Sand Art

I mentioned in my last post that we actually completed an art project during our first week back to school. This may not seem like an accomplishment worth mentioning, but then you don't know me.

Or maybe you do.

Either way, I can tell you that A. I have a general aversion to "projects" that have a list of materials a mile long and B. I also have an aversion to cleaning up copious amounts of crafting materials. Unless of course they're my crafting materials, which is completely different.

Obviously.

What was I talking about?

Art! This is one of those subjects in homeschooling that can be the first to get eliminated in a busy week.  For several years, I sent my boys to an art class with other homeschool kids once a week and they really enjoyed it.  And I enjoyed checking "art"  off the subject to-do list each week with minimal effort on my part.

In years past when we have done art at home, we've used this book which works well for a variety of ages. We've also used this book, which is a wonderful way to follow the liturgical year (if you happen to be Catholic like us) with stories and related crafts.

Back to School

After our end-of-summer vacation, it was time to get back to some kind of school routine.

We homeschool year round, but have an "official" start to each new year in the early fall - usually sometime in September after we've soaked up as much of summer as possible.

My boys actually prefer to be out and about in the cooler months - I blame the several years living in Cleveland.  I also prefer to go on class outings, field trips, etc... when things are not hot and/or crowded, so for us doing work throughout the summer means more flexibility to take breaks in the fall (our favorite season!) and around the holidays.

This year I am homeschooling boys ages four, nine, eleven and thirteen - with a one-year old and his death wish running around just to help keep things interesting.

Our first week went pretty well, but was really more of a transition than anything else.  It can be hard to gauge just how much we can reasonably accomplish in any given week - especially when adjusting to some new materials.

Little Island Lake Vacation

Before we were ready to dive into a new school year, we decided we really needed a vacation!  It had been awhile since our family had been away and we wanted to spend a week relaxing together. There's a place that's special to our family up in Michigan called Little Island Lake, so that's where we headed. 

It's such a great spot - peace, quiet and still plenty to keep the kids occupied.  Even the big kids...

He's so big!

It's become an annual tradition to have a family getaway before our new homeschool year officially starts - we like to take advantage of being able to travel while everyone else is in school! We basically had the lake to ourselves.

The weather was beautiful - warm enough during the days to hang out outdoors and cool enough in the evenings to warrant enjoying the fire pit.