My perspective on homeschooling while pregnant

Pregnant with twins; 25 weeks

Every pregnancy is different just like every homeschool family is different. Similarly, no two combinations of pregnancy and homeschooling will ever be the same, even within the same family. My family and I started homeschooling 2 years ago and being that my youngest is nearly 4, this school year is the first I have ever attempted while pregnant. For laughs and perhaps a little bit of insight, I thought I should put fingers to keyboard and pen my thoughts and feelings on this homeschool year as I attempt it with my ever expanding belly.

I should begin by telling those of you that do not regularly keep up with this blog that we are expecting not one, but two daughters in just over 2 months from now. I am 25 weeks pregnant with identical twin girls so my pregnancy thus far has not been a typical pregnancy for me. Despite the struggles and the challenges however, my kids and I have done our best to get school accomplished to the best of our abilities on any given day.

After moving to a new house in late September I was already in the beginning stages of all-day sickness. I was approximately 7 weeks pregnant when we completed our move and faced the daunting task of unpacking, organizing, sorting, and purging. Soon after moving however my constant nausea ramped up to a whole new level that I have never experienced with my previous two pregnancies. I was essentially bed ridden for days on end and relied heavily on my oldest son to feed and hydrate myself and my children. He would bring me breakfast and water/gatorade as I requested. He would also make breakfast and lunch more days than not for himself and his younger two siblings. He was an incredible blessing for those couple of months when I was unable to even sit-up or walk around much less make a meal for my family.

Despite the severe nausea I tried my best to still get some school done more days than not during the week. For my oldest who is in 4th grade this year getting school accomplished was much easier than for my first grader and preschooler who rely more heavily on me to guide and teach them.

For my 4th grader, 1st grader, and preschooler I relied heavily on the following tools and personal attitudes to get us through the toughest part of this pregnancy:

1. a student spiral-bound organizer. At our local homeschool convention this past summer, before I even knew I would be homeschooling this year pregnant I purchased the student planner from Christian Light Education (CLE) for my oldest. CLE's planner is simple yet very effective, especially for upper elementary students who are just learning to be organized and take responsibility for completing their assignments with a little less guidance from Mom.
1. I would write weekly assignments for my son with as much detail as I could muster considering my nausea. He always knew he could ask me a question at anytime to clarify the assignment or get help on a problem.
2. relax and be flexible. When I began to feel down or that I was failing my kids by not being able to actively teach them like last year I had to remind myself that this is a season in our life. Not engaging in the most elaborate lesson plans or unit studies this year is OK, this is where God wants my family and I to be right now and despite everything going on around us my kids are still learning. Even if not one book got cracked on a particular day, I can guarantee that each of my 3 kids still learned a few important life skill lessons.
3. taking a few months off to get through severe pregnancy nausea will not make or break my children's homeschool education. The beauty of homeschooling is that we can get school work and learning  done at anytime. We are not constrained by the public school clock. Despite doing relatively light book work the first few months of this school year my 4th grader completed his math curriculum for this year today. Yep, you read that right. Once my nausea subsided and I came back to the world of the mobile and able I was able to ramp up his assignments and get him back on track, so much so that he is now actually ahead of the game this year. Homeschooling on the weekends, later in the day, and doubling up on assignments are all great ways to get back on track from a season in your life where you find yourself falling behind on schoolwork a bit.
4. don't stress! Honestly, I know this is easier said than done. Personally, I am only a couple of months past those months where I was stressing over failing my children because I was laid up with this pregnancy, unable to fully devote myself to them and their education. It all worked out beautifully though! I should have never stressed over what I wasn't providing for my older children but instead should have focused on what I was able to provide for them; namely a loving Mother deeply devoted to them, a warm house, and the ability to teach them compassion and caring for one another even if I was relegated to the couch 90% of our day.

Homeschooling while pregnant has two distinct perspectives. There is the perspective of the children which I have covered above. However, as I have progressed along this homeschooling while pregnant journey I have also learned that my personal perspective is equally important in this process. Not only do I have to think of my children that are growing and talking in front of my eyes and ears but I also need to think about the two precious girls quickly growing in my belly. Namely, I need to also take care of myself for their sake in addition to caring for the needs of my other children. This was a tough lesson to learn at first. As my belly continued to grow I found myself needing more and more rest. Throughout much of this pregnancy I have found myself  "winging it" through our school day. I do not have the energy to plan, print, and implement beautiful lesson plans and the materials required to execute these lessons. But that is ok!! My kids are still learning despite all the pretty bells and whistles that we did last year. To some extent this year has been better than last year because we have been more relaxed and I have allowed my children to self-direct a bigger portion of their learning. We have learned about things like inventors, beetles, birds, and much more that I know I would not have planned otherwise if I was "directing" our learning for the year. What a blessing this adventure has been! 

