Favorite things we are using for our 2017-2018 Homeschool Year

It's that time of year... Back to School! My little family and I really loved our time off this summer and had lots of fun. BUT I gotta say, I love back to school. Setting up our classroom, picking out what curriculum and projects we'll be doing is something I have a lot of fun planning!

I'm only on year 2 of homeschooling so I have a lot to learn still but I have found youtube channels, fellowship with other homeschool Mom's, podcasts, pinterest, etc SO helpful as I figure out what works best for us. So, I thought it would be helpful (hopefully) for someone else if I shared some of what we are using this year!

Most of what I will be showing is what I'm using with my 1st Grader. I will write another blog in the future about what we use for Pre K. 

Quick Tour of the Classroom! 

This room is very multi-purpose. It's our classroom, our office, I workout in here and in the winter we use the wood burning fireplace in here to warm up the cabin.

*The Adverbs, Verbs, Coutning and ABC posters are all from the Dollar Tree. Changeable weather/calendar and camping themed wall decorations from amazon. Table and Chairs from Walmat)

*Map of the U.S. from Target $5 bin, Globe, plastic bins are from Dollar Tree. Cubbies we bought from amazon last year and already had the furniture and white board.

*I found a free template for these labels for the cubbies online and typed in what I wanted each to be. Printed and laminated them. Practice clock is from amazon, wooden puzzles we've slowly collected from various stores. Carskey and Lil' both have their own cubby with their pencil box, bible and school workbooks they are using for the year. They take out what they need and put it back at the end of the school day.

*We hang art projects on the clips throughout the year, filing system has a folder for each of them labeled Mon-Fri. Each Sunday I put what work they are doing in each folder for the week and each day that we complete we put to the back of the folder so I can see where we are at. 

*My school planner where I keep our course of study, and fill out our curriculum plan for each week. I made each kid a "daily learning notebook" that I had gotten the idea from one of my favorite youtubers A Place to Nest that you can view her version HERE. For my first grader it has his name, address, phone number practice, days of the week/months puzzles, daily calendar, and other activities. For my Preschooler it has her name practice, day of the week wheel, puzzles, and alphabet/number tracing practice. Everything is in a clear plastic insert so they can use dry eraser, erase and begin again the next day.

* Our theme this year is adventure/outdoors so I found a cute little graphic online I printed up, colored and laminated on our class sign. The kids each had one too that they colored and put on the cover of their daily learning notebooks.

Favorite Curriculum/Other Items we are using this year!

* Our main curriculum we are using this year is the Horizons 1st Grade. It comes with Phonics/Reading, Math, Spelling/Vocabulary, Health and Penmanship. Carskey was an early reader and I wanted to find something that would challenge him a bit more in that aspect. After a LOT of research on different types of curriculum this was the one I felt was the right fit for us this year. It also has wonderful penmanship curriculum which is something Carskey could use a slower pace on/patience which was perfect. You can view the curriculum HERE.

*I found these on amazon and thought they were so FUN! My 1st grader is a BIG Minecraft fan and who wouldn't want to do Math or Color in Minecraft form? LOL These are unofficial and were a really good price on Amazon!

*More Math and Science we are using this year. Carskey got the microscop and weather science kit for his birthday and they will both fit in perfect for our school year. Rock crystal kits from dollar tree. Money Counting activity, food group sorting boxes from Oriental Trading, Flash cards are a 1st grade pack by playskool I got on amazon, math cubes from amazon and time puzzle from dollar bin at Target.

* A few of our Geography/Phonics goodies for the year! Word Tiles from amazon, Crinkle world map from Target $5 bin. We have fun with that one. We crinkle it up and toss it  back and forth and find contents and oceans on it. Puzzles from dollar bin at Target. Contractions peanuts puzzle and common/proper noun grammar buckets are from Oriental Trading Co. I just found that magnetic U.S.A puzzle at a specialty toy store in Julian this past weekend while camping. I was really excited about that!

Closer look at my recent Oriental Trading Co haul. I got all of this for under $30!

*Our Outdoor/Explore bin is slowly growing! We like to go on nature walks and are starting a nature journal as part of school time this year. They also keep their garden gloves and some of their tools in there for when they help me outside.

*This is one of my all time favorite Dollar Tree finds. I love getting school supplies there. After watching one of my favorite homeschool youtubers last year share about this dry erase foam dice, I've been on the hunt ever since. A few weeks ago I FOUND IT at my local Dollar Tree (insert cheers here). 

Today we used it for the first time practicing ordinal vs. cardinal numbers and the kids loved it. Carson got his practice in and Lily had fun rolling the dice and shouting out the answer after Carson would.

Some of the Online/Printable Resources we are using:

From TeachersPayTeachers.com (Links attached)

Social Studies Interactive Notebook K-2  👧🏼

Nature Journal

5 Senses Poster Set - free

Science Interactive Journal - Weather and Water Unit - free

Geography Interactive Notebook 1st Grade - free

Local Communities People and Enivorment Notebook - free

Other:

ABCMouse.com

AdventureBible.com - free

(we use this for games and a free yearly reading plan for the Bible my 1st grader has.)

