Homeschool - April

It's starting to feel like Summer! The weather is warming up and the neighborhood kids are swarming outside. It's so nice to be able to not worry about kids playing with other kids this spring (last spring was spent very isolated). We are loving everything about this spring. 

Since February, we've been doing a neighborhood class rotation. This month, we switched it up and the K/1st graders do PE on Tuesday and then come to my house on Thursday for a STEM Class. We've build play-doh towers, marble tracks, and robots/take apart cars. During the same times, Lydia went with the 3rd grade girls to do both Readers Theater and PE. 

The Library

The Library finally opened up for kids! The library was closed for a long time, then only allowed drive-up pickup for holds. Next you could go into the building for holds, then adults could pick up holds AND browse. Finally they are allowing kids back. They were SO excited and although I usually say that they can only get 5 books each, I decided that they could get as many books as they wanted that we could still carry. We ended up with over 50 books and it was the best. The library is such an important part of our homeschool. So much of our learning comes through books and I'm grateful I don't have to buy them all but we can still learn and explore through them. 

SPRING BREAK

I have to admit, Spring can either be a season of burnout for homeschool, or you can lean into it and modify a few routines to make it an enjoyable end of the year. After the science fair, we were struggling to get back into the swing of things so I decided to take the first week of April off. It was exactly what we needed. I was able to regroup a little and do some homeschool prep. The kids got a break and we all felt much better for the week off. David asked me, "So is this going to be your spring break?" To which I laughed and said no, we needed a spring break, too.   Sometimes you just need to take a break- and sometimes that lines up with the ability to be able to take that break. And because we needed it, and because we could, we did - and it was great.     

Just a couple weeks later it was our official spring break! We waited until the week after the Alpine School District spring break so we wouldn't have to deal with crowds. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty chilly (it snowed the day we went to the pool!) but we had a great week nonetheless. I picked one house cleaning project for us to work on in the morning and the kids got to pick one fun thing to do each afternoon. We decided to get a new Thanksgiving Point pass, and the kids were excited to explore! 

Children Curiosity Museum

Swimming

Dino Museum

Jump Park

Bear River Suspension Bridge with Dad and Aunt Amy (aka Spring Hike a Week)

Some other things from the month: 

Lydia's RISE Test

I'm SO proud of this girl. When we signed her up to take the Utah RISE year-end assessment, there were some nervous feelings. But we prepared, prayed, and talked about all the ways Lydia would be stronger, more confident, and more able because of the experience. The test is a three hour block, so we packed a snack and a book for her to read when she was done. She carefully selected her book (then last minute added her book of mormon reader) and dressed in her coziest clothes. I want to remember the way her sweet voice sounded when she called me "Hi mommy, this is Lydia, I am done!" And her face when she saw me and was so excited to tell me about how well everything went. Lydia is smart and her testing went well, but more than anything I am proud of her confidence, willingness to do new things, and for the growing experience this was for her.

Morgan Hike  -  "the M"

In an effort to maintain our spring "Hike a Week" we dragged the Haderlies with us to Hike the M. It's always a bigger hike than I expect it to be -but the kids did great.  In our homeschool report, I wrote about how important this hike a week is to us and all of the benefits. It fosters physical activity, appreciation of nature, personal endurance and accomplishment. Austin said his favorite part of hiking is when his legs get tired because it means he's growing bigger muscles. Lydia said that she likes hikes because she loves being in nature, especially in the mountains because she loves the smell of the trees.

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We were in Morgan for our hike because it was Rugby's Birthday! Lydia has been counting on a birthday celebration for her beloved puppy for months and grandma and grandpa did not disappoint. They had yard games, a dog show display from Rugby, and party favors. Lydia made a cake for the adults and a special cake for Rugby.

Lydia Movie

When we went to the dino museum for Spring Break, Lydia saw that there was a movie in the i-Max theater about rescue dogs titled "Super Dogs". She saved up her money and asked if I would take her. We were the only ones in the whole theater. The show was pretty intense and Lydia ended up in my lap several times but we enjoyed it and I treasured the time with my girl. I kept laughing because she'd lean over and whisper something that she knew about the various types of dogs it was talking about (i.e. "I think that dog is a Newfoundland. They are really strong and their fur keeps them warm. They have webbed feet to help them swim better."), then the movie would confirm what she had said launch into a detailed description. (i.e. A detailed clip of the anatomy of a Newfoundland and all the reasons it's a good swimmer.) She's the best and constantly amazes me with how much she knows about dogs. 

We only have a few weeks left of school and we are SO looking forward to summer. I will never be anything but grateful for the hours, weeks, and months that I'm able to spend with these children. I sometimes feel like I'm beating the system, sneaking away thousands of hours that I wouldn't have otherwise- and although it's not always perfect, and I wish we had more golden moments than monotonous ones, I wouldn't trade these years that we've stolen away.