Aa is for...

Here are a few things I've been able to capture from the beginning days of school.  The boys usually freeze when I snap pictures, but here's some of what we've been doing the pst few weeks...

 Studying the Letter Aa, so I tried to find some cool treats.  Here we have "Apples and astronaut ships" {Yeah , yeah that's not the technical name, but it works, right?!}

 Hudson is sporting his awesome homeschool shirt that my brother and SIL gave us for Christmas last year.  Aren't they awesome???

 Sweet T's math is coming from an awesome book called Developing Number Concepts by Kathy Richardson.  As a former math teacher, I LOVE LOVE LOVE her approach to primary math!!! Wish my algebra 1 kids had gone through her curriculum.  

 We are using Chicka Chicka Boom Boom as one part of our "Letter of Week" units this year. HudBug is putting up his very first letter of the year.

 Using his pom-pon magnets on the Letter A activity

 Prewriting skills using our awesome new Crayola Dry erase Activity Center 

 Sweet T working on some logic skills

 Bottlecap spelling 

 More logic skills

 Hud has a love/hate relationship with cutting.  This day was ok... We have been using the Kumon workbooks for cutting practice.

 My little Hud loves his Do-A-Dots!!!

 Numeral recognition and counting practice.

{These are magnetic numerals that we have acquired over time and they are sticking to a cookie sheet.}

 One-to-one correspondence activity from Kathy Richardson

 Practicing making the letter A with Wikki Stix

 Spelling his name with an alphabet puzzle

 Apple lacing card

 Reviewing AWANA verses 

 Picking out all the Aa's 

(with Do-A-Dot markers}

 We are using Window on the World for our geography/people group study this year.  We studied Afghanistan for the letter A.

A friendly {ahem, pretty friendly} game of Guess Who? to put all those logical reasoning and sight reading skills to good use!

I have gathered all of my Letter of the Week activities from these AH-mazing ladies who are generous enough to share all of their hard work with the rest of us:

Erika @ Confessions of a Homeschooler

Carissa @ 1+1+1=1

Jolanthe @ Homeschool Creations

Coming up next at Ledford Christian Academy:

Fall Fun Pack

Letter Bb

Ummm, yeah

{DISCLAIMER: I am 34 weeks pregnant and a little prickly these days...this is also a very important soapbox topic for me, so proceed at your own risk.  And don't say you weren't warned!}

So, the kids and I have been getting this question a lot lately, "Did you have school today?"

I'm realizing that I don't like this question so much.  Well, at all, actually.  I get a little defensive.  Kind of perturbed.  And sort of dumbfounded.

I mean, I kind of get it - we homeschool and most people that I know don't.  It is a very different world than most people that I interact with live in.  An unknown creature of sorts.

I also understand that the question is perhaps just a well-meaning attempt to interact with us in this area of our lives or simply to make conversation.

Duly noted.

However, it still bugs me.

I mean I wanna answer, "Well, uh, yeah.  It IS a school day, right?"  Or, "have you ever spent all day with a 4 and 6 year old and not taught them something?!" Or maybe even, "Yeah, the state says I HAVE to!"

But I refrain.  I try to remind myself that just because people are asking about our school doesn't mean that they are being critical or judgmental.

Let me elaborate.

You see, homeschool is NOT just "school at home."  We do not follow a rigid 8AM-3PM schedule like most traditional schools.  We don't have to enter the sacred "classroom" and pull out textbooks or worksheets to begin our learning.

Currently, as I type, my kids are indeed sitting at their desks in our classroom.  However, Thad is in his pj pants with no shirt and Hud is in mismatched T-shirt and shorts.  They are coloring their AWANA verses for this week while belting out their favorite VeggieTales Silly Song {The Song of the Cebú, for those curious ones out there.}

One of the beauties and chief reasons we chose to homeschool was for the very things that make it "not school."  Yes, we teach our kids reading, writing, and math.  We keep attendance.  We will take "a test" at the end of the year.  We even have an official "classroom."  But that is quite possibly where the similarities to traditional schools end.  We often have science conversations at the dinner table or in the grocery store. We sometimes learn about math while folding clothes.  We can watch a NatGeo show in our jammies and cover biology, Bible, social studies, and geography all in one 30 minute segment.  {Are you getting jealous yet?}

Sometimes we do follow a structured plan (I personally love Sue Patrick's Workbox system and have my own version set up for both boys in the classroom).  On those days, our routine may closely resemble that of a traditional school.  I spend countless hours researching, cutting, laminating, and reading up for those activities, much like I did in preparation for my kids when I taught in the public school system.  

There are also many days when we won't step foot in the classroom.  We may even be running around town like chickens with our heads cut off, all day {GASP!}.  But those days are no less school days, right?  We are soaking up the world around us and learning appropriate ways to interact with the people and things in it.  We have great conversations while standing in line or sitting at a stoplight.  And talk about learning to develop and practice fruit of the Spirit?!

But this type of "non-traditional" learning lends itself to lots of questions, plenty of opinions,  and judgement.  From others as well as yourself.  There is lots of self-doubt as a parent and teacher of homeschooled kids.  Am I doing it right?  Am I gonna ruin my kids?  Are they learning ANYTHING?!?!?

If my goal is to raise my kids to know about, love, and serve Jesus (which, by-the-way, it is), then I shouldn't be limited to the four walls of a room to do that, right?  I don't have to have paper and pencil, books and worksheets.  It doesn't really matter that Thad has taught himself to multiply but is refusing to read (true story!) or that some days Hudson spends countless amounts of time walking in circles, accomplishing almost nothing.  

I am learning that I HAVE to be sensitive to God's leading and direction for our school and trust that He knows better than me and my lesson plans anyway!  He is the One who instructed us as parents to teach our kids (Deut. 6).  He called me out of the public classroom to come home and teach my kids.  He chose me to raise my kids and is continually preparing me to do that in a way that honors Him (Eph 2:10).  I cling to that promise daily, sometimes, hourly!

So next time you wanna ask if we had school today, DON'T!!! 

Only kidding.  Sort of.  I will do my best to see your heart and curiosity for what it is.  I will try to answer you politely.  

Just know that the answer is an emphatic and resounding, yes!  Yes, we did have school today..