Back to School: 7th, 5th, & Kinder Edition

For the first time since we started this homeschooling adventure four years ago, we took a true summer off. It wasn’t really on purpose, I’m still all for year-round school & taking breaks when it works best for the family, but between Cousin Camp almost nearly day and remodeling our new house, it was an uphill battle I didn’t want to fight… and what a summer it was!

Now, though, we’re back to school in earnest. Little Man’s off to Kindergarten alongside his twin-cousin, and the girls are home with me again this year for seventh and fifth grade (plus co-op’ing with some pals regularly). We enrolled in an online charter school, but quickly determined the computer-heavy curriculum wasn’t the best fit for us, and are back to our tried & true regime of oral and tactile lessons– save for math, keyboarding, and coding.

picked up 3 library copies of The Giver to read aloud together, which is prompting some great conversation. We plan to watch the film when we finish.
slime production hasn’t ceased, we’re obsessed
firstborn continues to blow me away with her handmade yarn creations

It was a hard decision to send Little man to public school all day… but we moved into a great school district, and both our girls were enjoyed a traditional Kinder classroom experience; plus he’ll already be attending speech therapy at the school several times weekly. Moreover, the opportunity to attend alongside his cousin was too fabulous to resist. If there’s anything I’ve learned from homeschooling thus far, it’s to be flexible and take things a year at a time. I’m grateful it’s not a “one size fits all” situation, that instead we can select a unique trajectory for each of our kiddos, each year.

going to school prep, via good books of course!
first day of school lunch, hubby made the batman egg

Back to school breakfasts: We’re spoiled in that Handsome Husband often whips up a delicious hot breakfast for the whole fam before clocking in at his home office; but for the mornings he can’t I like to make ahead big batches of pancakes or waffles and freeze them, later popping singles into the toaster to warm in a hurry.

gluten free pancake mix often needs a little love, I add chocolate chips, cocoa powder, and substitute chocolate milk for regular
first day of school (gf) waffles, with homemade organic whip (often yogurt) & chocolate covered sunflower seeds for sprinkles

It takes a village to homeschool a child… I’m grateful to be collaborating with a few friendly comrades to round out our educating efforts this year. Last week Grandma Teacher (my step-mom) gave an informative lesson on oral hygiene/health to our curious pupils.

We moms enjoyed a brief respite on the sidelines, instead playing around with the typodont and working on our braiding skills, because: #homeschool.

My apple-snob of a much older sister recently gave us all an apple-education… Ruby Macs, Gala, Honeycrisp, Pink Ladys, Jonagold & Braeburns oh my! Apparently all apples are not created equal, and don’t you DARE suggest otherwise.

Anatomy? Marine Biology? Homesteading? I’m not sure what to call it, but the kids were mesmerized watching their uncle/dad clean some freshly caught trout.

Truth be told, as fun as summer was (and it was a nonstop circus, surely the fun-est one on record) I’m looking forward to cooler weather and a calmer, consistent school routine.

Weekly Wrap-Up
The Homeschool Post