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.

Grocery Getaway

Out of all the required, mundane tasks of running a home, buying groceries is my favorite.

When I come home with my bounty, I try my hardest to recreate a grocery store in my own kitchen. I organize the food items according to which aisle they came from. That way, when it's time to make dinner, I feel like I'm grocery shopping again.

I am always disappointed with the disregard my family has toward my grocery system. When I get the cabinets fully stocked, everyone else acts as if we have won the grocery lottery. 2 boxes of cereal get opened on the same morning (instead of doing the respectful thing and finishing one box before opening another), tortilla chips get opened way before it's mexican dinner night, and they assume we get free refills on the carton of milk.

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.