Home School

I'm sure you know by now that we decided to home school the girls this year. 

As of the end of July, we were planning on sending the girls back to public school, but our school system decided to hold virtual school for 3 weeks and then start in person September 8th. We knew that virtual school would be difficult with both DJ and myself working, and we didn't have a lot of options as to who would watch the girls or even help them. Virtual school last Spring didn't take us long at all and there weren't required times of day to be online. Heading in to the Fall, this was going to heavily change for our district. Gretchen would have to be online off and on from 8-3, as well as complete any assignments. The little girls would have certain times of the day to be online as well. Honestly, it completely stressed me out and I felt our best option would be for me to take several days off and DJ and I to completely re-work our work schedules. We also had the unknown of if school would actually start in person on September 8th. 

Then, if we did send our kids in person, they would be in masks all day. Many of their friends were not returning to in person learning and opting for the distant learning option. It broke my heart that their friends wouldn't be there. I also felt like the school experience would be quiet different and not healthy for the girls mentally or emotionally. 

So, I started talking to DJ about homeschooling. We watched some videos from other families that home school and learned that it could work around our schedule, without the pressure of falling in line with what the public school expects. We also loved the possibility of traveling more on the weekends in the Spring since we have the camper now. 

Thankfully, home school laws in Texas are pretty relaxed, and I only had to send a written notice to their schools letting them know we were withdrawing to home school. After that, I found a curriculum to use with the girls and we're pretty much off and running. 

We are using Easy Peasy All In One Home School with Gretchen. It's a free online program from a parent that home schooled 6 kiddos. She put all of her curriculum online and it's divided in to subjects and each day. Gretchen is taking language arts, reading, ancient history, Spanish, Bible, pre-algebra, p.e., music, and thinking. 

Personally, I think she could drop a few classes and be fine- I'd prefer her to focus on core classes, but she thought the others would be fun, and her electives are only once a week, except Spanish and Bible. 

We are using some mixed curriculum with Megan right now. I had several friends recommend The Good and The Beautiful, but, all of her leveled workbooks are sold out or unavailable. They have some free resources, but I am hoping that within a few weeks her language arts and reading will become available. Her leveled math through them won't be available until at least December. 

So, we are working through a few workbooks that I purchased from Costco that we are really enjoying. I also purchased two math work books from Abeka , and we just started those last week. 

If I can't get a hold of her language arts and reading soon, then we will start supplementing with Easy Peasy for her as well. 

Adalyn is also using a few workbooks from Costco. We were able to purchase her reading/language arts from The Good and Beautiful, so we have started on that with her. Right now, her math is out of stock, but thankfully, the Costco workbooks are perfect right now to get her back in to the swing of things. 

My main goal for right now, is that we just do something each day. I'm really working on Gretchen becoming independent and focusing  on her math skills. She's a great reader and writer. She loves to learn and soaks up anything she can. I would say that we're struggling some with math and simple mistakes, and we're working a lot on her being able to work with me and learn from mistakes- both mine and hers. 

I just want Addy to love learning. She has never been a big fan of school. She just wants to play and have fun, so I really have to use a lot of positive reinforcement with her and make it as fun as possible. I have to somewhat trick her in to learning and make it her idea. She also does really well if she can choose something to work for. So, she earns pom poms that she can trade in for rewards or she'll say "I'm working for your phone" or "I'm working for mochi" At this point, I don't care what she works for as long as she does the work. She's stronger in math than she is in reading, so I'm really wanting to focus on reading with her. Sight words, spelling, grammar, writing, and then adding and subtracting and other math skills.

She really wanted to go to school this year- because she's super social. I've read a lot about 'unschooling' which is basically just following your child's interests, so we're trying some of that with her while incorporating some workbook time each day. Right now, she's doing about an hour a day and we will slowly increase that as she starts to tolerate more. 

