Come to the end

When the huge box of homeschooling curriculum came in the mail last July I was excited and wanted to cry at the same time!    It seems like a lifetime ago.  (It was before Little Man joined us and at times I forget there was life before four children….so yes, a lifetime ago.)  But we have come to the end.  We all survived and dare I add thrived.  The kids are all more educated than when we began and I certainly can say that I have learned a thing or two as well! 😉

Some of our favorite moments of the year have surrounded our in depth study of birds (which led to us being proud chicken owners) and then our study of plants (which is now yielding much produce from the kids’ garden.)  A big thanks to Grandpa for helping make this project so successful!

Another favorite part of using SonLight curriculum is seeing my kiddos enjoy great books.  Soccer Dude has been such a good reader and this year Roo has really started to see how books can unlock new worlds.

Little Monkey had the desire to jump back into learning Chinese.  It was good for me too!  Rosetta Stone and the China Kit from Sonlight helped us succeed.  I was proud of her hard work!

What does Little Man do while the “big kids” work hard on learning?  Well…..on a lot of days he happily listens to the reading.  He loves books.  Believe it or not, this little ball of energy at times will slow down to line up a basket of cars!  I took advantage of those moments to help the other kids with lessons.

But, at other times when I would look away for just a few seconds he would find his own fun….to my dismay.  Can’t you just hear his innocent reply to me calling his name…. “What?!  This is the mud puddle you told me to stay away from?!”  He learned a lot this year too!

But more than anything, I am thankful for the year we have had together for bonding.  The kids truly have become best friends and I have been blessed to be at home watching each little miracle unfold in their hearts as they have learned and played together.