Christy's homeschool day in the life(with 8-,7-,6-,4- & 2-year-old)

Whoa. Is that post title really my life?

Wow. That escalated quickly.

I'm joining up with Simple Homeschool's linkup of day-in-the-life posts because I haven't done one in about a year (sorry if you are tired of reading about homeschooling, I'm so over-the-top about it, aren't I?) and things are so different every year. I hope this will be a nice little time capsule to one day look back on. (But I never look back at old blog posts because I die of embarrassment! I'm a walking contradiction over here!)

Before I get into the nitty-gritty: we definitely lean towards routine and not going by the clock, our days vary in intensity depending on my energy level, the toddlers energy levels, and the weather, but for the most part this is what our days look like on the whole. Our afternoons can look different if there are errands, appointments, or activities which means we're usually gone all afternoon because we live 25 min. from our town. Disclaimer finished.

7:00-8:00 am: I usually wake up sometime after 7 and try to get in some quiet time for myself. It truly makes me a nicer person to be around. I try to start with morning prayer, then I check Facebook and emails, read my favourite blogs, and try to eat something myself because if I don't eat now I won't get another chance till after lunch!

8:00 am: The kid's wake up/are released from their rooms! The kids are usually awake before 8, but I really need some time to myself so they follow our household rule that no one comes out of their rooms other than to use the bathroom until mom comes to wake them up. Usually the toddler/preschooler talk to themselves or their siblings, sometimes they're still asleep when I go in, sometimes they're screaming at me, the big boys usually play lego quietly in their room before I wake them. I give them their breakfast as soon as possible to avoid mass rebellion, and we usually try to do poetry memorization during breakfast as well as reading the life of the saint of the day. We alternate between poems and Shakespeare and it's pretty freaking adorable to have your 2-year-old be able to recite Shakespeare, if I do say so myself.

8:30-9:00: The kid's do a couple chores, unload the dishwasher, put away laundry, pick up the bathroom, wipe the table etc. while the younger kids play. I usually am running around dealing with people's bathroom issues, finding underwear, washing dishes, finding a child emptying a pantry, turning off faucets that have been left on(why??) and the like. After chores I usually let them do whatever they want so they'll be playing, drawing, crafting or whatever. They've got plenty of books they read or at least look at themselves on varying topics. Right now it's Korea, space exploration, Little House picture books, and Star Wars, naturally.

9:00: Sometime after 9 when I've had sufficient coffee and have gotten the kitchen in some semblance of order we sit down to do what sorta is morning time. I'll read aloud from our current read-aloud, then I'll work with one of the older three on their particular catechism lesson, or I'll read a some kind of history or science book. We loop the subjects so every day we'll tackle something a little different but it will be read aloud by me and we'll try and talk about it altogether since my kids are so close in age this works well for us. The toddlers meanwhile are pulling the house apart, trying to jump off every piece of furniture, spending time in the corner, and ignoring the puzzles and games they've been given to play with at this time. You know, the ushe.

Shenanigans.

9:50-10:15: Sometime in here I need a break. I lovingly encourage everyone to go downstairs and play before I assign tedious tasks of cleaning or banishment. I will usually also spend some one on one time with the littles so they become less howler-monkey-like. They will usually want to wash dishes with me, have a special story, or ask me to do a puzzle. I try and squeeze this time in so they'll be a bit satisfied while I do sit-down work with the big 3.

10:15: I work with Luke, the 6-year old, as we go through his sit-down work of writing and reading practice. It doesn't take too long, usually 30-40 minutes. He is really active so the short period of time focusing and sitting is perfect for him. While I'm working with him the older kids are entertaining the littles downstairs.

10:45-11:30 or 12:00: I do sit down work with the older two kids. We work through their writing practice everyday, then do reading/phonics. I just feel so much better about life by making writing/reading a consistent everyday thing. It also doesn't take them too long, we cover spelling and phonics, and it goes by quickly. If toddlers can't behave downstairs they get to spend some alone time in their cribs. It's honestly not that long, they can handle it.