Megan has just really made me happy through the start of this journey. She's anxious and ready to get started and she rarely complains. School in Oklahoma was wonderful for Megan. She had amazing teachers and wonderful friends. When we moved to Texas, she had great teachers, but she went in to her shell more and didn't take a lot at school and didn't make a lot of friends. Thankfully, she has made friends in our neighborhood and at gymnastics, but I don't think she felt comfortable AT school. 

Even though her curriculum hasn't arrived, we're focusing a lot on math skills for her. She has started spelling and some grammar, and she's reading each day. We will also focus on hand writing, because she is sloppy and rushes through her work. 

This year, she'll do a big research project on the state of Texas, and she loves arts and outer space, so I'm hoping to incorporate it when we can. 

I literally have zero expectations for our journey. I just want the girls to enjoy themselves and to learn along the way. We're not spending 4 hours a day on school work. Gretchen's school days are longer because she is older and has a lot of classes. Right now, she takes about 4 hours to get everything done. Megan and Addy have about 1 hour each day, and again, we'll slowly build that up. 

DJ and I have decided that if this doesn't work, we can send our girls back to school. We are literally taking this a few weeks at a time.

So, that's where we are. I am definitely not an expert, but my goal is to always be open and transparent and share what our family learns. I've shared a lot on Instagram and Facebook, and I'll share here along the way too. I have found that the home school community is SO helpful. There are so many facebook groups, curiculums, and anything you'd need out there. I am SO thankful to all of my friends that have let me ask them questions. They have been so helpful and patient. 

We are making this work for us, and each day will look different, and I think that's where I'm finding the beauty of it all. We do covet your prayers though as we all do our best in our current situations. 

 

Rainbow Crafts

Last week, I needed to keep the girls entertained! They were going stir crazy, so I sent them upstairs and hoped on Pinterest for some quick activities. I found some cute Rainbow themed crafts, and we had all of the supplies so I went with it. 

It was about lunch time, so I fixed them a quick "rainbow" lunch and called them downstairs with "Here Comes the Sun" playing. 

Their rainbow lunch consisted of cherry tomatoes (red), bell peppers (yellow/orange), cucumbers (green), a cottage cheese cloud, mac & cheese (more yellow) and some lunch meat. 

After lunch, I introduced the girls to their activities. First up, rainbow salt painting.

The girls had to use paintbrushes and glue to paint on rainbows (you can totally use bottled glue, our bottle just wouldn't squeeze out).

Then, sprinkle salt all over the glue. We were able to shake off the excess like you would with glitter. 

I let their paintings dry. 

Then, we got out the water colors, and they painted their rainbows.

For our next activity, the girls drew clouds on white paper and cut them out. 

Then, they cut out strips of paper in each color of the rainbow. 

We glued the paper to the clouds. 

Then, we drew faces on the clouds. 

Their rainbows turned out so cute! I told the girls to hang them in their bedroom windows so when people were outside, they could see them and they'd brighten their day!

Gretchen ended up taking all of the leftover paper, and cutting the tiniest strips out of them. She looped them all together and made a two story chain! It was pooling on our floor (you just can't see it in the photo)..... I had told all of the girls to make loops... Megan made hers, but Addy wasn't interested- we had planned to connect all of the loops and hang them in the playroom. 

If you do any of these activities, I'd love for you to tag me on Instagram (@ewelte_hap) so I can share them! 

Craft Time

It rained here all weekend, so we were stuck inside :( The girls didn't want to play with toys because they "didn't want to have to clean", so we drug out a few of our art supplies and perler beads and the girls had a blast making things, which led me down the Amazon rabbit hole. So, if you're stuck inside too and needing a change of place, here are a few craft ideas for you!

The girls had a blast with our perler beads. They're super fun to create, and you can turn them in to magnets, give to friends when school starts again, or mail to a nursing home. 

Megan received this sticker puzzle book for Valentine's day, and it's fun to pull out, when we don't want a huge mess on our hands. It can keep her busy for a while. 

Megan also received this How To Draw book for Christmas. 

