Plugging along

Remember when school started in September?  These days, I don't think we get past the first week of August before cute "first day of school" pictures fill my facebook new feed and instagram.  As for my little homeschooling clan, we just keep plugging along.  But in honor of school starting for everyone else, I will do a little school update on my students.

Jake will be 7 and a half this month and never ceases to amaze me with the way he both retains and comprehends information!  Another homeschooling mom asked me just the other day, "How is Jake so smart?!?"  I laughed it off when she asked, but as I have said countless times before, he just came that way.  He has been blessed with an incredible mind!

He has fallen in love with reading this past year, and I half jokingly say that my job with him is done.  But really, once you can read, you really can teach yourself anything so I feel like it is an exciting milestone in his life!  Every time I see him nose deep in a book my heart is happy!  I am not exactly sure what his reading level is, but I would guess early middle school.  He flies through books at a rapid rate and has already enjoyed classics by Jake London and Mark Twain (they were adapted versions, so he still has the real ones to look forward to in several years).  He also loved the Shiloh trilogy and we have been reading quite a bit of historical Christian fictions together, but his current favorite is anything related to ancient Greece and their mythology.

As for math, we have stuck with the Saxon program and he is working on the beginning of the 4/5 curriculum.  While most of it is review for him so far, I like that he is able to do nearly all of it independently.  I think he is enjoying taking a break from long division and multiplication using extended form for a little while we brush up on the basics.  The lessons are longer, but I see his conference growing as works through the lessons with little to no assistance from me.  I guess that is what we parents do, work ourselves right out a job, right?  Maybe he will need me again when he gets to algebra.

James started the Hooked on Phonics program this summer and is catching on quite quickly!  We just finished the first half of the kindergarten level where he learned words with short a and i sounds.  He will almost always have a big sigh when I say it is time to read, but with in seconds of snuggling up with our lesson he is all smiles.  He really enjoys when he can "sound them out in my mind," so he can just say them without verbally blending the sounds together.  There are so many times I feel like a crazy person for homeschooling, but moments like this, I remember that there is no other option for us.  I want to be a part of all their childhood first...listening to him read his first words is just as wonderful as it was to watch him take his first steps.

James appears to have a math brain.  He understands numbers and the way they work together.  While one shouldn't compare their children, Jake is my only point of reference.   As Jamie makes his way through the Saxon 1 book, I have been surprised several times when we come to concepts that I remember Jake struggling with that click with James right away.  Just like his older brother, James has been blessed with an incredible mind, but I love that they appear to have unique strengths.

In the "real world" James wouldn't be starting Kindergarten until the following year, but I can't imagine him waiting that long!  He has been doing school along side his big brother since he was a baby.  Not because I expected him to, but because he wanted to.  I think that is one of the great part about this life, the "school" part is just part of life, the same way meals and playing are or catching bugs and getting in trouble for playing ball in the house is.  I hope that my children are learning that learning is not something you do in one place and a certain time in you life, but that it should be a part of our life each and every day even if the "flow" that I dream of looks more like roaring rapids than a gentle stream.

Homeschool is definitely not the easiest thing.  There are many times Jake gets frustrated with me because I am helping too much or not enough (basically he just gets frustrated when he doesn't get it perfect on the first try).  I lose my patience more often than I would like to admit (mostly when I feel like I am not balancing all of my life responsibilities perfectly...I guess those cute dimples aren't the only thing he inherited from me.  James often melts down when he has to put his toys down for scripture study, and Scarlett...well, Scarlett adds an extra set of challenges to any lesson.  But we are all learning, and the longer I do this the more I see the life lessons we are learning between the math, through the reading, and under the forts made of blankets that I always end up cleaning up...

Happy Birthday, Jamie Do!

The night before my baby turned four, I couldn't resist picking up my camera.  James' last night as a three year old, and with no "freeze time" button to be found, my camera was like a dear friend reassuring me, "It is okay, I will help you remember this.  I will capture this moment so when you whenever you look at it, no matter how much has changed or how big he gets, your mind will remember and your heart will be able to recall it all."

I love this boy!  I love the way his eyes smile!  I love the way that his smile can brighten any moment and his tight hugs can squeeze away a bad mood.  He presence exudes warmth, and I already see people (often adults) wanting to just sit and talk with him...and they are always smiling.  There is just something about him...

