Okay so it's been awhile...

We are still trying to get the hang of this whole schedule thing. I have never lived by a schedule in my entire life. It is a foreign concept for me. But a necessary one as we embark on the adventure called homeschooling. I spent most of December and part of January coming up with my plan. That included everything. Cleaning, cooking, homeschool, activities...everything. I am still working out the kinks and trying to banish old habits. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself because I don't want to get overwhelmed. But this crap is hard. I know people who thrive off "the schedule", and while I feel it is necessary for us, I think most of these people are insane. And can we talk about when things come up that aren't in the schedule for a second. What the freak are you suppose to do about that? I seriously will just sit and stare because it isn't in the schedule. I really truly do not know how to cope. Whereas, before the schedule, it didn't matter, because we did whatever whenever. So this foreign thing that creeps up, the "change" in my day, it's really throwing me off my game. It's kind of one of those things I try to ignore and hope it goes away. To give you an example of how ridiculous this is for me, on Sundays we will sometimes go up and spend Sunday dinner with my in-laws. Well my sister-in-law called while I was in the middle of making lunch asking if she could come pick the girls up to make cupcakes. No big deal right? Hahaha. The following really happened.
My husband asks me "so is that ok?"
Me: "yeah it's ok" (in my head...no it's not okay that wasn't part of the plan today. Eat lunch, take naps, get ready, go up eat dinner)
Husband: "are you sure that's ok? (Noticing my irritability) "when can she come get them?"
Me: "I don't know I'm making lunch" "Miss M needs a nap"
Husband: "So do you want her to take a nap here or can she take one at my moms"
Me: "I don't know, I can't think right now" (meanwhile my head is exploding because something other than "my plan" might be happening soon, trying not to freak out)
Husband: (trying to get an answer out of me so he can get his sister off the phone) "So what do you want to do"
Me: "I don't know just let me make lunch"
Husband: "She'll call you back"

I know you are all rolling your eyes and laughing at how ridiculous that is, and honestly it is ridiculous. But as I said this schedule thing is new to me, and I have never been one to do something without going full force, I'm all or nothing. So I'm working on trying to find the balance. What does that mean to me and my family? I will have to get back to you on that one as I am still trying to get passed the unexpected.

Things with school have been going ok. Definitely not what I picture every day when I wake up. I wake up with that triumphant horn playing in the background and me riding through the day on my gallant steed. Everything going according to plans of course. And ending the day with a harp making the most beautiful sounds and a muse telling me I did a great job. Yep that never happened. And never does. As soon as my feet hit the ground my day starts falling apart with my children screaming (literally) mooooooooooom! Moooooom! Maaaahmaaaaa!

We don't accomplish everything I set out to every day. There is never enough time in the day. I always feel I am falling short. But I have to remember that the goal isn't to check things off the check list. It's to have a full life. And that my friends is something I can say is checked off. I have a very full and blessed life. I have beautiful, funny, smart kids who keep me going everyday. I have a hardworking, supportive, and loving husband. All of which not everyone can say they have. So I thank my Heavenly Father for all my blessings!!! There are many.

So with that I leave you with a video I made mostly of my cute kids.

Thanks for stopping by.
Meg

The why

I thought I would put my thoughts together of the reasons I am homeschooling.  Before I get started I just want to say that you may or may not agree with the things I say and that's ok. I don't expect everyone or anyone to have the same opinion as mine. That being said here it is.

When I had my first baby, Miss E, everything terrible in this world terrified me. But more than that I was terrified for my daughter to grow up in the craziness. So it got me thinking about how I could help her and teach her and give her that foundation to have the best shot at life. I don't think anyone else has different thoughts when they have children but I wanted to have a say.  So what did that mean for me? Well at that point I wasn't sure. 

I have a cousin that he and his wife had decided that they were going to homeschool their kids.  I thought it was fantastic. And empowering. There isn't a whole lot you can control in this life except your choices. And that is the only way you can make things in your life turn out the closest to how you want it to. There are things that are out of our control and those things are what our Heavenly Father wants for us. But for the most part we make the decisions that shape our lives. My point is that I didn't want to leave the welfare of my children up to anyone but me. I know them and their needs better than anyone else. So I started reading about homeschooling. Blog after blog. Website after website. I asked my cousins what type of homeschool model they were using. She referred me to a Jeffersonian Education. She told me to check the book out at the library. I went ahead and ordered a used copy off Amazon. I love Amazon. Anyway, the principles in that book made sense to me. If you are interested check the website here http://www.tjed.org. This is their basic model for education but the website and book go into more detail.

1. Classics, Not Textbooks
2. Mentors, Not Professors
3. Inspire, Not Require
4. Structure Time, Not Content
5. Simplicity, Not Complexity
6. Quality, Not Conformity
7. You, Not Them

When I sat and thought about that I was like...YEAH! This is what I want for my kids. To learn to think for themselves and not be swayed by others. To love to learn and always continue to learn and become the person they were born to be. 

But there were some things I didn't totally agree with. I didn't feel comfortable not "educating" until they were older. But as I continue to learn about homeschooling making a custom fit is the whole point and the idea behind homeschooling. Applying what does and doesn't work for your family. In any case I kept searching. 

I kept reading about Montessori. So I started to dive in and get familiar with it. Montessori struck a chord with me. It was a kind of ah-ha moment for me. I felt like this was it. So then my mission became how do I do this. I started reading everything I could on Montessori. Books, websites, blogs, everything. The process was a lot more complicated for me than it needed to be. I thought I could learn everything I needed to without purchasing any manuals or recommended books. Boy I was so dead wrong. I eventually bought all the recommended reading. And I lucked out and found some free manuals. But if I would have just done that to begin with all the information that's out there would have made sense a lot faster than it did. But I finally have a solid foundation in all things Montessori.

During all my Montessori research and reading I stumbled across another type of education called Waldorf. I instantly fell in love. It spoke to me on so many levels. It was just as magical as Montessori but in different aspects. They spoke the same language but in different ways I knew the two would marry perfectly. It's still a work in progress and will always be a work in progress but I feel really confident and satisfied with my decision to homeschool and in my choices of education.  There are some instances where I feel I am in over my head and feel overwhelmed and there are others where I see the fruits of my labor and I know down in the deepest part of me that it was the right decision.

Until we meet again
Meg

Beginning

So it's the start of a new year. And with that comes the excitement of starting a new plan, or perhaps just starting over. I have admired all my friends who diligently keep up with their blogs. Documenting their little families history page by page. I find it magical. I have tried so many times to start a blog. But inevitably it only lasts a couple entries and then fizzles out. So I'm focusing instead on the process versus having a "blog". I am dedicating one hour each week to writing on this thing. It may turn into more since I am homeschooling the kiddos and I most definitely want to keep track of our goings on. But I'm not going to put pressure on myself to do anymore than one hour per week.

So the reason for my blog post today is that I FINISHED my home school schedule and curriculum for the next semester. This is from scratch people. Well ok, not from scratch per say, but I am not following anyones's curriculum. I have spent the past two years almost now dedicated to reading gobs of home school blogs, websites, styles of education, you name it, I've probably read about it. But I've settled on two styles of education. Montessori and Waldorf. Don't ask me why. That can be another day. But I have yet to stumble across another home school family that is incorporating both. So in some aspects I'm a lone soldier. But that's ok, I've never been the type of person to go with the flow.

This is a new adventure for me, and I'm all in. There are a lot of reasons why I decided to home school but that again will be an entire post by itself. So I hope you enjoy the journey with me. I'm writing this like people are reading it. Haha. If you think it they will come.....

Until next time
Meg