Solorio Academy: March 11, week in review

When someone tells me "I have good news and I have bad news", I always want to hear the bad news first. If I hear the good news first, I can't enjoy it, because I'm too nervous about the bad news. So I will start with this week's "bad news"

Beckham is making progress with his phonics lessons. It's happening very slowly, but he is actually learning how to read! Did I mention it was happening very slowly? This week I had to teach him the "th" blend. The problem is, he couldn't tell when he was supposed to use the voiced or unvoiced version on the "th" blend. 

Example:

Voiced "th"... there, them, those, that.

Unvoiced "th"... thin, thick, three

Beckham always wants to use the voiced "th" blend. And I think I'm going to lose my mind.

I was reading a chapter book to the older kids last week. Kitty was wandering through the house as usual. I heard her messing with the computer, which is actually my husband's iMac computer that he doesn't really want the kids using. But she was being so quiet, and I just wanted to finish the chapter before I got up. When I checked on her a few minutes later I discovered that she had crammed all 4 of Abby's math software cd's into the computer's disc slot. I had to break the news to Adam when he got home from work. He wrestled with it for a while and got 3 of the 4 cd's out of the computer, but the 4th cd was stuck. He watched youtube video tutorials showing how to disassemble the computer to retrieve the cd. It was a lengthy process, and considering Abby had already completed the cd that was stuck, he decided to purchase an external cd drive and save worrying about the captive cd for another day.

We loaded up all 5 kids and drove 35 miles to the nearest Best Buy. They were all sold out of external drives and wouldn't get a shipment until next week. Adam left Best Buy and drove to Staples, only to find out Staples didn't carry them at all. We drove back home and ordered one from Amazon. 

When the anticipated package was delivered 2 days later (thanks, prime!) Adam got it hooked up, and inserted the next math cd. And it didn't work. Apparently in the process of being crammed in and yanked out of the computer, the cd's became so scratched that they are now unusable. Since Abby was only 1/2 way through the school year, I am forced to buy another set of 4th grade math cd's to finish out the year. 

Let me break this down for those of you in Rio Linda: Leaving Evah-Kate unattended for 5 minutes cost us an unproductive 70 mile round trip to Best Buy, $25 dollars to purchase the external cd drive, $100 to replace the math curriculum, an obligation to disassemble the computer, and 10 school days without math for Abby.

Moving on to the good news...

I was checking the work in Abby's grammar book (I don't grade work. If the kids answer something incorrect, I review it with them and we correct it together), I came upon this beautiful sight...

We are currently meeting with some specialists to figure out some ongoing health problems Kitty has been facing (more details in a future post). She started speech therapy a couple of weeks ago. She still isn't saying words (aside from baby, night-night, and bye-bye) but she has a big interest in the alphabet. She watches the Wheel of Fortune each night and will repeat the letters that are called out by the contestants. I was in a teacher supply store and thought I would pick up some alphabet flash cards and just see if she would like them. I was absolutely amazed on Monday when I showed her the cards for the first time and she was naming some of the letters without any prompting at all. It has been so exciting to hear her sweet little voice!

Do you have any tips on teaching the "th" blend? Can you suggest activities to help teach Kitty the alphabet? Leave your suggestions in the comments below!

Solorio Academy: Mid year slump

Remember my posts from the first quarter of the school year? Remember our great daily schedule? Remember all of the fun trips and activities?

Our current school situation looks nothing like that right now. It's amazing how rapidly things can change.

I'm going to be very frank here: juggling a fussy baby and a busy toddler while trying to simultaneously teach pre-k, 1st grade, and 4th grade is proving to be quite the challenge. I am currently running my household like the triage of an emergency room.
"Oh, you're hungry? Take a number"
"Need help rinsing the shampoo out of your hair? I'll get there when I get there."
"What time is dinner? Sometime between 5-9pm"
"No clean socks? Just look for your least dirty pair and make do"
"Can't find the car keys? Take 2 aspirin and call me in the morning"

Having 5 young kids can be stressful. And then on the other hand, it is kind of a cure for stress simply because you choose to care less and less. Yesterday I got Evah-Kate dressed for church in a cute black and white polka dot sweater dress with a pair of teal leggings. And then she added a coral tu-tu skirt under her dress and chose to wear one black suede slip on with one brown leather Mary-Jane. And she would not let me comb her hair. I would have never let Abby be seen in public looking like that, but 4 kids later I look at the bright side: at least she had shoes on.

