School days

This year I'm schooling five kiddos...11th, 7th, 2nd, K, and PreK/K grades.

Even though we are seasoned homeschoolers, each year brings tweaks and changes because each child is different with their unique strengths and weaknesses. 

Sometimes I'm asked if we use a school room. 

I have these bookshelves that serve as home base to our curriculum, but mostly we tackle school at the kitchen table, probably because we can spread out. 

The big kids, however, try to find a quiet place to work on their harder studies. 

Complete with headphones, tea, and a super comfy set up.

This picture is a little like "Where's Waldo"... 

Where's Daniel?

Our main reason for choosing to homeschool is to bring God front and center in all we do.   Because we are together all day, lots of conversations come up about a myriad of things. We can direct them to God's character and then consequently their own.  

After chores and breakfast I like to start our day with a devotional.  Right now we are using The "Put On" chart lesson book by Doorposts.   It affirms from scripture the character traits we are to have (put on).  They cut out and color a boy or girl, and as the lesson progresses, they cut out and color clothing representing the character quality.  It's fun and engaging and because it is hands-on, it cements in the ideas. 

Ellie liked Daniel's idea of camo so much that she chose to color a camo dress on her girl. 

Mary and her girl. 

Abbie and her girl.

In other news... I have a new happy wall.  I forgot to snap the before picture.  It was green, but now it's a light turquoise.   I have such a hard time choosing paint colors.  (Remember my curtains!)  I wanted aqua, but not a deep aqua, but then I didn't want to go so light that it looked like a light blue. I chose a more "sea foamy" aqua.  When Eric began painting I panicked because I thought maybe the color I chose was a little too green, but now that the wall is done, I am happy.  It's my happy wall! 

We moved the piano from the living room into Hannah's bedroom.  

Seems a little weird maybe, but it actually works (for now.)  She is the only one taking lessons this year, and she can close the door when she practices, which is helpful if we are still schooling at the table.

Remember our gallery hall?  Did I ever post about our gallery hall?  Well, anyway, we are going to rework it and put it on the Happy wall.  If I could I would replace this sofa, which is too big for our small space, with 2 chairs (in front of the window) and a love seat on the Happy wall, all anchored with a big rug.  We'll see.  

In the meantime, the girls are loving some space to dance.

These days I am thankful for
 - the rain and rainbows
 - a bit of structure for the day with the return of school
 - games to play with the kids
 - my Happy wall (thank you, Eric!)