School

At the moment we are on our Christmas break from school. We are taking a 7 week break and while we are focusing on academic skills during the break, we aren't doing any structured school between Thanksgiving and New Years and it was a much deserved break for all of us. Even more exciting, we've pass the halfway year mark for this school year!  I want to remember the journey we are on these days though. Home educating my children is one of my greatest privileges. I love spending my time with them and I love seeing them reach new accomplishments and all of us learn together. But it is also one of the most challenging parts of my life. Trying to help each of them reach their full potential and give them the focused attention they each need in their different grades can be really difficult. There are days that I would love to put them all in school and have some darn peace and quiet, but I know this is the best decision for our family so we press on and this little break is great for all of us!

My greatest challenge is time management.  I try to break it up to where I am working with 2 of them at a time but it can still be very challenging to bounce back and forth between each of them (and we also have a mischievous toddler running around the house). Malachi is probably 80% independent this year which is very helpful but the other two still need a lot of help and instruction from me so it's not uncommon as this picture shows to be doing phonics with one kid and math with another, heck there have been times I'm administering a spelling test at the same time too! I try not to confuse them or lose my patience! I'm a work in progress but I know it won't be long before Eli and Malachi are able to do their school day without much help from mom! 

Malachi is halfway through his 2nd grade year. His strengths are reading and writing.In general he is very smart and a well rounded student. I don't see much that he struggles with beyond just keeping his brain challenged and focused. He's at an age or phase that he likes to challenge me but we work through the hard days and take breaks when either of us need it. We adjust accordingly and my biggest challenge teaching him is just keeping him on task and motivated.

Eli is having a much better 1st grade year than the struggle we had in Kindergarten. He wasn't a fan of structured school last year but he's really working hard this year. His strength is definitely in his math skills. He's come so far though in reading and writing and we continue to work hard on getting better and better in these areas. Adding special sounds this year has really challenged him in his reading and writing but he's pressing on and we are finding tools to help him along the way. I am so impressed with his positive attitude this year!

And then there's Sabrina. She's having a fabulous Kindergarten year and it is fun to watch. She loves everything about learning and is still begging to do school even on break so we are moving forward slowly with our school year, letting her set the pace. She's artistic and loves to color and draw and write, which the boys hate those parts. I'm also so proud of her because she was a late bloomer learning her letters and letter sounds but she had that moment where it all just clicked together and she's taking off now. She also seems pretty well rounded at this point too as I see math clicking in her brain too. I hope her love for learning never fades!

It is always refreshing to be on a break and be able to reflect on where we've come even just in these last couple months.  I'm so proud of  my kids and kind of proud of  myself too because when I'm in the trenches of a hard day it can be really difficult to keep focus and perspective. I second guess  myself a lot, but the proof is in the puddin' and they're all excelling and really doing quite great!  Now to enjoy this fun month of December, do some light education, and enjoy being a family! My favorite part of homeschooling is the flexibility it brings to our lives, like being able to enjoy Christmas to the fullest!