That same attitude has carried over to our homeschool. We make a list of priorities, and we do our best and let everything else fall by the wayside. We always complete math and our read aloud. Most days we fit in phonics and spelling. Some days we even squeeze in Latin and penmanship.

It's comforting when I'm reminded that the kids are still learning even without formal lessons. Beckham asked to go in the dollar store for a candy bar last week, he said he had his own money. When the cashier said his total was .91¢, he placed a handful of loose change on the counter. When the cashier counted the change it was exactly .91¢. The cashier was shocked (So was I!). I asked him how that happened, and he said "What? I just remembered it cost .91¢ last time, and I counted out my change before we left the house." He didn't know how to count change at the beginning of the school year!

So, we will keep moving forward, making progress little by little.

Solorio Academy: Weeks 7-9

Prepare yourselves, I'm going to be brutally honest here.

School hasn't been a huge priority lately. 

I'll catch you up on what's happening in the Solorio world, schooling and otherwise.

Our church plant celebrated it's 4th anniversary on October 19. We feel so thankful that the church is doing so well. We have so many friends who have planted churches and worked their fingers to the bone, yet had to close their new work within a few years of starting. Each anniversary is a big milestone for us.

At the end of October, our lease was up in the rented facility that has housed our church plant from day 1. To say that my husband spent hours, and hours, and hours on the phone and meeting with potential landlords is an understatement. Finally, at the very last minute, our church was presented with the opportunity to purchase a permanent building of our own. It has been a total God-thing, but it definitely isn't the easiest option. Let me give you a peek into the new church foyer...I hope you have a good imagination!

Adam has been totally tied up with this project. My poor parents have been working like they are going to the electric chair every day, and church members have been working at the building every evening. Thankfully our church is filled with agreeable, get-along people who aren't afraid to work. We should at least have flushing toilets by church time on Sunday morning!

I'm now 35 weeks pregnant with Solorio baby 5.0! There is a part of me that can't believe I still have 35 days (give or take) to be this miserable and huge, and the other part of me is completely unprepared to bring home a new baby! I don't have a single onesie, pair of socks, disposable or newborn cloth diaper, blanket, carseat, crib, or pack-n-play for this baby. I've got some shopping to do!

My thyroid isn't working, my iron is low, my acid reflux is akin to a sleepover at the gates of hell each night, my Chiropractor is my BFF, and I actually ran out of breath just peeling potatoes yesterday. Yes, peeling potatoes. Here is a current picture, no imagination needed.

Adam and I just keep reminding each other that if we can just make it through the end of the year, things will get easier. The baby will be here, the church will be useable, the holidays will be over, and hopefully we will be able to find a new "normal".

Even through all of the distractions and busyness of life right now, we have only taken 2 days off from school. The kids are plowing through their work like champs! We are finishing up our second read-aloud of the year, The Farmer Boy, from the "Little house" series. Our first read-aloud was The Trumpet of the Swan, by E.B. White. We have enjoyed both books very much.

I was curious to see how much time it actually takes to read a book aloud to the kids, so I started setting my stopwatch on the phone each day as I was reading. The Trumpet of the Swan took a little over 7 hours of total reading time. It looks like The Farmer Boy will be more like 9 hours. That's a full work day!


What book should we read next? Leave your suggestions in the comments below!

Solorio Academy, Week 6: Attitudes and Arithmetic

I believe the novelty of a new, exciting school year has worn off. At least it has for the kids. This week was heavily laced with reluctant attitudes. Abby overheard me telling Adam one morning how I hadn't slept well the night before, and she quickly suggested that we "just take the day off so mom could rest" (she is so thoughtful). There was lots of bargaining going on, each kid playing "let's make a deal", promising to do double penmanship the next day if they could just take a break from it today.

Trying to be considerate of their feelings, I did let up just a little this week. We took Monday off (Columbus Day), so Abby could have a friend over that she only gets to see every few weeks. The kids have also spent a lot of time outside, raking piles of leaves, riding bikes, and jumping on the trampoline.

I'll have to say, I am so proud of Beckham. He is proving himself to be very skilled at math. The new concepts click easily with him, and a lesson rarely takes him longer than 5 minutes to complete. He is working so quickly that he is now 9 days ahead of schedule (I'm just wanting him to be halfway through this year's work before baby #5 is born).

