Crazyfamily Homeschool Program

That is the name of our homeschool (just pop in our last name instead of Crazyfamily, lol!) We officially have 1 month of homeschool under our belts, and I am loving it! Pander is working through 1st grade cirriculum quickly (math, reading, language arts, health, science, history, Bible), while Fia and Moo are finishing up preschooling and combining it with kindergarten math, phonics and handwriting. Noodle is along for the ride, he does about half the preschool activities in any given day then wanders off to do puzzles, build blocks, or generally make a mess. Some of the highlights of homeschooling have been:

*Pander quote- "I love this school, I can sing while I do my work!"

*The girls starting Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons and Fia asking "Could I do another lesson right now, Mom? I want to read!"

*The wonderful homeschool room in the basement my hubby, sister and bro-in-law have helped create, complete with primary color splashes, electric outlets!, a functioning computer for educational games and research, number and letter charts and an awesome calander.

*Pander's move from shorter books into chaper books for free reading. He now has A-Z mysteries and Tree House books. In just 2 days, he is on chapter 6 of his first chapter book! What a great reader, so glad I am able to keep him challenged, unlike the school that had him re-reading the same books he read last year so he could be placed in a reading group with other kids, instead of on his own.

*The arrival of our cirriculum, finalizing the schedule so we will cover all our material in a year, getting a handle on day to day time management (okay, that is still a struggle, but we are getting there! I still need to fit laundry in, I am so behind!)

* Best of all, I am loving how well the crazies are getting along. When Pander was in school all day, he would come home cranky and burned out on socializing. He didn't want to play with the other crazies, so he went to his room to read or rest, would try to play video games or watch tv, or would snap at the others when they tried to engage him. Now, he and Fia tell me they are best friends because they are in the same class at home! Moo and Pander joke around alot more, and he is much more tolerant of Noodle's young attempts to join in the older kids' games.

I will keep you updated as we go along, I am sure we have many challenges ahead as I try to balance time between teaching the crazies and managing the household. I am thankful to God that I have the chance to teach my kids, what a blessing it has been to have them share their thoughts and ideas with me!