11:45 - lunch: The kids get to watch some kind of tv. Usually Wild Kratts and Ready, Jet, Go. I'm usually a bit fried by now and just need a bit of time to de-compress. This is my only time in the day to write, or edit, or work on podcast stuff, or email without a TON of distractions. The kids usually rummage for snacks sometime during this time as well.

12:30: Usually lunchtime. Since we enjoy the benefits of getting up late we aren't famished for lunch until about 12:30 or so. One of the older kids will help make sandwiches and we try to keep the starving little people at bay with fruit and nuts. Sometimes we listen to an audio book during lunch, sometimes classical music, sometimes a musical, sometimes I just want to listen to my own podcast so they must create their own diversions.

1:00: Math time! I know we're capable of getting all our schoolwork done before lunch. But I just found trying to cram it in with 3 people to teach and 2 people to fend off was making me crazy. So we just do math after lunch when we're all a bit refreshed, it's worked fairly well this year. Usually the toddlers are either still refusing to eat their lunch so they're just at the table, or they're running off happy to have escaped being forced to finish their lunches. Again, math doesn't take too long because my kids are young.

1:30-2:00: If there are still chores left to do this is the time they need to get done, or this is more play time or craft time or the kids will take turns playing education apps on the iPad.

2:00-the rest of the afternoon: Outside time! We live out in the country so the kids can go out and roam and play on swings and do whatever. They're usually out for at least an hour unless the weather is bad, and I try to go out and get some outside time in here as well. Then we'll walk over to my parents house who live nearby, we'll spend time there, the 2-year-old will have a nap, then we walk home.

5:00-8:00: The kids will play board or card games while I throw together some kind of dinner, or they'll draw, or just occupy themselves downstairs. Or puzzles of all shapes and sizes appear with a million pieces spread all over the floor-but it's supper time so I ignore the chaos or else we wouldn't eat. My husband is usually home by 6, we'll eat shortly after. Then my husband takes over - he'll read them more books, or help with math if the older kids need it, or just build forts in the basement until it's time for baths, prayers, and bed. Since it's winter I usually hole myself up in my bedroom and do laundry, or read, or crochet, or just watch copious amounts of The Good Wife.

8:00-till I go to bed: The kids are in bed and I'm exhausted and pretty much done. I'll fold laundry while watching tv, or play a game with my husband, then I have a bath and go read in bed until I can't keep my eyes open any longer so I can do it all again tomorrow!

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What's So Important About Your Child's Imagination?

I was a guest this week on the Catholic Exchange podcast talking about why reading good books with our kids is so important. And as I was babbling on and on about how awesome books are for growing our children's moral imaginations I didn't stop to realize if I had built up a decent basis on why and how books do this.

I mean, what does it all really mean, man?!

When we talk about the child's moral imagination we're talking about how our children learn about what morals are all about and what makes them good and bad. What happens when we do things that are good? What happens when we do things that are bad? These are the basis of what morality means in real life - our choices and actions have consequences.

Now, this happens really simply and usually in a very straightforward way in fairy tales and other children's stories. The prince does something heroic through courage and self-sacrifice to save a princess or slay a dragon that's been terrifying the populace. The princess through perseverance, intelligence, and kindness falls in love and marries a prince. Characters who trick other characters or are obviously cruel meet with deathly consequences.

In other words, when people do things that are good, good things happen to them and when characters do bad things, bad things happen to them.

If we're trying to raise children who have well-formed consciences you can see why this beginning instruction in morality is so important. It matters whether or not they're beginning to understand morality as it plays out through cartoon episodes or quality fairy tales and books.

Fairy tales and quality children's literature is that first step through the wardrobe of what matters in a world outside of our own selves. Children come to know the world in small incremental steps beginning with their home and family, and stories and books are a natural way to begin understanding how the world works, and especially how the moral world works.

