We are officially entering into year TWO of homeschooling!
Two years ago when we moved from a small town to San Antonio, Tx. I was really worried about my oldest son's education.
My children’s education is VERY important to me, and I felt like I could not find a school that met my expectations or standards. We had already had two years of experience with the Public School System and I already was not fond of it, so I did not want to repeat any of the same situations we experienced prior.
I told my husband, “If we don’t find a school that meets our expectations, I’d really like to homeschool.” His response was, “No, our kids need a public school experience.”
I prayed about it and I heard the Lord say, “Don’t worry about your son’s education. I will take care of it.”
Soon after, we found a public school that met our standards and expectations and that we both approved of, so we felt comfort and peace about sending our son there!
However, despite it being a great school, there were still many things we did not feel were in alignment with our core-beliefs, lifestyles, or desires for our family. After one whole year of first grade, it was actually my husband that came to me and said, “Yeah, I feel like we need to homeschool and give it a try.”
Originally, I was hesitant because I felt the responsibility would fall on me alone, but my husband assured me that this was something he felt passionate about, believed it was from the Lord, and that he would help along the way! We prayed and we both felt peace from the Lord that this was the direction He was wanting us to go in.
After our first year of homeschooling was complete, we prayed again about whether or not we should continue, and we both felt confirmation and peace from the Lord to continue on our homeschooling journey!
Zerek is starting third grade and Zaiden is starting Pre-K!
We have chosen to use The Good and the Beautiful curriculum again for Zerek's core curriculum this year because it is beautiful and colorful without being over-stimulating, kid-friendly, and encourages parent and child interaction. They teach positive morals and it also is advanced; Zerek has learned so much through their curriculum and resources! He will be going through their LA, Math, Spelling, + Handwriting curriculum.
Since Zaiden is only 4, we have chosen to wait on a sit-down curriculum, but have gotten him many learning games, puzzles, and experiential learning resources to continue teaching him through play!
We've also started our VERY own Christian Homeschool Group filled with children their age that has been such a blessing, and I can't wait to share more about that!
Here are some things we are doing different this year in comparison to last year:
1.) We no longer have a “homeschool room”- When first moving to our 4 bedroom home, I was excited to finally have my own office to work in! After MANY years of working from home on dining tables and living room sofas, I was more than ready to decorate my dream office! However, when we decided we were going to homeschool, I quickly got into “Mom-Mode” and was willing to give it up so that the kids can have an area dedicated to their homeschool learning.
Despite doing this, many homeschool parents told me that we would not use it and that most of the work will eventually be done in the dining area or around the house; it turned out that they were correct! With three children, a dog, and many responsibilities, it can be tough to stay in ONE room with everyone for a period of time. Working in our living space just worked best for all of us, which is why we ended up never using our homeschool room, and eventually used our dining room every day to do school work.
Although we took down all of the class-room decorations and decided to re-design our office to be just mine and my husband’s work space instead, we still stored the homeschooling things in the closet. Because of this, we would have to go to the office to get my son’s homeschool things daily and bring them to the dining table to work. I decided to make things A LOT easier for us all this year by getting a cabinet for our dining area, but filling it with all of our homeschool belongings. Now we don’t have to go back and forth from the office to the dining room when getting our homeschooling things for the day, or when cleaning up; instead it’s all right in the dining room!
I am BIG on not having clutter in our home, so I made sure to order a cabinet that goes with our home’s aesthetic + decor, and the cabinet doors allow us to store everything away without anyone ever knowing what’s in the cabinet!
Here is the link to our cabinet + pictures of how I organized it!
2.) Less is more: Homeschooling only takes a couple of hours a day, but when we first began I wanted to do about 4-5 subjects a day which led us to feeling burn-out! I realized quickly I was requiring way too much for one day, so this year we are doing a lot less per day, which I am excited for!
3.) Breaks are okay: I love that homeschooling is adaptable and that taking breaks is great and allowed!
4.) Structure still matters for us: We are a family that thrives on structure! Every child and every family is different, but structure is one of the most important things for our family in order for us to feel most productive. Zerek personally thrives on structure, so it requires my husband and I to be disciplined ourselves in order to give him that. We have a common routine daily that we do to ensure this!
We only do Homeschooling Monday-Thursday and Fridays are for FUN with our Homeschool Co-Op!
Zerek’s schedule is as follows:
1.) Wake up and get ready for the day.
2.) Feed the Dog (His Morning Chore)
3.) Read his Bible
4.) Have Breakfast
5.) Practice A Memory Verse
6.) Work On Writing
7.) Core Curriculum of either Language Arts or Math
8.) An Elective of either Science, Sign-Language, Spanish, or Art.
Zaiden’s schedule is as follows:
1.) Wake up and get ready for the day
2.) Open the Blinds (His morning Chore)
3.) Works on Writing (While Z reads his Bible and we make Breakfast)
4.) Has Breakfast
5.).Mommy or Daddy Reads Him A Bible-Story
6.) Practices a Memory Verse
7.) Practices Counting, Puzzles, ABC’s, Shapes, Colors, etc.
8.) Does an Elective such as Art and Crafts, Science, Sign-Language, or Spanish
Below are some links to all of our favorite homeschooling resources that we enjoy:
Homeschool Resources we will be using for 2024-2025: https://amzn.to/4cYHHEG
Toddler + Preschool Resources: https://amzn.to/45YMtyx
Faith + Bible Resources for Children: https://amzn.to/3sAnwdY
The Good and The Beautiful Curriculum: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=thegoodandthebeautiful&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
My husband is a great Homeschool Dad! He truly loves homeschooling our kiddos and spending 1:1 time with him. He teaches Zerek on Mondays and Tuesdays, while I teach him on Wednesdays and Thursdays!
Zerek wants to own his own resteraunt when he grows up and he wants to be an Entrepreneur! He wants his restaurant to be half Asian + half American that sells Sushi, Noodles, and Burgers! I absolutely love that for him and it's in alignment with everything God has ever shown us about him! He also says he wants to be a Pastor and spread God's word to others.
Zaiden said he wants to be a Race-Car Driver, Bike-Rider, and a Police-Man when he grows up. LOL We convinced him to narrow it down to one for the sake of the photo! He is such an adventerous spirit and full of joy, life, and love. I truly cannot wait to see all the amazing things that God does through him some day!
This is our first year homeschooling the boys at the same time. Last year we wanted to primarily focus on getting the hang of homeschooling Zerek, and Zaiden mostly learned through play. This year we are having Zaiden sit with us as well during homeschooling hours to ease him into learning, help him increase his attention span, develop a love for learning, and help him understand that there are certain times specifically catered to learning.
I am excited to see how things go!
Homeschooling truly requires a special grace from the Lord and we will continue to depend on Him as we continue moving forward in this journey!
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