Getting Started - August Homeschooling

We truly tried to squeeze out every day of summer this year, but knowing we are expecting a new little one and that we'd want to finish up our school year early in the spring, we finally decided to head back August 29th. 

The public schools in the area went back a week or two earlier, but we tend to go on a later schedule like the school system where our cousins Dan and Anabella attend. And, since we don't have to worry about missing days for bad weather in the winter, in the end, it all balances out so that we get out about the same time as everyone else. 

I definitely was feeling more confident this go around as we started out homeschooling again. Though Caleb was going into first grade instead of Kindergarten, we set a rigorous pace last year and had a good jump start. We were using a lot of the same curriculum, which helped too, so that first week or so we spent just trying to settle back into our routine. 

First grade already? 

The dynamic was a little different this time around though because Hadley is now in Pre-K. We debated whether or not to send her to preschool like we did Caleb since she is so social and wanted to go, but in the end decided it just wasn't the best fit for our family as a whole this year. Honestly, though Caleb developed socially when he attended, academically I was able to give him a better education at home where he could get more individualized work focused right to his needs, interests, and learning style. The kids were also sick almost the whole year when he was in school but hardly any last year. Getting all three kids up, ready, and out the door didn't sound like such a great idea either, especially being exhausted from being pregnant. That said, the pros of staying home out weighed the cons, so we are trying other ways to get in those much needed social opportunities for our extroverted little girl through ballet, t-ball, co-ops, Awana, church, etc.

As for Reid...well he just gets to be the baby for the most part, but we started out the year including him in a lot of our learning too. I'm hoping that by the end of this year he'll know his letters and can count to at least ten.

Here's a few pics from our first day, everyone working on their own thing side by side.

The first week was a little rough as we got back to the grind. Hadley was still recovering from having her tonsils out and being hospitalized with complications plus I was exhausted from being pregnant and tending to her, so it may not have been best week to start. But, I figured if she couldn't go outside and be active for a while, we might as well get something done while we set around the house. Mr. Reid, the busy boy that he is was into everything too, which definitely created lots of stress in those first couple weeks, and I began to question if I was cut out for this or if maybe I should reconsider our options. The weeks that followed went much more smoothly though and I'm so excited we stuck it out and have had such a good start together this year. It is a blessing to be able to spend the days with my little ones, watching them learn and grow, instead of having to entrust them to someone else and miss so many moments of their little lives.