The stories may be simple especially to our modern, relativism-obsessed culture, but to children fairy tales make logical sense. As we're raising our kids from small toddlers on we are all about trying to get them to draw conclusions from their own behaviour and consequences, if a child misbehaves we want them to begin to expect and understand that a negative consequence will happen. We want to enforce positive behaviour with praise and exuberance.

So it's really a logical and simple connection to our children that a bad witch who wants to throw innocent children into an oven is herself tossed into an oven. They begin to understand and expect certain types of choices and behaviours to be rewarded or punished through these tales. They're making moral connections between actions and consequences - that's really an huge step towards understanding what morality is all about.

And the same happens when we expose children to great characters of virtue. When we read tales of heroes and princesses we're not just exposing them to a world that is some kind of parallel universe, but a world in which people who do good things through making good decisions are met with good ends.

I don't think it means that our children are expecting fantastical things to happen to them, but it does open their minds to the idea that by pursuing the good great things can happen. We want our children to grow up with the knowledge and belief that God wants great things for their lives and wants them to live heroically in our world today. We want them to believe that good does always conquer evil because that is our Christian belief.

Of course that may involve slaying dragons - doing incredibly difficult things in challenging circumstances and persevering when all hope is lost. It may involve a supernatural charity towards people just life a wicked stepmother who keeps a princess locked in a tower.

Through stories children begin to imagine possibilities when they haven't yet experienced them first hand. Possibilities like overcoming extremely difficult and challenging situations in order to pursue the good, having to make difficult choices, being faced with evil and yet knowing that goodness exists and needs to be fought for, as well as being open to whatever incredible plan for their lives God may have in store.

That's why the imagination and cultivating the imagination is important. Not so our children become enamoured with a fairy tale vision of the world, but that they will be equipped to have a moral understanding of our world and how to use their own virtues for good. We're preparing them to understand the importance of morality and spirituality in a world that relegates all goodness and evil to a limp relativity.

It's hard for our small children to understand that a mom who stays home, or parents who both go to Mass, or a parent willing to take a public stand at their workplace against euthanasia or same-sex marriage are acting with courage and bravery. It's hard for our children to see us being extraordinarily kind to the person in the grocery store who asks if all those little people really are yours. But it's easy for them to see that when a prince fights a dragon that there is bravery and courage involved, and that persevering in kindness when you're a princess locked in a tower really does earn just rewards.

That's why the moral imagination begins young, with the stories our kids are exposed to and how their little minds absorb them with excitement and relish. And it's in hopes that as they grow they can make those important connections to virtue and vice, the possibilities of God working in their own lives, and of the rich reward that awaits us in heaven.

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Looking for some great Catholic children's books?

I'm happy to report I'm drinking coffee again. That Whole 30 didn't kill me, and I didn't seem to notice much difference without caffeine in my diet, so I'm back to drinking my glorious elixir of life which in turn has drastically improved my homeschooling mood, my mothering mood, oh heck, my entire personality. Or I'm being a bit dramatic.

We made it through September which I always find to be a challenging month to get back on track, but so far I'm happy with our homeschooling progress. Oh sure, I've still got one kid who finds writing more than two letters at a sitting to be a ridiculous request, another kid who thinks carrying twos to be way too much work, and some number phobia going on. What all of my kids still agree on is sitting down with me and a good book.

Honestly, that's something I hope they never grow out of. There are so many great books on so many great subjects that if they'll sit and listen with me I feel like half the job of homeschooling is done.

I've also mentioned this about a hundred times before: but I think it's really great to have as many good resources and books explaining and teaching the faith around our homes as possible. You never know what will jump out and touch a child so I really love having a good variety in our collection.

Ignatius Press has been doing such great work creating quality Catholic children's books for the past several years and I was lucky enough to review a couple of the new additions to their catalog in the past couple months.