Our Jamie Do is naturally silly and goofy, but over this past year I have also seen his intellect blossom.  He is incredibly smart, but rarely wants to show off.  However, engage him in conversation and you will find a deep and practical thinker.  He is deeply empathetic and is a great problem solver both academically and socially.  There are countless times during "school" where I think he isn't understanding something because he isn't responding, and then just when I think "oh, maybe he isn't quite ready for this" he picks up his pencil and completes all the problems on the page.  I have also seen him teach what he knows/understands to his peers (sometimes even his big brother).  He has a way of being clear and concise, but never condescending or rude.  One of my favorite James moments, one that perfectly illiterates who is his, came one afternoon while he took something unsafe away from Scarlett,  "No, no, no, Scarlett, you can't have that," he explained in his sweetest high pitched love voice, but just to make sure she didn't feel bad he ended with, "but you still are pretty!"  That's my boy!
He is my sunshine.  And while watching him grow will always be bitter sweet, I love being a part of it.

James, I don't just love you, I like you, and if you weren't mine I would sure want to be your friend!

And I'm not the only one.  Your 4 year old party was full of some of the people who couldn't resist celebrating your special day with you.  These people didn't just spend Saturday afternoon with you at the bowling alley, they even came back to our house that night to watch you blow out you candles and make a wish.

Happy Birthday Jamie Do!  We love you!!

My Sunshine

Getting Jamie Do (a name he coined for himself while watching/reenacting the snowboard competition this past Olympics...it started as Jamie Dude, but almost immediately was shortened) in front of a camera these days is getting quite tricky.  But I did my best to get some pictures of him during our trip.  I might have been a little over zealous because on our last day there, as I begged him to "look up" (I don't even ask for smiles anymore) he said with great annoyance, "It is like you are always taking pictures!"

What can I say?  There is a little sour in my sour patch kid.  But there is whole lot of sweet too!  Not to mention a natural sense of humor and comedic timing that constantly catches us off guard and keeps up all laughing.

Since he was a tiny baby, I have described James as the color yellow.  He adds a warmth and light where ever he is...when James enters a room, it becomes a little brighter.  And I am not the only one who notices it.  At three and half, he already has a natural charisma about him.  I remember my dad trying to explain charisma to me when I was young, and he described it as a person that people naturally gravitate to, someone people just want to be around.  "You can't replicate it or fake it, someone either has it, or they don't," he told me.  Well, it appears James "has it."

This boy gives life 100%, and man does he have the bumps, bruises, and scraps to prove it (check out the bump on his head in these pictures)!  He is my dare devil.  The strider bike cannot go fast enough, he is already begging his daddy for a red motor cycle, and there is nothing that Jake can do that he isn't willing to try.  Luckily, three has brought with it a little wisdom and forethought...calculated risk has replaced recklessness...thank goodness!  If he is going to be a little crazy, I am sure glad he is really smart!

But sometimes smart and spunky can get a little trying, especially when he decides to digs his little heals in about something (did I mention he is a little stubborn?).  However, I know if it weren't for his feistiness, he might not be here.  When he came into the world he had to fight to stay, and I am so blessed that he was strong (and stubborn) enough to win.  

I can't imagine my life without him.  And despite the lip service I may give to him staying in his "big boy bed" each night, I am always happy to wake up to his warm little body cuddled up against me.  He is such a big boy so much of the time that I welcome moments when he still wants to be my baby.

James, you are such a blessing to our family, and I have no doubt that you will continue to bless the lives of others throughout as you grow.  I may not be able to predict the future, but I do know that wherever you go, smiles and laughter will follow and the world will be a little brighter.  Your light is a gift from your Father in Heaven, and you must never be afraid to let it shine!  

I love you with all my heart, Jamie Do!  You really are my sunshine!

That's A Homeschool Wrap!

This year has been a incredible homeschool journey for our family!  I can't believe how much we have learned and grown...me, probably, more than anyone else!  So before 2013 comes to a close, I want to share some of the milestones, discoveries, and lessons we have experienced this year.