He is using Alpha Omega Horizons math for grade 1 this year, and I really feel like it is a perfect fit for him. The pages are colorful but not distracting, and the curriculum is spiral based so there is a lot of variety in each lesson. This is great for Beckham and his rapidly-firing brain!

Each lesson is just one page, front and back. Below are pictures of two different lessons that Beckham completed last week.

What math is working for your child? Have you ever used Alpha Omega Horizons? Did it work for you? Let me know what you think!


Catch up on previous weeks blog posts!
Week 5- All about reading
Week 4- Unit studies
Week 3- Daily routine
Week 2- Co-op kickoff
Week 1- Getting started


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Solorio Academy, Week 5: All About Reading review

In 2013 I was pregnant with baby #4. I had two main goals while I was pregnant. One was to potty train Jonas, the other was to teach Beckham how to read. I accomplished neither.

Now it's 2015, I'm 31 weeks pregnant with Solorio baby 5.0. I'm not naive enough to even entertain the idea of potty training Evah-Kate in the next 9 weeks, and I'm still teaching Beckham how to read. Funny how things work out, isn't it?

Looking back, Beckham wasn't ready to learn how to read in 2013. I was ready to teach him, but that isn't what actually matters. He is ready now, and it shows. He can actually pay attention during his lesson, and remember what he was taught more than an hour later. I call that a win.

It took a long time for me to finally settle on a curriculum to use for reading this year. I wanted something that would work for both boys. I had many friends recommend "All about reading". I balked at the cost ($125+) and put off purchasing until the last minute. We are now finishing up week 5, so I'll give a little long review about the program and the boys' progress so far.

All about reading is a very complex program. It includes...
-An app for your phone/tablet
-Teacher's manual
-Student's activity book
-Phonogram (letter/blend) cards
-Word cards
-Magnetic letter tiles
-Student readers
And I didn't even order the Zebra hand puppet. I'm not kidding, there's a hand puppet.

When we started the program, I just assumed we would do a lesson each day.

No. Nope. Not even close.

We have been breaking up each lesson over 2 or 3 days. The first day of a lesson is teaching the new concepts, introducing the new letter/blend and word cards, and using the magnetic letter tiles. The second day of the lesson is completing the assignments in the student activity book, and reviewing the word and letter cards that were introduced the day before. Beckham also reads a new story in the reader on the first day, and re-reads the same story on the second day. To put this into perspective: We are just finishing lesson 6 and we have already learned 19 letter cards and 43 word cards. In my opinion, that's a lot of material.

The word and phonogram cards.

A sample page of the student reader. Each story has 6-8 pages.

Even though this program seems pretty intensive to me, the boys don't seem to mind at all. Jonas is drinking it up like a sponge, and Beckham isn't complaining. I think using cards, magnet tiles, games from the student's activity book, and the student reader provides enough variety to keep things fresh. Another huge bonus: the boys don't have to use a pencil at all. We do all of this in the family room instead of around the dining table.

Jonas using the magnet letter tiles to play "change the word". Please excuse my laundry on the couch, I'm going to put it away right after school, after dinner, tomorrow.

Jonas using the letter tiles to spell newly introduced words. Here is has to change bat > sat > fat > mat > rat > cat > and so forth.

Beckham playing one of the games from the student activity book. He has to stack the rhyming word scoops on the ice cream cones.

This has probably been the boys' favorite activity so far. They have to read the words on the little slip of paper. If they read it correctly, they get to feed the word to the monster. It seems corny to me, but they ask to play this game almost every day.

Another unexpected advantage of using the same program with the boys at the same time is the element of a little healthy competition. Jonas is so very eager to learn to read, Beckham really hasn't been motivated at all. Watching Jonas as he learns to read has really lit a fire under Beck. He doesn't want to be shown up by his little brother, and now he tells me each day "this is so easy". :)

What about you? What did it take to teach your child to read? Have you used All About Reading? Leave your feedback in the comment section below!  

Solorio Academy, Week 4: Organizing a unit study

There are so many different styles, methods, and varieties of homeschool. We have a group of friends that can just about cover all of the possibilities. Classical, traditional, unschool, Waldorf, you name it. I would say our homeschool is a blend of Charlotte Mason and unit study styles. If you don't know what that means, I can sum it up for you in a simple phrase: Read all the things!!!