Kids of Intergrity - free

TypingClub.com - free

Confessions of a Homeschooler – some free

(curriculum, schedules, advise. So much amazing content.)

Public Library -  

I utilize our public Library A LOT. I order specific books from the library online weeks in advance for upcoming units so I don’t have to buy as many books. Also the public library will allow you to open up a homeschooling library card separate from your regular one. The homeschool card lets you check the books out for double the time as the regular card.

Are you still there? That was a big post! Sorry about that! I hope you found this helpful. If you have any questions or just want to say come find me on my facebook page and send me a message! 

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A year in review: Our first year of Homeschooling comes to a close

So I wrote the majority of this blog post in the BEGINNING of the summer and well... it never got published. So I figured "hey probably a good time to get it up before I start blogging about the NEW school year right?!"

Just like that in the blink of an eye we finished our first year of homeschool. This time last year we had been praying for wisdom and peace whether or not that this was the best choice for our family. A Up until a little over a year ago home school wasn't even something on my radar, I doubted I was capable of being my children's primary teacher, but God kept giving us gentle nudges until finally one day it was like "Ok God, we hear you and know this is what we need to do." You can read a little more about that here on my post "Why we are homeschooling and our first day of school."

So how did our first year go? Short answer: It was amazing. Were there days where it just didn't go our way and I wanted to hide in the closet? Yep. But the majority of it was amazing, memorable, encouraging and fun. All of it was humbling and filled with God's grace. I am so proud of my son for how much he learned this year and his love for reading. It's been truly a blessing to be right there in the midst of the little moments while he learned things like, how to tell time... how to subtract... fun science experiments, nature walks and everything in between.

Carson learning dice math, Lily being... two.

I wasn't sure how it would go with having a 2-3 year old in the midst of it as well and keeping her entertained and happy turning our school time. Truth is she just wanted to be a part of it all. She wanted to be right there in our little school room with us, singing songs, learning the abc's, story time.. coloring.. participating in our projects too. I saw her grow and thrive so much this year and hope that I can always hear her sweet little voice saying the pledge of allegiance in my head because it's the cutest thing ever. There were days where she was very much a 2-3 year old... But we got through it together, sometimes with a little extra coffee or time outside on the trampoline.

One of my favorite parts of the year was being a part of our amazing co-op school that we went to full class days with 2x a month and field trips. Being a part of the community and fellowship was such a blessing. I have new wonderful friends because of it and they were truly mentors for me as our family navigated it's way through it's first year. The kids made amazing friends too! When I was researching co-op schools to be a part of it was no accident that I ended up on their website. I know God lead us to that school and community.

American Dress up day at one of our class days both of them wanted to go as farmers. 

We had a lot of fun units and projects/moments this year, so to keep this blog short I will share our top 10 favorites :)

(Not in any particular order)

1. Sun Unit: Learning what melts/doesn't melt in the sun

2. Regrowing used vegetables! Our green onions are still going strong. Even after all the snow we had this past winter.

3. Fruit of the Spirit/Apple Slice Paint Craft. We has a LOT of fun with this one! It's still hanging in our school room :)

4. Homemade Play dough with essential oils. Carson said this was one of his favorite projects.

5. Advent Reading Christmas Tree Ornaments

6. Snow Day walks! We had lots of fun snow day walks. This was several days after our last snow. We couldn't believe how long it stuck around. So fun!

7. Volcano launching with Daddy. Another awesome part of homeschooling... we got to save some projects for when Daddy got home from work so he could participate too!

8. "Swimming Octopus Craft" - We ended our Octopus unit making swimming Octopus with recycled grocery bags, water bottles and food coloring!

9. Caterpillar Unit! It was so fun to get our caterpillars as tiny tiny little guys and watch them go through metamorphosis! The kids agreed this was one of their favorite things from the whole school year. I loved that we did it at the end of the year and were able to release them in our garden.

10. Graduating Kindergarten! We are so proud of our boy for how much he learned and thrived his first full year of school. 

So that's a wrap to our first year of school! We made so many fun memories, had a few trial and error moments, had amazing class days with our co-op and learned so much together. We are very excited to start Pre-K and 1st Grade in the Fall!

Stay tuned for a LOT more blog posts this school year as we do new projects, crafts and more that I will be sharing here. 

Blessings,

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DIY Recipe: Stress Away Epsom Salt Scrub

Oh how I love a new fun scrub to use! Not only do they smell amazing and are all natural. I love that I know what ingredients are going in to it, that it's eco friendly going back into the ground here at our homestead AND it relaxes me. 

Win win right?

Even better is when it's SO easy to make!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Coconut Oil

1 Cup Epsom Salt

20-30 drops of Essential Oil blend called "Stress Away" 

(20 -30 drops based on your preference)

*Mix it it all together in a large bowl and then store it in glass mason jars. I got these in the dollar section at Target. Love them! 

