HIGH FIVE!

Barron, is 4 and in preschool. He has gone through all 6 school books already. HIGH FIVE! They were suppose to last all year! So I've decided to start him in kindergarten after Christmas. He can write every siblings name and I was just hoping for him to get his name written correctly :) Mr. Smarty pants had to go above and beyond! HIGH FIVE!

Forrest is 5 and in kindergarten. He is Reading! HIGH FIVE!! He is speeding through lessons. Everyday he is doing 2-3 lessons and acing everything! HIGH FIVE :)

Sonja, 6 and in 1st grade, is finally feeling more confident in her reading. Reading sentences without errors. I actually get a smile when she read! HIGH FIVE! We have also had to skip many lessons in math because she is bored :) she has her fathers math genes. She's a math genius! And will be ready for 2nd grade math soon! HIGH FIVE!

Olivia, 7 and in 2nd grade,  reads better than a 5th grader. HIGH FIVE! I am astonished with her reading abilities! Whizzing through books...we can't keep up on new books for her. Another gene from daddy ;) As for math.....another Genius. HIGH FIVE!

Seriously, I am just so proud of my kids. So many changes in the past year, with a new curriculum, a new sibling and moving last year. They have worked so hard and deserve every HIGH FIVE they have gotten this week! Oh, and they also deserve all those A+'s they have gotten with their tests, quizzes and homework.
Sure we will still have rough minutes, days or even weeks ahead of us. But right now I will give them their HIGH FIVES and let them gloat! :)

Crazy?!

Crazy?!
Not really :-) full of love, compassion, tender hearted and darn right odd! Yup, that's how I would describe myself. I'm a city girl turned country girl. A Mustang sports car lover turned "let's find a SUV that fits all of us" mama. I was K-12 privately schooled girl, public college educated young lady and now homeschool teacher to 5 children. Yup, that definitely makes me odd. Now for me to be crazy I'd have to add; love to stay home, homeschool 5 children, love to bake, scrapbook, crochet and spend time with my kids and husband.....oops! Guess I'm crazy!! Who does those kinds of things these days?? Not many. Just the ones that have the will power to stand out in a crowd. ;-) and boy do I stick out!!
In highschool did I ever think I would homeschool my kids? Didn't even think about it! Didn't even know anyone who was homeschooled. Probably would have called you Crazy! Did I change my opinion once I went to college?? Absolutely! I decided then and there that I needed my children's eyes opened to the many views on the world that I never got. Sure I want to protect my children from worldly views. But I also want them to not feel shell shocked once they get on their own. Feeling nieve and wanting to experience more that they should.
As much as people don't agree, homeschooling is not Crazy nor even for Crazy people. Homeschooling is just a word that I really think means, opportunities! So many benefits to homeschooling! I don't need to see my kids be 7 and act 15. They can be who they are and act their age. Play with dolls and pretend to be super heros till their 12+ years old. We don't need to take vacations because everyone says that's your time to go. We can take time out of our school week to actually get hands on learning, with museums, zoos, libraries, talk with actual people that have lived and been thru different time periods or historical events. Get down and dirty with the chickens and feed the horses or go to a mechanic and learn about engines or even learn a sport and play on a team. Sure not every child likes every subject or every learning experience. But yet, that's the whole point of learning...right??
I don't want to fight the crowds on the weekends to get what we need to get done before school starts again Monday morning. I don't want to start school in September...maybe, just maybe (you might want to sit down for this one ;) I like school all year around or I like to take a huge break in the spring not the summer. Whoa! Here we go into that Crazy Homeschool lady mode. LOL!
All in all, I just love being my children's teacher, nurse, mom, their supporter and life coach. I enjoy seeing them grow from their mistakes and them knowing that I will be right their when they just need a hug. I love that I can change their curriculum so it fits them and their learning needs. I know homeschooling isn't for everyone. And I know I'm odd and maybe a bit Crazy. But we have fun! We learn and are VERY smart.
Homeschooling means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But you can never say Crazy until you try it....I dare you! :-)

Schools in session

What an amazing school year so far! It makes such a difference when you finally figure out the right curriculum for your children.
When my children are happy, mama's happy. Every day just goes so much smoother!
Olivia is learning that she has her dads smarts when it comes to math. Just flying through everything so far. Creative writing is not her favorite, but it was never mine either until I got much older. Reading, well she's a genius ;) and language is just challenging enough to keep her excited for the next day.
Sonja is so excites about passing her first reading and language tests. She has a bit more difficulty reading and understanding. But with those test results it really looks like she is catching on in her own pace. She is another math lover. Getting most of the work done before I can even explain it (and all the answers are correct :)
Forrest did start kindergarten last year but stopped half way through cause it was just to much for him at age 4. Now this year he's been doing 2 lessons a day because he just flies right through everything. He's learning to slow down his coloring and stay in the lines. He gets so proud of his art projects. He thinks he need to keep everything :)
Barron is so eager this year in preschool. Last year, at age 3, there was no way he would sit for ten minutes but now he'll stay for an hour. Tracing and writing the alphabet or dot to dot and number counting. He's bound and determined to know how to spell all his siblings names by heart. He loves spelling his name on everything.
Now Liam isn't in school yet :) but boy he sure loves his "quiet" time :)

Sure has been a great start to the year! And I hope yours is going as wonderful!

New year, new curriculum, newborn

It shouldn't be the beginning of a new school year already?! It's been exciting with being pregnant with so many friends. Every step of the way being able to consult with someone having gone or going through the same problems or situations. Finding out we were having our third boy <3 going through the 'nesting' period was a real treat :/ NOT...lol. The craziness of Eric working so much and anxiously waiting for Liam to be born, has brought us way to fast into fall.
Now before Liam was born we decided to change our curriculum. Let me rephrase that...I decided to change the curriculum. This is a huge decision out of my comfort zone. But am very happy with my decision with CLE. Of course having a great homeschool mom, Allissa,  to aid and encourage kinda made the change easy. But that was before Liam was born :) now that he is born and I have to start teaching 4 children, ages 7 and under, with a newborn...big GULP. I suddenly feel overwhelmed and not so sure of myself. And how exactly are we going to get everything done each say I have no idea :)
But what I do know is, homeschooling works for us. I don't have to be perfect, I have wonderful kids that love learning and a great God to give me peace throughout this New year of Newness, and wonderful friends that are there for me whenever I need them.
It's amazing how writing this blog gives me my confidence back! :) so here we go....a New year, a New curriculum and an Newborn

The crew

Camelot Academy

Welcome! Many of you know that we homeschool. With deciding to homeschool we have also decided to name our home school 'Camelot Academy', so we could have fun shirts and such clothes to be proud of being homeschooled. So with that idea we pushed it even further by calling us the 'Knights'. Go Knights! Sitting at the round table, listening, growing and living as a child in Christ. 
This fall will be my 3rd year. And I will have a 2nd, 1st, kindergartener and preschooler. We have started each child in ABEKA. I love there style for learning to read. That was a big stresser in starting homeschooling."You mean I will teach them to read?"...big GULP. But once Olivia started reading and very quickly reading 3rd grade level, I was very relieved!
Now this year Olivia is going to start Christian Light, while the others are staying with ABEKA. Why?...you ask. Each child has a different way of learning. Olivia learns very quickly, once she has it she's ready to move on. I don't want our kids bored. So making changes is very important! For me, anyway! Also thankfully I have had a handful of homeschool moms help me with tons of advice along the way. I'm so grateful for them!
So here is the start of many, of what I hope is a helpful blog post for all those moms just starting to homeschool with young children.