Catholic Saints for Children

This is a great saint book with well done illustrations of new saints and old, along with a short description of each person, as well as a short prayer. My kids have loved returning to this book, and keep asking for more. I've been really impressed at how much they've liked praying along with the book since usually prayers within books are met with glazed over looks, but with this book they keep asking to say different prayers. I think everyone has found a new favourite saint as well. Highly recommended!

A Missal for Little Ones

This is a introductory missal that explains the Mass in easy to understand language for little people. The beautifully done illustrations are just perfect for making the Mass recognizable to kids, and hopefully gives them a little bit more knowledge of what happens when they're at Mass. I would say this is perfect for 3-6 year olds and makes a really good book to take to Mass because it's small and easy to smuggle in. 

Let's Pray the Rosary

At first glance I thought this was going to be a book just based on the mysteries of the Rosary, but it actually is a really neat exploration of the origins of the Rosary itself, as well as the role it has played in the history of the Church. From the battle of Lepanto to Bernadette at Lourdes to little known holy men and women, this book gives a great historical understanding of the Rosary that I've never seen before in a children's book. The illustrations aren't my favourite, but the content is something that is really unique and would make a great addition to you library of holy books as well as giving a really good basis of knowledge to your kids about the historic basis of the Rosary.

The Beautiful Story of the Bible

I think this has become my favourite children's Bible. I really can't recommend this book enough for small kids as their first introduction to the Bible. It's illustrations are second to none because they're done by the amazing Maite Roche. Her work is just so beautiful while at the same time appealing to small children. Each story is detailed and vibrantly illustrated.  The stories are kept simple, yet explain the Bible stories well and at an age appropriate level. I'm so happy to have this as a beautiful resource for my kids, it's really lovely!

I hope this helps you add to your own home Catholic libraries for your kids, I'm always on the look out for great books, so let me know your favourites too! 

Ignatius Press gave me review copies of all these books, but the opinions are entirely honest and my own. 

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Staying Sane in the Homeschooling-Small-Children Game

So we're at the end of September. Our fourth week of getting back in the grind of school and it hasn't been completely terrible.

It's had rough moments, moments of chaos, moments of terror (like when someone cut several inches off Nora's hair), moments when everyone needed to have a nap -- including me. And really, it's basically what I've come to expect from September because September is just a tough month of transition from summer to school, and if you're homeschooling your kids a month where you've got to get things back on track in every direction. It can feel a bit like a giant wave is taking you far, far out to sea and you need to grab on to something or you're just going to throw in the towel. Just back float until someone finds you.

I've got some tips on making that transition, not that I'm an expert, but I feel like an expert on small children wrangling, the homeschooling bit gets a little hairy now and then but I feel like I'm making some strides. So if you're just starting out homeschooling, and have really little kids underfoot who you're trying to ward off from learning children then you might find something to agree with here. If you're not, you might enjoy the laugh.

Aim for routine, but know the routine will need to be adjusted.

I'm saying this mostly to myself because in my head I still want the day to go according to how I want it. 

Which means babies should nap when I want, kids should listen when I want, etc etc. Lots of dreams going on.

But in actuality, although we as the moms have to put the effort into making the routine happen consistently, we're dealing with unpredictable little people. Babies may need to nap at different times, or you may need to move your teaching time to when babies nap. You're going to have to wiggle and jiggle your daily routine until things flow as best as possible. 

Also; your kids who are learning are going to take time to adjust. A couple days, a couple weeks, may not have them settled into the routine of facing a school day and tackling school work with a happy attitude. They may need more time for things to settle in so try to stay as consistent as you can so they can learn from you that learning is happening every day.

It may never get perfect. Actually, if you've got small toddlers and kids you're trying to teach I can probably guarantee that it won't be perfect. Actually, homeschooling will never be perfect at any point. But that's ok, your kids are learning anyway, you're living your life as a family anyway. It's really a good thing. 

Give your kids and yourself time to settle into a curriculum. 

