-tear! He has brought a whole new crazy, loud, disruptive, frustrating, and oftentimes funny side to this school year.

Our school days start around 8:30 or whenever I have finished a cup of coffee. We try to finish by 1pm, although, sometimes it takes longer and some days we even finish as early as 11am. We only have school on Monday-Thursday and have the same days off as our local school. This way the kids don't have to be tortured by hearing the neighborhood kids outside playing.

The curriculum we use is a smorgasbord of things I have pieced together from sales, clearances, used books, online printables, etc. Next school year I will hopefully be more prepared, but this year I did the best I could! I have the grade level benchmarks and the kids are meeting all of them in perfect time, so I know we are on the right track.

And that is a day in the life of Shoop Troop Elementary!