Looking Back...

I felt like it was just August and I was planning the beginning of our 2015 homeschooling year. And now, we are ringing in the new year, ready to launch our Spring “semester”.

So many wondering things have happened and so many amazing things have been learned.  Our family has learned how to embrace the flexibility of homeschooling over the past few months. And we took a BIG leap of faith by launching our school year in Colorado at our family cabin.  

September to Remember!

As we moved into October, we had big plans for burritos and 2 brothers.  We had submited a “business plan” for The Acton Children’s Business Fair at the end the month.  I knew it was going to be fun but never expected we would have learned SO much through this one experience.  

The Burrito Brothers

Leaves are starting to fall and the weather is getting cooler.  So what did we decide to do?  Head for the beach!  Once again, we embraced the moment and headed south to Mustang Island, Tx.  The beach was empty, the weather was perfect and the learning was fun.  

This was a giant shark that I drew in the sand without any of it's fins.  We had been learning about the different shark fins and their purpose.  They drew the fins on to complete our "Sand Shark".

A week prior to our trip, we began our Shark Lapbooks. http://www.homeschoolshare.com/sharks.php

This simple experience ignited a love for learning in my 6.5 year old. He has become obsessed with learning about Sharks…all due to this family field trip. 

I planned to take our learning too (and my in-laws) I can’t think of a better way to spend time as a family than with these two, lovely people.  They were the ones that suggested homeschooling to us in the first place.

                             

We even made time for a rainy day field trip into the Aquarium.  And who would have thought... they had a special exhibit on SHARKS!   

As the calendar turned over to a new month, I was starting to realize time was going WAY to fast.  We were about to celebrate our first born that was turning 7 years old…how could that be? 

Birthdays are a BIG deal. (probably because I make them that way!)  With so much to do, I decided to invite J into planning for his own party.  After all, he does know WAY more about Minecraft than I!  

I put “schooling” on the back burner for a few days.  Instead of what I had formally planned for school, we:

*researched and picked-up FREE boxes for “real Minecraft backyard building”.  

*shopped online for materials to make the Nether Portal

*Used Google Drawings to make Minecraft Food Labels for the party.

*We made a VERY tough piñata together.

But most importantly, he discovered how much I love to plan parties and how much I love him.  That sweet boy told me over and over how thankful he was that he was homeschooled so that he could help me plan and prepare his own party.  THAT’S WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT…AMEN?  And it’s the memories and connections that we made as mother and son.  He will remember these moments so much more than a phonics lesson or math assessment.  

We’ll have plenty of time to get to that in the new year...

Wishing you and your little learners a blessed 2016.  Remember to love always, learn a little and play a lot!

Why we went to having a Screen-free WEEK!

Our September vacation to Colorado impacted our lives in so many way!  And if you need to revisit my posts about that experience - there are the links:

Part One - The Planning

Part Two - The Learning

Part Three - The Reflection

This amazing cabin holds an awesome secret that we discovered will change the way we set up our tech-time at home.  

Get this...THERE'S NO INTERNET SERVICE!  Yes, you can hike up a small hill about the cabin, if you need to make a call.  But you can't just turn on a tablet or flip up your laptop just to check your email or play a quick game of Minecraft.

Not having THIS luxury for 2 weeks really changed our lives. 

  

We connect more, talked often...we found ourselves NOT needing anything... but each other!

But THIS was the biggest discovery!  We watched our kids imagination come to life - NO internet needed!

These were the ONLY toys the boys had all week!  It's amazing how they made up games, created stories and interacted with just one, small basket.

So my husband and I decided that this needed to carry over into our daily life back at home.  We decided to make "tablet time" more of a privilege than part of our routine.

And this is how we did it...

We have this assignment board that tells the boys what they are expected to do for learning that day.  And each assignment is worth a number of points that is undetermined until AFTER it's completed or taught.  

I base their points on attitude towards the assignment, focus during the process and their finished product. 

Make sense?

After dinner, the boys are responsible to add up their points and document them...on this:

Click here and download your FREE printable!

On Friday evening, they total up their weekly points to see how much screen time they will get to use over the weekend.  Some weekly totals have been small and they know exactly why!  Some weekly totals have been BIG and we celebrate that with high fives and tablet time! 

Do you remember waking up on Saturday morning, pouring a GIANT bowl of Lucky Charms and watching these until your parents stumbled out of bed!?

Well, our learning point system seems to be working the same way!  Our kids wake up early and are SUPER excited to have the PRIVILEGE to use their well-earned tablet time.  

My husband and I get a chance to wake up slowly and enjoy some Saturday morning quiet time while the kids enjoy theirs.  

All inspired by a simple vacation that forced us to UNPLUG!  And we sure have enjoyed getting back to the simple life.  No more asking if they can play IPad!  No more arguments about when and who gets to play.  It's all posted here for ALL to see...

Is this a system that you could see working in your home?  If so, I'd love to hear about it.  Feel free to leave comments or questions below!

Happy Learning with your little ones.

Got Gingerbread? You Gotta do this!!!

I randomly bought a packet of 4 gingerbread boys at HEB today.  $2.45 - SOLD!  

I knew I wanted to decorate them with my boys this year and this was the easiest (and cleanest) way to get this done!  I am all about making messy memories - but a nasty sickness is going around our house.  I just needed something easy!

And this was lil packet was perfect!

This packet came with 4 gingerbread cookies!  One for each boy (I have 3 boys, if you haven't figured that out by now) and one for ME, right?  

No thanks!  I'm not a big fan of gingerbread, so THIS is the idea that came about and I hope that you can join in on the fun!

The final #4 Gingerbread Man will be apart of my kids lives for 1 week.  (Similar concept to the Flat Stanley idea)

They will decorate that #4 Gingerbread Man together and we will place him in a ziplock baggie.  

Wherever they go, that Gingerbread Man will go!

And we are going to document it all with Iphone pics, drawn pictures and journal entries.

I can not wait to see what he "looks" like after a week with us!  Park play, bike rides, walks to the library and so much more!

I created this cute printable, just for you, to help you get started!  Have fun, learn lots and make memories along the way.

Printable with lines

Printable with NO lines

Be sure and check back here for our Gingerbread Man adventures!

And be sure and post yours on our facebook page!

Mommy's Little Learners Face Book Page

Happy Learning - there's LOTS to learn with you are little.