Sometimes different curriculum or subjects need to be tackled in different ways for them to work the best for you and your kids. 

Last year I was trying to cram in all the kids subjects in the morning, while trying to deal with two toddlers who were climbing the walls and screaming and generally driving me nuts. It didn't go well but somehow I thought I had to get everything done before the clock struck noon.

I then changed math time to right after lunch when the babies were usually happily playing downstairs or outside for a bit and had a lot more patience to deal with math with the three older kids.  The math program we use seems to need a bit of mom time to get them started and doing this after lunch when I was refreshed meant I taught better and the curriculum seemed less overwhelming. 

I know reading religion with my kids can be done one on one when someone is out of sorts and needs a refresher. Or maybe your kids like talking science in the afternoon during nap time. Whatever it may be if you feel stuck by a curriculum or subject try changing up when and how you fit it into the day before scrapping the curriculum completely. Although I totally understand needing to scrap curriculum entirely, it happens, no big deal.

Babies can enjoy "quiet time" by themselves and not be scarred for life.

I know, I'm probably the meanest mom on the block but every day my 2 year old goes down for quiet time in the morning for about 30 to 45 minutes while I do hands on phonics and reading with the older kids. She's been distracted and played with by this point for a good long while and just wants to cause a ruckus. She gets to sit and chill out with some books in her crib for a while and she comes out a much happier girl.

We've done this since the beginning and even when she stopped actually sleeping during these times I just kept putting her down. So far I think she's free from physiological problems and she's safe and out of my hair for a bit.

Do not feel bad about giving yourself some toddler-free time! Do not!

Trust me, I am considering having those two sentences tattooed on my body somewhere scandalous.

Wine and Mom-time are good too

Remember when I wrote about how I take a lot of little breaks in the midst of our school day? I do it to maintain a certain level of patience and it helps a lot. I think if I made myself plow through all work at one sitting I'd be completely ruined. It's just so hard to keep up with little kids from a mental point of view for that long myself, let alone their own attention spans. It helps.

But we've also got to take bigger breaks and more refreshing time. It just needs to happen especially if you've got a bunch of kids...or just one,who am I kidding?!

If you can fit in some time while the kids are at an activity: great! If you can get a babysitter or drop them off with the grandparents for a couple hours: awesome! If you need to lock yourself in your bedroom after your husband gets home with a glass of wine, Netflix, or a good book: wonderful!

You got to and need to.

Take the Long View

Life with little kids, including homeschooling small kids with smaller kids below that, changes quickly even if we can't tell. It's really easy to look at a couple days or a week and think it's all going terribly.

But take the long view -- working on your daily routine will pay off, your kids will learn much more than you realize even if they're not learning it all in a day, and you've got to take care of yourself every week if you want to homeschool for a whole school year, not just when you can fit it in.

These are really all common sense things --really, to remind myself when I'm feeling overwhelmed. Homeschooling isn't easy, it's not neat, and it has a lot of ups and downs.

But if you feel like you and your family are called to it, your children are learning and becoming better people for it, then you're on the right track even if the day has gotten away from you. You can do this, even with little kids.

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Seven Quick Takes vol. 126

Getting back in the groove with Kelly, because she never loses hers!

{one}

How we spent our 5 summer days. ;)

Wow, I just had to check when I last posted a quick takes and it's been almost two months. I honestly don't get how fast time flies. But I'm glad to be back with a quick note to check in with what I've been up to. How's your summer been? I want to see all of your summer bucket lists checked off! Wait, you don't do that either? Good, glad it isn't just me!

{two}

I spent most of this week getting organized for the school year. Oh yeah, because when I see all the crazy Americans going back to school at this ungodly time of year I finally start to think about preparing for our school year. I had to fill out a bunch of program plans for the government -- boo hiss! -- which is of course a barrel of fun, and I made Amazon go boom with a giant school order. I might as well spend that government money right? We actually have most of our core curriculum already because my kids seemed to finished what they were doing in the middle of last year so I just bought the next grade up so we can really pick up any time we want. I'm aiming for after Labor Day!  