Adalyn received this book for Valentine's day, and I even had fun completing it with her. It's similar to a paper doll activity, but with stickers. 

Gretchen went through a big origami phase in 3rd grade! She spent so many days folding paper and creating. We still have some origami paper left, so I think it would be fun to pull it back out again and for her to teach her sisters. 

Gretchen bought this book for a friend's birthday and then we bought her one because it is SO much fun! Each page has a prompt and the point is to wreck the entire book! It will keep your kids busy for hours! 

I love this modeling clay because you can let it air dry, or you can re-use it. Your kids can use their creativity to create to their hearts desire. 

When we lived in Oklahoma, the girls loved finding painting rocks! Our town had an entire facebook group dedicated to rock painting! This would be so fun for your kids to paint rocks and then hide them throughout the neighborhood to brighten another kids day! This rock painting kit is perfect! 

Suncatchers are so fun! Hang them in the window and let your neighbors know so their kids can spot them! Mail them to grandparents or send to their teachers. This kit makes 20 projects, so it should keep your kids busy for a while! 

Alright, what are you doing to keep your kiddos busy right now?! Any fun crafty finds?

This post contains affiliate links; thank you for supporting my blog. 

Home Learning Opportunities for Kids

I know that a lot of you are in the midst of distance learning with your kiddos and you're now becoming teacher and parent, and it's hard right now. Thankfully, lots of online resources are coming out with opportunities to keep your kiddos busy, so I thought I'd compile a list of everything I've seen for y'all! 

We're in the middle of Spring Break, so our main focus is to just BE together as a family without any pressure on academics, but we're still taking advantage of some of these opportunities because they're fun! 

Scholastic

Has opportunities for up to three hours a day and broken down into grade levels. If you're kiddo is in 1st or 2nd grade (for example) they can learn about insects, weather, sound/music, etc. You can read a story, watch a book, complete puzzles, and there's a drawing/writing activity. 

Netflix

Click here for a list of 30 educational shows for your kids. 

Lunch Doodles with Mo Williams 

Learners worldwide can draw, doodle and explore new ways of writing by visiting Mo’s studio virtually once a day for the next few weeks. These happen every day at 1 pm EST

Sight Words

Your kids can watch these videos to review their Sight Words. 

Story Time From Space

Your kids can listen to astronauts read books, learn and watch science time videos, and more! 

75+ Activities

Click here for a list of 75 + activities you can do with your kids while you're stuck indoors. 

Teachers Pay Teachers

This website is compiled of work that teachers create and share and there are a ton of FREE activites, worksheets, coloring pages, etc for your kids. You can search by subject material, grade level, and price. Here's a free Lego activity that isn't educational, but would be fun for your kiddos to pass the time! 

Starfall

My girls have loved Starfall for a long time! You can choose kindergarten level, or 1-3rd grades. There are opportunities for english, math, calendar skills, geometry, phonics, etc. It's interactive and easy for kids to navigate.

And here's a list of free websites

Math:

Funbrain

Prodigy

Math Playground

Splash Learn

Math Game Time

Khan Academy

Telling Time worksheet

Social Studies

Crash Course (You Tube)

National Geographic Kids

Google Earth

Smithsonian for Kids

www.historyforkids.net

Science

How Stuff Works

Code Academy

Amazing Space

Mystery Doug

Other:

Brain Pop

Hello Kids

Reading:

Squiggle Pop

Read at Home BINGO

www.readworks.com

Writing:

www.typingclub.com

Selling

www.spellingcity.com

Cosmic Kids Yoga

We love putting this on our TV and having the girls do yoga. She takes you through little adventures while teaching yoga poses along the way. 

Highlights Kids

This website is free and full of fun activities such as activities, jokes, games, and podcasts for kids. 

Whew! That's quite a list and friends, there is so much more out there for you to access! Moms, you've got this! 

Girl Mom:Keeping Kids Active

Today's installment of  "Girl Mom" is all about keeping your kids active! 

