The 2017-2018 School Year

"I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils, if I knew your name and address."

Last Monday was our official first day of school. The first day always has a special place in my heart. Even the most reluctant child is excited the first day. Who could help being excited about fresh pencils, new crayons and the books? Some of the best smells in the world are old books and newly sharpened pencils. Glorious! (I know, can you say nerd?)

Getting an early start this year, has a dual purpose. One we are moving, probably at the end of this month. For anyone who has ever moved, you know this is a serious disruption of your normal everyday lives. Add 7 kids and homeschooling and you can say bye-bye to mommy’s sanity! But since school must go on, we must find ways to make it work. One of those is to start early so when we take a break to do last minute packing, cleaning and unpacking, we won’t get behind.

The other reason we are starting early is that we are moving to a year-round schooling schedule.

For those of you who didn’t grow up as a homeschooler, you may never have experienced the benefits of not taking a huge break in the middle of the year. Growing up, we always did school year-round and I loved it. We took vacations when everyone else was busy with school so things were cooler and quieter...much quieter. We basically had places to ourselves. Let me tell you, that's the way to vacation!

There are an endless number of ways to do it. Some take breaks throughout the year as it suits their families. Some will do school for 3 weeks and then take a week off. We combined the two. We took a month off for Christmas and enjoyed baking for our neighbors and creating gifts for each other. It allowed us to be in the true spirit of Christmas and to enjoy sharing with others, without all the crazy rush part. We also took one week off a month to take advantage of other educational opportunities; field trips, community service projects, church activities. Not all school happens in a classroom. 

For our family, we plan to take a month off for Christmas (as long as the moving schedule change doesn’t disrupt us too much) and still have time for those sick days that will come no matter how hard we try NOT to get sick. We will also be open to times we all just need a day to reboot. Those are what I call our flex days and that allows us to be malleable without losing out on time we need to learn. I even have plans for those times we need a low-key week. (More on that later…)

So this is our 2017-2018 school year in a nutshell. What are your plans for this year? I’d love to hear them!

Blessings,

Momma H.

The Journey Begins

As I'm sure anyone reading this will know, the title and address of my blog refers to Deuteronomy 6:7 which says, "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." (ESV) This is what we strive to do every day in our home. We want everything we do to be a lesson, a chance to study, a chance to grow and become who God created them to be.

I started this blog to do several things. I want to encourage other moms who are teaching their children at home, especially those, who like me, have a special needs child. Having a child with special needs can be very isolating. You often feel disconnected and worse, you don't have the ability and time to connect with other moms. Being a homeschool mom is time consuming and even more so when you add a child who needs more of your attention. You start to feel like you are stranded on a deserted island; utterly alone and unable to reach anyone, no matter how many SOS signals you send. I hope this blog will be a place where you can connect with others who are in the trenches, just like you. Others who feels just as alone and isolated sometimes, but who keep trying anyway.

The other reason is to share what I have learned and what I am learning as I walk this road. I was homeschooled all the way myself and this year we will start our fifth year of homeschooling our own children. I know a lot about being a homeschool student but I am still relatively new to the homeschooling mom role. Along the way, I have been encouraged by other homeschooling moms and bloggers and now I hope to add my own encouragement and tips as I grow.

Won't you join me in this new adventure?

I can't wait to get started with you!

Blessings,

Momma H.