Guess Who's Homeschooling?!?
We've decided to homeschool the boys this next year and are actually excited about it. I'm as surprised as anyone!
I homeschooled our oldest for kindergarten and it was sweet and special but also really hard. Back then, he was an only child so he needed my attention 100% all the time. I had an idea that he too was ADHD and knew he wasn't ready to sit all day in the classroom. It was the right decision for that year but by May as we were beginning our foster care journey, I was ready for him to go to school full-time.
He has LOVED his school. He's been attending a sweet, small private school near our home with many of his dear friends. He's excelled there and feels seen and known. It's been such a gift.
Our family looks very different now. My big boy is now 9 and entering 4th grade. He's a voracious reader and creative thinker. He adores being a big brother to his little brother (5, now entering kinder) and his baby sister (19 months).
Over the last few months of this weird covid/quarantine life, my kiddos have done really well. They are surprisingly thriving. Yes, they miss their buddies but they've settled in to a nice routine and new normal. The idea of homeschooling was all of a sudden very attractive to them and they were super excited to hear about this new curriculum that a friend told me about.
We're going use Gather Round and plan to study the following units this year!
Our Units for the 2020-2021 School Year
Oceans
Space
Earth Science
Christmas Mini Unit
Artists
Human Body
Transportation
Inventors
I requested the one week sample and my oldest caught the vision and was all in for this new plan. He's even started taking surf lessons and is planning all sorts of wild adventures for us. He's a big dreamer and I'm excited to have more space to give him room to explore his big ideas.
We aren't committed to do this forever. I anticipate challenges for sure! But, I'm also embracing the excitement and see it as a gift from God. I've never wanted this before and felt like it was the right fit for us. But now I do.
It's okay to change your mind! And I might change mine again! We might need to re-evaluate in January if it's not going great. But maybe it will be awesome. I'll never know if we never try.
The only subject not covered in Gather Round is math, and I ordered Beast Academy to cover that. It's taught in a comic book style! How cool is that? I've heard that it's pretty challenging and good for creative thinkers. I think our big boy will love it!
As we prep to start our first unit, Oceans, I've gotten a few things from Amazon to add to the fun. My plan is to keep things super simple. I'm not a crafty person and I'm really trying to move our family towards minimalism. I'm so over stuff. So I'm choosing to not get 1,000,000 things to be the perfect homeschool mom.
I plan to get most books from the library but will get one book for each of the boys. I already have a big stack accumulating for Oceans! I also got a few fun games and activities to supplement the Gather Round Curriculum. A vendor on Etsy makes custom stickers for each theme for Guess Who! How fun is that?
Guess Who Custom Stickers for Oceans
Ocean Toys to Display on the Coffee Table
We live around 20 minutes from the beach so we'll plan to go there weekly. The boys really want to go snorkeling so we plan to do a day trip to South Florida assuming quarantine restrictions permit. Here's our favorite beach goodies this summer. I've gotten everyone one quality swimsuit for the summer and the boys a few extras. I'm not ashamed to admit that I like for us to coordinate. There's very little that I have control of in this world and it's one of those small things that brings me joy! As long as they put up with it, we will be a coordinating family. #sorrynotsorry
I'll keep you posted as our adventure unfolds!
Hey, I'm Amy! I help moms with ADHD stick to a home management system so they can stop feeling like a failure at the end of each day.
