BACK TO (HOME) SCHOOL: HERE’S WHAT WE’RE DOING THIS FALL

It’s been a wild week around here! Dropped Ozzie off at WSU Sunday and Monday. Then Tuesday and Wednesday I was pretty occupied wrapping up all the designs for Oilyay’s September yaymail (it’s such a good collection!). Finally yesterday I did my best to catch up around the house, hang with the kids, and get all our ducks-in-a-row for homeschool (YAY). No comment on the state of my house, but happy to report I spent lots of time with the kids and more importantly (so I can stop stressing over it) managed to loosely finalize our school plan. Feeling over the moon about our decisions and have gotten lots of questions so thought I’d share more today. Hopefully it’s helpful in someway… Here’s the breakdown!

HOME(S)CHOOL 2020

• MATH + LANGUAGE ARTS: After talking to a homeschooling mama friend of mine who recommended it, I decided to go with Switched on School house (SOS) for these subjects. Everything they need comes on a thumb drive and get’s tracked and saved. I like that it get’s them on the computer a little bit since that will be a much needed skill for school and work in the future. I also love that I don’t need a giant stack of text and workbooks to keep track of and store. Less is definitely more in our currently very small and under construction home!
• SCIENCE + SOCIAL STUDIES/GEOGRAPHY: We’ve decided to do unit studies for both subjects with all the kids, but alternate between science and social studies so we’re not covering both subjects at the same time. For instance, we’ll start the year doing this science unit on energy by The Good and the Beautiful. When that’s over we’ll move onto a Social Studies unit on politics and government. Still working out the details but ordered this book and am hoping this study with be available by then too. There will also be lots of government and politics happening in real life/time which will be fun and interesting as opposed to how election season usually has me feeling, lol. Plan on getting the kids involved in picking other topics to study when those are over. Hoping it’ll lead to weekly/monthly outings and activities too!
• SWEDISH!: You may or may not know that Johan’s parent’s are from Sweden and Norway, and after living in a multi-lingual home and spending a year abroad as a kid, he is fluent (although out of practice) in Swedish. Soooo we thought it would be fun to go through the same workbook he used while learning and see how we do… not sure if it’ll stick, but it’s definitely worth a try!
• SPELLING + TYPING: Ordered this program for typing (level 1 for Griff and level 3 for Espen and Tilly) and am on the hunt for a spelling resource if anyone has suggestions!?
• ELECTIVES, P.E., + BIBLE: The kitchen and craft supplies are (almost) always open for business and we have the younger 3 playing soccer and Espen in a golf league! Even though Johan and I will be coaching Tilly and Griffin’s soccer teams, it feels so nice having one less thing (in this case exercise) to facilitate at home on a daily basis. As for Bible study/devotions, I just ordered these People in the New Testament conversation cards from Kids Read Truth and the older two have youth group one night a week. If I end up feeling like we have the threshold for more of a study then we’ll do one of these! 

As for Poppy, in a few weeks she’ll start Kindergarten at the same (amazing) Montessori school she attended last year and I’m so thankful not to have the pressure of teaching her how to read (among other things) on top of managing the older three and keeping a work schedule. PTL. 

How is there only a few more weeks of summer vacay!? With so much closed, and after already being home all spring, I was expecting summer to go by so slow. Mostly glad that isn’t the case but I am considering pushing our “first day of School” back a week or two just because I can, lol!!! Teacher perks!

Speaking of the first day of school, my kids are requesting a day that actually feels like a first day — special outfits, new pencils, fun breakfast, and a walk around the block so they can be welcomed to their new classroom (i.e. the dining room and family room). Ha! Hopefully we’ll be able to add the basement to their schoolhouse soon. Windows arrive on Monday and official renovations start Wednesday… more on that next week! 

Holy heck, time to get those diffusers going and playlist turned up because things are about to get real-real, real quick!

What are your plans for this fall?! Would love to know if your kids are going back to school, distance learning, or homeschooling…

xo, Rae

P.S. – A few last thoughts in case you are reading this and feeling anxious about your own situation and wondering what the “right” decision is. I have been stressing about what to do this fall for m-o-n-t-h-s and finally came to the conclusion that there simply isn’t one “right” decision and on top of that, nothing has to be permanent! Life in general right now is in a constant state of motion. Things can change quickly and the only thing we can do is get good at pivoting. Another thing that is so unique about life right now is that literally everyone (and their mother) has had to make adjustments to their lives and expectations while continuing to show up for their family. So honestly, the pressure is off. Follow your gut. Decide what’s most important to you (like not having multiple kids on zooms everyday 🙋🏽‍♀️ lol). Do what works for you. And if something isn’t working, turn on a movie for the kids, pour a glass of wine, FaceTime a friend to vent, say a prayer, and then make some changes. Because guess what!? Things will work out so much better and be more fun for all involved if we don’t try to make them perfect. Mkay!? We are clever, resourceful, capable, kick-ass mamas. WE’VE GOT THIS! ❤️ I also happen to believe that God is good, the current state of affairs don’t surprise him, and that he’s been preparing us all along to do exactly what we’re doing.