Review: Apologia Press Good Morning, God TOS Crew

I have yet to meet a homeschool Mom who does not loves books. Likewise, Christian homeschool Moms generally love to get their hands on solid scripture based books that they can read to their children. My children and I were very fortunate to be able to review Good Morning, God by Davis Carmen and published by Apologia Press.

Good Morning, God is a beautiful story about a 4 year old boy as he goes through one week marveling at the wonders of all that God does from sunrise to sunset. This book can be used as a simple read-aloud to young children or it can be expanded into an eight day devotional with your children. To encourage using this book as a true devotional, the author has written several discussion questions which correspond with each day in the story. The main focus of this book is on Deuteronomy 6:6-7.

As a family we chose to discuss and reflect upon one discussion question each time we read this book. I was encouraged each day to hear my children talk about what each question meant to them and I delighted in the springboard effect of questions that inevitably happened after each reading of this book. Not only is Good Morning, God beautifully written but it is also enchantingly illustrated which made reading the book even more enjoyable. From our family discussions I made mental notes of biblical topics I needed to discuss and reference more often in our studies.

Good Morning, God is recommended for children ages 1-8 but can easily be adapted for older students especially in the discussion question sections. My 9 year old was almost more enthralled in this book than his younger siblings. Additionally, Apologia Press sells a coloring book to accompany this book which retails for $4.00.

You can purchase Good Morning, God by Davis Carman from Apologia Press for $14.00.

As a member of the TOS Review Crew I received this book for free from Apologia Press in exchange for my honest review. No further compensation was received.

If you would like to read what other TOS Review Crew members are saying about Good Morning, God be sure and visit the TOS Homeschool Crew blog!

Good Morning, God reviews

Review: KB Teachers TOS Crew

In the world of educational websites the options are nearly endless. While the options are almost limitless, the quality of most sites leaves a lot to be desired. As homeschoolers are time is precious and wasting time searching through a sea of educational websites does not typically rank high on our everyday to-do list. Imagine then, how excited I was when as part of The Old Schoolhouse review crew I was given the opportunity to review KBTeachers.

Initially I expected the average run-of-the-mill educational website. You know the kind, one full of busy work worksheets and lacking in educational content. Upon delving into KBTeachers my low expectations were blown out of the water! The first night I explored KBTeachers I could not possibly look through all of the wonderful resources and worksheets available for preschool through older students (roughly junior high). KBTeachers provides teachers with graphics and clipart, custom worksheet generators, activities, printable worksheets in a wide variety of subjects (even biology lessons), coloring pages, and handwriting sheets (printing, cursive, etc). No matter your subject matter there is sure to be a resource available on KBTeachers while will add educational content to your lesson.

How we used this resource:
Unlike other educational websites, I was able to utilize KBTeachers for all 3 of my children (ages 3, 6, and 9). Some days this option proved to be a wonderful time saver. If one of my children finished their schoolwork early or needed extra help with a topic I simply (and quickly) found a worksheet or activity for them to complete and enjoy. When my 9 year old needed extra cursive practice which our current handwriting curriculum does not support I simply printed out the appropriate worksheet from KBTeacher. When my preschooler needed something to color which corresponded to a lesson I was teaching her older brothers I found some wonderful coloring resources on this site. Lastly, when my 6 year old wanted a math lesson which his current curriculum did not cover to the depth he desired I was able to customize and print additional worksheets from him to complete. The more and more I used KBTeachers the more I realized the educational limits were endless.

The best part of KBTeachers is that much of their worksheets and resources are completely FREE! If you find that you want to use their premium resources you can purchase a premium membership for a reasonable fee.

At the time of this posting: 1 year $29, 2 years $49. If you pay with paypal you can enjoy their premium services for 10 days risk free. If you pay with your credit card you will have 30 days risk free to use their premium resources.

Be sure and check out the other wonderful reviews from my fellow TOS Crew reviewers!

TOS Crew KBTeacher Reviews

Finding free time as a busy homeschool Mom

By definition, "homeschool Mom" means busy, always doing for others, taxi, manager of the home, chef, doctor, counselor, mediator, organizer, and scheduler to name just a few of the job requirements. In the midst of it all, how do we find time for ourselves? Do we need time for ourselves? When do we find time for ourselves amongst everything else on our "to do" list?

