School Days

Yes, I know many of you are wondering, just how a family with newborn twins continues to homeschool. Well, usually I joke when people ask if we're still homeschooling, by saying, "Well, we're home." But the truth is that, yes, we actually do still accomplish something every day. Now, this year is not quite like the past few years, with a regular routines and weekly projects. No, this year is a gradual year. I say gradual because we have started things out very slowly. In August and September, we got back to our Bible, language arts and mathematics. I feel these are the three most important things to cover. Now we're adding in our science and history and extracurricular activities. There are always more things that I want to do than we actually get done, but more important than accomplishing is that my boys and Eliza grow up loving to learn. I hope I help instill in them curiousity and passion for learning.



Each morning we start with a Bible story or passage or a story about a wonderful Christian who served as a missionary or contributed to our faith in some other way. And then, during the babies first nap of the day, we cover our math for the day. When the babies are awake or nursing, we usually read aloud. So far we've read the first book in the Harry Potter series and we are now almost through Little House in the Big Woods. We also read picture books, history books, biographies, science books, etc. all together on the couch everyday. Sometimes, when I read aloud, the children build with blocks or legos or they color and draw. Currently, they are illustrating their own Bibles. Later in the day, during another nap, we cover our language arts and pay a lot of attention to phonics instruction and handwriting. We also try to get outside everyday for fresh air and exercise. We've been studying botany this fall and have started a seed collection. And this week, we'll start back into our history lessons. Once each week, Isaiah attends a science class with our friends and every other Friday we attend a homeschool cooperative. At our homeschool coop, Nathaniel and Eliza are in a Five in a Row class and Isaiah is learning about nutrition, the Oregon Trail, and he participates in gym class.

One thing we love to do is go on field trips. It's a lot harder this year with the babies, so I only go on trips when I have help. Two Fridays ago, we went to Meadowcroft Village. This is a recreation of a 19th century village. The kids made candles and practiced spinning wool. They also attended a class in a one room school house. Here are the pictures from our excursion.