Happy Saturday friends!
Another school year has started in our house and it feels good to be back in routine. Well, sort of a routine because we are still juggling summer gymnastics and cheerleading schedules. I'll be the first to admit that I am ready for September 5th to get here so we can get back into our real routine.
We are in our 9th year! WOW, 9 years guys! I remember the LCDR and I decided to homeschool our girls. Since then we have added two children, McKenzie and Micah, to our Academy and have graduated Marie, who is now a Junior in college! This year we have a 11th grader, a 9th grader, a 5th grader, a 2nd grader, and a preschooler to round us out. Check out our Plan of Study for the 2017 - 2018 school year, I made a few changes for the better just before we started school because I am dealing with meeting requirements for the U.S. Service Academies for Madison and NCAA guidelines for Mikayla.
Our first day of school this year was on July 31st much to the chagrin of a few of my students. As you can see from the picture, some were more excited than others to hit the books again. We don't jump full force into our year the first week, rather we do a few subjects based on the grade of each child and then continue to add in more subjects each week. By the week of Sept 4th I plan to be at full force schedule for everyone.
A lot has happened over the last two weeks including a few meltdowns but learning has taken center stage. I am still in the process of figuring out a schedule for me to teach each of my 5 school age children effectively this year. Our year end testing identified some gaps in some of my children's learning, I take full responsibility for that. I thought they could learn a bit independently, and I was wrong.
But you know what?! God is good and has shown me the error of my ways and already showed me how to get back on track. Is it going to be easy? No. Not in the least bit of sense. It will mean long days of schooling for me; but my children are worth it! Their education is my primary focus and I will "Do the Work of Homescholing" as I read from Brandy at AfterThoughts. We will be doing some extensive review and filling in gaps with fun and creative ways and also learning new things. Attitudes will need to be put into check at times, mine included. Since I am not one to back away from a challenge I say, bring it on and let's do this!
Micah is all boy and I love it! He is a 3 year old trapped inside of a 10 year old body, LOL! The things he says are hilarious at times. I am learning very quickly that he is not a sit down for long type of child to learn lessons. He likes to move, wiggle, and dance to his own beat so I have been tailoring and sneaking in learning time. One big change over the last few weeks is that he is sleeping through the night in his own bed! In turn, that means I am getting a great nights sleep too. Really, it's a win-win!
Madison has been hanging out with friends all summer and preparing for her upcoming AP and online classes. The process to get her IQ tested has fallen through because of loop holes, we still have the option to pay for the test out of pocket and we may or may not pursue that option. We are praying for direction as we go forward and hope that the online and AP classes she is signed up for will give her the challenge that her brain needs and craves. She was also just recently republished in the Homeschool Literary Magazine, The Phoenix.
You know the saying when one door closes, another will open? Well it's true! Two weeks ago Marie had an interview with what she thought was her dream job at school and after a good interview we found out she did not get the job. A few days after that she received another interview with another program and yesterday morning we found out she was hired! They are enthusiast to have her because she did community service last year with another division of the group and she left a great impression. The hours for this job are better and she will have her weekends free for spending time with friends and studying.
Montana started cheerleading with Pop Warner. She is enjoying it and this sport suits her personality to a "T". She comes alive when on the field cheering. Right now they are conditioning and selling products because the coach has every expectation that they will travel to Disney in December for Nationals. I am started putting a little bit aside from our monthly budget because apparently we will find out Thanksgiving weekend and will need to pay as soon as they make it. Our fall will be just as busy as our winter and spring, but I am excited to see my girl cheering!
Mikayla attended the NCAA College Showcase at Hills Gymnastics last weekend. It was an awesome experience for her and I. She was the only girl from our gym's location to be invited to go, which is a huge honor! Her session started on beam which is not her strong event and she kind of almost let her nerves get the best of her. I am so glad she has the training she does to cope with the fears that beam brings her and push past the fear. She was able to do her series, front tuck, and a jump series before moving on to the next event. If you want to see her videos here is a link on my Instagram. She had a few recruiter/coaches looking at her and making notes while she was on floor, which is super exciting! God has big plans for this girl, so excited to see them falling into place.
McKenzie loves school, hands down! She is a hard worker at home in her studies and inside the gym. The TOPs results came out yesterday and we are so happy that one of her teammates she looks up to is going back to TX for the 3rd year in a row for National Testing! This year was a training year for McKenzie, not to take anything away from her skill and ability, but we had no expectations she would make the cutoff score, especially since she started officially training TOPs mid-February. I can tell you this though, she is more determined now to make the cutoff next summer. After her birthday party, I am going to really try and change her diet for good. She needs to cut out the grains and refined sugars, as she has had many flare ups the last few months. It hinders her training and daily life because its not any fun with a bloated, hurting belly. The only thing is she is super picky! Like, seriously P-I-C-K-Y! Any suggestions?
Friday has been declared our new library day. We won't go every week, but every two weeks and bring home a gaggle of books I'm sure. Yesterday a little boy who was about the same age as Micah cleared two bookshelves of books! The librarian was visibly perturbed but she kept her cool when explaining to him that they would now have to re-shelve the 75+ books he put in a heaping pile on the floor. I am just glad it wasn't my son!
Next week we will be participating in the Back-to-Homeschool Blog hop with my CrewMates from the Homeschool Review Crew. Be sure to check out the site and come back and read what we will be sharing.
Happy schooling friends!
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