A brand new journey - Week 1

 It's been a while since I have written here. Life has changed and we are busy! We have embarked on a new journey at our house. In the wake of Covid-19 ravaging the country and our community, we have opted to homeschool for the 2020-2021 school year. We realize that we are in a position of extreme luxury. I am home and not working as a physical therapist and Patrick continues to be employed full time as the senior pastor of a church in New England. Our school district gave two options, we could send the kids full time in person or we could keep them home and they could learn remotely full time. The later option would include zoom lessons and class meetings on and off all day from 8:45a to 3:15p. We knew that we would not be sending them in person as Patrick's job and the vibrancy of the church depends on him staying healthy. I knew in my heart that the zoom option would not be feasible with a toddler and a preschooler. 

So, homeschool it was.

Truth be told, I had been thinking about homeschool and and off since Emmett was in first grade. Patrick has said over and over that the pandemic has accelerated many things. This was not only the best option for our family, but it was a great reason to give it a try.

I did a boat load of research and settled on the Blossom and Root curriculum. I love the secular, gentle nature of it. I love that much of it is done outdoors. I felt like the math component was lacking for us so after talking to Emmett's third grade teacher from last year, I decided on Eureka math or EngageNY. It is what they have been used to and it would help them be able to drop back in to their respective grades next year if that is what we decide. 

Week one was a little rough. The first day (Tuesday) I was sitting at the table and I jumped up to go help Jonah in the bathroom and smacked my head on the slant of the dormer ceiling. I hit it so hard, I knocked myself off my feet. I am fairly certain that I probably had a mild concussion. Oops. That resulted in tears on my part, mostly of frustration, but also of pain and built up anxiety. Day two resulted in tears from Emmett and Micah and then myself after a miscommunication with Patrick. We were on a roll, am I right? Day three and four were better. We still didn't have much of a rhythm down but we will get there. 

Attic School

A few highlights...

Micah lost his first tooth the night before school started! He begged his dad to pull it out. He's 7 and has been waiting and waiting for that first loose tooth. The tooth fairy came with blueberries and quarters. 

The first day of school pictures were taken. One great thing about homeschool... no shoes! For those of you who know my children, you know that this is their normal state most of the year. 8 bare feet, 40 bare toes. That's a lot of toes. Ha. 

4th Grade!

1st Grade!

Preschool!

There is some ongoing discussion in the Collins household as to which year Emmett will be taller than me. It won't be long. 

Micah's science Wonder this week was all about Stardust and the Earth. He made a mobile out of all sorts of things he found and pictures of people he loves. Each of these things are made of stardust, including him! We also took an Earth life walk. I drew out the life of the planet on the sidewalk in chalk. It was the length of a football field and then I drew in events. Each inch of the 100 yards was 1.3 million years. Whait, wait?! Yep, it's true. Then we walked and talked about each of the events on the timeline. Humans arrived 1/8th of an inch from today. The kids were amazed. It helped that I labeled T-Rex. 

Micah's Stardust Mobile

Earth Life Walk

Making words

Norah and Jonah have enjoyed helping me in the kitchen. They love to chop and measure and pour. It's a mess and most of the time I don't mind a bit. I have child knives that are designed to be sharp enough to cut most food things but won't cut their fingers if they slip. A worthy investment. 

We also went for a hike. Emmett and I were looking for physics topics and Micah was tasked with thinking about the Earth. We found this cool hut that someone had built. The kids had a great time exploring.  

Jonah's counting work. 

Collecting acorns in a dumptruck makes things WAY more fun for sure. 

Have a lovely week!