Our September Homeschool was pretty good to us. We took a break at the beginning of the month when we went on a family vacation to San Diego, but even with that, we've been able to settle into a good routine and have had a great start to our homeschool year.
Some pictures from a regular homeschool day:
The Library is an important part of our homeschool. We are grateful for the many resources they offer- free craft/art projects in the afternoon, STEM kits you can check out, and lots and lots and lots of books. Lydia and Austin now both have their own account, but it is important to all the kids to check out their books on their own and get their own "receipt" listing the books that they checked out that day.
And then when we get home from the library, we read, read, read. I snapped this picture of Lydia and Austin on our front lawn because they decided to go outside and read a book together and it was so sweet.
I LOVE Lydia's primary class right now. They are a separate class focused on the oldest kids in the primary and they have so many neat opportunities. They have a special music leader who helps teach them beautiful songs, and they've been singing those songs regularly for sacrament meeting. It's been such a neat experience for Lydia, like a christ-centered music class. Lydia was in her very last primary program and did a wonderful job. In just a few short months, she will be in YWs and I'm so proud of the wonderful young woman she is becoming.
Shop Class with Grandpa
When we were in Morgan, Grandpa decided to help Austin build a bookshelf for the book series that he got for his birthday. It turned out so well and Austin loved spending time in the shop with my dad.
SPARK Cooperative
With a significant bit of effort, SPARK Cooperative is up and running for another year! I'm glad that we were able to continue with the coop this year and I am looking forward to a great year of connection and community. The kids classes for the first block are:
-Lucy: Preschool
-Caleb: Watercolor & Poetry, Poetry Tea Time, Book Club
-Austin: Watercolor & Poetry, Nature Class, Book Club
-Lydia: Event Planning, Oceanography, Theater
I am teaching Watercolor & Poetry (two classes, a JR + SR) and assisting in the Nature Class.
Girls Club
Lydia is participating in "girls club" which is a group of wider-neighborhood homeschooled girls who gather to do activities and build connections each week. I'm hopeful that she will make some new friends with girls that live in our wider-neighborhood and that this will be a good social experience for her.
(The Millward family is hosting Girls club and I love their library in the main room.)
Field Trips:
This year, I'm putting greater emphasis on starting up our field trip group again. I've added a bunch of new people that I've met/connected with to a Field Trip Group Me, and I'm also inviting all of the families in the SPARK Coop to the field trips each week. It's been an interesting learning experience because on one of the field trips we only had one other family come and on one of the field trips we had 70 people come. So I think we are still in the beginning stages of finding a consistent group, but I'm hopeful that as I continue to plan things each Friday we will get a good group coming to do things with. Once Lydia asked me why we have to go with other people and why we can't just go on our own and I was a little surprised. I have a few reasons. 1- if I plan something, we will go. If I'm not accountable, it's easier to just stay home and homeschool field trips are important to the way I have crafted this homeschool. and 2- community building is important to me. I feel like these field trips have a positive impact on the homeschooling routines of all of the people who come and that's important to me, too. However, I'm going to try to help implement some "Peaden Field Trips" and let Lydia and Austin pick some things that they want to do and then field-trip with just the five of us.
This month we had a good variety of field trips, mostly outside trying to enjoy the weather before it gets cold:
McBride Briar Patch
It was cold and rainy but we had such a lovely time!
America's Light Festival in Bounitful
This is always such a neat experience. Volunteers dress up as historical people and share their stories as you walk around from booth to booth. The highlight this year was when we stopped at a booth and had a couple of (homeschooled) teenagers teach us how to make rope.
Rocky Mouth Falls Trail - Hike
This was a short but sweet hike to a fun waterfall in Draper. We had a good turnout and I enjoyed being in nature with these kids.
Local Lehi Farm
This was by far our most popular field trip. At one of Austin's soccer games, I overheard his coach talking about his farm and how he often has people come for field trips. I popped myself right into that conversation and we arranged for our group to come look at his farm. The kids got to see all of the animals, hold the pigs, and milk the goats. It was hot outside but a really fun day.