Tip: Once you've used up all the scrub just wash and re use the jars! 

Saves money and is re purposing :)

So why do I love Stress Away essential oil blend so much? Let me count the ways!

Long story short, I have anxiety while driving and was diagnosed with PTSD a year ago after an accident. I put stress away on behind my ears EVERY TIME I get in a car whether I'm driving or not and it has helped me so much. 

Also just as a Mama who homeschools and spends 90% of her time on our homestead with animals, lots of chores and responsibilities I really do love my small window I get each day to relax and take a "time out." So having things like this on hand (the espom salt scrub) is something that I enjoy having. 

Speaking of homestead with animals, we've had an influx in babies these past 2 weeks! All 4 of our female goats had TWINS within 8 days of each other. Yep you read that right.

Want to see some of the cuteness?

(Brand New, jut born a few minute prior to this picture)

My daughter snuggling one of the new goats. She told me she wishes they always stay this small.

I hear you Lily girl... I hear you. I sometimes wish you could stay this small too.

Oh you know, just a baby goat, in a diaper, on my lap, in my house. :swoons:

Meet Petra (the one Carson is holding), and Muffin (the one Lily is holding). Both are now officially animals of R&M Ranch. They will learn to take care of them and will be there new pets. Carson will be starting 4H in the fall and he's so excited!

So to sum it up, using an all natural scrub like this reduces my anxiety, helps heal my sore muscles from my workouts and life on a ranch, and it makes me smell good instead of .. well like a goat LOL.

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Why we are Homeschooling and our First Day of School

We have officially gotten through our very first week of Homeschooling! With the 3 day weekend and our first class day with our co-op, we eased our way into this new routine and we've loved every minute of it.

I've been asked a lot WHY we are Homeschooling. 

I could give you a very long post on our reasons. But I'll save that for another blog post someday.

The short reason? This is what God has called us to do and we are going embrace this new season of life we are beginning.

Am I excited? Yes.

Am I nervous? Yes.

Do I trust the direction God is moving our life? With all my heart. He's known this was the plan all along. Thank you Jesus.

While we are in the building phase of our home, the cabin we are staying in on our land is home to us. It's small but fits us comfortably and we are very blessed to have this add on room that works as a office/workout room/class room. We've used up every inch of the space possible and we're happy with the the outcome.

Not everyone that homeschools has a "classroom" and there are a lot of different styles of homeschooling. Why we made a classroom? With the house building, country moving lifestyle changes and the fact we had space in this cabin to do it is why we made one. Having the room set up this way motivates Carson and I when we begin our school day, it's something we both enjoy. It has made beginning kindergarten exciting to him and he looks forward to coming in here everyday to learn. 

Prep... We have truly enjoyed getting familiar with our little local library here in our tiny town :) They've helped me order books in from other branches that will work well with our study units over the next few weeks. We go once a week. The kids get to play, and I get to explore! Double win.

Over the summer I spent a lot of time looking at SO many different types of curriculum. Then one day this awesome curriculum fell on my lap. Or should I say a wonderful friend of mine was selling her used curriculum from previous school years and this was it! Just another awesome move from God.

Caleb snapped this pic of me one night as I was working on the classroom prepping for our first week. I grumbled about it then, now a few weeks later I appreciate that he took this. I want to remember these early stages of this new journey we are on.

What do I hope to get out of our first year of Homeschooling?

Time. Time to be with my children as they learn, explore and grow stronger in their knowledge of the Lord. Time for more giggles, games, story times and snuggles.

I'm honored and humbled to get to do this with our kids. 

I'm also very thankful for my hard working Husband. He works away from us all day so that we can be here together. I'm also thankful for my coaching that allows me to work freely from home.

How we started out our first day of school. Tractor ride and skipping. It was beautiful weather too! So thankful that Fall weather is starting to say hello.

Some pictures from our school day. The first 10 days of this curriculum is called "Foundation: The Story of Creation." We started with Day 1 and read Genesis 1:1-5 in Carson's new Bible. 

At the end of the school day I asked Carson what he wanted to do now that he was done with his first day of school. His response? He wanted to go take care of the animals :) So that's what he did!

What did Lily do after our first day?

She decided the bedroom floor was a good place to fall asleep. Don't worry, I moved her to the bed :)

4 years in a blink. So proud of our sweet, silly, train track building boy. You are a blessing Carskey boy. 

This first day of homeschool has been a long time in the making. I wasn't sure if I was going to be cut out for this, to be the teacher I wanted him to have. Lots of prayer, encouragement from loved ones and other homeschool mamas and God's glorious grace got us to this point. I'm feeling incredibly thankful and blessed for this new season God has called on us, and honored to have this role in my kids lives. 

Is homeschooling for everyone? No. Is it what my family and I have been called to do? Yes. And we are going to savor it, thrive in it God willing and enjoy it. ❤️

This blog started out as a place to share my passion for health and fitness. Over the last year it has grown to a place where I also share our journey as new homesteaders and now as a new homeschool mom. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for lots more posts in the future.