This is all of us at Josh and Lauren's wedding. From left: Dan holding Derek, Josh and Lauren, David in front of Josh, Pat and then me
Hey everyone! I'm Kristy...your average ordinary homeschooling mama. I've been married to the wonderful Mr Dan (aka Hercules or the Love Monkey) for 13 years now and it's been quite an adventure. So adding lots of boys to the mix should keep things from getting boring, right?? We are a regular Plumfield around here (think of the books, Jo's Boys and Little Men) Boys, animals and mayhem abound night and day. In our 'collection' we have 3 biological sons, David 12, Patrick 11 in 2 weeks and Derek 4. We also have Joshua who is 21, grown and married but still frequents the house. (Long story short, Joshua belongs to us...but he's not our child) Over the years, we've had many boys that needed a home for a short time that have stayed with us or only went home to shower and change...they are referred to here as the lost boys. We also have 2 dogs, a cat, a turtle, 2 lizards, a HUGE tank of fish and most recently, a tarantula (that we caught IN the house) LOL~ Have I mentioned yet that we aren't bored?? And up until 3 days ago, my sister, brother in law and 2 nephews and their dog lived here too. Oh my, we do sound crazy in black and white!
Anywho, back to the homeschooling part. We choose to home school NOT because we think that Public school is bad, just that it isn't for us. We've tried it..and it was a poor fit for our family, one child in particular. So for our particular journey we've been homeschooling for 8 years now. D and P both started at home, then went to PS for 2 years (D for 3rd and 4th, P for 1st and 2nd) but it was time for them to come back home and we've been here ever since. D is now in 7th, P is in 5th and Derek is starting pre-K and loving it. We started out VERY rigidly, with charts, lessons planned MONTHS in advance, and everything had to be done at a desk at the 'correct' time. Oh my...what a control freak I was ; ) As the years have rolled on, children have been added to our home, cross country moves, living with other families...I've learned to roll with the punches and have relax quite a bit. Do I still plan? YES! Do I still use a set curriculum? Yes, but I've learned that it's ok to Dr the plans a bit, add to the plans, OR take away from them. Or (gasp!) even toss them all together and start from scratch. Do I still like things done a certain way? YES! Do those things happen?? Not generally...ha ha ha! And that's the "glory of home school"~ if it doesn't get done today, that lesson will still be there tomorrow. For our method. "ISH"...that's a word at our house ; ) It means sorta, kinda, maybe, err, well maybe not. Officially, we are school at home, boxed curriculum kind of schoolers...but we are branching out into lap books, unit studies, do TONS of reading and most recently have thrown our schedule out the window completely. Dan is only working 4 days a week this past year and so we try to get out official studies done in that time frame. Now that sister moved out, half of our school will be done in 2 afternoons a week. So on any given day, you might find us sitting at desks in front of the chalkboard, watching an educational video, calling Grandma with an oral report, out for a field trip, baking in the kitchen or cozied up in a big chair with a pile of books. Life is an adventure. Home school is an extension of that adventure. Come join us as we enjoy living, loving and learning at home.
Kristy
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Kristy, would you please explain your lap books for us one of these blogs? I know that you have on CafeMom before but I'd like to read about it again.
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