I'm totally dreading the teenage years when the girls start to worry about their body image and comparing themselves to "Hollywood." I'm trying to instill to them that they are beautiful, just as they are as well as teaching them, that staying active is important!

Just the other day at dinner, Gretchen told me that I ran too much. (I only run 2 maybe 3 times a week), so I thought it was funny that she was thinking I worked out too much, but you know- she's seeing my example now and I want her to know that working out is important too! We have to keep our heart healthy! 

Today, I'm sharing my best tips to keeping my girls healthy, sharing a few of YOUR tips, and sharing our favorite snack ideas for staying healthy!

First, I think it's important to get outside every day! Well, not when it's below 50 degrees. (I draw the line somewhere.) But, when it's sunny and relatively warm, we're outside! Thankfully, we have a great neighborhood and the kids LOVE playing with each other! 

Megan loves to take her baby sister for walks! 

When I go on walks, I take the girls with me! At least once a week we try to walk down to our neighborhood pond and feed the ducks and geese that live there! (Save the left over bread in your freezer, pull out when you want to go for your walk, and it'll be defrosted and ready to toss to the ducks!!

When Gretchen rode the bus, she'd walk to the bus stop! She loved having the independence of walking, even though I was right there with her, but it made her feel like such a big kid!

Head to the park! You'll get exercise chasing your kids and pushing them in the swings, and your kids will get plenty of exercise running, jumping, and climbing! It's a total win win, and I'm so thankful that our town has well-maintained parks!

Summer is near, and if you don't have a pool, buy a cheap kiddie pool for your kids to play in! You might think my big girls are outgrowing the kiddie pool, but they love to splash around in it, or put the bottom of our slide in it and slide down into the water! 

Head to the zoo! All of the walking will give you and your kids great exercise! (Side note, but when we went to Disney World, we walked 10 miles in just one day!!!)

Go on a bug hunt! The days after it rains, or right after the rain stops is the perfect time! My girly girls love hunting for bugs!

Grab old pillowcases and have potato sac races!

Go on a bike ride! (And please remember your child's safety helmet!)

I asked you over on my Facebook Group Page for your own ideas, and here are some great ones y'all came up with!

1. Treasure/Nature Hunt
2. Keep an outside tub of bubbles and sidewalk chalk
3. Have a dance party on rainy days!
4. Use left over Easter eggs, and hide tiny toys/trinkets in them (dinosaurs for the boys!) and hide them in the back yard!
5. Have an archeological dig! Bury things in a sandbox (or even a small tub of sand) and dig away!
6. Have a glow party outside in the evening! (Use glow sticks, necklaces, have a cookout!)
7. Go to a farm and pick your own veggies/fruit!

On top of being active, kids need to have healthy snacks available!

Chobani has recently come out with Chobani Tots squeezable yogurt! This is a perfect snack for Adalyn, and the best part is that it's made from only natural ingredients and it's GMO free! There are no artificial flavors or ingredients and it's gluten free!

My big girls love the Chobani greek yogurt in squeezable tubes! Since we bought this, Gretchen is finally asking for yogurt again in her lunchbox and Megan loves having it as an after school snack!

Chobani is an excellent brand that we love in our house! Their Vanilla Greek Yogurt is one of my favorite snacks too! I add chia seeds and a few chocolate chips, and it's so yummy!

We keep other snacks on hand too such as cheese sticks, grapes, strawberries, bananas, whole grain crackers, and fruit snacks.

By keeping your kids active and offering healthy snacks, your kids are going to have a head start in growing into a healthy adult!

I've linked up with #chobanikids project. I was not reimbursed for this post and all thoughts/opinions are my own. 

Friday Favorites: Snow Edition

It's Friday!!! I would be super excited for a Friday, but I'm sitting in a continuing education conference today, and to top that off, it's a 2 hour drive away. I was really hoping it would be cancelled since we had snow this week; maybe there was an off chance that the roads would still be bad in that part of Oklahoma. But, it's still on, so away I go.

