From Muddy Puddles to Streams of Living Water: A Day in the Life...

I got to spend 'a day in the life' of a home school family this past week. And I can't tell you how grateful I was to have the opportunity to watch and learn from another homeschooling mother. I am totally a visual and hands on learner. I need someone right there with me, at least for the first time to give me the confidence, courage and know-how to do it on my own.

And the truth be told, there was no doubt in our mind that we were going to home school our kids but I had no idea what that was suppose to look like on a daily basis and because of that I was a little scared.

Most of our friends here home school their children so I've learned a lot already. But when it comes down to the practical side of that I was a little lost. The only picture I have in my mind is the public school setting of what I grew up in and I know homeschooling gives you far more freedom than just that!

And to be honest, homeschooling is as broad as the open sky, you really can do whatever you want, make it look and feel in a way that works best for you. There is no 'it has to be done this way with this curriculum'. That's the beauty in it, you can tailor your school to your children's and families needs.

For my personality I needed to see it first hand to get started. And thankfully I have a wonderful friend who was willing to let me be a fly on the wall, who talked and asked a few questions along the way, and see how she goes about her school day teaching multiple children who are all in different grades, all with a baby in tow.

I walked away from the morning so encouraged in our new adventure in homeschooling! It was my place to start. And now I have the summer to begin to think about and pray and consider and plan for this upcoming school year and what we'll do and the curriculum we'll use. I am excited and looking forward to it!

While working with her Kindergartner the little ones played with some educational toys. The toys Kenzie is playing with here are 'Cuisenaire Rods' which you can purchase here. We actually picked up these along with this book here at a home school used book sale for $1.50! Score!

Working with mom on phonics.

organization

Lined dry erase board with dry erase makers.

Wearing an apron to protect clothes from the marker.

Hint: use sheet protectors for alphabet tracing sheets and use dry erase markers. Cuts down on the paper clutter.

Enjoying her morning!

Love this apron!

All while the babies played. And had a little mommy time here and there.

Taking a little break in between subjects.

Playing with some blocks. Rotating between activities for the little one's is key.

Reading time.

Then some math.

Missionaries who they pray for next to their world map, love this!

Morning nap time for the babies.

Mom working with the older girls on the subjects that they need her there for.

While all the little one's watched a little movie.

Such sweet little toesies!

And then there was some learning time with the little one's.

These are such a great learning item!

There are different options for these pegs but the one the kids were working with was the 'Number Puzzle & Pegs' which you can check out here. These are definitely on my wish list!

They were counting out the number of pegs for each number and then in the end we layed out each number and had the kids jump from number to number while counting them 1 to 10. My Fathers World uses these for their preschool activities.