As I mentioned in my first blog post from this school year (to read that post, click here), I don't buy history or science curriculum. I probably will when we reach jr. high or high school, but for now we are loving unit studies. My kids respond so much better, and retain so much more knowledge when they are able to read, watch, touch, and explore. There are many resources that have ready-made unit study outlines, put I prefer to shoot from the hip. Here is how I typically structure a unit study.

1-Books 

An idea for a unit study usually begins at the library. I see a book that has fun pictures and a good story, and decide to go for it. I am a history junkie, so basically anything that has happened in the history of the world seems like a good story to me. Here are the books we used to get started on this study.

2-Experience

I took the kids out for a walk around our neighborhood and taught them how to use a compass. I explained how Lewis & Clark didn't have maps to find their way, they had to rely on a compass and the sun to make sure they were going in the right direction. Beckham thought this was super official business. 

3-Creativity

Typically, our unit studies are a blend of history and science. Since Lewis & Clark is mostly history, I decided to have the kids keep an animal journal for a little extra science. While I was reading to the kids each day, there was always mention of an animal that Lewis & Clark had seen or hunted. We would choose one of those animals for the kids to draw as a fun way to remember details of the story. Beckham definitely takes his creative liberty when drawing an animal. This picture of a buffalo quickly grew into a whole scene, complete with someone being gored by a buffalo during a rainstorm. While the kids were drawing, I would read to them a little bit more about the animal. We crumpled paper bags to use as a cover for our nature journals. The paper bags were supposed to be reminiscent of a leather bound journal that L&C would have taken on their expedition. 

4-Visualize

There are Netflix documentaries and youtube videos for basically anything you could possibly think of. I try to weed through and find a couple that would be educational and entertaining enough to hold the kids' attention. Even if the video repeats a lot of what I already read to the kids, it's a nice review. This time, the kids watched a children's documentary called "Song of Sacagawea" on Amazon prime (it was kind of cheesy), and a very neat National Geographic, reenactment type documentary, "Lewis & Clark" on Netflix.

5- Field trips

Sometimes it works out to take the kids to a museum, event, or historical site that ties in with what we have recently learned. As luck would have it, we live less than 2 hours away from the Lewis & Clark museum! (fun fact: my Dad was the one-millionth visitor to this museum). On Friday afternoon we left straight from co-op classes and drove to St Louis. In addition to the museum we visited the Confluence Tower, a 150 foot tower that overlooks the point where the Missouri River joins the Mississippi River. 

(I'm 30 weeks pregnant, and as big as a house. Evah-Kate is picking her nose and Jonas' arm is still in a heavy plaster cast. Real life!)

Evah-Kate thought the bed inside the boat cabin looked cozy. 

I would say this unit study was a success! It will probably be a week, maybe two, before we start another unit study. I don't know what it will be yet, I'll have to make another trip to the library to see what I can find. 

Do you have suggestions for a unit study? Leave your ideas in the comments below!

Solorio Academy, Week 3: Routine

We are wrapping up our third week of school, and I am so surprised at how easily we have fallen into a routine. Here's what our day looks like right now...

Morning routine (begins around 10am)
Table time with workbooks- math, penmanship, etc
Abby- Independent reading time
Boys- Reading lessons
Kitty- running amok

Lunch (about 12)

Afternoon routine (when Kitty lays down for a nap, usually 1pm)
Literature read aloud
Bible memory
Greek/Latin
Unit study

This routine has been working so well for us. I set a goal this school year to try to limit the time that the kids are holding a pencil to just 30 minutes per day (Abby is more like 45 minutes). This might make me sound like a slacker, but the longer the kids are using a pencil, the sloppier their work becomes. They do their best work at the beginning of the day when their minds are fresh. So, with our current routine, nobody picks up a pencil after lunch. They are thrilled! We have been finishing all of our assignments for the day in about 3.5-4 hours (not including lunch and frisbee/trampoline breaks).

I recently picked up a Popsicle mold on clearance for .25 cents. The kids think they are being rewarded with frozen orange juice every afternoon, but really I just let them have it so their mouthes are busy licking instead of talking while I read to them. Am I being mean or nice? I can't decide.