DJ will have his hands full today, but I'm confident that he'll get the girls where they need to go and get them picked up on time! 

In true Friday Fashion, I'm linking up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci for Friday Favorites. 

I never did a weekend wrap up on Monday... we really had a low key weekend since we woke up to snow on Saturday morning. I stayed in my pajamas all day and cleaned house and did some sewing. 

DJ took the big girls sledding while Adalyn took her afternoon nap.

We bundled them up and off they went! I had a snow suit for Megan since we use to live in Indiana. (I had saved it from when Gretchen wore it). I may have put way too many layers on her! Poor Gretchen was left in a few layers and blue jeans. I must remember to buy proper snow gear next year for the three days that we get snow!

DJ said sledding was Gretchen's FAVORITE, but Megan only went down once. She definitely does not like the snow! 

Sunday afternoon, I packed up lots of made to match Matilda Jane hair bows and a few other goodies for a Spring Release party. 

That afternoon, I came home, we had dinner, and we got ready for school on Monday.

See, a pretty boring weekend. Those are my FAVORITE.

Monday was Dr. Seuss day. Gretchen had an assembly at school, and got her face painted. Her class made hats and bowties to wear too.

I was surprised to pick Megan up to see that she had her nose painted and her hat! 

By Monday, the snow was beginning to melt away!

Tuesday, Gretchen had spring picture day at school She wore one of my FAVORITE Matilda Jane dresses! I went back and forth on buying this dress, but I am SO glad that I did! I love it!

Addy Pearl was pretty fussy Tuesday evening. She's been really clingy to me lately, so I put her in the Ergo and got dinner cooked! Being held is her FAVORITE!

School was cancelled on Wednesday since we had a thread of sleet and lots of snow!

The big girls woke up bright and early and Megan pretended it was class picture day. She had Gretchen take a picture of her "class".

That morning, I let the girls color to pass some time.

This is Addy Pearl's idea of coloring. Do a little here and there, and then suck her thumb with her FAVORITE ballet baby.

Then she rode around on her princess car. 

And we attempted window clings, but that was a fail.

Later that afternoon, I was sewing, and I looked over to find Megan "reading" to her class with her legs crossed! It cracked me up! She is growing up SO fast!

School was cancelled on Thursday, since we finally did get some snow on Wednesday night. I shared a snow day list yesterday, and the girls and I had lots of fun yesterday crossing off our snow day list!

I put paper in large ziplock bags, squirted paint, and let the girls "finger paint."

Afterwards, we hung them on the window, and Gretchen figured out she could still "paint" with them hanging up. I think the girls stood in the windowsill for at least 10 minutes "painting". Now we have fun "stained glass" in our window!

I was fixing lunch, and Adalyn layed down on the counter top with her diaper! I texted DJ this picture of her... she is such a nut! She goes to her room now to get her diaper and wipes and brings them to us whens he's ready for a diaper change or when we ask her! I'm thinking potty training will be right around the corner!

Once Addy went down for a nap, the big girls and I made play-doh.

It was super easy and the girls had so much fun playing with it!

I was finally able to finish all of the girls' Disney shirts and I even made this shirt for Gretchen. 

I've been wanting to make her one for a while, and it matches perfectly with her FAVORITE new Matilda Jane skirt! 

Once Addy woke up, we made blueberry muffins and watched Brave. 

I have never made blueberry muffins from scratch and these were so yummy!

I think they were Adalyn's FAVORITE snack!

We ended the night making homemade pizza, and once DJ got home, I was able to get out for a run. It was so nice to get out of the house and get some "me" time. I've been able to run 4 times over the last week and a half, and the weather is finally getting warmer, so i'm hoping to get out more! I honestly hate to run, but maybe one day, it'll be one of my FAVORITE activities!

Now, if you'll do me a favor, leave me some comment love- funny jokes, or post some super funny and fabulous things on social media today to help keep me entertained during my continuing ed conference! I would REALLY appreciate it!

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