Every homeschool Mom is different so I can only speak for myself, but I absolutely need time for myself. I need time to gather my thoughts, accomplish things I need to get done, or even simply read a book and drink a cup of tea in silence. For me, my personal time helps me to recenter and unwind from the trails and tribulations of the day. Putting my feet up after a long day of mothering my 3 children gives me a chance to reflect upon the day and pray about how I could have made it better and consider the things that I particularly enjoyed from the day.

As a new homeschool Mom I used to try and squeeze my personal time in during the day when my kids were awake. When my kids all napped or had "quiet time" this worked most days. However, I am at a time in motherhood journey when quiet time during the day just isn't possible. So when do I find the much needed time for myself? My quiet time is now in the evenings after my kids have all gone to bed. All 3 of my kids have early bedtimes, partly because they are early risers but also so I can have some much needed downtime. My youngest falls asleep quickly after I put her to bed and my older boys are allowed to read until they get tired, which is typically 30 minutes or so after I put them to bed. I think my boys enjoy their quiet time in the evenings as much as I do my own quiet time.

During my evening quiet time I get to enjoy a cup of tea in peace and do whatever my heart leads me to do. Some nights I blog while on other nights you might find me reading a book, researching curriculum, or simply catching up on Facebook. It really doesn't matter what I do in the evenings just so long as I get that down time for my brain to reflect upon our day.  Personally, I find quiet time a necessity as part of my busy homeschool Mom schedule. I have also found that the quietness of the evening lets me appreciate the hustle and bustle of the day much more. I adore every minute that I get with my 3 blessings but I also enjoy the quiet time in the evenings that I work so hard for during the day.

Cruise on over to The Old Schoolhouse blog for more wonderful blogs on this topic!

I can not homeschool without my Mac

The title says it all! Well, I suppose I could homeschool without my Mac if I had to but I would need to seek some serious counseling if that ever happened.

I rely on my computer and the internet for so many things in our daily homeschool routine. From researching lessons, printing worksheets, and learning about a wide variety of topics; our computer is invaluable. Our homeschooling style is mainly unit study based. I really try to incorporate as many subjects as possible when we are learning about a broad topic. My Mac helps me find resources, information, music, and pictures on our study subject. Having a computer easily accessible also gives us the flexibility to learn about something on a whim when our interest is piqued.

For example, earlier this week while reviewing Sing-A-Lingo my kids and I found ourselves off on a Spanish language YouTube tangent. What first started out as watching a YouTube video on the Sing-A-Lingo website quickly morphed into an impromptu Spanish language lesson using music videos. My kids gain so much enjoyment end enrichment from watching educational YouTube videos. In total, I think we watched 10 or more short Spanish language singing videos during our spur-of-the-moment lesson. We sang, laughed, and learned all on a whim sitting in front of our Mac.

My computer also helps me to keep the cost of homeschooling down. Networking with other homeschool friends through the internet and also when searching on my own, I am able to come across a plethora of free or low cost educational resources that I would not otherwise have access to if it were not for my handy little Mac. Curriculum can get expensive as veteran homeschoolers will tell you. However, with a computer and the internet virtually free homeschooling is possible. The amount of free homeschool resources, worksheets, and complete curriculum sources on the internet these days is boggling. Sometimes I consider writing my own worksheet or resources then I stumble across something similar or even better than what I would have created on the internet for free. No need to reinvent the wheel, use someone else's free resources!

Lastly, having a computer in our homeschool adds another fun but educational resource in my bag of tricks when teaching my kids. Online educational games augment what my boys are learning with pencil and paper. The computer however, adds an element of excitement and fun to their learning. Whether it is a math multiplication math quiz, online educational game, or basic word processing, everything seems to be more enjoyable for my kids when it is done on the computer. Even my 3 year old is getting in on the educational value derived from the computer. She loves typic random letters in Word. I've have been able to turn this love of typing into a mini lesson to help her learn the alphabet. The possibilities for learning on the computer are endless.

Not homeschool related, but a bonus to having a Mac is the lack of viruses and corrupt files. About 5 years ago we switched to Mac from the ever popular PC. I was hesitant at first, but now I will never go back. The first Macs we bought 5 years ago are running strong and virus free, just like the first ay we took them out of the box. Not many PC users can say that about their computers.

You can read other great TOS Blog Cruise posts this week about using technology in your homeschool;