Not Back to School

 I can hardly believe that it's time for school to start again. The day before the public schools started, we spontaneously did a "Last Day before School Starts" adventure and went bowling and mini golfing at Fat Cats. The kids had a great time, and I'm just so grateful for these fun friends of ours. (Bless the Ward Family and how good and kind they are. They have been the best friends for our kids and such good friends to David and I. We are blessed to have them in our lives.) 

And with the first day of school right around the corner, that means one thing... our annual NOT BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY! 

One of our favorite traditions is to hang out at the pool with our favorite homeschool peeps and swim and eat donuts while all the other kids are getting on buses and headed back to school. 




This celebration reminds me that we are intentionally choosing this path because of the many opportunities it gives us, especially the joy of spending more time together. It also reminds me that we are part of a beautiful, brave, creative community of amazing people that are learning and growing with us. Pool+sun+donuts+people I love= the best way to start a new school year.

Not Back to School

Not-Back-to-School is our favorite end-of-summer start-of-school tradition. On the day that all the public schooled kids go back to school for the first time, we gather together with our homeschool community and eat donuts at the swimming pool. I don't plan anything else for the day and we spend absolutely as much time as we want at the pool (we bring a lunch and everything). 

I love it because: 

-The first day/week of school can be hard, seeing all the shiny new backpacks and back-to-school pictures. Even though we are confident in what we are doing, it can feel like we are missing out. This helps us have something to look forward to ourselves. 

-It's like stealing one extra day of summer. Everyone else has to follow the schedule set for them and their summer is officially over, but we set our own schedule and if we want to keep swimming, we can! 

-It's a great community-building event, where we can see that we are in this together. 

-Our kids love it. 

-It helps us remember one of the reasons we chose to homeschool, so we can continue to have family time and adventures together. 

-Donuts and sunshine, two of my favorite things. 



I'm focusing on community building this year. We had such a great turnout and I hope it keeps growing! 

Back to School

And suddenly, it's that time again! Summer is over and it's time for Back to School. This time is always a little tricky, because everyone is filled with the excitement of new shiny school supplies and new teachers. We are holding steady in our course of teaching our children in our home and allowing them time and freedom. Allowing for quantity AND quality time with family. Allowing us to explore the world around us, learn at our own pace, immerse ourselves in goodness, and be together. 

 

We have a busy fall, but we are excited for the new school year! 

(I took a back to school picture, too)

Lydia, 5th Grade: 

US History, Mentor Coop, OlaNani Coop (crochet, cooking, color theory), Digital Art, Piano, Sports, Sewing. 

When I grow up I want to be: an author. 

Austin, 2nd Grade: 

PE, Math, LA, Savvy Reading, Science, OlaNani Coop (Math in Art, Board Game Design, KiwiSTEM)

When I grow up I want to be: a builder.

Caleb, Kindergarten:

Math, LA, STEM, OlaNani Coop (Math in Art, Animals, Cooking), Upstart 

When I grow up I want to be: A builder and a scientist, too! 

Mom, Teacher: 

Teaching all core subjects in the home. Personal focus of Physical and Spiritual Fitness. 

Teaching OlaNani classes in: Digital Art, Kiwi STEM, and assisting in the administration of the Coop.

When I grow up I want to be: a homeschooling mother, a lioness at the door

More pictures because I love them: 

I considered sending Lydia and Caleb to Fox Hollow this year. Most of Lydia's friends are going back to public school and we are going to be loosing our tight group of homeschoolers in the neighborhood (Lily and Iris's dad teaches 5th grade, so they will go back to be in his class). I feel a little like Lydia is being left behind and I've had to do a lot of thinking about WHY we feel that this is the path for us and whether or not this is the time to change. Ultimately, staying home still feels like the right thing to do. Thankfully Lydia wants to stay home. If she really wanted to go back, I think the conversation would be a lot different - but she wants to stay and I want her to stay and we are building a schedule that is going to be rigorous and rewarding for her. 

I'm looking forward to the Tuesday Coop that Lydia will be in both because I think that it will be so good for her, but also because it will give me a whole day to focus on Austin and Caleb. I feel really strongly that they need my attention this year and I'm looking forward to some fun Unit Studies and quality time with them. 

David ended up getting Covid before our big "Not Back to School Party" and even though WE didn't have Covid, we felt like it was probably best to cancel the party. When I sent out the text that morning to cancel, I crawled into my bed with the blankets over my head and was just... sad. But I got out of bed and decided we would go swimming anyway. I basically told David that we could go swimming on the day the other kids went back to school or we could send our kids on the bus. I was clearly feeling the need to keep our homeschool traditions alive in the aftermath of choosing homeschool over public school. We picked up McDonalds kids meals and played in the pool all by ourselves and it was good. 

(I told my brother Jacob about how we go to the pool on the first day of school for our "Not Back to School" part and he was highly amused. He said that was a "total homeschooling flex" which is cool-kid speak for "showing off something that you can do" or some such thing. Which is true. But also it is for ME. To remind me that we are choosing homeschool and that along with the hard things also come the pool-and-donut days. 

Not Back to School 2.0

We still held our "Not Back to School" party with all of our homeschooling friends and it was so wonderful to be there with SO many kids and moms. There was a moment when I stood apart from the others and just let the sounds of the laughter and happiness wash over me. I was standing in the shallow end of the pool and I closed my eyes (I was wearing sunglasses so no one really noticed). I felt the spirit touch my heart in acknowledgement that this was an answer to my many, many prayers. I have prayed for years to find a group of people to walk this homeschooling journey with. That my kids can be friends with and that can lift and support me, too. This is group of strong, brave women. Women who have the same desire and willingness to create something different for their children. I am SO grateful to be surrounded by them. I am so grateful that my prayers have been answered and this community has been built up bit by bit until it is what it is now. We are joining some other homeschooling communities this year, but in this moment - I am just so very grateful for THIS community as we start our year. 




Happy Not Back to School! 

Homeschool Kickoff

The first week of school is always one of the best, and this year was only made better because the Haderlies were with us. Last year they were with us because they'd just moved back from Iowa and this year I was watching them because Baby Molly was born the first day of school. (!) We might just try to make it a tradition that we always celebrate the first week of school together.

Of course, we started with our "NOT BACK TO SCHOOL" day.

donuts. swimming. friends.  

one bonus day of summer before we start school. 

Then jumping right to it, with "About Me" banners and a rainbow mini-unit. I got books, printed a rainbow first-day-of-school sheet, and planned a few science activities. We learned how rainbows are made, what colors/order they have, how each of us are unique and together we make up a huge rainbow. It was simple but a great way to kick off school. 

The best thing, though, was that during one of those rainbow books we started talking deeper about food and colors of food and how our bodies need us to eat a variety of food/colors to grow healthy and strong. The kids got really excited and asked if they could plan a rainbow dinner. 

They planned out exactly what foods they would need and what they would have to do to accomplish their project. Lydia and Camille coordinated their siblings and cousins to plan and prepare the "official first-annual" Rainbow Dinner: a six-course, color-coordinated meal put on by our resident "Kid Cafe". The kids washed, chopped, and prepared foods for each of the color groupings then served them in six courses. 

It really was the best. The kids officially named it "Rainbow Day" and it's already marked on the calendar for next year. First week - a success!