{three}

I also got a lot of other annoying, chore-ish things done this week that I have been putting off all summer. I don't know why it feels good to finally get those things done but it really does. I also always make a list of things to get done in the summer and I always end up doing all of them during the last week of summer. I'm currently organizing books and bookshelves and the only solution I've come up with is I need more books and bookshelves. Which really isn't a solution. But for both those things I need a bigger house. 

{four}

I need a bigger house? But didn't I just write about living with a bunch of kids in a small house? Why yes I did! If you haven't checked it out it was over at Theresa's last week writing about it - the whole series was really great, check out all of them!

{five}

I've also been other places this summer writing a guest post for Jenny at Mama Needs Coffee on living the faith here in Canada. 

And I wrote about a month ago for Patheos and the great blog Love Among The Ruins about the comedy The Last Man On Earth. I don't think I ever mentioned it here on the blog, so if you missed it on Facebook you may never have known - what a shame!

{six}

We went on a little summer holiday for a couple days to the mountains last week and had a really great time! We just love being in the mountains. But it was especially nice to stay at a gorgeous cabin on an even more gorgeous secluded lake. The kids were able to swim on the hot, hot, hot days and then when it dipped to single digit temperatures on the last day we were there we could run around different trails almost by ourselves. (Because apparently the cold temperatures really put a damper on non-Canadians going out of doors...I dunno...maybe...weird...)

{seven}

It's still hilarious how much attention we garner going to tourist-y sites with five kids. It really shouldn't be such a big deal but there are plenty of stares and "Are they all yours?!" Oh, yes they are or else I wouldn't have gotten in the same car with them for 6 hours! Actually the driving went better than expected and at this rate we may be able to drive with them on a decent road trip for more than 3 days in about a decade. Give or take. I just can't not picture travelling with my children as not being utterly exhausting. Even now are kids are getting bigger but it still requires so much work to get them there, so much work while we're there, and still major disruptions to sleep. I'm getting a bit better at accepting it, but I still feel like low-acheiving mom that I don't love and want to travel with them all yet. Just a dose of mommy-confession for you. We really did have a great time and even though it was just three days it was completely worth it and everyone loved it. There's nothing like seeing the excitement of your sweet babies as they experience new things for the first time. Even if they occasionally get a little freaked out over bears and heights! 

Hope you all have a lovely summer weekend -- I may even get crazy and start blogging next week...for real.

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Some Great First Communion (and Confession!)-Prep Books

This year we've been preparing our oldest child to receive her First Holy Communion and First Reconciliation. Our situation is a little different than most in that our parish has no religious education classes so the whole responsibility of making sure she's figuring things out about the Faith, and answering her questions have fallen on my shoulders, which is a little daunting when I think about it!

I've tried to get a few different resources for her so that the different aspects of what she should know for around this age gets covered a few times. When it comes to religious education I think it's valuable to have the different aspects of the faith presented in different ways because you never know what will resonate the best for another person, and especially a small child.

I'm also a big fan of religious texts for kids having actual substance. I won't link to what was provided by the diocese, but let's just say I found it really lacking and hardly talked about "faith" at all. It hardly veered from the very disappointing script of "Jesus is your friend". Our children are exceeding keen to the truth and they deserve to have the fullness given to them, I don't want my kids pandered to but given the whole experience of their rich faith.

All that being said, I'm sure I haven't done a perfect job, but I'm also sure that the Holy Spirit will make up for my lack. It's always good to remember that this isn't a one time thing, this is more getting her in the door to keep receiving knowledge of the Faith. We've got a month and a half left to go until she'll be receiving her First Reconciliation, First Holy Communion, and Confirmation so I'm hoping she'll be well prepared by then. These books have been the best help to us!