1) One of our biggest accomplishments was our study of the Old Testament.  We started out using the LDS Old Testament reader and Discover the Scriptures curriculum.  But within several months, I realized that we all wanted a little more.  So after a visit to California, Grandpa Dave sent us home with his childhood Bible stories, and an illustrated children's Bible what includes lot of fun historical facts and picture of artifacts.  Throughout the year Jake has memorized nearly 20 scriptures (James became familiar with quite a few too), became better acquainted with prophets of old, and learned how these ancient stories can directly help us in our lives today.

2) Jacob completed Saxon's Kindergarten and First Grade math curriculum, and is nearly half way through the Second Grade program.  It is amazing how much he has learned this year!  He is counting money (pennies, dimes, and nickels), learning to tell time, measuring, adding, and subtracting.

3) James started his math this year too.  We did most of the things that I did with Jake several years ago.  It is something of a Montessori hands on approach to begin identifying numbers and to understand the quantity they represent.  James caught on quickly and enjoyed playing with the rocks  and counting bears, but then about four months ago, he decided he was ready for something more like his brother was doing.  So now he is learning to write the numbers 1-10, he can count till 20 (although it sometimes gets a little muddled around "firteen"), he can complete AB patterns, and he is a pro with shapes and sizes.

4) Jacob has learned to READ!  I tried several methods, and most of them left us both feeling frustrated and unmotivated.  I started to think that maybe he just wasn't ready and that I was pushing to hard, but after some research (and a lot of prayer), I decided to give Hooked on Phonics a try.  We started with the Kindergarten program, and immediately I could see it working.  We supplement by using the Explode the Code workbooks which him a chance to put the rules he was learning into action.  

And over the last few months we have brought in weekly spelling words so that he can get some of those pesky "sight" words under his belt.  We are about half way through the 2nd grade program, and I am sad that it is the last one in the set.

5) Guess who decided he needed his own Hooked on Phonics?  You guessed it!  James, who had already been working on identifying and writing his letters this year, started the preschool Hooked on Phonics a few months ago.  We are moving slowly through the program because I really want to make sure that he connecting each letter with its sound.  But I don't think it will take too long because this boy really wants to learn to read!  He actually started crying at church a few weeks ago because he was frustrated that he couldn't read the hymn.

While I think it is wonderful that he is so eager to learn, I am not too eager for him to stop using words like "caterpittle" and "popporn"or telling me how "busy" he is after he spins in circles.  So don't judge me when I help him learn what each letter says, but I don't correct him when he tells me that he saved my hair tie from "going down the dream" or when he asks "where the water castle (aka fountain) is."  And the other day, I just smiled when he proudly announced, "I know where the alligator is!" as he lead the way to elevator.  I am a huge faun of learning, but I am also just as passionate about letting them stay little.

If I have learned one thing this year, it is how much I need to learn!  Homeschooling has not only helped me get to know my boys' strength and weaknesses, but it has really highlighted my own.  Talk about humbling!  For example, I am not as patient as I use to considered myself to be.  After teaching swimming for over a decade, I once might have listed patience as one of my strengths...and then I had my own children.  It is funny how the people you love like no one else, are also the ones who can push your buttons like no one else.  I realized that for my sake and for the happiness of my family, I needed to follow the council found in the Book of Ether:  And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. (Ether 12:27)  So, through lots of prayer, scripture study, and some amazing conference talks...I am making progress.   I have learned that patience really is the foundation for a Christ like life, but the trick is, acquiring patience takes patience...I am sure it will be something I will strive and work for each day.  

It is difficult to say who is benefiting the most from homeschool, but it is my humble prayer that we are all growing together as a family.  And that as we learn, each day, we are not only acquiring knowledge but wisdom through the Lord.

Dinorific 3rd Birthday - Take 2

We did it!  Somehow between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the birth of this baby girl, we threw a dinorific 3rd Birthday for Jamie!  

Thank you Oriental Trading Company for another successful party!

Even the "bigger" boys can't resist dinosaurs!

Lunch time!  I love how many kids we can squish onto that table!

James took craft #2 very seriously!

One Happy Birthday Boy!

We were so blessed to celebrate this boy with some of our favorite families here in Clarksville.  Thank you to the Dannenbergs, Hinds, and Pattersons for helping to make this day so special for our James David.