Homeschool September

Homeschool. 

I knew that homsechool was going to be harder this year with a new baby and all. I told myself that I needed to do all my my planning and prep before Lucy was born, but then I didn't. Lydia had a Spanish class start at the beginning of August before I was really ready for school to start and for some reason, that threw me off, too. I'll be honest, we haven't really hit our groove yet this year - but even though I feel like that's true, we've also had some beautiful golden nuggets. Learning how to draw portraits for art class and then setting up a booth in the front yard to sell custom portraits for a quarter. Reading in the sunshine after a good library book haul. Earning chocolate chips for correct spelling words. And so many other little tiny glimmers of homeschooling light that don't get photographed or recorded. 

Some of our highlights this month: 

Going to California! I loved so much that we had the flexibility to just pack up and drive to California when our new niece/cousin was born. No stressing about school schedules. The opportunities that we experienced in LA were AMAZING. Art class with Aunt Brooklyn where she taught Lydia to draw animals by looking at pictures of them and then looking at their shapes. (Brooklyn is an amazing artist who works in animation at Sony.) We went to the LaBrea tar pits, the California Science Center and the ocean. Each place was so interesting and full of opportunity. I particularly want to remember the way that Lydia interacted with the volunteers at the LaBrea Tar Pit museum. She answered their questions intelligently and asked her own questions. She confidently approached them and knew how to speak with them. Several of them commented to me about her. I once read an article about "socialization and homeschool" that talked about how the social experience of a homeschool child is SO rich, varying from free play with other children their same age, social opportunities with kids of varying ages, and also confident interactions with adults at museums and other community events. I felt like I was seeing the truth of that rich social experience embedded throughout this trip. Matthew taught the kids all sorts of interesting facts at the aquarium, my Dad discussed all sorts of interesting tidbits about evolution/natural selection and how interesting he thinks it is as it applies to the gospel, my mom read books with the kids both in the car and at the house, and like I said above - Art with Brooklyn. Plus the myriad of adults that we interacted with.  Plus the deep play of siblings who love each other and also like to be with each other. This trip was the best. 

Another highlight: 

Raspberry picking with the Middletons. Doing outside of the house activities like this are one of the things that really fill up my homeschooling cup. Sunshine, fresh berries, and the time to be together in an unhurried morning of adventure and friendship. The time. It's a gift. 

The gift of time is truly the greatest gift of homeschool. I've been feeling a little worried about how long it's taken us to really get in a good routine with homeschool - but I just went back and read the post that I posted at the beginning of school and reread one of my goals "-Allow myself to snuggle Lucy and enjoy her baby stage through homeschooling, even if a few other things have to be simplified or let go of. (Me.)" We are at a stage where things ARE simplified, but I AM trying to enjoy this baby stage with Lucy. I'm trying to build relationships with my kids and trying to allow them to build those relationships with each other. This picture below: this is the true reason that we homeschool. Even above fostering a love and learning and all that. But giving ourselves the TIME to be together. To snuggle in bed around our new baby. To shake off the world that says GO GO GO and to slow down and focus on the things that matter most. And I just try to have the confidence and faith that the education part will come along for the ride.