Jesus, Our Life from the Faith and Life series

We use the Faith and Life series for our religion text for school, so we've been working on this book for the whole school year. I still appreciate this series for it's clarity and simply approach while explaining the doctrine of the Church in an age appropriate way.

My First Holy Communion by Deirdre Mary Ascough 

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book, but I found it to be a nicely presented way of bringing together Biblical stories and doctrines of the faith while explaining the Sacraments and the Mass. The pictures are bright, but not perfect, and engage young eyes. I think this is a nice compliment to the text-book like books. My only criticism is it's clunky prose, at first I thought this may be a translation, but the book page clearly states it was written by an English speaker and nothing can be blamed on poor translators. But it doesn't effect the overall good quality of teaching this book provides, just bugs a picky mom.

Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism

I'm not going to lie. I'm using this primarily to keep my from teaching heresy! There's just something reassuring in the pat question and answer catechism that you just can't find anywhere else. I know I don't want it to be the only way my kids learn their faith, but it is helpful in clearly up important things like, "How many persons in the Holy Trinity?" This little book isn't too intimidating and knowing that the questions cover the basics helps me know that I'm covering them in depth in other places. It's a little catechetical insurance policy.

A Little Book about Confession for Children by Kendra Tierney

This book is so good at presenting the teaching and meaning of the Sacrament of Penance to children in a straightforward, understandable, and clear way. I love that it's laid out with questions and answers, that it respects children and their capability to understand their own need for forgiveness and capability for sin -- two things which are so daunting to most catechetical writers that they ignore it altogether. I know this book has given my daughter confidence when at first she seemed tentative and unsure what Confession meant. 

Your First Communion: Meeting Jesus, Your True Joy by Pope Francis

This is a devotional type book which actually makes a great compliment to the more catechetical books we've been using. Each reflection by Pope Francis has a nice, bright illustration and the reflections are straight forward and easy to understand even for children while at the same time being beautiful and substantial! I also just love that this is a book of actual papal writings presented to children! This is the type of thing that needs to be more present in catechesis from the very beginning--presenting the teachings of the popes early helps us realize that the teachings are important, approachable, and necessary for our everyday life. This book would also make a really great First Communion gift. 

Ignatius Press kindly provided me review copies of two of these books, but my opinions are entirely my own...clearly! 

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See Me Homeschool (complete with embarrassing photos of all types)

Today I'm happy to be linking up with a wonderful homeschool linkup created by Theresa and Micaela called "See Me Homeschool".

This is only my second official year homeschooling my kids ages 7, 6, 5, 3, & 1, but I consider all the years my young children are at home full of learning and education, even if it happens in a very un-purposeful, looks-like-normal-life kinda way. Because I'm vastly outnumbered by little people I've purposefully planned our school days with the focus being on play and reading aloud rather than on workbooks, although we do devout time to curriculum for reading/writing and math each day, mostly when the baby naps. My main challenge so far has been dealing with toddlers - mainly because I've got a lot of 'em! It can be chaotic and full of messes; I've been known to let a toddler rummage cupboards and dump cereal in the middle of spelling if it keeps them occupied!

This was a very normal day for us in February in Canada. We spend the majority of our days at home, but try to get out even if it's just to my parent's house each day for a bit of an afternoon outing so we don't go completely crazy. Hopefully I've included enough "keeping it real" pics so you guys can pick up the flavour of my chaotic days which include a lot juggling, reading, cleaning up toddlers, and sometimes getting myself dressed by noon.

And that's mostly a wrap - because I didn't think you wanted more pictures of quiet time and the witching hour's tantrums, you can just use your imaginations there. Hope that left you mildly amused and if you have any questions feel free to ask me anything!

Remember to head on over to Theresa's or Micaela's to check out the way more inspiring bloggers who are sharing their homeschool days in pictures for the next two weeks. If you've gotta a blog and wanna share your homeschool day you can link up too - you know I wanna snoop! 

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