May Wrap Up

Just wanted to share a couple of quick pictures from May that we did not have anywhere else.

The kids at church on Mothers Day. 

Shantel and Lydia went on a date to the Mother Daughter Tea Party. 

Lydia and Lucy ended up super sick - you can see both of them ended up sleeping the night in our room and slept in a long time. 

End of School Celebrations

It's that time again! The time when the school year is winding down and SUMMER is just around the corner. We get to celebrate a job well done; a year full of learning; a successful step in our educational journey. We have a few end-of-school traditions and even though they were slightly adjusted because of sickness and scheduled surgeries we still ended the school year with a bang. (It almost killed me to keep with our regular school routine even after the public school kids were out of school, but it just made sense to keep our routine up until the boys surgery, and then to maintain it after so that we would have a routine to stick to while they recovered instead of just being sad that they couldn't go to the pool.)

Here are the end of school pictures:

Austin, age 7.5, end of 1st grade

Lydia, age 10, end of 4th grade

Caleb, age 5, end of preschool

First up is Caleb's Preschool Graduation. He was in Miss. Jessalyn's neighborhood preschool and it was a great fit for him, while being close enough for me (and giving me some good homeschooling time with the other two). He also had an Upstart preschool graduation and David was able to take the morning off to come with us.We loved celebrating him together. 

End-of-Year Readathon

We started the day by going to the Library, then David took the rest of the day off of work and we came home and read books to our hearts content. It was a great afternoon. 

End of School Cones

Once, Lydia read about this tradition from the German culture and we have now adopted it. We choose to do these "school cones" at the end of school and they are filled with surprises and things for the summer (instead of preparing for school). 

Last Day of School Ice Cream Party 

Our neighbors, the Rossels, throw an ice cream party for the school kids as they walk home from the bus on the last day of school and it's one of my favorite traditions. 

And last but not least (and actually, the first end of school celebration chronologically this year)

LAGOON DAY! 

David and I took the four oldest, while Jenna watched the four youngest, and had the greatest day. We were at the park as it opened and we closed it out that night. The kids had been saving their money and they spent it all! Candy, giant stuffed animals, necklaces, slurpees, etc.. it was the best day of these kids lives. They were at such fun ages for the rides and we really just had a great time celebrating the end of the school year doing something that they have been looking forward to since the day after we went last year. 

Summer, here we come! 

May Homeschool + End of Year Homeschool Thoughts

This homeschool year has been a dream. With our Tuesday/Thursday rotations, Friday Field Trips, and Science Fair, the year has been a huge success. I'm grateful to have connections with other homeschooling families that can impact my children's education for good. We've been soaking it in for all it's worth because next year the Youngs and Wardells are going back to school and it's going to be really sad. BUT we aren't worrying about that right now. We are just grateful for the wonderful year that we've had. Apparently, I didn't take any pictures of actual homeschooling this month, but I want to make a note of these kids and what a great group they've been together this year. 

The Older Girls: Lydia Peaden, Lily & Iris Young, Lilly Wardell (and Ava Myntti)

Their year was full of Utah History, Science, Cooking, Sewing, PE,  Book Clubs, field trips, creative play, and much much more. (pictures from the 2021-2022 school year rotations/fieldtrips)

The Boys: Austin Peaden, Oliver Young, Neal Wardell (sometimes joined by Caleb Peaden, Luke Young, Leo Wardell)

Their year was full of Science, STEM, PE, Cooking, field trips, bike rides, and much more. 

(pictures from the 2021-2022 school year rotations/fieldtrips)

I just have to say again, that our co-op rotations this year were just wonderful - but I also want to add that I have also just loved homeschooling my children in general. 

Public School in Utah is approximately 7.17 hours (not including bus time) x 180 days. 

That is 1,290.6 hours. 

ALMOST 1,300 HOURS! 

In one year. 

1,300 hours that I was able to spend with my children learning, growing (sometimes with growing pains), working, and playing. We had time to explore, time to clean, time to read, time to be bored. I saw a post the other day about why you should get to know your kid's teacher really well because they are basically spending more time with your child than you are and it made my heart so sad. For me, in this space right now - I am grateful for each extra hour I get to spend with these children and grateful that I am the one who gets to see the light turn on when talking about decimals, or gets to cheer for that first book read confidently out loud. I'm grateful for our lazy mornings, our Mondays spent cleaning bedrooms and doing laundry, our time in our little schoolroom (and/or wherever we decide to hang out to do school that day), and our Friday's filled with fun, field trips, and free time. 

Yay Homeschool. 

(But even more yay for summer!)