Wow, I can’t really believe that we’re already through our first month of school. It’s gone by so fast!

It was a great month of figuring out what schooling is going to look like for us, even though I know that’s all probably going to change when the baby arrives anyway.

Lessons I’ve Learned

:: Reading together for school is my absolute favorite time of the day. We rarely miss this part of school, and since we’re using a literature-based curriculum, it’s the really important part anyway! I’m looking forward to cuddling on the couch and reading together while I nurse the baby, and I think it will help us all with the transition.

:: I much prefer doing seatwork with Pumpkin Doodle at naptime than trying to force it during the morning!

Rather than trying to keep Sweet Doodle occupied and out of trouble for two hours each morning (which is about how long school takes for us), we now read for 30-45 minutes and then Pumpkin Doodle works quietly on her journal entry for the day (which is her favorite part of the day) while I do a couple of pages of math and phonics with Monkey Doodle. Sweet Doodle sometimes does an activity, sometimes climbs all over me and occasionally gets really frustrated that she isn’t the center of attention during this time. Because it’s just 20 minutes or so, it’s much easier to find something to keep her occupied without wanting to pull out all of my hair.

Although I thought I’d be hesitant to school during nap time, I’ve found that it works really well for us if I use the first two hours to either work or recover from the morning (depending on the day!) and then spend the last hour doing seatwork with Pumpkin Doodle. She really enjoys the one-on-one time (and I love having that time with her!), and it’s much easier for her to concentrate without a certain Sweet Doodle climbing all over the table distracting her.

:: Being a homeschooling momma is a seriously rewarding job! Don’t get me wrong…we’ve already had frustrating moments and times I’ve wondered if I’m going to ruin them for life (yes, I did just admit that out loud), but seeing Pumpkin Doodle take off with reading and writing has been an amazing experience.

Her journal entry last week read:

“Wnzda. Wonce upon a time.” (That’s: “Wednesday. Once upon a time”…so cute!)

I know that homeschooling is going to stretch me as a mother, but the rewards are so worth it!

Looking Forward to Fall

We obviously have some changes coming that will affect the way we do school. The first is that we’ll have a newborn soon, and that could throw a whole wrench in our routine, depending on her temperment. My plan is to focus on the read-alouds in the morning and hand off the baby to Sean in the afternoons if needed while I do school with Pumpkin Doodle. Other than that, we’ll just take it day-by-day!

The other change will be that we’ll be doing school on the road on Tuesday mornings before Bible study because we’re going to ride with Sean that day each week. (We own and operate a territory as Tastykake distributors for anyone who didn’t know that already…). We’ll leave very early in the morning and eat breakfast and do our read-alouds while he works his first few stops and then he’ll drop us at Bible study and finish up for the day before coming back to pick us up. I’m not sure we’ll do any seatwork on Tuesdays, which means I won’t be as quick to drop it the rest of the week. I’m actually pretty optimistic that this will work out great, but it’ll definitely be different from our current routine!

This week we’ll be talking about all things homeschooling over at Organizing Your Way, and I’ve got interviews with several different homeschooling families about what school looks like in their house.  I’d love to have you read along and share your own experiences in the comments!