Literature is my favorite part of the day. We are currently reading "The trumpet of the swan", and all of us are enjoying it. The back cover says it's geared for kids 8-12 years old, so I was worried that it wouldn't hold Jonas' attention (he's just 4 years old). Instead, I have been amazed at how much he has learned and how much he remembers about the story! I heard him telling my mom all about it the other day, he said: "...and the boy, Sam Beaver, was sitting on a log and got to watch all of the eggs hatch. All of the cygnets were able to say 'beep' except for Louis!". (Confession: I had no idea that a baby swan was called a cygnet until last week)

The Bible memory we are currently learning is Deuteronomy 6:4-9

⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a] 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

...teach them diligently. What a responsibility!

I had planned to describe how we do unit studies this week, but we are still in the middle of our Lewis & Clark unit study right now! So, I will save that for next week. TGIF!

Solorio Academy, Week 2: Co-op kickoff

This is the 5th school year of my teaching career at Solorio Academy (tenure?). This school year will be a little different, because it's the first year to belong to an organized home school co-op. It's an elementary level co-op that will have various classes on an alternating schedule each Friday morning, and one field trip per month.

Last Friday was our first day of classes, and this week was our first field trip. My kids are having so much fun! Abby is excited for the science fair that will be held later in the school year. I'm excited because the lady who wrote science curriculum for Bob Jones University is one of her her science teachers! How's that for a lucky break? 

In addition to science class, the kids also enjoyed an art lesson in symmetry. The older group got a good grasp on the concept, the younger group was just excited to use paint!

This week was our first field trip. We toured the different departments of a grocery store. We saw everything from pastries being made, to a forklift demonstration. I was hoping for a sample in the bakery, but it didn't happen. As soon as Evah-Kate saw the lady frosting a big tray of cupcakes, she started signing "Please, please" Haha!

After the tour of the grocery store we went to a park for a picnic lunch. I brought supplies for the kids to try a STEM building challenge. 

Here they are trying to build structures using gumdrops and toothpicks, hoping they would be strong enough to support a heavy book resting on top. The kids were very creative. 

I would say co-op is off to a great start. There are several girls Abby's age, lots of boys the same ages as my boys, and the moms are awesome! 

Poor Jonas has missed both weeks of co-op due to appointments with his Orthopedic doctor. What are the chances that his very first handwriting workbook would be delivered the same day he has surgery to set his broken arm? He is looking forward to getting started in 5 more weeks. :)

It has been a good week at home. The kids are all doing very, very well with their workbooks. We are beginning to settle into a routine, and we started our first unit study...more on that next week!

Solorio Academy, Week 1

There isn't much I enjoy about fall. I see everyone else getting excited about crisp air, sweatshirts, pumpkins and bonfires. Not me. Fall is the death of summer, and that is nothing to celebrate. However, I do enjoy football season and the beginning of a new school year, so I try to focus on those things.

RIP, Summer. I won't forget the good times we had.

I've had several people contact me in the last few weeks wanting advice on how to get started with homeschooling. I kind of cringe when they ask me, because I still feel like such an amateur. I think a lot of people who have a genuine interest in homeschooling their kids are intimidated because they just don't know what to expect. The thought can be very overwhelming.

As we are starting a new school year, I decided to blog about what our home school looks like. This isn't going to show a perfect home school, this is going to describe our home school. We have lots of ups and downs but still manage to have some fun and learn a few things along the way.

For history and science I put together unit studies that we do as a group (I'll be explaining this a little better in the coming weeks). We also will be studying Bible, greek/latin, and literature as a group.

Abby's workbooks for 4th grade:
-Daily Grams
Daily practice in capitalization, punctuation, sentence combining, etc.
-Horizons Penmanship
I love this, she copies historical documents and speeches for practice.
-Sequential Spelling, phase 1
The only spelling program I have used with her that actually works.
-Explode the Code (phonics)
She is finishing the last book in this series. It's actually too easy for her, but she still enjoys it.
-Teaching textbooks (math software)
She doesn't enjoy math, but she doesn't complain about this one. I like it for the step-by-step video tutoring (that I don't have to do!).

Beckham's workbooks for 1st grade:
-Horizons math
This is great for Beckham. It's spiral based, so there is a lot of variety in each lesson.
-Horizons penmanship
-All about reading, Level 1
This is new to me. I know it sounds silly, but I never taught Abby how to read. When I started school with her, it's like she just knew how. That hasn't been the case with Beckham.

