Homeschoolin' Momma

   

Last art project of the school year!

     Must blog... having a hard time finding the time....There's a lot of things I can tell you about Denver, but we're going to save those for another day, because today is our last day of school. So I'm finding time to write you this while the chicken nuggets are in the oven and the kids are kicked outside.
      I cannot believe that I made it through one year of homeschooling! I told my husband this morning " Can you believe I made it through without losing my mind?" He said that this was questionable. I agree, we've had some ups and downs on our journey. If you didn't know, we home school through an online program which means, I have teachers to report to and I facilitate the assignments they give the boys. Most days this works pretty well.  I feel confident that the kids are not behind in their studies and will be neck in neck with their peers when they return to school someday. I'm comforted by the fact that they're not in Kristina's school of hard knocks. If there's anything I want most,  it's for my kids to have a happy, normal childhood.  Normal seems to be questionable these days. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the right thing but in the end,  I think keeping our family together is the best decision for us.
        You can't imagine how ecstatic I am to get through one year of homeschooling and still have my children like me.   Friends, you may think I'm a patient person, I am not. I get flustered at the end of the day when I think we're almost done and I'm ready to do a happy dance and realize we have an art project to do. I sympathize with my first grader when he says "are we done yet?"  We have had a lot of fun and have been able to bend the rules  with our flexible schedule. We've schooled in Colorado, Utah, Maryland, California and Nevada this year.  I am so comforted that we have not had to pull the boys in and out of schools with all of these moves. We skipped class a few times and went to the movies. We've taken field trips to Chimney Rock,  Mesa Verde, the hot springs, you know wherever.
      Some of my favorite moments were when Ian helped us build a scale out of gift wrapping rollers and tin cans. I remember making homemade paste because when you live 30 minutes from the store it's just not worth it. I didn't particularly enjoy that memory but I'm dang proud of myself for doing it. I remember when Wrex had to write a poem about Cleopatra. It sounded much better as a rap but I was also very proud of that moment too.

      One amazing thing is,  that in every town I've been to, I've been able to connect with another home school mom and be very encouraged. They make me feel like one of their own, even though sometimes I think I'm an impostor. They're always so cheerful as they charge along getting the best education for their children. Sometimes I feel more reluctant than the rest, but today I did get it done. If you can't tell I'm extremely proud of myself, but I am even more proud of my children, because they have learned independence this year,  among many other things. Wrex was a bit distraught yesterday when his PowerPoint presentation of 1910 to 1919 would not work on application sharing to present to his class. I tried telling him that this was  something that most adults can't,  even do but he didn't really believe me . 
     As one son goes into junior high and the other into second grade I feel that they are definitely ready for the challenges ahead of them and I pray that I am too. We're transitioning into our summer learning program, which consists of me teaching them to do whatever I want them to do. As I was instructing Houston to make meatballs in the kitchen this afternoon, I stepped out to prop the door open with my jogging stroller, because the door opener thingy  has broken off quite some time ago. When I came back, I saw him trying to stick his fingers in the can and I stopped him because I knew he would get hurt. So instead, I stuck my finger in the can and pop tomato sauce everywhere along with bloody fingers. Which reminds me, how much I have to learn and how  grateful I am that my kids are graciously learning with me. This is one thankful homeschooling mom who is so happy for the end of the year. Now id you'll excuse me, I am late for PE which just happens to be "Just Dance 2" today. Thanks for checking and happy summer!

A clay lineman for his service worker project

Science projects

We created our own time machine

A mosaic of a horse....you could tell that right?