Jonas' workbooks for kindergarten(-ish)
-Handwriting without tears
-All about reading, Level 1
Jonas is very, very motivated to learn. He is always asking me "how do you write an H?" or  "How do you spell Thank you?" so he will be using the same reading program as his brother. I didn't buy him any math this year, because he just hasn't shown much interest in numbers or math concepts yet.

We started our school year on Tuesday, September 8. I was still recovering from an upper respiratory infection, double ear infection, and tonsillitis. The very next day, Jonas fell and broke both bones in his right (dominant!) arm. On Thursday Jonas had to see an Orthopedic specialist, and Friday was a trip to the outpatient surgery center to have his arm set, and a heavy plaster cast put in place. Amazingly, we managed to get some school done each day in spite of our setbacks.

Join us in the following weeks to see what's happening here at Solorio Academy, it's a thrill a minute!

What about you? Do you have a homeschool blog? I would love to follow your adventures during this school year! Comment with a link below!

Me, Mary Poppins and Jesus

If you want to find out how selfish you really are, get married. Then have a lot of kids.

Since announcing the upcoming arrival of our 5th child, we have received a lot of feedback. Lots of sincere congratulations mixed with a lot of typical, mindless comments.

"Don't you know what causes that?"

"Are you ever going to stop?"

"Are you trying to beat the Duggars?"

But the one that continues to surprise me the most is...

"I just wouldn't have the patience for that"

Each time that comment is mentioned, there is an implication that I actually do, in fact, have the patience for it. I'll let you in on a secret: I don't. A lady who follows me on Instagram recently asked me "Your kids are always doing something, don't you ever just lose it?". The answer? Yes, yes I do.

I stay at home and homeschool our 4 kids...our 4 immature, uncivilized, impulsive, selfish, childish children. Anyone who has been around me and my kids for longer than an hour knows there is a lot of impatience. It's not surprising for my kids to dig in the refrigerator, spill a container of sour cream on the kitchen floor, leave pajamas strewn around the bathroom, unwind the toilet paper, pour a bowl of cereal bigger than they could ever eat, and drink juice boxes that they know are only for bringing on trips in the van. And they do it all before 9am. 

Like, I'm not kidding. They did ALL of those things THIS MORNING, before 9am. 

And, unfortunately, I wasn't born with a nature like Mary Poppins. Or Jesus.

As a mother with an inborn nature to sin, there are lots and lots of days when I can look at the situation in front of me and feel completely justified in my impatience. After all, my kids are immature, uncivilized, impulsive, selfish, and childish children. 

As a born-again Christian who strives to have the fruits of the spirit developed in me, I realize the problem isn't immature children. It isn't unacceptable when a 4 year old boy spills sour cream on the kitchen floor (at 7:30am). However, it is unacceptable for his mother to respond with anger and frustration. Patience is still one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).

I have multiple opportunities each day to lash out in easily justified frustration. I can also use those same opportunities to obey scripture's command, call my behavior what it actually is (sin), crucify my sin nature, and foster the fruits of the spirit.

There are many times I've had to apologize to my children for the way I spoke to them in my moments of anger or frustration. Like this afternoon, in the van when Abby was holding her hand over Beckham's mouth while he was trying to tell me something. I don't know why it made me so mad, but it did.

Everyday I have to remind myself that I am in control of my actions, and everyday I strive to be more like Mary Poppins. And Jesus.

I homeschool because I'm perfect.

We set our alarm for the crack of dawn. We eat a hot, wholesome breakfast and the kids get dressed in their freshly ironed uniforms (shoes polished!). Soon after our reading time (only the classics!), I start drilling the kids on spelling words so they can win the Scripps spelling bee. My kids know the periodic table of elements before their peers know the alphabet. Each day is filled with biology, trigonometry, latin, 漢語普通話, english, economics, and many hours of violin practice. My children only speak when spoken to, always clean their plates, and pray in their sleep. They're are completely perfect and the picture of humility at the same time.

Kindergarten and quiet boxes

As a homeschooling mama I have to decide whether or not to start a formal kindergarten curriculum with Beckham this fall. He turned 5 last week, but I'm still nervous that he's too young. I'm 99% certain that I'm going to wait, and here's why:

Sharp mind, sweet tooth

Today was Abby's 100th day of school! A couple months ago I asked her what she wanted to do when we got to 100, and she thought making 100 cookies would be perfect. She is her Father's daughter! :)